Ritterkreuzträger of 16. Panzer-Division

The 16. Panzer-Division, formed in November 1940 from the veteran 16th Infantry Division in Wehrkreis VI with its garrison initially in Münster and later Wuppertal, emerged as one of the Wehrmacht's premier armoured formations under the command of Generalmajor Hans-Valentin Hube, incorporating the 2. Panzer-Regiment from the 1. Panzer-Division and standard elements including the 64. and 79. Panzergrenadier-Regimenter, 16. Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment, reconnaissance, engineer, and anti-tank battalions. Deployed to the southern sector for Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, it spearheaded advances through Ukraine, distinguishing itself in the Battle of Brody where it helped destroy hundreds of Soviet tanks, the massive encirclement at Kiev that netted over 600,000 prisoners, and subsequent drives toward the Sea of Azov and Kharkov, enduring harsh winter defensive fighting and anti-partisan operations around Stalino while maintaining high combat effectiveness through aggressive combined-arms tactics. In summer 1942 as part of Case Blue, the division thrust toward Stalingrad, reaching the Volga River north of the city on 23 August and anchoring the northern flank, but it suffered catastrophic attrition, reduced to about 4,000 men by mid-November; caught in Operation Uranus, most of the division was trapped in the Stalingrad pocket, where it was virtually annihilated by February 1943, with its final commander Generalleutnant Günther von Angern committing suicide upon surrender. Reformed in Brittany in March 1943 from survivors and new recruits, the rebuilt 16. Panzer-Division deployed to Italy in June, fighting tenaciously against the Allied landings at Salerno under Generalmajor Rudolf Sieckenius - inflicting heavy casualties despite naval gunfire losses - before participating in the defensive retreat up the peninsula until November. Transferred back to the Eastern Front, it engaged in mobile operations across the southern sector, contributing to the relief attempts at the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket in early 1944 and breaking out of the Kamenets-Podolsky encirclement as part of the 1. Panzer-Armee, then conducting rearguard actions during the retreat through Poland, anti-partisan sweeps, and final battles in Silesia and Czechoslovakia. By May 1945, fragmented elements surrendered to Soviet and American forces in Czechoslovakia after desperate efforts to reach Western lines, having fought on nearly every major front with extraordinary resilience but at the cost of repeated near-destruction and heavy personnel losses.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube (29 October 1890 – 21 April 1944) was a highly decorated German commander renowned for his leadership of armoured forces throughout World War II, rising from command of the 16. Panzer-Division to Oberbefehlshaber of the 1. Panzer-Armee despite having lost his left arm in World War I combat at Verdun. As Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the 16. Panzer-Division during Operation Barbarossa in 1941, he earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 1 August for a decisive breakthrough near Stary-Konstantynow, where he halted powerful Soviet tank, artillery, and infantry advances northwest of the town through aggressive armoured thrusts and resolute defense. He received the Eichenlaub on 16 January 1942 as the 62nd recipient for his division’s critical role in the capture of Nikolajew and the encirclement battle of Kiev. Promoted to General der Panzertruppe and commanding the XIV. Panzer-Korps at Stalingrad, Hube was awarded the Schwerter on 21 December 1942 as the 22nd recipient for his bold advance to the Volga north of the city and tenacious defense against repeated Soviet counterattacks amid Operation Uranus. Later transferred to the Mediterranean, he masterfully commanded Gruppe Hube in Sicily during Operation Husky, organizing the Etna Line defense and successful evacuation of most German forces to the mainland, followed by determined resistance at Salerno. Recalled to the Eastern Front as commander of the 1. Panzer-Armee, he orchestrated the dramatic breakout of the “Wandering Pocket” from the Kamenets-Podolsky encirclement in March–April 1944, extricating roughly 200,000 troops despite being surrounded by superior Soviet forces, actions for which Hitler personally awarded him the Brillanten on 20 April 1944 as the 13th recipient—along with promotion to Generaloberst—before Hube perished the next day in a Heinkel He 111 air crash near Obersalzberg. Known affectionately as “der Mensch” or “Papa Hube,” he exemplified frontline leadership and tactical brilliance across Poland, France, the Soviet Union, and Italy.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Panzer_Division

Bio of Generalleutnant Dietrich von Müller (1891-1961)

Full name: Dietrich Ernst-August von Müller
Nickname: None known

Date of Birth: 16 September 1891 - Malchow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin (German Empire)
Date of Death: 3 January 1961 - Hamburg (West Germany)

Religion: Protestant (Evangelical Lutheran)
Father: Generalmajor Emil von Müller
Mother: Elisabeth von Grolman
Siblings: Information not publicly detailed
Spouse: Maria-Theresia von Requisto
Children: Information not publicly detailed

Promotions
01 October 1910 Einjährig-Freiwilliger
17 June 1911 Leutnant
01 January 1934 Hauptmann
01 January 1939 Major
01 April 1941 Oberstleutnant
01 April 1942 Oberst
09 November 1944 Generalmajor
20 April 1945 Generalleutnant

Career:
01 October 1910: Entered service as Einjährig-Freiwilliger (one-year volunteer) in Jäger-Regiment Nr. 3, Lübben
Served on the Western Front; awarded both classes of the Iron Cross (1914–1916)
End of World War I: Leutnant in the staff of the Berlin Landwehr Inspectorate
01 April 1920: Discharged from Reichswehr
After military service, Müller studied agricultural sciences and worked in civilian positions until rejoining the Wehrmacht in the 1930s.
01 January 1934: Reentered Heer as Hauptmann, assigned to Infanterie-Regiment 5 (Stettin)
01 January 1939: Major, commanded II. Battalion, Infanterie-Regiment 5
20 August 1940: Commanding Officer, Infanterie-Ersatz-Regiment 5
01 April 1941: Promoted to Oberstleutnant
05 September 1941: Appointed Kommandeur, Schützen-Regiment 5 (later Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5)
21 February 1942: Awarded Deutsches Kreuz in Gold as Oberstleutnant commanding Schützen-Regiment 5
03 May 1942: Awarded Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight’s Cross) for leadership during battle near Pogostje
10 July 1942: Regiment renamed Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5; Müller remained commander
01 April 1942: Promoted to Oberst
16 August 1943: Awarded Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz (Oak Leaves) for actions near Bolchow
Mid-1943: Appointed Leiter der taktischen Lehrgänge (Head of tactical courses) at Panzertruppenschule II, Krampnitz
1943–1944: Conducted training at the Abteilungsführerschule in Paris and served on the staff of Generaloberst Heinz Guderian, Inspector of the Panzertruppen
14 August 1944: Appointed Kommandeur, 16. Panzer-Division
09 November 1944: Promoted to Generalmajor
20 February 1945: Awarded Schwerter zum Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub (Swords) as Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the 16. Panzer-Division for successful leadership during Soviet offensives near Kielce and Sulejów
20 April 1945: Promoted to Generalleutnant (officially after his capture)
19 April 1945: Dietrich von Müller was captured by Czech partisans near Hoštice Castle, Kroměříž District, Moravia, and handed over to the Soviet Red Army. He was convicted as a war criminal in the Soviet Union and held in captivity until his release in late 1955. He lived quietly in Hamburg until his death on 3 January 1961 at the age of 69.

