“Medals do not make soldiers“. At only 23 years of age, Kurt Knispel, a Sudeten German, became the most successful tanker of the whole Second World War. He was working in the automobile industry before being drafted and taught to handle a Tiger I. He was assigned to the then 13. Panzer-Division and sent to Russia. Later he commanded a Königstiger in the now 12. Panzer-Division in Normandy.
In October 1944, he left for Hungary to take part in Operation Debrecen. On April 28, 1945, one day after his promotion to Feldwebel, Knispel was seriously wounded in the head. He died two hours later in a military hospital near Vrbovec.
Kurt managed to destroy 168 tanks! Nicknamed “The Black Baron“, he truly became the ace of aces of the Wehrmacht tankers. But then, why didn’t he have the recognition of a Wittman, or an Otto Carius? Because Kurt didn’t give a damn about Nazism, nor its honors or medals. That, combined with his unkempt appearance and modified uniform brought about the tale that he never received the Eisernes Kreuz and was thus dubbed “knight without a cross“.
This is pure myth, as he received the Eiserne Kreuz I. Klasse in 1943 and the Deutsche Kreuz in Gold in May 1944.
This War Story requires the Heroes of Normandie: Big Red One Core Box and Battle Pack #02 – Battle for Caen: Epsom, Charnwood, Goodwood.
