.jpg)
The Nahkampfspange, known in English as the Close Combat Clasp, was a highly esteemed German military award instituted on 25 November 1942 by Adolf Hitler to recognize soldiers of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS who had taken part in fierce hand-to-hand fighting at close quarters, with primary eligibility for infantry but also extending to other Heer units, Waffen-SS formations, Luftwaffe ground forces, and Fallschirmjäger paratroopers. It was awarded in three grades - the bronze I. Stufe after fifteen days of close combat, the silver II. Stufe after thirty days, and the gold III. Stufe after fifty days - with close combat days counted from 1 December 1942 onward and retroactive credit granted for earlier Eastern Front service such as eight months equaling five days, twelve months ten days, and eighteen months fifteen days, plus discretionary reductions to ten, twenty, and forty days respectively for soldiers who had been severely wounded in such fighting and could no longer complete the full requirement. Designed by Wilhelm Ernst Peekhaus of Berlin, the clasp was a long, slightly curved die-cast piece measuring about 9.7 cm in length and 2.6 cm in height, featuring a central national emblem of an eagle with swastika surmounting crossed bayonet and hand grenade, flanked by sprays of oak leaves with sunburst rays, manufactured initially in tombac and later in zinc with appropriate bronze, silver, or gold plating, and worn on the upper left breast above the ribbon bar with only the highest grade displayed. Approximately 36,400 bronze, 9,500 silver, and 631 gold clasps were issued overall, the rare gold version frequently presented personally by Hitler or high-ranking officials in a special black presentation case and often regarded by German infantry as more prestigious than the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes; from 4 August 1944 only verified front-line combat counted toward the award, while partisan fighting was redirected to the Bandenkampfabzeichen. A denazified version without the eagle and swastika was re-authorized in 1957 for post-war veteran wear.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEER
Major Joseph Rhein (1917-2005), born on 8 May 1917 in Duisburg in the Rhine Province and who died on 15 February 2005 in Linz, Rhineland-Palatinate, was a German Heer officer who served throughout the Second World War on the Eastern Front, where he rose through the ranks to Hauptmann and eventually Major while commanding troops in Grenadier-Regiment 530 of the 299. Infanterie-Division. As Kommandeur I. / Grenadier-Regiment 530 he demonstrated outstanding leadership and personal bravery during intense defensive and counterattack operations against superior Soviet forces in early 1944, actions that directly resulted in his award of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 23 February 1944. Earlier recognition for his service in the same unit included the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold awarded on 21 April 1943 as Hauptmann in Grenadier-Regiment 530 and the Ehrenblattspange des Heeres und Waffen-SS conferred on 17 February 1944, alongside the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse, Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse, Nahkampfspange in Bronze, Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Silber, and Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Silber. Following the war Rhein continued a military career in the Bundeswehr, attaining the rank of Major and serving actively from 3 December 1956 until his retirement on 30 September 1975.
Hauptmann Friedrich Adrario (1918-2011) was an Austrian officer who served as a Captain in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War and later attained the rank of Generalmajor in the postwar Bundesheer. After early service in reconnaissance and anti-tank units on the Eastern Front, where he earned the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold as Leutnant in the 4. Kompanie of Radfahr-Bataillon 402 and other awards including the Nahkampfspange in Bronze, he was promoted to Hauptmann in July 1944 and appointed commander of the Panzerjäger-Abteilung 200 of the 21. Panzer-Division then engaged in the desperate defensive fighting around Caen in Normandy. Equipped with Jagdpanzer III and IV as well as powerful 8,8-cm Geschütze, his unit repeatedly countered heavily supported British and American armored assaults and, in the course of July and August 1944, destroyed at least 116 enemy tanks together with several Pak guns and other vehicles; these outstanding anti-tank successes, for which the formation became known as the Abteilung Adrario, earned its commander the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 December 1944, with Adrario being named in the Wehrmachtbericht, while he also reached the threshold for the Nahkampfspange in Silber. Shortly afterward he was transferred to command the Panzerjäger elements of the 272. Volksgrenadier-Division, continuing in combat until he was wounded and captured by American forces near the end of the war.