Awards and Decorations:
1914 Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse (2 October 1914)
1914 Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse (19 August 1916)
Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz II. Klasse (19 September 1939)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz I. Klasse (31 October 1939)
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (21 February 1942)
Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42"
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes #982 (3 May 1942) as Oberstleutnant and Kommandeur Schützen-Regiment 5 / 12.Panzer-Division. He received the award for his actions on 16 February 1942 near Pogostje (also spelled Pogost'ye), during heavy winter fighting on the Eastern Front.
The Soviets launched a powerful assault with overwhelming force, including 43 tanks supporting infantry, aiming to shatter the German lines. The situation turned critical as enemy armor and troops threatened a major breakthrough that could endanger not only the division but the entire corps. Von Müller personally led his regiment in a determined defense. His troops held firm under intense pressure, repelling the attack through coordinated fire, close-quarters fighting, and resolute leadership. By preventing the penetration, they turned a near-disaster into a defensive victory, stabilizing the sector and averting a collapse.
In vivid terms: Snow-covered forests and frozen ground echoed with the roar of Soviet T-34s and KV tanks grinding forward, their tracks churning up ice and mud. Waves of Red Army infantry charged through blizzards, supported by artillery barrages that shook the earth. Von Müller's grenadiers, dug into hasty positions or fighting from half-tracks, poured machine-gun and anti-tank fire into the onslaught. When tanks breached forward lines, he directed close defense with Panzerfausts, grenades, and flanking fire from hidden positions. Amid the chaos of exploding shells, burning vehicles, and hand-to-hand combat in the snow, his calm command and personal example rallied his men, sealing the gap and forcing the Soviets to withdraw with heavy losses. (Note: His regiment was later redesignated Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 on 10 July 1942.)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #272 (16 August 1943) as Oberst and Kommandeur Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 / 12.Panzer-Division. He earned the award for his regiment's decisive intervention and leadership during counterattacks east of Bolchoff (Bolkhov) from 13–20 July 1943. This occurred amid the Soviet Oryol Offensive (part of the broader operations following the Battle of Kursk), where the division helped plug a dangerous penetration in the sector of the 208. Infanterie-Division.
Key moments included:
On 14 July, the regiment attacked astride the Asarowo-Kornilowo road to regain lost ground.
On 16 July, the I. Battalion became encircled by Soviet forces. Von Müller personally led a relief force consisting of two Panzer IV tanks and an armored car, smashing through the enemy ring in a daring breakout. He then extracted the battalion and returned it to the main German frontline.
On 18 July, his troops repulsed nine separate Soviet attacks in heavy, bloody fighting, playing a central role in restoring and stabilizing the front.
The combat was intense and fluid, typical of mid-1943 Eastern Front battles: Soviet infantry and armor probed and assaulted repeatedly under cover of artillery and air support, while German panzergrenadiers—mounted in half-tracks or fighting dismounted—counterattacked with tank support. Muddy summer terrain, ruined villages, and shell-pocked fields became killing grounds. When encircled, von Müller's small armored spearhead roared through enemy positions, cannons blazing and machine guns raking Soviet troops, creating chaos and allowing the trapped battalion to fight its way out. Over days of near-constant action, his regiment's aggressive defense and local counterthrusts blunted the Soviet momentum, preventing a deeper breach despite numerical inferiority and exhaustion. His tactical skill and personal courage in the relief action were highlighted as pivotal.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub mit Schwertern #134 (20 February 1945) as Generalmajor and Kommandeur 16. Panzer-Division. He received the award for his leadership during the chaotic Soviet winter offensive in January 1945, particularly the division's repeated breakouts from encirclement in Poland and western Ukraine/southern Poland sectors (around the Baranow bridgehead area, Kielce, Sulejow, and toward the Oder).
The 16. Panzer-Division faced the massive Red Army push from the Baranow (or Baranów) bridgehead. It attempted to stem the tide but was forced to withdraw under heavy pressure, suffering losses and abandoning or destroying many vehicles due to fuel shortages. The division was encircled south of Kielce, fought its way out to friendly lines, only to be encircled again east of Sulejow. It then joined General Walther Nehring's pocket (part of XXIV Panzer Corps operations) and spearheaded a fighting withdrawal through Lissa (Leszno), eventually reaching the Oder River near Glogau (Głogów) on 27 January 1945.
These breakouts involved desperate mobile warfare in freezing winter conditions: Soviet tank armies and infantry swarmed German positions, cutting supply lines and surrounding pockets. Von Müller's division, reduced in strength but retaining some armored fighting vehicles and determined panzergrenadiers, executed aggressive thrusts to punch through enemy cordons. Tanks and half-tracks spearheaded charges across snowfields and through villages, engaging Soviet T-34s and infantry in running battles. Ammunition and fuel were critically low, forcing improvisation—abandoning damaged vehicles after stripping them, or using captured fuel. Troops fought in blinding snowstorms, with close combat in ruined buildings and along roads. His command coordinated these repeated escapes, preventing annihilation and allowing the formation to rejoin larger German forces for the defense along the Oder. The actions contributed significantly to the corps' overall successful (if costly) withdrawal, showcasing resilient leadership amid collapse.

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Dietrich von Müller was a German general who served in both world wars and rose to the rank of Generalleutnant in the final months of the Second World War. Born on 16 September 1891 in Malchow in Mecklenburg, he volunteered for military service in 1910 and joined Jäger-Regiment 3. During the First World War he saw action on the Western Front, where he was wounded several times and commissioned as Leutnant in 1915. After the armistice he left the Reichswehr in 1920 but returned to active duty in 1939 as the commander of the second battalion of Infanterie-Regiment 5. His steady career in motorized and armored formations on the Eastern Front later earned him high decorations for leadership under extreme pressure. 

In the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, von Müller commanded Schützen-Regiment 5, a motorized infantry unit that operated in the harsh winter conditions of 1941-1942 near the Volkhov sector. On 16 February 1942 the Soviets launched a massive assault near Pogostje with strong infantry supported by more than forty tanks. The enemy armor ground forward through deep snow and frozen terrain, threatening to tear open the German lines and endanger the entire corps. Von Müller personally directed the defense from forward positions, coordinating anti-tank fire and close-quarters counterattacks. His grenadiers held their hastily prepared positions amid blinding blizzards and artillery barrages, using machine guns, grenades, and flanking maneuvers to destroy or disable numerous Soviet tanks. When penetrations occurred, he led rapid responses that sealed the gaps, turning a critical situation into a defensive success that stabilized the sector. For these actions he first received the German Cross in Gold on 21 February 1942 and then the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 May 1942 as Oberstleutnant and regimental commander.

The regiment was redesignated Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 in July 1942 and continued fighting with the 12. Panzer-Division under Heeresgruppe Mitte. In mid-July 1943, during the Soviet Oryol Offensive that followed the Battle of Kursk, the division was thrown into desperate counterattacks east of Bolkhov to close a dangerous penetration in the sector of the 208. Infanterie-Division. Von Müller, now Oberst, led his regiment in aggressive thrusts along the Asarowo-Kornilowo road on 14 July. Two days later, when the first battalion became encircled by superior Soviet forces, he personally assembled a small relief group consisting of two Panzer IV tanks and an armored car. The tiny spearhead roared through enemy positions under heavy fire, cannons blazing and machine guns sweeping Soviet infantry, creating enough chaos for the trapped battalion to fight its way back to the main German lines. Over the following days his troops repelled repeated assaults in bloody fighting across muddy fields and ruined villages, playing a decisive role in restoring the front despite being outnumbered. These actions earned him the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 16 August 1943 as the 272nd recipient.

After a period of instructional duties at Panzer training schools and staff assignments, including a brief role with the staff of Generaloberst Heinz Guderian, von Müller returned to frontline command in 1944. In August 1944 he took charge of the 16. Panzer-Division, which had been heavily engaged in defensive battles in the southern sector of the Eastern Front. By early 1945 the division faced the overwhelming Soviet winter offensive launched from the Baranow bridgehead. Reduced in strength and short of fuel and ammunition, the formation was repeatedly encircled amid the chaos of rapid Soviet advances through Poland. Under von Müller's leadership the division first broke out from a pocket south of Kielce, fighting through snow-covered roads and Soviet blocking forces in running battles. Shortly afterward it was surrounded again east of Sulejow. Once more the panzergrenadiers and remaining tanks punched through enemy cordons in desperate mobile actions, joining the larger wandering pocket commanded by General Walther Nehring. The Kampfgruppe under von Müller spearheaded the fighting withdrawal, passing through Lissa and reaching the Oder River near Glogau on 27 January 1945. His calm direction and aggressive use of limited armored assets prevented the complete destruction of the division and contributed significantly to the corps' survival. For this resilient leadership during the January retreats he received the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves on 20 February 1945 as the 134th recipient, while serving as Generalmajor.

Promoted to Generalleutnant on 20 April 1945, von Müller continued to lead remnants of his division in the final chaotic weeks of the war. On 19 April 1945, near Hoštice castle in the Kroměříž District of Moravia, he was captured by Czech partisans of the 1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade and handed over to the Red Army. He spent the next decade in Soviet captivity before being released in 1955. After returning to West Germany he lived quietly in Hamburg, where he died on 3 January 1961 at the age of 69.

Throughout his career Dietrich von Müller exemplified the qualities of a professional armored commander on the Eastern Front: personal courage in relief actions, tactical skill in fluid defensive battles, and the ability to inspire exhausted troops during repeated encirclements. His decorations reflected not only individual bravery but also the successful execution of missions that delayed Soviet advances at critical moments, often against overwhelming odds in the brutal conditions of winter warfare and summer offensives. Though the 16. Panzer-Division under his command suffered heavy losses in the final campaigns, its repeated breakouts allowed many soldiers to reach safer lines along the Oder and continue the defense of the Reich in its closing days. Von Müller's service spanned more than three decades of German military history, from the trenches of the First World War to the mobile operations and desperate retreats of the Second.

