Kurt Knispel, with his 168 confirmed victories, is considered the most successful tanker of World War II, he is credited with the T-34 tank, wounded from a distance of 3, 000 meters, the destruction of more than 70 enemy anti-tank guns, as well as countless bunkers and field fortifications.
Origin
Kurt Knispel is a Sudeten German by birth. He was born in Czechoslovakia on September 20, 1921 in a small town called Salisov. Kurt spent most of his childhood in Mikulovice, where his father worked at a car factory. The future German tanker Kurt Knispel had an aversion to working at the factory, so in April 1940, at the age of 20, he volunteered for the Wehrmacht.
Initial preparation for service in the Wehrmacht
Kurt received basic training in the reserve tank training battalion in the city of Sagan (today it is the Polish city of Zagan). There he was taught general military skills: how to march, salute, and use such types of small arms as the P38 submachine gun, Kar98k rifle, and hand grenades. After basic training, Knispel began training on tanks Pz I, II and IV. On October 1, Knispel was transferred to the 29th Tank Regiment of the 12th Panzer Division, where he completed his training and became a loader and gunner on the Pz IV tank. During training, Knispel first demonstrated his ability as a gunner; he had the gift of three-dimensional vision, as well as unusually sharp reflexes. However, then he was left charging.
First combat experience
For the first time, Knispel appeared at the front in August 1941. He served as a gunner with Lieutenant Helman on the Pz IV tank during Operation Barbarossa and participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union as part of the Third Panzer Group of the 57th Army Corps under the command of General Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen. Kurt Knispel took part in hostilities from Yartsevo to Stalingrad, in the north in the Tikhvin region of the Leningrad Region, as well as in the Caucasus under the leadership of Eberhard von Mackensen. In November 1942, the photographer captured Corporal Knispel with the badge “For a tank attack”, the Iron Cross of the second degree and the badge “For the wounded”.
Kurt Knispel: duty stations and critical operations
In January 1942, having already won 12 tank victories, Knispel returned to Putlos to study on the new Tiger tank. From Putlos, his group was sent to the five hundredth tank battalion in Paderborn. This group, led by Hauptmann Hans Fendesak, became part of the first company of the 503rd heavy tank battalion, which fought in Kursk as a flank cover for the 7th Panzer Division. Later Knispel participated in the operation to break through the pocket of Korsun-Cherkassy, as well as in battles near Vinnitsa, Yampol and Kamenetz-Podolsky. Then his company was moved from the Eastern Front and transplanted to the latest heavy tanks Tiger II. After this, Knispel fought in France near the city of Caen, and also covered the retreat of German troops from Normandy. After returning to the Eastern Front, his crew fought near Mezestur, Kecskemét, Tsegled, the castle of Bab, Laa and in many other places (it is reported that in one battle Knyspel killed 24 enemy tanks on his Tiger II). The last battle of Knispel took place near the village of Vlasatice in the Czech Republic, where he, along with another tank commander, sergeant major Skoda, was mortally wounded on April 28, 1945, ten days before the end of the war.
Relation to awards and honors
Kurt Knispel, whose biography and achievements rightfully make him the best tanker of World War II, was a rather modest and non-conflict person in life. As the commander of the Tiger and Tiger II tanks, Knispel won another 42 victories. But he didn’t really boast about it, and when a controversial situation arose when someone claimed to have an enemy tank wrecked, Knispel usually gave in, always ready to give his success to someone else.
He was presented four times to the Knight's Cross, but he never received this award, which is usual for most other German tank aces of World War II. Knispel was not bothered by this at all, since vanity was not his main driving force. On the account of Knispel, one hundred sixty-eight confirmed wrecked tanks, and with unconfirmed cases their number reaches one hundred ninety-five. Even if we take into account only the first figure, Kurt Knispel is the most successful tank shooter of the Second World War.
Merit of battle
Once Knispel completely unbelievably knocked out a Soviet T-34 tank from a distance of 3, 000 meters. After the first fifteen victories, he was awarded the Iron Cross of the first class, and then with the gold badge “For Tank Attack”. After the 126th victory, Knispel received the German cross in gold and became the only German non-commissioned officer whose name was mentioned in the official communique of the Wehrmacht. They say that he gave others many victories, which he could rightly consider his own. Kurt Knispel usually avoided any disputes and earned the fame of a friendly and open person. As a tank commander, he felt like a fish in the water, sometimes even alone he confronted the superior enemy forces to give his unit more opportunities to successfully advance or retreat. Alfred Rubbel, one of the first commanders of Knispel, claimed that Kurt never abandoned his comrades even in the most difficult situations.
Lack of respect for senior commanders is the main reason Kurt Knispel progressed so slowly through the ranks. Once he attacked an officer who beat a Soviet prisoner of war. The appearance of Knispel did not correspond to the stereotypical image of a German soldier: he had a tattoo on his neck, a small beard and longer hair than was supposed by the charter. However, his fellow soldiers were very fond of him, and he was second to none in skill. At the age of 23, Knispel had on his account more tank victories than such famous aces as Michael Wittmann, Ernst Barkmann, Johannes Bolter or Otto Carius.
Burial place of the German ace
The remains of the legendary tanker were found by Czech archaeologists on April 9, 2013 in an unmarked grave behind a church in the village of Vrbovcy, near the Czech-Austrian border. Eva Pankova, a spokeswoman for the Moravian Museum, explains that he was identified by a tattoo on his neck. On April 10, 2013, Czech authorities confirmed that the remains of Knispel were found among the bodies of fifteen other German soldiers behind the church wall in Vrbovtsy. In all likelihood, Kurt Knispel will be reburied in a military cemetery in the city of Brno.
K. Knispel among the tankers is the same legendary hero as the Red Baron among pilots.
