Julius Ringel

Julius 'Papa' Ringel (16 November 1889 – 11 February 1967) was an Austrian general in the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Upon his return to the newly formed Republic of German Austria, Ringel fought against the troops of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia occupying Carinthia.

As an avid supporter of the Nazi Party, Ringel strongly encouraged the union of Austria with the German Reich and after the Anschluss enthusiastically joined the Wehrmacht with the 3rd Mountain Division.

When World War II began, he was assigned to the 268th Infantry Division as a regimental commander and he took part in the campaign in the West.

The division saw its first action in the spring of 1941 in the Balkans Campaign and took part in the operations codenamed Marita and Merkur aimed to capture mainland Greece and Crete.