Source:
Alman, Karl. Ritterkreuzträger des Westwalles.
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945.
Müller-Hillebrand, Burkhart. Das Heer 1933–1945.
Scherzer, Veit. Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945.
[https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/M/MuellerDietrichv.htm](https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/M/MuellerDietrichv.htm)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_von_Müller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_von_Müller)
[https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/12204/Müller-von-Dietrich.htm](https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/12204/Müller-von-Dietrich.htm)
[https://rk.balsi.de/](https://rk.balsi.de/)
[https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html](https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html)
[https://forum.axishistory.com/](https://forum.axishistory.com/)
[https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/](https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/)
[https://www.geni.com/](https://www.geni.com/)

Bio of Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube (1890-1944)

Hans-Valentin Robert Friedrich Hube

Date of Birth: 29.10.1890 - Naumburg an der Saale, German Empire
Date of Death: 21.04.1944 - near Ainring/Thundorf, Salzburg area, Nazi Germany (plane crash)

Promotions:
27.02.1909 Fahnenjunker
18.10.1909 Fähnrich
11.08.1910 Leutnant
25.02.1915 Oberleutnant
27.01.1918 Hauptmann
01.02.1931 Major
01.06.1934 Oberstleutnant
01.08.1936 Oberst
01.06.1940 Generalmajor
08.04.1942 Generalleutnant
01.10.1942 General der Panzertruppe
01.04.1944 Generaloberst

Career:
27.02.1909 entered the Prussian Army as Fahnenjunker in Infanterie-Regiment Fürst Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau Nr. 26 in Magdeburg
1910-1914 Zugführer and Bataillonsadjutant in Infanterie-Regiment 26
1914 at outbreak of war Zugführer with his trained recruit cohort in Infanterie-Regiment 26
24.08.1914 appointed Adjutant of II. Bataillon, Infanterie-Regiment 26
20.09.1914 severely wounded at Fontenay, left arm amputated
25.02.1915 returned to front as Oberleutnant and Kompaniechef 7. Kompanie, Infanterie-Regiment 26
01.1916 Ordonnanz-Offizier at Generalkommando IV. Armeekorps
11.1916 Regimentsadjutant in Infanterie-Regiment 26
06.1917 temporary Bataillonskommandeur in his regiment
20.01.1918 stellvertretender Brigade-Adjutant then brief Generalstabsoffizier at Stab 7. Infanteriedivision
04.1918 Adjutant II. Bataillon Infanterie-Regiment 26
late 1918 joined Freikorps as Kompanieführer in voluntary Landesschützenkorps
01.10.1919 transferred as Hauptmann into Reichsheer, Kompaniechef Reichswehr-Infanterie-Regiment 17 then Reichswehr-Schützen-Regiment 8
1920-1925 Chef 11. Kompanie in 12. (Preuß./Anhalt.) Infanterie-Regiment in Halberstadt
01.04.1925 transferred to Stab 10. (Sächs.) Infanterie-Regiment and detailed as Infanterie-Lehrer at Infanterie-Schule Dresden
01.04.1928 to Gruppenkommando 2 with study trip to USA
01.10.1928 Taktiklehrer at Infanterieschule Dresden
01.10.1932 Kommandeur III. Bataillon Infanterie-Regiment 3 in Osterode
1933 attended heavy infantry weapons course in Döberitz
01.01.1935 Kommandeur Infanterie-Ausbildungsstab Döberitz and author of infantry training manuals
18.10.1939 Kommandeur Infanterie-Regiment 3
01.06.1940 Kommandeur 16. Infanterie-Division (later converted to 16. Panzer-Division)
06.1940-11.1940 also involved in acceptance of French XXI. Corps surrender at Mirecourt during France campaign
12.1940 additional Kommandeur Lehrstab II in Romania
06.1941 commander 16. Panzer-Division in Operation Barbarossa, breakthrough of Stalin Line, capture of Nikolajew and Battle of Kiev
15.09.1942 Führer XIV. Panzerkorps during advance to Volga north of Stalingrad and defensive battles
01.1943 flown out of Stalingrad pocket on Hitler's orders to plead for 6th Army breakout then returned
05.03.1943 tasked with rebuilding XIV. Panzerkorps
12.07.1943 formed Gruppe Hube on Sicily
17.07.1943 Oberbefehlshaber all Heer and Flak troops on Sicily during Operation Husky, later also Italian 6th Army subordinated
10.1943 organized evacuation across Strait of Messina and Etna Line defense
23.10.1943 to Führerreserve OKH then Führer 1. Panzerarmee
15.02.1944 Oberbefehlshaber 1. Panzerarmee, relief of Korsun pocket troops and breakout from Kamenets-Podolsky encirclement with 200,000 men
20.04.1944 attended Hitler's birthday at Obersalzberg for award presentation then fatal flight

Awards and Decorations:
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse 1914 awarded 1915
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse 1914 awarded 1916
Ritterkreuz des Königlichen Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern awarded 1917
Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber 1918
Friedrich-Kreuz 1918
III. Klasse des Militärverdienstordens
Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer 1934
Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 4. Klasse (4 years) 1936
Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 3. Klasse (12 years) 1936
Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 2. Klasse (18 years) 1936
Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 1. Klasse (25 years) 1936
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 2. Klasse awarded 24.05.1940
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 1. Klasse awarded 03.06.1940
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes awarded 01.08.1941 as Generalmajor and Kommandeur 16. Panzer-Division for breakthrough at Stary-Konstantynow
Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (62nd award) awarded 16.01.1942 as Generalmajor and Kommandeur 16. Panzer-Division for capture of Nikolajew and Battle of Kiev
Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42 awarded 08.1942
Panzerkampfabzeichen in Silber
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern (22nd award) awarded 21.12.1942 as Generalleutnant and Kommandierender General XIV. Panzerkorps for thrust to Volga north of Stalingrad and defense
Wehrmachtbericht mention 17.08.1943
Komturkreuz des Militärordens von Savoyen (Italian) awarded 17.08.1943 / 06.09.1943
Wehrmachtbericht mention 31.01.1944
Wehrmachtbericht mention 09.04.1944
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten (13th award) awarded 20.04.1944 as General der Panzertruppe and Oberbefehlshaber 1. Panzerarmee for leadership in Sicily, Salerno and Kamenets-Podolsky breakout
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Gold

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Hans-Valentin Hube, affectionately known as Papa Hube or der Mensch to his troops for his paternal care and calm leadership despite losing his left arm in 1914, rose from a one-armed infantry officer in the Great War to become one of the most successful panzer commanders of the Second World War and the fourth Heer recipient of the Diamonds to the Knight's Cross. He commanded the 16th Panzer Division through the opening phases of Barbarossa, the XIV Panzer Corps in the drive on Stalingrad, and finally the entire 1st Panzer Army in its dramatic fighting withdrawal from the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket in spring 1944.

Unique and interesting facts related to him include that he authored the widely used infantry training handbook Der Infanterist in multiple editions between 1925 and 1936, incorporating National Socialist ideological language after 1933 while still focusing on practical soldiering skills. In 1940 during the Battle of France he issued a divisional pamphlet condemning the use of colonial troops by the French as a racial dishonor. He repeatedly clashed with Hitler, most famously flying out of the Stalingrad pocket twice in January 1943 to beg in person for permission for the 6th Army to break out, an appeal that was refused. His only son Ulrich was killed in action on the Eastern Front in July 1941. Hube died the day after receiving his Diamonds when the Heinkel He 111 carrying him back from Hitler's birthday celebrations crashed shortly after takeoff from Reichenhall-Berchtesgaden airfield near Ainring. He received a full state funeral in Berlin on 26 April 1944 attended by Hitler, with Generaloberst Heinz Guderian delivering the eulogy and a guard of honour formed by fellow panzer generals.



Source:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/H/HubeHV-R.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Valentin_Hube
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Valentin_Hube
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/206/Hube-Hans-Valentin-Generaloberst.htm
https://forum.axishistory.com/
Scherzer, Veit. Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, 2007.
Wegmann, Günter. Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht, Teil III. Biblio Verlag, 2009.
Stockert, Franz Thomas. Die Brillantenträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht. Selbsverlag, 2010.
Thomas, Franz. Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945, Band 1. Biblio Verlag, 1997.

Picture of Hans Neumeier

 

I received this email from otohafanderclub@gmail.com :

My grandparents were friends with / knew this guy while the Germans were in Kharkov. I've been trying to figure out his identity and I have a belief that it is Hans Neumeier in April 1942, just before the Second Battle of Kharkov. I dunno anything about panzer uniforms, but I saw online that Neumeier got the Ritterkreuz in the 16. Panzer-Division who were stationed in kharkov at the time, any chance you can shed some light into this?

