List of Knight's Cross recipients 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

The ultimate expression of the award: the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, awarded only to Hans-Ulrich Rudel.
Awarded by Nazi Germany
Type Neck order
Eligibility Military personnel
Awarded for Awarded to holders of the Iron Cross to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership
Campaign World War II
Status Obsolete
Statistics
Established 1 September 1939
First awarded 30 September 1939
Last awarded 11 May 1945 / 17 June 1945[a]
Precedence
Next (higher) Grand Cross of the Iron Cross
Next (lower) Iron Cross 1st Class

Divisional Emblem 5th SS Division Wiking

The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking. was a German Waffen SS division recruited from foreign volunteers. During the course of World War II, the division progressed from a motorised infantry, Regiment formation to a full-fledged Panzer division. It saw action on the Eastern Front during the war. After the success of the Waffen SS during the early war campaigns in Poland and the West, it was decided to expand the number of Waffen SS divisions. Due to the influx of foreign volunteers, particularly from Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway, a decision was made to form a volunteer division. This unit, originally organized as the Nordische Division (Nr.5), was to be made up of Nordic volunteers mixed with ethnic German Waffen-SS veterans. To this end, the Germania motorised infantry regiment from the SS-Division Verfügungstruppe was removed from the division in late 1940. In December, Germania was dissolved and the troops were used as a basis for the formation of a new SS motorised formation, now to be designated SS-Division (mot.) Germania. During its formative period, the division's name was changed again, to SS-Division (mot.) Wiking. in January 1941. The division was formed around three motorised infantry regiments: Germania, formed mostly from ethnic Germans; Westland, consisting mainly of Dutch and Flemish volunteers; and Nordland, composed mostly of Danes, Swedes and Norwegians. Command of the newly formed division was given to SS-Brigadeführer Felix Steiner, the former commander of the Verfügungstruppe Deutschland Regiment.[1]

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 [2] of September 1, 1939 instituted the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As the war progressed some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 [3] of June 3, 1940. In 1941 two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 [4] of September 28, 1941 introduced the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. At the end of 1944 the last and final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 [5] of December 29, 1944 concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.

Contents

Prerequisites

To qualify for the Knight's Cross, a soldier had to already hold the 1939 Iron Cross First Class, though the Iron Cross I Class was awarded concurrently with the Knight's Cross in rare cases. Unit commanders could also be awarded the medal for exemplary conduct by the unit as a whole.

Grades

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was divided into five grades, excluding the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross:

Knight's Cross with Diamonds

Knight's Cross with Swords

Knight's Cross with Oakleaves

Knight’s Cross

HQ Staff

SS Panzer Regiment 5 Wiking

SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 9 Germania

SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 10 Westland

SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Nordland

(assigned until march 1943)

SS Panzer Grenadier Battalion Narwa

(III./Nordland until 06/43)

5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien

SS Panzer Artillery Regiment 5 Wiking

SS Panzerjäger Battalion 5 Wiking

SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 5 Wiking

SS Panzer Pionier Battalion 5 Wiking

SS Flak Battalion 5 Wiking

Footnotes

  1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ^ @ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 1573; 1 September 1939
  3. ^ @ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 849; 3 June 1940
  4. ^ @ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 613; 28 September 1941
  5. ^ @ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11; 29 December 1944
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "axishistory". http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=9406. 

References

Recipients
(Living)
Luftwaffe
Oak Leaves, Swords or Diamonds recipients · 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler · 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich · 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf · 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division · 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking · 6th SS Gebigs Division Nord · 7th SS Volunteer Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen · 8th Cavalry Division Florian Geyer · 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen · 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg · 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division Norland · 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend · 13th Waffen Mountain Division (1st Croatian) · 15th Waffen Grenadier Division (1st Latvian) · 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer SS · 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen · 18th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Horst Wessel · 19th Waffen Grenadier Division (2nd Latvian) · 20th Waffen Grenadier Division (1st Estonian) · 22nd SS Cavalry Division Maria Theresia · 23rd SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nederland · 28th SS Volunteer Genadier Division Wallonien · 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne · 1 SS Infantry Brigade  · SS Fortress Regiment 1  · SS Heavy Panzer Battalions