List of Knight's Cross recipients of the SS Heavy Panzer Battalions

The SS Heavy Panzer Battalions were battalions of Tiger tanks and were originally intended to have been one Tiger tank Battalion for each SS Panzer Corps. The plans for the formation of the 1st SS Panzer Corps and its heavy battalion were put into effect at the end of July 1943.^[1] They were formed by expanding the three Tiger tank companies of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd SS Panzer Regiments.^{[2] [3]}

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 ^[4] 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 ^[5] of June 3, 1940. In 1941 two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 ^[6] 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 ^[7] of December 29, 1944 concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.

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:

• Knights Cross
• Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
• Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and swords
• Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
• Knights Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords

• Michael Wittmann, Hauptsturmführer, 101 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, 22 June 1944 ^[8]

Knight's Cross with Oakleaves

• Michael Wittmann, Untersturmführer 13 (Heavy) Company, 1 SS Panzer Regiment, 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 30 January 1944

^[8]

Knight's Cross

SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 102

• Paul Egger, Obersturmführer, 1 Company, 502 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, 28 April 1945
• Kurt Hartrampf, Sturmbannführer, 502 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, 28 April 1945
• Alois Kalss, Obersturmführer, 1 Company, 502 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, 23 August 1944 ^[8]

SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 103

• Karl Brommann, Untersturmführer, 1 Company, 503 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 29 April 1945
• Friedrich Herzig, Sturmbannführer, 503 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, 29 April 1945
• Karl Körner, Hauptscharführer, 2 Company, 503 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, 29 April 1945
• Oskar Schäfer, Untersturmführer 3 Company, 503 SS Heavy Panzer, 29 April 1945 ^[9]

13s/SS Panzer Regiment 1, 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler

• Heinrich Kling, Hauptsturmführer, Commander, 13 (Heavy) Company, 1 SS Panzer Regiment, 23 February 1944
• Michael Wittmann Untersturmführer, 13 (Heavy) Company, 1 SS Panzer Regiment, 14 January 1944
• Franz Staudegger, Unterscharführer, 13 (Heavy) Company, 1 SS Panzer Regiment, 10 July 1943
• Balthasar Woll, Rottenführer 13 (Heavy) Company, 1 SS Panzer Regiment, 16 January 1944 (Tank gunner for Michael Wittman)
• Helmut Wendorff, Untersturmführer, 13 (Heavy) Company, 1 SS Panzer Regiment, 12 February 1944

^[8][10]

See also

• 101 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion
• 102 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion
• 103 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion
• German heavy tank battalions

Footnotes

References

• SEEMEN, Gerhard von: Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945. Podzun-Pallas, 1976.
• SCHERZER, Veit: Knight's Cross Recipients 1939 - 1945 (Paperback) by Enid Blyton, 1999