XIV. Panzerkorps at Salerno 1943

Salerno, September 1943. From left to right: Oberst i.G. Bogislaw von Bonin (Chef des Generalstabes XIV. Panzerkorps), Generalleutnant Hermann Balck (mit der Führung beauftragt XIV. Panzerkorps), and Generalmajor Rudolf Sieckenius (Kommandeur 16. Panzer-Division). Balck only briefly commanded the XIV. Panzerkorps in September and October 1943, before he was seriously injured in a plane crash.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XIV_Panzer_Corps
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2493418#p2493418

Ritterkreuz Action of Gerhard Peter

Gerhard Peter (12 February 1915 - 4 June 1998) received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 November 1941 as Oberleutnant and Chef 3.Kompanie / Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon 16 / 16.Panzer-Division. During the heavy fighting around Nikolajew in the time period 13-17 August 1941, Oberleutnant Peter proved to be a most capable officer. He held the south flank of the Division against strong Soviet attacks, achieved great success in counterattacking those Soviet columns that did break through and participated in the advance of the Panzer-Regiment that resulted in the capture of this important port city. On 30 September 1941 he led an energetic attack with an armoured train from Nowomoskowsk towards the east. Here, despite having left most of the friendly riflemen behind, he managed to occupy the Miskowo train station after a hard fight and then prevented the approach of an enemy armoured train with a timely railway demolition. For these actions he would receive the Ritterkreuz.


Source :
Jim Haley photo collection
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/84453/Peter-Gerhard-Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon-16.htm

Bio of Major i.G. Gerhard Peter (1915-1998)

Gerhard Peter

Date of Birth: 12.02.1915 - Oberschöneweide, Berlin (German Empire)
Date of Death: 04.06.1998 - Lehrte, Hanover (Germany)

Promotions:
00.00.194_ Major im Generalstab

Career:
00.00.194_ Chef 3.Kompanie / Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon 16 / 16.Panzer-Division

Awards and Decorations:
00.00.19__ Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.19__ Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.194_ Allgemeines-Sturmabzeichen
15.11.1941 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Oberleutnant and Chef 3.Kompanie / Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon 16 / 16.Panzer-Division. During the heavy fighting around Nikolajew in the time period 13-17.08.1941, Oberleutnant Peter proved to be a most capable officer. He held the south flank of the Division against strong Soviet attacks, achieved great success in counterattacking those Soviet columns that did break through and participated in the advance of the Panzer-Regiment that resulted in the capture of this important port city. On 30.09.1941 he led an energetic attack with an armoured train from Nowomoskowsk towards the east. Here, despite having left most of the friendly riflemen behind, he managed to occupy the Miskowo train station after a hard fight and then prevented the approach of an enemy armoured train with a timely railway demolition.


Source :
Jim Haley photo collection
http://www.ritterkreuztraeger.info/rk/p.html
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/84453/Peter-Gerhard-Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon-16.htm

Bio of Generalleutnant d.R. Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz (1893-1968)

Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz

Date of Birth: 30.07.1893 - Groß-Stein, Oberschlesien (German Empire)
Date of Death: 25.04.1968 - Prien am Chiemsee, Bayern (West Germany)

Nickname: Panzergraf
NSDAP membership number: 1 405 562 (1932)
SS membership number: 82.857 (17.04.1933)
Parents: Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (21.11.1864 - 28.04.1942) and Maria Aloysia Hedwig Friederike Therese Octavie Gräfin von Matuschka Freiin von Toppolczan und Spätgen (22.08.1872 - 28.01.1940)
Siblings: Aloysia Strachwitz Gräfin von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (28.06.1892 - 00.00.1972); Johannes Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (00.00.1896 - 00.00.1917), Elisabeth Gräfin Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (20.12.1897 - 00.00.1992), Manfred Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (17.04.1899 - 00.00.1972), Mariano Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (00.00.1902 - 00.00.1922); and Margarethe Gräfin Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (00.00.1905 - 00.00.1989)
Wife: Alexandrine / Alda Marie Julie Amalie Laura von Saurma-Jeltsch (Saurma von der Jeltsch-Lorzendorf) (02.09.1896 - 06.01.1946. Married 00.00.1919) and Nora von Stumm (23.10.1916 - 00.00.2000)
Children: Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (02.05.1920 - 00.00.2003); Alexandrine Aloysia Maria Elisabeth Therese Gräfin Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (30.07.1921); and Hubertus Arthur Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (11.03.1925 - 25.03.1945)

Promotions:
00.08.1912 Fahnenjunker
22.01.1913 Fähnrich
17.02.1914 Leutnant (K2k)
00.00.1921 Oberleutnant der Reserve (with RDA from 00.00.1916)
17.04.1933 SS-Anwärter
09.08.1933 SS-Mann
19.03.1934 SS-Truppführer
24.03.1934 SS-Obertruppführer
00.00.1934 Hauptmann der Reserve
02.06.1934 SS-Sturmführer (with RDA from 28.04.1934),
23.11.1934 SS-Obersturmführer (with RDA from 09.11.1934)
00.00.1935 Rittmeister der Reserve
20.09.1935 SS-Hauptsturmführer (with RDA from 15.09.1935)
13.09.1936 SS-Sturmbannführer
30.01.1939 SS-Obersturmbannführer
01.07.1940 Major der Reserve
01.07.1942 Oberstleutnant der Reserve
22.01.1943 Oberst der Reserve (with RDA from 01.01.1943 (6)
03.11.1943 SS-Standartenführer (with RDA from 01.09.1943)
01.04.1944 Generalmajor der Reserve (2)
30.01.1945 Generalleutnant der Reserve

