Julius Lustig-Prean von Preanfeld
Julius
Lustig-Prean von Preanfeld was born on the 11th of February 1871 in Pilsen in
Bohemia as the son of a Generalmajor. and like his two brothers and his father,
Julius Lustig-Prean von Preanfeld would also become a general officer. Following
his graduation from the Theresian military academy at Wiener-Neustadt with
"very good success" he was commissioned as a Leutnant in
Feldjägerbataillon Nr.9 on the 18th of August 1891. From December 1893 to April
1894 he was an instructor on the one year volunteers course for Infantry
Regiment Number 7 followed by his attendance at the Kriegsschule from 1st
October 1894 until the 17th of October 1896. Promoted to Oberleutnant on the on
the 1st of November 1895, he was attached to the general staff on the 16th of
January 1897 and assigned as a staff officer to the headquarters of the 6th
infantry division at Graz then under the command of Feldmarschalleutnant Wilhelm
Stanger. From the 4th of April 1898 until the 30th of April 1899 he served with
general staff in Vienna being promoted to Hauptmann 2. Klasse on on the the 1st
of May 1899 with a simultaneous assignment to Feldjägerbataillon Nr. 22. He
served with the Prague based rifle battalion as the commander of it's 2nd
company until his reassignment to the general staff and a posting as a general
staff officer to the headquarters of the 2nd army corps at Vienna as an
Hauptmann 1. Klasse on the 1st of May 1901. He remained with 2nd corps until the
30th of April 1906 in which assignment he was awarded a war minister's
commendation and was then assigned to the headquarters of the general staff
on the 1st of May 1906, assuming the post of head of the press group on the
31st of December 1907. For his service with the general staff he was awarded the
Bronze Military Merit Medal (Signum Laudis)
Promoted to Major on the 1st of November 1908 he was assigned as
chief of staff of the 36th infantry division at Agram on the 26th of April 1910
and awarded the Military Merit Cross that year. He assumed his final prewar appointment as commander of
Villach based Feldjägerbataillon Nr.
8 in succession to Major Bogomil Novaković von Gjuraboj on the 1st of May
1912 in the rank of Oberstleutnant. One of his most distinguished predecessors
in command of Feldjägerbataillon Nr. 8 was the later Feldmarschalleutnant and
MMThO winner Guido Novak von Arienti who commanded the
battalion from 1903 to 1910.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Feldjägerbataillon
Nr. 8 was mobilized as part of Generalmajor Felizian Krasel's 12th infantry
brigade in Feldmarschalleutnant Karl Gelb Edler von Siegesstern's 6th infantry
division. As a part of the III corps of GdI. Emil Colerus
von Geldern
the battalion took part in the difficult fighting around Lemberg in late August
1914. On the 30th of August whilst attached to the neighboring brigade of
Generalmajor Ludwig Fabini and after only five days of deployment,
Oberstleutnant Lustig-Prean was wounded by Russian shrapnel in the left forearm
and had to hand over his command to Hauptmann Richard Brunar. For his front line
leadership during his brief period of wartime command he was awarded the Order
of the Iron Crown 3rd Class with War Decoration and Swords. Promoted to Oberst
on the 1st of November 1914 he was unfit for service until the 8th of November
when he assumed the temporary command of infantry regiment number 27 which he
led during the Carpathian Mountain fighting of the first winter of the war until
the 15th of December when complications with his earlier wound necessitated a
further period of treatment at the garrison hospital in Vienna. Following his
recovery he was assigned as a general staff officer in headquarters 4th army on
the 9th of March 1915 until the 22nd of April when he assigned as a liaison
officer with the German 11th army of Generaloberst August von Mackensen
for the forthcoming Gorlice-Tarnów offensive. He thus saw action during the
defensive fighting on the River Dunajec in late April/early May and the
subsequent advance to the east via Gorlice - Przemysl - Lemberg - Brest-Litovsk
and was awarded the Bronze Military Merit Medal on the ribbon of the Military
Merit Cross on the 9th of October 1915. Remaining with the now Generalfeldmarschall von Mackensen's 11th army he
participated in the invasion of Serbia until appointed as the chief of staff of
Feldmarschalleutnat Ignaz Trollman's XIX corps on the 7th of March 1916.
In August 1916 he was appointed commander of 180th infantry
brigade which was renamed as the 2nd Kaiserjäger-Brigade in January 1917 and
led this brigade until the 30th of September 1918. With his brigade he
participated in the high alpine fighting in the Coston - Monte Majo -
Laghi sectors and was further awarded the Silver Military Merit Medal, the
Knight's Cross of the Order of Leopold, the Karl Troop Cross and on it's
introduction in 1918, the wound medal with one stripe for his 1914 wound. He
additionally held the following foreign decorations: The Knight's Cross of the
Royal Belgian Order of Leopold and the Royal Spanish Military Merit Order 1st
Class. Promoted Generalmajor on the 15th of December 1918 he retired as a
Feldmarschalleutnant and died on the 31st of July 1957 in Vienna.
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