Matthäus Hetzenauer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Matthäus Hetzenauer | |
|---|---|
| 23 December 1924–3 October 2004 | |
 Hetzenauer with G98 |
|
| Place of birth | Tyrol (Austria) |
| Allegiance | Germany |
| Rank | Gefreiter |
| Unit | 3rd Mountain Division |
| Awards | Iron Cross 2nd & 1st class Infantry Assault Badge Wound Badge (black) Sniper's Badge (gold) Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Matthäus Hetzenauer (December 23, 1924 in Tyrol, Austria - October 3, 2004) was a German sniper in the 3rd Mountain Division on the Eastern Front of the World War II, who was credited with 345 kills. His longest confirmed kill was reported at 1100 metres.
Hetzenauer trained as a sniper from March 27 through July 16, 1944, before being assigned to the 3rd Gebirgsjäger Division, issued both a K98 rifle with 6x scope and a Gewehr 43 rifle with 4x scope.
On November 6, 1944, he suffered head trauma from artillery fire, and was awarded the Verwundeten-Abzeichen three days later.
Awarded the Ritterkreuz on April 17, 1945, Hetzenauer was captured by Soviet troops the following month, and eventually served 5 years in a Soviet prison camp.
He died on October 3, 2004, after several years of deteriorating health.
[edit] Awards
- Iron Cross 2nd Class - September 1, 1944
- Verwundeten-Abz. Schwarz November 9, 1944
- Infantry Assault Badge (silver) - November 13, 1944
- Iron Cross 1st Class - November 25, 1944
- Sniper's Badge (1st class - gold) - December 3, 1944
- Close Combat Clasp
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross - April 17, 1945 as sniper in the 7./GebJägRgt 144
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||
 |
This biographical article related to the military of Germany is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