Career:
00.00.19__ Gymnasium Oppeln, Kadettenkorps Wahlstatt, Hauptkadettenanstalt Groß-Lichterfelde
00.08.1912 Fahnenjunker in [Kürassier-] Regiment der Gardes du Corps, Potsdam
00.00.1912 Kriegsschule Hannover
00.08.1914 “Fernpatrouille Paris“ of the regiment of the Gardes du Corps. 6 weeks with his riders through France until he can see Paris; German unit that came closest to Paris in the entire campaign. After capture, adventure through prisons to a firing squad with withdrawal of the order at the last moment!
14.10.1914 sentenced by a French military court to forced labor in the convict colony on Cayenne, losing prisoner status; finally changed to prison: Lyon, Montpellier, Ré Island, Riom (north of Clermont-Ferrand), Avignon, Fort Barraux (near Grenoble). Taken 4 times tied up on warships on patrols between Bordeaux and Saloniki. An initially successful escape ends after 2 weeks in blood poisoning after a heel injury. After delivery to the Carcassonne officer camp, another attempt to escape fails for the same reason. A Swiss Red Cross Medical Commission determines that the patient is in danger of death and is admitted to a Geneva hospital. After being released from there, he was admitted to the mental asylum in Herisau (canton of Appenzell) to protect himself in the event of a French claim for reimbursement!
00.00.1918 Discharge in ill condition with severe nerve inflammation, not fully usable; Deployment in Berlin against insurgents
00.00.1920 - 00.00.1921 Vacation. Recruitment of volunteers for the fight for Upper Silesia; imprisoned by the French in Oppeln prison, then arrested 4 times
Werbung von Freiwilligen für den Kampf um Oberschlesien; von den Franzosen ins Gefängnis Oppeln gesperrt, danach noch 4 x verhaftet
00.00.1921 Leaving the military
03.05.1921 - 00.00.1922 During the 3rd Polish uprising after the vote in Upper Silesia active in the Upper Silesian Self-Defense (O.S.S.S.) under the supreme command of General Karl Hoefer, in the Southern Group under GLt von Huelsen (Freikorps von Huelsen); leader of the Self-Defense Unit Count Strachwitz; the Polish irregulars put a bounty on his head. First German in the Annaberg.
00.00.192_ Management of own goods, dairy cooperative.
00.00.192_ Forestry student
00.00.192_ Member of the Chamber of Agriculture
00.00.1929 Head of his father's property (he is one of the wealthiest land and forest owners in Silesia)
20.04.1934 - 00.05.1945 Stab SS-Oberabschnitt Südost in Breslau
20.04.1934 Tasked with managing the affairs of the officer in the Stab SS-Oberabschnitt Südost
15.06.1934 Reiterführer in SS-Oberabschnitt Südost
00.00.1935 First reserve exercise with Reiter-Regiment 7 at Breslau, then transferred to the Panzertruppe at his own request
00.00.1937 Further reserve exercises with Panzer-Regiment 2 at Eisenach
26.08.1939 Supply officer of Panzer-Regiment 2 during Polish Campaign, then becaming Chef 3.Kompanie / Panzer-Regiment 2
00.10.1939 Nachschuboffizier 1. Panzer-Division
00.06.1940 Kommandeur I.Abteilung / Panzer-Regiment 2
20.10.1940 Transferred with the Abteilung from 1. Panzer-Division to be incorporated into the 16. Panzer-Division (Hube) (training troop for the Romanian army)
13.04.1941 Capture of Belgrade with I.Abteilung / Panzer-Regiment 2 while on loan to the  I.Bataillon / Infanterie-Regiment (mot.) “Großdeutschland“
00.06.1941 Wounded by projectile but remains with the troops
23.08.1942 The first German to stand on the Volga late Sunday afternoon: on the steep bank near Rynok north of Stalingrad with his I.Abteilung / Panzer-Regiment 2 / 16.Panzer-Division
00.08.1942 Wounded again, remains with the troops
00.11.1942 Seriously wounded and flown out to the hospital in Breslau
01.01.1943 Kommandeur Panzer-Regiment “Großdeutschland“
09.03.1943 Leads the Panzer-Regiment “Großdeutschland“ in combat for the first time
00.05.1943 m.d.st.F. der Panzergrenadier-Division “Großdeutschland“ beauftragt (replacing Balck)
00.06.1943 End of June as a staff of 10. Panzer-Brigade for Unternehmen Zitadelle, then formed into the staff of "Panther Brigade", which reports to PGD "GD"; von Strachwitz takes the lead after the injury of Oberstleutnant Meinrad von Lauchert
00.09.1943 Severe contusion of the left arm in the tank turret, hospitalized in Breslau
00.11.1943 Kommandeur “Panzerkampfgruppe Strachwitz“ of Heeresgruppe Nord
04.02.1944 Kommandeur Kampfgruppenführer z.b.V. of Heeresgruppe Nord
22.02.1944 At the same time, consultant for tank / assault gun use at the Armee-Abteilung Narwa: receives the order, on the Narwa front first the "Ostsack" at Lembuti-Auwere u.a. with the sPzAbt. 502 (Tiger), later also to eliminate the "Westsack".
00.04.1944 Höherer Panzerführer der Heeresgruppe Nord (with 3 Panzerdivisionen and one Panzerjagdbrigade)
03.06.1944 - 24.08.1944 Führer Panzersonderverband von Strachwitz. The attack of the XXXIX. Pz.Kps. with "Pz.Verband Graf Strachwitz" regains Tukkum and fixed the connection between Riga and Libau / Memel-Königsberg by 18.08.1944
16.09.1944 - 26.09.1944  Leads the assembly of all motorized and armored troops west of Schaulen to attack in order to reestablish the connection between the Heeresgruppe Nord and Mitte
00.10.1944 Seriously injured in a car accident (business trip): in addition to a fractured skull, fractures to the ribs, arms, legs and hands
01.01.1945 Kommandeur Panzerjagdbrigade in Upper Silesia, headquarters in Bad Kudowa, last 8,000 men strong, no longer deployed
00.05.1945 In American captivity (had made it through the Sudetenland to Bavaria). His wife was run over and killed by a US Army tank on January 6, 1946 in Velden an der Vils; he was not allowed to attend the funeral.

Awards and Decorations:
00.08.1914 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.1914 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.19__ Preussische Dienstauszeichnung 9 Jahre
00.00.19__ Schlesisches Bewährungsabzeichen II.Klasse
00.00.19__ Schlesisches Bewährungsabzeichen I.Klasse
00.00.19__ Schleischer Adler
00.00.193_ Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer 1914-1918
00.00.193_ SA-Sportabzeichen in Bronze
00.00.193_ DRL-Sportabzeichen in Gold
00.00.193_ Deutsches Reichssportabzeichen in Gold
00.00.193_ Ehrenwinkel für alte Kämpfer
00.00.19__ Wehrmacht Dienstauszeichnung 12 Jahre,
00.00.19__ Dienstauszeichnung d. NSDAP in Bronze.
05.10.1939 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
07.06.1940 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
09.06.1941 Ordinul Corona Romaneii (Romania)
00.00.1941 Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz
02.08.1941 Anerkennungsurkunde des Oberbefehlshabers des Heeres
25.08.1941 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as Major der Reserve and Kommandeur I.Abteilung / Panzer-Regiment 2 / 16.Panzer-Division. While serving as part of the Kampfgruppe of Oberst Wagner, Strachwitz played a decisive role in its success on 2-3 August 1941. He was able to determine that the easiest way to seize the city of Pervomaisk (a critical road junction for the Soviets) was to strike from the north. The attack was a success and Strachwitz received the Ritterkreuz for his major contribution towards the victorious outcome of this battle
28.10.1941 Panzerkampfabzeichen
17.03.1942 Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber
00.08.1942 Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille)
13.11.1942 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #144, as Oberstleutnant der Reserve and Kommandeur I.Abteilung / Panzer-Regiment 2 / 16.Panzer-Division. Award personally bestowed by Hitler for the role his Abteilung played in the Division's battles near Stalingrad in August of 1942, with following actions in particular being worthy of note: 1) The armoured battles on 7-8 August 1942, where the Division destroyed 275 Soviet tanks. 2) Reaching the Don river in two places on 15-17 August 1942. 3) The thrust towards the Volga river north of Stalingrad, beginning on 23 August 1942. In this advance the Abteilung overran 37 Soviet firing positions. 4) The defensive battle in the same area (especially around Hill 126). In a four day battle the 31 Panzers of the Abteilung destroyed 105 hostile tanks without loss
16.02.1943 Verwundetenabzeichen in Gold
00.00.194_ Panzerkampfabzeichen IV.Stufe "100"
28.03.1943 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #27, as Oberst der Reserve and Kommandeur Panzer-Regiment "Großdeutschland" / Infanterie-Division "Großdeutschland" (motorisiert). Award personally bestowed by Hitler for the successes of his regiment during the Third Battle of Kharkov, specifically the fighting to recapture Belgorod in the north. In addition to driving the Soviets back, the Regiment also managed to capture or destroy 150 Soviet tanks in a five-day struggle (90+ of which were in the time period 13-15 March 1943)
15.04.1944 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten #11, as Oberst der Reserve and Kommandeur Panzer-Kampfgruppe / Heeresgruppe Nord. Award personally bestowed by Hitler and simultaneously promoted to Generalmajor der Reserve. The medal was awarded for his actions on the Narva front as an ad-hoc Kampfgruppe commander. On 22 February 1944 he led a mixed Panzer/Sturmgeschütz formation through an unfavourable patch of forested terrain without regard for the adjacent hostile formations. By doing so he was able to succeed in breaking through the Soviet positions located behind the woods and thus contribute significantly to the integrity of the defense on the Narva front

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Panzer General Strachwitz

By Ludwig H. Dyck

The wide tracks of Soviet T-34S and colossal KV-1S crunched through the snow. Night had fallen west of Belgorod on March 15, 1943. The Soviet tank column was headed toward a village, looking for shelter for the night. Although the village appeared deserted, the Soviet commander was wary. For days now there had been heavy fighting, with the Nazis trying to recapture Kharkov from the Soviets. The T-34s fired incendiary shells, setting ablaze a few peasant huts. When nothing moved, the tanks rumbled into the village. The commander’s tank came to halt, unaware that the muzzle of a Tiger tank hidden in a barn was pointed straight at him. Flames shot out of the barn and an 88mm shell smashed into the command tank. Suddenly, the whole village erupted in cannon fire from hidden panzers. Every- where Soviet tanks were bursting into flames. Panic gripped the Soviet tankers, for they had recognized the hand of enemy commander, Graf Strachwitz, the “Panzer Count,” whose exploits on the Russian front would make him a legend in World War II.

Strachwitz’s story began on July 30, 1893, in Grosstein Castle, when Countess Alexandrine of Matuschka gave birth to a baby boy sired by Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche and Camminetz. As the first-born son in the family and like his father, the newborn was named after the 13th-century Dominican Saint Hyazinth. The Strachwitzes were an old and noble Upper Silesian family, traditionally allied to the Hohenzollern, the dynasty to which belonged the Electors of Brandenburg, the kings of Prussia, and the German emperor.