Hauptmann der Reserve Friedrich Anding, born on 26 June 1915 in Göttingen and deceased on 7 February 1996 in Radevormwald, was a German officer who served with distinction in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War, particularly as an anti-tank specialist renowned for his close-combat destruction of enemy armored vehicles using Panzerfausts. Initially enlisting in the 14. (Panzerabwehr) Kompanie of Infanterie-Regiment 82, he transferred with the unit into the formation that became the elite Panzergrenadier-Division "Großdeutschland", progressing through the ranks from Gefreiter in 1938 to Leutnant der Reserve by 1943 while serving in various anti-tank roles across the Western, Balkan, and Eastern campaigns. As Adjutant der Panzerjäger-Abteilung "Großdeutschland" / Panzergrenadier-Division "Großdeutschland", Anding earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 8 May 1945 for his extraordinary actions during the night of 14/15 April 1945 in the tank battle around Nettelkamp and Stadensen near Uelzen; after his unit withdrew toward Stadensen and encountered fierce resistance from the Glasgow Highlanders of the 227th Scottish Brigade supported by Churchill tanks, artillery, and anti-tank guns, Anding, along with Major Walle and Obergefreiter Stützle, dismounted from their vehicle loaded with Panzerfausts and engaged the enemy in bitter close-quarters night fighting, personally destroying six enemy tanks and five armoured cars (noted in records as likely including numerous Bren carriers mistaken for or conflated with full tanks) through individual handheld assaults that helped disrupt the British defense and inflicted significant losses despite the overwhelming odds. A triple recipient of the Panzervernichtungsabzeichen in Gold and holder of numerous other decorations including the Nahkampfspange in Silber, Eisernes Kreuz I. and II. Klasse, and Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen, Anding survived the war heavily wounded, later serving in the Bundeswehr as a Hauptmann der Reserve before his death.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WAFFEN-SS
SS-Sturmbannführer Adolf Pittschellis (1914-1945) was a German officer in the Waffen-SS who served throughout World War II primarily with the 3. SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf", beginning his career in the Allgemeine SS and NSDAP in November 1932, attending the Junker Schule Braunschweig in 1936, and progressing through artillery roles such as Chef of the 1. Batterie of the SS-Artillerie-Regiment 3 and Kommandeur of the IV. (schwere) Abteilung before taking command of the SS-Sturmgeschützabteilung and then the SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 3 in 1944; he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 23 August 1944 as Kommandeur of the SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 3 for his leadership on 19 July 1944 near Kielbaski on the Niemen front, where he assembled a Kampfgruppe of seven Sturmgeschützen and two Infanterie-Kompanien and was ordered to block the enemy supply bridges over the Niemen that sustained Soviet forces on the western bank while pushing those forces northwest; despite heavy pressure and determined enemy resistance he fought his way north from Kielbaski, detached one Infanterie-Kompanie to seal the vital bridge, and then continued the advance on his own initiative through darkness and difficult terrain toward Sopockinie, where his personal example and fearless attacking spirit inspired the exhausted troops to crush a strong enemy Pakfront, throw the defenders from the commanding heights on the eastern village edge southeast of Spockinie, and secure the settlement by 00:30 hours, thereby cutting off the rearward connections of three Guards cavalry divisions and two rifle divisions, preventing further Soviet reinforcements toward Augustow, and capturing large quantities of weapons and war materiel, actions for which his heroic devotion to duty and decisive success earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes; he was killed in action on 26 January 1945 near Vereb, Hungary, while commanding the SS-Panzer-Regiment 3 during Operation Konrad 3, the third German relief attempt for the encircled Budapest.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_Combat_Clasp
No comments:
Post a Comment