SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooyman, Geschützführer in 14.Kompanie (Panzerjäger) /
SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”, received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 February 1943. On 13 February 1943,
nineteen-year-old Mooyman, serving as a gunner (Richtschütze) with a
captured French PAK 97/38, performed one of the most remarkable feats of
individual bravery on the Eastern Front. His unit was dug in east of
Mga, a critical sector roughly 50 km southeast of Leningrad and close to
the frozen shores of Lake Ladoga. The Dutch and Norwegian volunteers of
the Legion, subordinated to Infanterie-Division 170 and XXVI.
Armeekorps, faced repeated Soviet assaults during the Red Army’s winter
offensives aimed at relieving pressure on Leningrad and smashing through
German lines toward the Volkhov River.
The day began with a massive Soviet armoured thrust. Waves of T-34 medium tanks, supported by infantry, rolled forward across the snow-covered fields and through narrow forest corridors that channelled the attack straight into the Dutch anti-tank positions. Mooyman’s gun crew opened fire at close range. With icy precision, the young Dutch gunner knocked out seven T-34s in the morning fighting alone. Shell after shell slammed into the Soviet tanks; some exploded in fireballs, others slewed sideways with tracks blown off or turrets jammed. The German and Dutch defensive fire, combined with Mooyman’s deadly accuracy, repelled the first wave.
During the engagement, however, his Geschützführer (gun commander) was killed by Soviet return fire. Without hesitation, Mooyman assumed command of the gun and its remaining crew, directing fire and loading himself when necessary. The position was now critically exposed.
As night fell over the snow-blanketed battlefield, the crew spotted movement in the darkness. Russian pioneers were silently digging in an anti-tank gun only a short distance in front of the Dutch lines, clearly intending to knock out Mooyman’s PAK at first light. Realising the mortal danger to his comrades, Mooyman grabbed a bundle of explosives (a bursting charge), crawled forward alone through the freezing snow under the cover of darkness, and placed the charge directly on the enemy gun. He detonated it in a thunderous explosion that destroyed the Russian PAK and its crew, eliminating the immediate threat without a single shot being fired from his own weapon.
The next morning and into the afternoon of 13 February, the Soviets launched yet another ferocious armoured assault. Again the T-34s came rumbling forward, engines roaring, guns barking. Mooyman’s gun crew, now under his direct leadership, met them head-on. In the renewed fighting he personally accounted for six more T-34s, bringing his tally for that single day to thirteen enemy tanks destroyed. The cumulative pressure from the four Dutch anti-tank guns in the sector helped shatter the Soviet attack; the surviving T-34s withdrew, leaving the snow littered with burning wrecks.
In just a few days of combat around Mga (including an earlier engagement in early February where Mooyman had already destroyed four T-34s), his gun was credited with nineteen Soviet tanks. For the decisive actions of 13 February 1943, which single-handedly helped hold the line against overwhelming odds, Mooyman was recommended for the highest German decoration.
On 20 February 1943, barely a week later, he became the first non-German soldier in the entire Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS to receive the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. The award was formally presented for “the destruction of thirteen enemy tanks in a single day of combat while taking command of the gun after the death of its leader and personally eliminating an enemy anti-tank gun at night.” He also received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (4 February 1943) and Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (10 February 1943) in rapid succession for the same fighting.
By the end of his service on the Eastern Front, Mooyman was officially credited with twenty-three tank kills. Nazi propaganda immediately turned the teenage Dutch volunteer into a poster boy for foreign recruitment: newspapers, magazines, and newsreels across occupied Europe carried his story, and Heinrich Himmler personally congratulated him.
These vivid details come directly from contemporary unit accounts and post-war historical compilations. The snow, the close-range duels, the silent night crawl with explosives, and the relentless Soviet tank waves all combined to create one of the most dramatic single-soldier anti-tank epics of the war, forever linking the name Gerardus Leonardus Mooyman with the first foreign Ritterkreuz.
The day began with a massive Soviet armoured thrust. Waves of T-34 medium tanks, supported by infantry, rolled forward across the snow-covered fields and through narrow forest corridors that channelled the attack straight into the Dutch anti-tank positions. Mooyman’s gun crew opened fire at close range. With icy precision, the young Dutch gunner knocked out seven T-34s in the morning fighting alone. Shell after shell slammed into the Soviet tanks; some exploded in fireballs, others slewed sideways with tracks blown off or turrets jammed. The German and Dutch defensive fire, combined with Mooyman’s deadly accuracy, repelled the first wave.
During the engagement, however, his Geschützführer (gun commander) was killed by Soviet return fire. Without hesitation, Mooyman assumed command of the gun and its remaining crew, directing fire and loading himself when necessary. The position was now critically exposed.