The young Strachwitz grew up on the agricultural and forest estates of his family, who were among the richest land owners in Silesia. Strachwitz attended the Volksschule and the Gymnasium of Oppeln. He began his cadet training at the Royal Prussian Junior Cadet School in Wahlstatt and then transferred to the renowned Central Cadet School at Berlin-Lichterfelde. Strachwitz had no problems with academics, excelled at sports and at horse riding, and was a superb fencer.

In 1912 Strachwitz joined the elite Imperial Potsdamer Cavalry Regiment of the Garde du Corps. Before the year was over, Strachwitz’s horsemanship singled him out for further officer training at Hannover’s prestigious Cavalry School. Put in charge of sporting activities, Leutnant Strachwitz and many of his comrades eagerly prepared for the upcoming 1916 Olympics. It was not to be—World War I broke out in 1914.

Soldiers and civilians throughout Europe rejoiced at what they thought would be a short and glorious war. Everywhere people shook Strachwitz’s hand and invited him for beer and sausages. Leutnant Strachwitz exchanged his white Hussar dress uniform for a gray field one and rode off to war at the front of his squadron. Soon the dashing Hussars found themselves stuck in clouds of dust, raised by thousands of infantry and supply wagons.

Strachwitz’s regiment was part of the 1st Guards Cavalry Division and Generaloberst Karl von Bulow’s 2nd Army. Bulow was attacking through Belgium and headed toward the Marne. Carrying out reconnaissance, Strachwitz impressed both his men and his superiors. Even the latter addressed him as Herr Graf, as Strachwitz preferred. Because of his daring, the soldiers nicknamed Strachwitz the “Last Horseman.” Soon Strachwitz was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and recommended for the Iron Cross 1st Class.

With the German Army already in northeastern France by late August, Strachwitz volunteered to lead a deep reconnaissance toward Paris. Strachwitz set out early one morning with 16 of his own volunteers. The patrol avoided settlements and stuck to woods and fields but soon happened upon French cavalry. Saber in hand, Strachwitz scattered the chasseurs and freed some German prisoners.

At midday, the way again was blocked. This time the obstruction was a large English camp. Strachwitz’s Hussars burst out of an adjacent forest and through the startled soldiers. With bullets zipping past them, the German cavalry disappeared through the other side as quickly as they had appeared. Strachwitz later joined up with two other German patrols and together they reached Melun by the following morning.

While trying to blow up a railway track, the Germans were stopped by French soldiers. Frightened by the rifle shots, the German horses bolted. Without horses and hunted down by increasing numbers of French and English, Strachwitz’s band became smaller and smaller. Strachwitz nevertheless managed to demolish rail tracks and a signal box near Fontainbleau, causing panic in nearby Paris.

With the way back to the German lines blocked by the alerted French, Strachwitz led his men south in hope of finding a lightly guarded section. They continued walking through muddy ground and pouring rain and they slept under the stars or, if lucky, in a barn. One week after another, Strachwitz’s little group eluded capture. On one occasion, Strachwitz escaped a French company by running up to the crest of a wooded hill. In plain sight, he shouted and pointed for his men to escape to the right. Once on the other side of the crest, Strachwitz and his men ran to the left. The pursuing French were fooled and ran to the right. Unfortunately, during the escape a bullet caught Oberleuntnant Schierstaedt. Seriously wounded, he needed help.

To appear less conspicuous, Strachwitz gave a gold piece to an astonished farmer for some civilian clothes. The count left a whole pouch full of gold when he took a cart and horse from an abandoned barn. Strachwitz needed the cart to transport Schierstaedt but was forced to abandon both when confronted by a French roadblock. The exhausted Germans sought refuge in a wood but were finally caught and overpowered by French Senegalese soldiers.

Strachwitz’s capture in October 1914 was the beginning of a long ordeal fraught with hardship. Because they had been caught in civilian clothing, the French regarded them as spies and saboteurs. Twice it looked like Strachwitz and his men would face the firing squad, but their sentence was five years at hard labor. At Avignon, Strachwitz underwent a year of torture and humiliation. Regaining his soldier’s status, Strachwitz was transferred to the German officer prison at Fort Barre. Strachwitz tried to escape by digging a tunnel but was caught. As punishment, he was chained up in the hold of a French ship to deter U-boat attacks. Strachwitz was emaciated by the time he was returned to Fort Barre. As soon as he recovered, Strachwitz joined Oberleutnant von Lossow in another escape attempt. The two climbed the wall, threw a guard off the parapet, and jumped down the other side. Strachwitz landed in barbed wire and tore his foot, but he and Lossow were free.

Strachwitz and Lossow hid in woods during the day, marching at night and avoiding settlements. After two weeks they reached the vicinity of Mont Blanc and the Swiss border. Unfortunately, Strachwitz’s painful wound had become infected. While climbing a rock face, Strachwitz slipped and sustained further injuries. After finding shelter in a cabin, he unsuccessfully pleaded with Lossow to abandon him. Detected by locals, the two fugitives were apprehended by gendarmerie.

Strachwitz ended up in the officer prison at Carcassonne in southwestern France where he recovered sufficiently to saw at the window bars with a homemade file. Betrayed by an informant, Strachwitz was thrown in solitary. His untreated wound got worse but proved to be his salvation when an inspecting Swiss doctor demanded that the fever-ridden Strachwitz be handed over to the Swiss Red Cross. As his health improved in a Geneva hospital, Strachwitz avoided being returned to France as a prisoner by faking mental illness. Confined at Herisau Institute, the mental anguish of the inmates nearly drove Strachwitz to suicide. After the war ended on November 11, 1918, Strachwitz was released.

With German Emperor Wilhelm II being forced to abdicate, Germany plunged into civil strife. Strachwitz arrived in Berlin where the fledgling republic was threatened by communist revolutionaries. Joining government loyalist troops, Strachwitz took part in the weeks of fighting that lasted into January 1919.

Silesia had been part of Prussia for nearly two centuries. Before Prussia it had been ruled by the Austrian Habsburgs, and before them by Bohemia; however, for most of the Middle Ages, Upper Silesia had been Polish. With the recreation of Poland after World War I, the Poles wanted Upper Silesia to become part of Poland again. Token French, English, and Italian garrisons were supposed to keep the peace between the Germans and the Poles but mostly stayed neutral or, in the case of the French, actively supported the Poles. During these uncertain times, Strachwitz remained active in the illegal militia while managing the family estate. In July, Strachwitz married Alexandrine “Alda” Freiin Surma-Jeltsch, who nine months later gave birth to their son.

In March 1921 Upper Silesia voted whether to remain in Germany or be ceded to Poland. Although the German vote won, the region that voted Polish was allowed to join Poland. Unsatisfied, militant Poles led by Wojciech Korfanty tried to seize the German territory as well. At Gross Stein, Strachwitz awoke to gun shots and the sound of refugees fleeing from the advancing Poles. Strachwitz brought his family, including his pregnant wife, to safety then hurried back to join the German resistance.

Although the Poles outnumbered the Germans, the Germans had more combat experience and were buffered by paramilitary Freikorps. Leading a counterattack, Strachwitz fought off eight Polish companies and retook his ancestral castle. The fighting climaxed on May 21, 1921, with the iconic Battle of Annaberg. While the bulk of the German forces under Generals Karl Hofer and Bernhard von Hulsen

Upon his return to Gross Stein castle, Strachwitz found more strife in his homeland. Upper attacked the Polish-held mountain from the  front, Strachwitz led his men around to the rear. Strachwitz forced the Poles on the summit to surrender after a short but violent fight. In the ensuing battles, Strachwitz captured an artillery battery and turned the guns against the fleeing Poles. The conflict was finally settled in 1922 with Germany retaining the western two thirds of Upper Silesia while the industrial eastern third was ceded to Poland. Strachwitz received the Silesian Order of the Eagle, both second and first class.

During the interwar years, Strachwitz moved his growing family to Alt Siedel manor. He educated himself in forest management and modern methods of agriculture. In 1931 Strachwitz joined the Nazi Party, reckoning that doing so would benefit his Silesian homeland. Two years later he was admitted into the Schutzstaffel (SS), which was eager to have aristocrats in its ranks; however, Strachwitz never served in the SS and remained a reserve officer under the command of the new Wehrmacht. The latter made Strachwitz Rittmeister der Reserve (Cavalry Master of the Reserve) in 1936.

When Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Strachwitz was put in charge of supply and reinforcement for the 1st Panzer Division’s 2nd Panzer Regiment. Despite his rear-echelon position, he participated in the fighting and earned the Iron Cross Second Class. To help the wounded, Strachwitz allowed Gross Stein to be used as a military hospital. Back at Alt Siedel by mid-October, Strachwitz returned to his division at the end of the year.

