During World War 2, the Wehrmacht sent messages
over the radio singling out a few men out of the millions serving, and it was the highest
honor any soldier of any rank could receive. Throughout the entire conflict,
only one non-commissioned officer of the German tank arm was named in the
Wehrmacht Radio communique: Kurt Knispel. Although he was the best Panzer
ace, with a reported 168 tank kills, he never received the Knight's Cross of the
Iron Cross despite being recommended four times. Knispel had a knack for breaking the
rules, sported long hair and a beard, and had a particular disdain
for abusive SS officers, which earned him more than a
few enemies within the ranks. Even so, he is widely considered the
most successful tank ace of World War 2. And yet, the affable rulebreaker is also
the most forgotten Panzer ace of them all… A Prodigy Into Action When Sudetenland, today
part of the Czech Republic, was occupied by Nazi Germany on October 1,
1938, Kurt Knispel was only 17 years old. From a young age, Knispel became enamored with
the automobile industry and loved working on mechanized machines and vehicles. Then, in
1940, he joined the Heer Wehrmacht forces. Knispel started his basic training at the
Panzer Replacement Training Battalion in Sagan, Lower Silesia, and his favorite lessons
were those related to armored warfare in some of Germany's most impressive
tanks, like the Panzer I, II, and IV. The young man was then transferred to
a field unit of the 12 Panzer Division, where he completed his training as a loader
and gunner on the Panzer IV. And while his superiors immediately noticed his extraordinary
abilities as a gunner, Knispel remained a loader. As part of the Wehrmacht's Army Group Center, the 12 Panzer Division joined the battle
against Soviet Russia in June of 1941 as part of Operation Barbarossa, when
Nazi Germany invaded the territory. By July, still in Soviet territory and with
Knispel's Panzer tank damaged beyond repair, his unit was transferred to Army Group north,
and the men set course towards Leningrad. That is when Knispel and his Panzer IV
tank were suddenly hit by a Soviet shell. While the entire crew jumped out of the
hit tank, Kurt Knispel stayed inside. Determined, he looked through his periscope,
spotted the enemy’s T34 tank, and destroyed it. It would become the first tank to be
knocked out by Knispel's sharp eye. After months of fighting, Leningrad remained
in Soviet hands. During the operation, the Panzer Regiment 29 suffered dearly, and
the 9 Company was merged with Knispel's 3. Knispel then met Obergefreiter Alfred Rubbel, a fearless tank commander who
became close friends with him. According to Rubbel, Knispel never abandoned his
comrades, even in the most challenging situations. Not On My Watch On May 17, 1942, Knispel and
his unit returned to Germany. Upon arriving at the Motherland,
a brand new Panzer IV tank, installed with a long-barrelled 75-millimeter
gun, was awaiting both Rubbel and Knispel. During a short leave, the men learned that their
unit would be attached to the III Abteilung, Panzer Regiment 4 of the 13 Panzer Division. While the majority of the newly reformed
unit was already on its way to Ukraine, Rubbel and Knispel had to wait a few
days to get used to their new vehicle. Then, on their way to their latest mission,
their train was stopped in Krakow, Poland. Out of nowhere, Knispel heard cries and yelling
in Russian and immediately rushed to the scene, where he found a Soviet prisoner being
mistreated and abused by a Schutzstaffel guard. With a pistol in hand and a furrowed brow, Knispel
intervened and got into an altercation with the SS guard. Soon, the outspoken young soldier fell out
of grace with the German military police and army. And while his commander would constantly stick
up for him during his service, Knispel would be repeatedly denied medals and recognition,
not to mention moving through the ranks. Truth is, Knispel was a born rulebreaker. With tattoos, a goatee, longer-than-allowed
hair, and a strong distaste for injustice, he was not just another soldier and
clearly stood out from the crowd. Even so, he was well-liked by his comrades,
and his skills were never matched. Road To Kursk Knispel and the rest of his unit
arrived in Ukraine on August 4, 1942, joining the Panzer Regiment 4
in action in the Caucasus mountains, a small region between the
Black and the Caspian Seas. During the battles there, Knispel
added 12 more tanks to his kill list, finally earning some official recognition, getting
promoted to Unteroffizier and receiving the Iron Cross second class. He was also among the few
lucky soldiers to man the new Tiger I tank. After a Christmas break, Knispel was placed in the 1 Kompanie of the Schwere Panzer
Abteilung 503 heavy tank battalions. Then, in the spring of 1943, Knispel and
his new unit set course towards the east to participate in Operation Zitadelle.