As night fell over the snow-blanketed battlefield, the crew spotted movement in the darkness. Russian pioneers were silently digging in an anti-tank gun only a short distance in front of the Dutch lines, clearly intending to knock out Mooyman’s PAK at first light. Realising the mortal danger to his comrades, Mooyman grabbed a bundle of explosives (a bursting charge), crawled forward alone through the freezing snow under the cover of darkness, and placed the charge directly on the enemy gun. He detonated it in a thunderous explosion that destroyed the Russian PAK and its crew, eliminating the immediate threat without a single shot being fired from his own weapon.
The next morning and into the afternoon of 13 February, the Soviets launched yet another ferocious armoured assault. Again the T-34s came rumbling forward, engines roaring, guns barking. Mooyman’s gun crew, now under his direct leadership, met them head-on. In the renewed fighting he personally accounted for six more T-34s, bringing his tally for that single day to thirteen enemy tanks destroyed. The cumulative pressure from the four Dutch anti-tank guns in the sector helped shatter the Soviet attack; the surviving T-34s withdrew, leaving the snow littered with burning wrecks.
In just a few days of combat around Mga (including an earlier engagement in early February where Mooyman had already destroyed four T-34s), his gun was credited with nineteen Soviet tanks. For the decisive actions of 13 February 1943, which single-handedly helped hold the line against overwhelming odds, Mooyman was recommended for the highest German decoration.
On 20 February 1943, barely a week later, he became the first non-German soldier in the entire Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS to receive the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. The award was formally presented for “the destruction of thirteen enemy tanks in a single day of combat while taking command of the gun after the death of its leader and personally eliminating an enemy anti-tank gun at night.” He also received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (4 February 1943) and Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (10 February 1943) in rapid succession for the same fighting.
By the end of his service on the Eastern Front, Mooyman was officially credited with twenty-three tank kills. Nazi propaganda immediately turned the teenage Dutch volunteer into a poster boy for foreign recruitment: newspapers, magazines, and newsreels across occupied Europe carried his story, and Heinrich Himmler personally congratulated him.
These vivid details come directly from contemporary unit accounts and post-war historical compilations. The snow, the close-range duels, the silent night crawl with explosives, and the relentless Soviet tank waves all combined to create one of the most dramatic single-soldier anti-tank epics of the war, forever linking the name Gerardus Leonardus Mooyman with the first foreign Ritterkreuz.
SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooyman (Geschützführer in 14.Panzerjäger-Kompanie / SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”) with his PaK comrades in the Ritterkreuz award ceremony, February 1943. Photo by SS-Kriegsberichter Reinsberg.
SS-Brigadeführer Fritz von Scholz (Kommandeur SS-Freiwilligen-Legion
“Nederland”) congratulates SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooyman (Geschützführer in 14.Panzerjäger-Kompanie /
SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”) for his Ritterkreuz award, February 1943. Photo by SS-Kriegsberichter Reinsberg.
SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooyman (Geschützführer in 14.Panzerjäger-Kompanie / SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”) proudly posing with his newly awarded Ritterkreuz, February 1943. Photo by SS-Kriegsberichter Reinsberg.
SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooyman (Geschützführer in 14.Panzerjäger-Kompanie / SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”) proudly posing with his newly awarded Ritterkreuz in front of a captured French PAK 97/38 that he used during the action in the previous weeks.
Arrival at the Soldatenheim (soldiers' home), where the comradeship evening in honor of the new Ritterkreuzträger (Knight's Cross recipient), SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooymann, is taking place. In the back seat with Mooyman is SS-Brigadeführer Fritz von Scholz (Kommandeur SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”). The picture was taken in February 1943 by SS-Kriegsberichter Reinsberg.
SS-Brigadeführer Fritz von Scholz (Kommandeur SS-Freiwilligen-Legion
“Nederland”) invites SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooyman (Geschützführer in 14.Panzerjäger-Kompanie /
SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”) to a social evening at the soldatenheim (soldiers' home). The picture was taken in February 1943 by SS-Kriegsberichter Reinsberg.
SS-Brigadeführer Fritz von Scholz (Kommandeur SS-Freiwilligen-Legion
“Nederland”), proposes a toast to the first Ritterkreuzträger (Knight's Cross recipient) from the Germanic countries, SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooymann. The picture was taken in February 1943 by SS-Kriegsberichter Reinsberg.
SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooyman (Geschützführer in 14.Panzerjäger-Kompanie / SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”) reporting about his action to SS-Brigadeführer Fritz von Scholz (Kommandeur SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”), at a social evening at the soldatenheim (soldiers' home). The picture was taken in February 1943 by SS-Kriegsberichter Reinsberg.
SS-Sturmmann Gerardus Mooyman (Geschützführer in 14.Panzerjäger-Kompanie / SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”) reporting about his action to SS-Brigadeführer Fritz von Scholz (Kommandeur SS-Freiwilligen-Legion “Nederland”), at a social evening at the soldatenheim (soldiers' home). The picture was taken in February 1943 by SS-Kriegsberichter Reinsberg.
Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 654 - 17 March 1943
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