During the six-week-long Battle of France in the spring of 1940, the 1st Panzer Division spearheaded General Heinz Guderian’s XIX Panzer Corps’ fateful drive through the Ardennes to the coast of the English Channel. At the start of the offensive, a young officer asked Strachwitz if he hated the French. In spite of his bad experiences, Strachwitz replied that he had no hate and that he respected the French as soldiers, who ceased to be his enemy once they were defeated.

On the morning of May 14, French aircraft struck the German crossing of the Meuse Bridge. Strachwitz directed traffic and ordered the men to take cover. After the German break through over the Meuse, Strachwitz set out with his Kubelwagen and driver for a reconnaissance. Nineteen miles into French territory, they pulled up to a French signals garrison. Strachwitz got out of the car, calmly lit a cigarette, and demanded the surrender of the garrison in perfect French. He told the captain that his panzers were only minutes away. The bluff worked and 600 French soldiers surrendered. Strachwitz delivered the captives in their own new trucks. “Strachwitz, that devil” said General Friedrich Kirchner of the 1st Panzer Division upon learning of the feat. Promoted to major, Strachwitz was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class in June.

Strachwitz was on another excursion when he watched the embarkation of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk. He was dumbfounded by Hitler’s order to halt the panzers in favor of air strikes. The miraculous British evacuation was soon eclipsed by the fall of France, however. Alongside the 2nd Panzer Regiment, Strachwitz was transferred to East Prussia and to the new 16th Panzer Division led by Generalmajor Hans-Valentin Hube.

The one-armed general clapped Strachwitz on the shoulder, granted Strachwitz’s frontline request, and assigned him the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Panzer Regiment, 16th Panzer Division. Strachwitz briefly took part in the invasion of Yugoslavia before being withdrawn to prepare for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

At the outset of the invasion, the 16th Panzer Division was in the forefront of Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist’s First Panzer Group, which had as its initial objective the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. On June 26, Kleist was more than 75 miles into Soviet territory when Col. Gen. Mikhail Kirponos launched a spirited counterattack. In the hills west of the Ikwa River, 2nd Panzer Regiment sallied forth to intercept masses of Soviet tanks. Amid deafening explosions, fountains of earth, and clouds of smoke, an adjutant reported to Strachwitz that they were T-26 light tanks. Strachwitz’s Ullstein Bild binoculars zeroed in on more Soviet tanks in the woods to the rear. He ordered the heavier Mark IVs to counter the Soviet outflanking attempt. Soviet infantry swarmed through the panzers. A bullet grazed Strachwitz’s arm. Roughly bandaged, the wound continued to bleed into the cloth. At dusk, after hours of fighting, the Soviets were thrown back but the regiment had been cut off from the division.

It was only the first day of the largest tank battle of Barbarossa so far. The panzer guns proved to be nearly impotent against the new Soviet T-34s and KV-Is. The Germans made up for it with superior tactics, Junkers Ju-87 Stuka support, and tank-busting 88mm guns. Strachwitz drove back attacking tank packs, chased them into the night, and shot up Soviet batteries. The battle wound down at the beginning of July, with Kirponos withdrawing toward Kiev.

The First Panzer Group headed south, intending to link up with Seventeenth Army and trap Soviet forces in a pocket at Uman, 200 miles south of Kiev. During the ensuing fighting, Strachwitz had his panzers move their guns to a six o’clock position in Soviet fashion, which enabled him to ambush the enemy or wreak havoc behind their lines. Strachwitz sustained additional minor wounds in the head and the arm. The regiment had suffered as well. Its remaining panzers were combined into one battalion led by Strachwitz.

On August 3, while attempting to secure the bridge over the Southern Bug at Pervomaisk, Strachwitz’s panzer took a direct hit by an artillery shell. The radio operator was killed but Strachwitz and his remaining crew were able to crawl out of the smoking wreck. Fighting off Soviet infantry with MP-40s and grenades, Strachwitz climbed into the next panzer. He led his battalion to the wooden bridge that the Soviets were trying to blow up. The panzers opened fire to cover the German pioneers storming across. The Soviets pulled back, but they maintained a withering fire. The pioneers struggled to disassemble the demolition charges until Strachwitz sped across the bridge with his panzer.

The Battle of Uman ended in another German victory. Six weeks into Barbarossa, Strachwitz’s panzers had covered 440 miles but the steppes of the Ukraine seemed endless. Sixteenth Panzer Division pushed toward the Black Sea, where Nikolajew fell on the eve of August 16. Late in August, the division was back north, resting south of Kirovograd. On August 25, Hube awarded Strachwitz with the Knight’s Cross.

Restored to two battalions, Panzer Regiment 2 returned to action in September as part of the southern pincer of the Kiev encirclement. On September 16 the gigantic pocket of the Dnieper bend was closed 130 miles east of Kiev. Strachwitz’s battalion engaged Soviet troops desperately trying to break through to the east. When a Soviet division commander of German ancestry was captured, Strachwitz refused to take him prisoner unless the commander returned with his whole division. The next morning 7,000 men marched out of the nearby wood and into captivity. They were among the 663,000 Soviet prisoners captured at Kiev.

Strachwitz did his best to treat the prisoners well and also helped ailing farmers, women, and children. Often his men repaired local churches, further endearing him to the population. Unfortunately, Strachwitz’s goodwill and that of others like him was undone by Nazi terror in conquered areas. Most of the prisoners ended up starving to death or were executed, fueling hate and hardening resistance.

Upgraded to First Panzer Army, the former First Panzer Group attacked the Soviet Dnieper Front from the north in late September. On October 6 Strachwitz’s battalion captured the main road junction of Andrejewka, closing one of the last links of another huge encirclement. On October 9 the temperature dropped and falling snow obscured the view. Fighting to seal off penetrations, Strachwitz was again wounded in the head. Cutting short his field hospital stay, he returned to the front on the same day.

After the successful conclusion of the cauldron battle north of the Azov Sea, First Panzer Army pushed toward Rostov. The remaining panzers of the depleted 2nd Panzer Regiment were again amalgamated under Strachwitz’s command. At the end of October, rain, snow, and slush turned roads into swamps. Supplies slowed down and vehicles were stranded without petrol. While Strachwitz’s panzers underwent repairs at Uspenkaja, a Soviet bomber hit a camp of their own prisoners. Distraught at the carnage, Strachwitz moved the Soviet prisoners farther behind the front lines.

The temperature plummeted, freezing anything stuck in the mud. Alongside 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, the 16th Panzer Division engaged a Soviet counterattack. Strachwitz rescued a Wiking pioneer battalion cut off at Balabanow. By November 23, 2nd Panzer Regiment only had 20 panzers left and was forced to fall back to the west bank of the Mius River. Strachwitz left for Germany to recover from his many combat wounds. Meanwhile, the German Army withstood the fierce Soviet winter offensive of 1941-1942 and the extreme weather that wreaked havoc among the ill-equipped troops.

Strachwitz was back with his regiment in March 1942, promoted to Oberstleutnant and awarded the wound badge in silver. On May 12 the Soviets renewed their push for Kharkov. Kleist’s panzer army riposted, attacking from south of Izyum to slice off the southern pincer of the SouthWest Front. On May 23, Strachwitz’s battalion met the 23rd Panzer Division south of Balakleya. Marshal Semyon Timoshenko’s armies were encircled. Alongside several officers standing on a small rise of ground, Strachwitz observed columns of Soviets trying to break out. Warned by his uncanny instinct, Strachwitz suddenly grabbed the arm of the adjacent Hauptmann Freytag von Loringhoven and jerked him downhill. In the next instant a shell exploded where they had stood, killing the others.

A brief period of rest followed the German victory at Izyum. Around this time Strachwitz took over command of the entire regiment, which from June 10 onward took part in the preliminary battles for Case Blue, the massive German summer offensive of 1942. Through drenching rainstorms and seas of mud, Strachwitz engaged more Soviet armor and fought off night attacks. The 16th Panzer Division captured the heavily fortified city of Kupjansk in mid-June. During the fighting, a shell splinter struck Strachwitz’s head. He had the wound provisionally treated, then quickly returned to his men.

On July 8, once more rested and refitted, 16th Panzer Division took part in Sixth Army’s drive for Stalingrad on the Volga River. Assaulting the Soviet bridgehead over the Don River west of Kalach in late July, Sixth Army won its last great encirclement battle. Armor combat raged through the villages and on the heatscorched grass steppes, mirrored by equally fierce aerial engagements in the sky above. Strachwitz was again wounded. His regiment breached one of the last Soviet defenses north of Kalach, enabling the linkup with 24th Panzer Division. During the battle, Strachwitz’s regiment claimed 270 enemy tanks destroyed.

