Kurt Knispel..Tank ace No.1

[Paul D]

The German Government won't even sanction a medal which resembles the Eisernen Kreuz because of it's connection to the Third Reich so the chance of awarding a Postumous Ritterkreuz is absolutely nil , so don't bother with the petition !!!

regards

Paul

[JPhilip]

here are some Panzer Aces who never received the Ritterkreuz....and they all had an impressive amount of kills.


Martin Schrof (s.SS-Pz. Abt. 102) : 161
Karl Möbius (s.SS-Pz. Abt. 101) : 125
Arno Giesen (2. SS Pz. Div.) : 111
Heinz Rondorf (s. Pz. Abt. 503) : 106
Heinz Gärtner (s. Pz. Abt. 503) : 103

according to what i did read in the past concerning Kurt Knispel, he was a bit like "Pappy Boyington", the character played by Robert Conrad in the TV serie "Black Sheep Squadron" (aka Baa Baa Black Sheep).
Expert & brave when facing the enemy, but very indisciplined....with a ill-natured mood...

[Ostm63]

Maybe somebody ought to petition the German Govt. to award the RK posthumously! Can that be done? 168 destroyed tanks he should get the EL und S, too! Petition, anyone?

You are kidding ... right

[Wuerstenfuchs]

Remy was a maverick, I understand. I read what he sent out to people who asked for his autograph - which he FREELY gave! He was quite a soldier, and quite a guy!

[brant]

Another unsung soldier doing his best for his cause. I would have loved to hear some of my grandfather's stories had he survived the war. Thanks for the post.

[jeeplake]

you know,i spent 9 yrs in the infantry,and the best field soldiers just didnt make any friends when out of the field.i know i was one of them lol

[brant]

Perhaps Kurt was just your average get the job done kinda tanker. A guy who you knew you could count on but, had a side of being a Rebel of sorts. Perhaps frowned upon by higher ranked officers for his attitude but then again his recogition of his feats may have just fell though the cracks. One can imagine the hundreds of thousands of average soldiers whos duty was preformed above and beyond went un-noticed.

[wfrad]

Good soldiers in wartime - Bad prisoners in peacetime.
Many a good soldier is a bad civy only to be let loose when the proverbial hits the fan.

[zwerge]

Here is another picture of Knispel I found, there are not many pics of him published.

[M422A1]

With the long hair & beard he reminds me of the character Donald Sutherland played in "Kelly's Heroes".

Best Regards,
Mike