I heard a story somewhere that he struck an SS officer at a railway station for beating POW's and then jumped on a train. At the next stop they tried to arrest him but his C.O. said they'd have to nick the entire regiment first. After that he was persona non grata with the higher powers that be as he was already considered a thorn in their side with his lack of discipline regarding military regs and habit of ignoring direct orders during battle, preferring to trust his own instincts. Whether this is true or not I don't know.
Another thing I know to be true is that Otto Carius is on record as saying that Knispel's tally of victims was vastly overexagerated for propaganda purposes as indeed was his own. He states that having spoken to some members of Knispel's crew post war, they estimated his/their total nearer 60-70 actual kills. I believe he made this comment in 2011 or 2012.
Regards, Ned.
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