His father Wilhelm, born in Frankenberg, Hesse, Germany (1892–1942), a former student at the Music Academy of Frankfurt[3] and of German baritone nl:Eugen Hildach (1849–1924), was a musician, a singer and a lecturer of Jewish descent who served in the German Army during World War I (1914–16) and was once musical director of opera singer Maria Jeritza and voice teacher and coach of American actress Joan Blondell.

Because of his family background, Bachenheimer registered aged 18 years old as an arts student at the Los Angeles City College with the intention of becoming an opera singer.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bachenheimer volunteered for military service (13 December 1941[7]), and in May 1942[clarification needed] he was allocated to the 504th Infantry Regiment after successfully obtaining his parachuting certificate.

[9] On 23 March 1943, in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, North Carolina, he married Ethel Lou Murfield, whom he called Penny, from Fullerton, California who at the time was working for the Douglas Aircraft Company as a timekeeper.

[10] Bachenheimer took part in Operation Husky, fought in the battles for Salerno and Anzio, where his bravery[11] behind enemy lines made him a legend in the 82nd Airborne Division, earning him the nickname of The Legendary Paratrooper.

From 1942 to 1944, Bachenheimer was the subject of articles in newspapers such as Star and Stripes, Collier's Weekly and the Los Angeles Times, and some of his exploits were broadcast in radio dispatches.

(Knokploegen, part of the newly formed Netherlands Forces of the Interior, who, in an ironic twist of fate, had accepted Prince Bernhard as their chief commander).

[15] According to statements by Airey Neave, he accompanied British intelligence officer Captain Peter Baker and PFC Bachenheimer for their crossing of the Waal river near Tiel on the night of 11–12 October[16] as he sent them on a secret mission to organize a rescue line named 'Windmill'.

They were to set up their HQ working from a local resistance hotbed, the Ebbens family's farm, near Zoelen and the village of Drumpt[note 2] In addition to Bachenheimer and Baker, the other boarders at Ebbens's house were a group of young Dutchmen, a Jewish family, a wounded British paratrooper, Staff-Sergeant Alan Kettley of the Glider Pilot Regiment and Canadian military officer, Lieutenant Leo Jack Heaps (1922–1995).

Airey Neave failed to mention master scout Bachenheimer's work in the Betuwe region near Driel and Renkum[31] in the days and weeks leading up to the crossing where the successful rescue mission later known as Operation Pegasus took place.

Before boarding, Bachenheimer and Baker gave each other messages for friends hoping one day to meet again in Los Angeles:[32] Maybe we can do business together, we could start a Californian branch of your firm and call it 'The Mouseketeers'[33] said Bachenheimer to Baker.Baker would reach the camp on the night of 26 October, (when news that both men had been arrested, the "Windmill line" was abandoned, the other escape route via Renkum codenamed Operation Pegasus went ahead as scheduled.[29]).

The intrepid Bachenheimer managed to escape at night (20–21 October) from his boxcar with three other allied soldiers,[34] one of whom mentioned the American paratrooper insisted he would be the last to make the jump to safety.

A memorial monument marks the spot where he was probably shot, although no confirmed eyewitness reports are known by name and some doubt remains as to the exact moments and motivation leading up Bachenheimer's death.

[11] Canadian military officer Leo Heaps set the date of his arrival at Ebbens's farm (in company of Kettley) on 3 October, Bachenheimer and Baker were already there.

In the middle of Tiel, a German stronghold, Heaps's bicycle suffered a flat tire and he had to walk as the other resistance members accompanying him cycled on.

Heaps was never blamed by Airey Neave for not wearing his uniform during daytime hours despite potentially endangering the Ebbens farm of being shot as a spy.

There is a strong possibility that Bachenheimer and Baker's captures were the result of a German counterintelligence operation based on details supplied by Bernhard sent Lindemans or the escape and near apprehension of Leo Heaps.

Bachenheimer is eligible[41][42] for the award of the Medal of Honor for his outstanding leadership, gallantry and exceptional devotion to duty during World War II but also for a posthumous promotion and for reburial in Arlington National Cemetery.