Also known as the Battle of Kursk, the operation was one of the largest and
most significant tank battles in history. One Hell of a Gunner Beginning on July 5, 1943, Knispel and
the Heavy Tank Battalion 503 were tasked with opening up the roads for the 6 Panzer
division on the right flank of the massive Operation Zitadelle, and he successfully
eliminated several anti-tank positions. Knispel was on a roll. Two days later, he managed to destroy a Soviet
T34 almost a mile away in a single shot, destroying seven more the next day,
with a few as far as 1.25 miles. Then, when his platoon bumped
into a Soviet column of 14 tanks, the Germans opened fire and
destroyed 11 in minutes. Knispel broke his own record on July 16, when
his platoon was tasked with helping a cavalry brigade from falling into Soviet hands and he
destroyed an enemy tank almost three miles away. For the next several months, the
503 Heavy tank battalion helped out several German units from
being decimated by the Russians. During a nighttime mission, Knispel
was positioned as a tank commander around Osswetz when he heard Soviet
tanks closing in on their location. Then, when a third Tiger joined
the party, all hell broke loose. During the kerfuffle, the German commanders lit the sky while trying to set the
Soviet tanks ablaze. However, the battle was over when the third Tiger was
hit by a T34 and Knispel's engine overheated. Ultimately, Knispel destroyed a whopping
27 tanks during the Kursk campaign. And for his incredible actions, he
received the Iron Cross First class. More! More! As September of 1943 came to a close,
Knispel had racked up 80 downed enemy tanks. In January, Knispel and the 34 Tiger tanks of
the 503 Heavy Tank battalion were integrated into the Armored Kampfgruppe Bäke and tasked with
liberating men trapped at the Cherkassy pocket. During the mission, the Tiger group took
out an astonishing 267 Soviet Tanks. By spring, Kurt Knispel was destroying
one Soviet tank after another, and his count surpassed 100 kills. He would
then receive the German cross in Gold. Days before the Allied invasion
of Normandy in June of 1944, Knispel and his men returned to Germany, where
they received the brand new King Tiger tanks, and the 503 were immediately sent to France
to deal with the unstoppable Allied threat. Despite massive success on the Eastern front,
Knispel only destroyed two Allied tanks in Normandy, most likely because of the different
nature of combat and the battlefield conditions. Then, as the battalion was sent back to Germany
for one more reformation near the end of August, Knispel was granted a visit to his hometown. Even so, he was back on the battlefield by
October, and he and his unit were sent to the outskirts of Sconemedi, Hungary,
where he secured his 126th hit. His commander, Hauptmann Dr. Dienst-Körber,
recommended him for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, one of four times Knispel’s
commanders did so throughout the war to recognize his outstanding courage, situational
awareness, and superb handling of weaponry. However, he would never receive
the prestigious award and would become an Ace of Aces without the Knight's
Cross of the Iron Cross under his belt. Fall From Grace By 1945, the Germans’ stance in the war had
alarmingly worsened. In Slovakia and Hungary, the Tigers of the 503 Heavy tank battalion
suffered dearly, and by April, only 8 of the 34 mighty German tanks remained, including Knispel's.
Even so, he would continue to rack up kills. As the end of the month approached, the
remnants of the 503 were sent to Vlasatice, a town between Brno and Vienna, and
Knispel was promoted to Staff Sergeant. He then departed for his last battle on April 28. Knispel secured his 168th kill in
German-occupied Czechoslovakia. By then, however, he was being overwhelmed
by Soviet armor. Immobilized and encircled, his Tiger II received a decisive blow, and the
legendary Kurt Knispel was mortally wounded. The 23-year-old soldier lost his life
only a week before the war ended. Almost 70 years later, Czech
archaeologists discovered 16 German soldiers buried on the
church grounds of Vrbovec. Identified thanks to his dog tags, the Ace of
Aces found his final resting place in 2014. With 126 victories as a gunner and 42 as a tank
commander, Kurt Knispel went down in history as one of the most successful ace tankers of the war.
However, the soldier's name never became popular, maybe because he didn’t get to write a memoir or
because he fought for the wrong side of history. Even so, his talent could not be denied. Thank you for watching Dark Docs!
For more compelling military content, check out the rest of our Dark Documentaries
channels, where we delve into the fiercest battles in modern history and the groundbreaking
technology that came with them. Stay tuned!
Yeah, Knispel is a much better candidate than fucking Wittmann.
Hopefully the same day we get a song about 'mad' Jack Churchill
Soon…