Kurt Knispel was a Czechoslovakian Sudeten German Heer panzer loader,
gunner and later commander with a total of 168 confirmed tank kills;
Childhood Knispel was born in Salisfeld, a small
settlement near the town of Cukmantel in the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia. He
spent most of his carefree childhood in nearby Niklasdorf, where his father
worked in an automotive factory. After completing his apprenticeship in an
automobile factory in early 1940, Knispel applied to join the armoured
branch of the German Army. War service
= Training= For his basic training, Knispel went to
the Panzer Replacement Training Battalion at Sagan in Lower Silesia. He
received basic infantry training, learning the use of the Karabiners 98k,
the Pistole 08, and the MG 34, followed by tank training on the Panzer I, Panzer
II, and Panzer IV. On 1 October 1940, he was transferred to the 3rd Company of
the 29th Panzer Regiment, 12th Panzer Division. Knispel completed his training
as a loader and gunner in a Panzer IV. This lasted until 11 June 1941 and
consisted of courses at Sagan and Putlos.
= World War II= Knispel was the gunner of a Panzer IV
under Lt. Hellman during Operation Barbarossa, where he participated in the
initial assault as part of Panzergruppe 3, LVII Army Corps, commanded by General
Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen. Knispel saw action from Yarzevo to the gates of
Stalingrad, in the north around the Leningrad-Tikhvin area, and also in the
Caucasus under Eberhard von Mackensen. A photograph of November 1942 shows
Gefreiter Knispel with the Panzerkampfabzeichen, the E.K.II, and
the Verwundetenabzeichen in black. Knispel returned to Putlos at the end of
January 1943 and became familiar with the new Tiger I tanks. By this time,
Knispel was already credited with 12 kills.
A group of men from Putlos were sent to the 500th Panzer Battalion at Paderborn.
These men, led by Oberfeldwebel Hans Fendesack, would become the 1st Company
of the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion which fought at Kursk as flank cover for
the 7th Panzer Division. According to his biography, "Kursk hatte den Namen
von Kurt Knispel im Battalion bekannt gemacht", Knispel saw further action
during the relief attack on the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket, Vinnytsia,
Yampil, and Kamianets-Podilskyi. Transferred from the east, the company
was re-equipped with Tiger IIs and fought around Caen and in the retreat
from Normandy. Then the unit was transferred back to the Eastern Front
and saw action around Mezőtúr, Törökszentmiklós, Cegléd, Kecskemét and
the Gran bridgehead, Gyula, Nitra, Bab Castle, Laa and finally Wostitz, where
he was fatally wounded together with another tank commander Feldwebel Skoda.
Knispel died in a field hospital in Urbau and was buried at a local
cemetery. Ten days after his death, the war ended in Europe.
On April 10, 2013 Czech authorities confirmed that Knispel's remains were
found with 15 other German soldiers behind a church wall in Urbau. He was
identified by his dog tags. On November 12, 2014 his remains were reburied at
the military cemetery in Brno together, with 41 other German soldiers who fell
in various places in Moravia and Silesia.
Legacy With 168 confirmed kills, Knispel was by
far the most successful tanker of the Second World War. He is even credited
with knocking out a T-34 at 2000 meters, besides destroying over 70 enemy
anti-tank guns, and countless bunkers and field works. He fought in every type
of German tank as a loader, gunner and commander. He was awarded the Iron
Cross, First Class, after destroying his fiftieth enemy tank, and the Tank
Assault Badge in Gold after more than 100 tank battles. When Knispel's tally
had reached 126 enemy tanks, he was awarded the German Cross in Gold. He
became the only non-commissioned officer in the German tank army to be named in a
Wehrmacht communique. As commander of a Tiger I and then a Tiger II, Knispel
destroyed another 42 enemy tanks. Although he was recommended for it four
times, Knispel never received the coveted Knight's Cross.
Knispel's slow promotion is attributed to his conflicts with higher Nazi
authorities. Once, for example, he assaulted an SS Einsatzgruppen officer
whom he saw mistreating Soviet POWs. Some historians also mention his general
lack of military bearing by wearing a goatee and hair longer than regulations
allowed. However, according to Lt Colonel Alfred Rubbel, Knispel was
always willing to help others and friendly.
Awards Iron Cross E.K.II
Iron Cross E.K. I awarded after actions at Kursk July 1943. He destroyed 27
T-34's in 12 days during this battle. Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42, The
Eastern Front Medal. Wound Badge
Panzerkampfabzeichen Panzer Assault Badge
Panzerkampfabzeichen 100 assaults. German Cross in Gold on 20 May 1944 as
Unteroffizier in the 1./schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503
The only NCO in the German Army mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 25
April 1944 for the destruction of 101 enemy tanks, which was submitted by RKT
Dr. Franz Baeke. = Reference in the Wehrmachtbericht=
Footnotes References
Citations Bibliography
External links "Tiger Aces". Tiger I Information
Center. Retrieved 10 January 2012. "Kurt Knispel". World War 2 Awards.
Retrieved 10 January 2012. "Archeologové nalezli ostatky největšího
tankového esa II. světové války". Archeologové nalezli ostatky největšího
tankového esa II. světové války 2 Awards. Retrieved 7 May 2013.