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Johann Mickl | |
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| Born | 18 April 1893 Radkersburg, Austro-Hungarian Empire |
| Died | 10 April 1945 (aged 51) Fiume, Italian Social Republic |
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| Rank | Generalleutnant |
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| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Nazi Germany) Military Merit Medal for Bravery in Silver and bar (Austria-Hungary) |
Johann Mickl (18 April 1893 – 10 April 1945) was an Austrian-born army officer and division commander who served Nazi Germany during World War II. Reaching the rank of general (Generalleutnant), he was one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He was commissioned shortly before the outbreak of World War I, and served with Austro-Hungarian forces on the Eastern and Italian Fronts as a junior officer in the Imperial-Royal Mountain Troops. During World War I he was decorated several times for bravery and leadership and was wounded on four occasions.
Immediately after the war, Mikl served in the Volkswehr militia which was formed to resist the incorporation of his home town of Radkersburg into the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He served with the Austrian Army from 1920 until the Anschluss in 1938, when it was absorbed by the Wehrmacht, and he transferred to the German Army as an Oberstleutnant. He commanded an anti-tank battalion during the invasion of Poland and Battle of France. Mickl was then transferred to North African theatre of operations to command a rifle regiment. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his leadership of a battle group during the British Operation Crusader.
He briefly commanded the 90th Light Division in late 1941 before being wounded. After he recovered he was sent to the Eastern Front. Mickl commanded the 12th Rifle Brigade of the 12th Panzer Division in the east, taking over the 25th Panzergrenadier Regiment when his brigade headquarters was disestablished. Transferred to the Führerreserve, he was promoted to Generalmajor, and received the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his leadership during the Soviet 1942–1943 winter offensives, as part of the Battles of Rzhev. He then commanded the 11th Panzer Division during the Battle of Kursk. Later in 1943, he was appointed to train and command the 392nd (Croatian) Infantry Division, and led it in fighting against the Yugoslav Partisans before dying of wounds inflicted in the last month of the war. In 1967, the Austrian Armed Forces barracks in Bad Radkersburg was named after him.