Kurt Knispel
Kurt Knispel
- Kurt Knispel is credited with 168 confirmed tanks destroyed as Commander/Gunner
- Some sources speaking of possibly as many as 205 kills
- He is credited with knocking out a T-34 at 2000 meters
- Destroyed over 70 enemy anti-tank guns, and countless bunkers and field works
That is Knispel (right) with his tank commander Hans Fendsack. Fendsack fell in Normandy. Obviously, they were great friends, a friendship forged in blood and steel. After that Kurt served with Commander Alfred Rubbel. Kurt become ultimately the commander of his own Tiger Two.
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Knispel also personally acquired a reputation for being uninterested in claiming credit that wasn't absolutely certain and gladly deferring to others for kills that likely were his. He was a great guy to have in your outfit.
It is reported that the Tiger crews were the handsomest of the entire army. This however could not be confirmed.
Regardless the Tiger crews were, by far, confirmed the "best of the best" tankers in the entire army.
Major Battles that Kurt Knispel fought in from 1941 to 1945.
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The Most Horrific War of All Time: Russia vs. Germany
The war between Germany and the Soviet Union officially began in late June 1941, although the threat of conflict had loomed since the early 1930s. Germany and the USSR launched a joint war against Poland in September of 1939, which the Soviets followed up with invasions of Finland, Romania, and the Baltic states across the following year.
After Germany crushed France, and determined that it could not easily drive Great Britain from the war, the Wehrmacht turned its attention back to the East. Following the conquests of Greece and Yugolavia in the spring of 1941, Berlin prepared its most ambitious campaign; the destruction of Soviet Russia. The ensuing war would result in a staggering loss of human life, and in the final destruction of the Nazi regime.
https://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-most-horrific-war-all-time-russia-vs-germany-14026 e: https://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-most-horrific-war-all-time-russia-vs-germany-14026
You can tell that when Knispel (right) meant business, he meant business.
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"As a tank commander, he felt like a fish in water, sometimes even alone resisting the superior forces of the enemy, to give his unit more opportunities for successful advancement or retreat. Alfred Rubbel, one of the first Commanders of Knispel, argued that Kurt never abandoned his comrades even in the most difficult situations. "
Loyalty and Dedication to those around him was burned into his DNA. In reality his men actually had absolute trust in Kurt Knispel.
Panzer 4 (IV) tank. This was the first tank Kurt Knispel was assigned. It was during "Operation Barbarossa" in June, 1941.
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For the first time on the front Knispel was in August1941 He served as a gunner for Lieutenant Helman on a Pz IV tank during Operation Barbarossa and participated in the invasion of Soviet territory as part of the Third Panzer Group of the 57th Army Corps commanded by 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, and also in the Caucasus under the command of Eberhard von Mackensen.
After basic training, Knispel began training in Pz I, II and IV tanks