After waiting out a morning barrage of Soviet artillery and rockets on August 23 in a foxhole, Strachwitz led his panzers in XIV Panzer Corps’ final 35-mile drive to Stalingrad. Henschel Hs-129 and Ju-87 ground attack aircraft opened the way for 400 panzers, breaking all resistance. Upon approaching the northern suburbs, the Soviets used their heavy antiaircraft guns in a ground fire role against Strachwitz’s panzers. With the help of Stukas, Strachwitz destroyed 37 of these antiaircraft guns without suffering a loss. The Germans were shocked to discover that the mangled gun crews were women, poorly trained in engaging ground targets.

Strachwitz led his panzers down a street, driving along the edge in case the road was mined. A hidden antitank gun opened up, barely missing Strachwitz’s panzer. The Soviet gun was quickly knocked out, and Strachwitz kept going until he reached the high western banks of the Volga. He marveled at the spectacle of the city and river below. With the exception of the onion shaped cathedral spires of the old town, Stalingrad was a modern industrial city. Factories, smokestacks, and suburbs extended in a narrow strip along the Volga. Clouds of smoke from bombing Stukas and Soviet antiaircraft guns drifted over the whole scene. The river was full of boats against which Strachwitz directed his panzer cannons, sinking several vessels.

Ordered to help defend the northern industrial suburbs, Strachwitz hid his three companies at the bottom of a long hill. Multiple waves of Soviet armor obstinately attacked over the crest. At a range of 300 to 500 yards, the panzers knocked out more than 100 tanks in two days. “Our Panzer Count only needed to sit behind the front in his command tank, which had a wooden dummy gun, tallying up the knocked out enemy tanks reported by the companies,” said von Loringhoven. Heavy fighting for the northern sector continued through September into October, with Hitler insisting on capturing positions no matter what the cost. On October 13 Strachwitz’s panzer received a direct hit. Severely burned, Strachwitz was flown to the Reserve Hospital at Breslau. He was still recuperating when the Soviet counteroffensive in late November encircled the doomed German Sixth Army. Strachwitz pleaded to return to the front but, realizing the hopelessness of the situation, General Hube refused.

Strachwitz received the Oak Leaves to his Knight’s Cross in December and a promotion to Oberst der Reserve on January 1, 1943. His new command was the panzer regiment of the elite Panzer Grenadier Division Grossdeutschland. On March 9 Strachwitz’s regiment joined Field Marshal Erich von Manstein’s counterattack against the overextended Soviets at Kharkov. West of Belgorod, Grossdeutschland squared off against three Soviet tank corps.

The fighting included an intense night battle on March 15-16. Having seen the dark silhouettes of Soviet tanks against the snow converging on his position, Strachwitz hid his panzers, including three Tigers, in a deserted peasant village. In a horseshoe formation, camouflaged, dug in, or hidden in the thatched huts, the panzers waited until nightfall. The rumbling of as many as 50 Soviet tanks resounded through the dark. A few huts were hit by incendiary shells and burst into flames.

Strachwitz remained calm, letting the whole Soviet column enter the village. With a Soviet command tank within 70 meters, Strachwitz’s hidden Tiger fired and blasted the turret right off the T-34. The other panzers let loose, knocking out 18 T-34s and KV-1s in a few minutes. Strachwitz climbed on top of his turret and watched the inferno. “The Russians have recognized us, they’re broadcasting, ‘Watch out, it’s Strachwitz,’” said Strachwitz’s radio operator. The Soviets desperately tried to pull out but were shot up in the process. The Soviet losses were only part of the more than 300 Soviet tanks knocked out by Strachwitz’s regiment between March 14 and March 19.

Strachwitz was awarded the Swords to his Knight’s Cross on March 28. His soldiers honored him by substituting Strachwitz’s name for that of the Napoleonic-era Lutzow in the popular soldier’s song “Lutzow’s Wild, Venturous Hunt.” Strachwitz took two weeks of holiday visiting Berchtesgaden with his wife Alda. Appearing on a radio show, Strachwitz accredited his successes to the close cooperation, the high skill level, and the total commitment of every single man in his regiment.

During Operation Citadel, the German summer offensive of 1943, Grossdeutschland fought as part of Fourth Panzer Army, forming the southern pincer during the Battle of Kursk. Morale among the soldiers was high, not the least because Strachwitz was fighting with them. “I remember how much talk there was among us that we had nothing to fear, because we had Graf von Strachwitz and his new, invincible Panther tanks with us,” said Grossdeutschland fusilier Alfred Novotny.

A heavy rain fell on July 5 as massive artillery salvos opened the battle. Grossdeutschland fought its way through the deep Soviet defenses of minefields, antitank guns, and dug-in tanks north of Belgorod. Strachwitz took over command of Panzer Brigade 10, which included his own regiment and Panzerregiment 39 with its new Panthers, from July 7 to July 11. The fighting on July 7 alone accounted for 62 Soviet tanks and 55 antitank guns destroyed, but Soviet resistance stiffened toward the Oboyan Heights.

On July 9 Strachwitz received the news that his oldest son had been seriously wounded. The day after, Strachwitz was resting his arm on the breech lock when his new gunner fired prematurely, smashing the count’s arm. Receiving a plaster cast, Strachwitz hurried back to his regiment, led another attack, and received another light wound. Outraged at Strachwitz’s self-sacrifice, Generalleutnant Walter Hoernlein sent the count back to the field hospital.

Strachwitz returned to combat in August. The Battle of Kursk had meanwhile ended in a German defeat, forcing the German Army to withdraw ever farther westward. So severe was the fighting that Strachwitz only had one operational panzer by the end of September. By late December, Grossdeutschland was across the Dnieper River at Kirovgrad. Strachwitz received another serious wound, this time in the left arm. After being sent to Breslau hospital, he completed his convalescence at home.

Early in January 1944, Strachwitz was promoted to Hoheren Panzerführer (Higher Panzer Commander) of Army Group North. The northern German front had fallen back to the city of Narva, the gateway to Estonia. Strachwitz sought to eliminate the Soviet bridgehead over the Narva River at Krivasso. The bridgehead was so large that it needed to be divided into three parts and eliminated one part at a time.

On March 26, Strachwitz attacked head-on as swampy wooded terrain precluded any outflanking. Spearheading the attack in one of the first three Panzer IVs, Strachwitz was nearly hit by friendly fire from a Stuka. The fighting continued through the night in dark, claustrophobic conditions. Walking stick in hand, wearing his trademark sheepskin jacket, Strachwitz was always at the front, keeping up on the latest battle developments and insuring sufficient supplies. He handed out cognac and chocolate, offered encouragement, and awarded Iron Crosses. It took several days of hard fighting until the Soviets were defeated.

Promoted to major general of the reserve on April 1, Strachwitz prepared for the attack on the next portion of the bridgehead. This time the terrain allowed the use of the Tigers of Heavy Panzer Battalion 502. “[Strachwitz] won our confidence from the very beginning,” said Panzer ace Leutnant Otto Carius of Battalion 502. Strachwitz “was one of those personalities who one could never forget,” he said.

Carius’s Tigers took the lead, shielding the fusiliers following behind. Soviet small arms fire ricocheting off the Tigers, but ripped into some of the fusiliers. Contact was established with German troops trapped in the pocket. At night, Soviets hidden in the forest ambushed German infantry and armored personnel carriers. Nevertheless, by April 9, after four days of intense fighting, the last Soviet resistance was eliminated.

The last of the bridgehead still remained, however, and it was nearly twice the size of the previous ones. Strachwitz directed the offensive via radio in a bunker, which the Soviets continued to shell. This time, though, the Soviets were alert, their defenses were too strong, and the spring melt had begun. After three days, on April 21, the offensive had to be called off.

In recognition of Strachwitz’s initial successes, Hitler presented him with the Diamonds to the Knight’s Cross. Strachwitz bluntly rejected Hitler’s request to eliminate the remaining bridgehead. “Panzers can’t drive in the swamp,” Strachwitz told Hitler. Strachwitz continued to lead infiltrating actions on the southern flank of Army Group North. Penetrating 90 miles into enemy territory, Strachwitz burst upon an unsuspecting Soviet tank lager, blowing up tank after tank and spraying their startled crews with machine-gun fire.

There was no stopping the Soviet juggernaut, though, when, on June 22 Operation Bagration overwhelmed the undermanned and under-equipped lines of Army Group Center. Strachwitz was part of the relief attempt of Vilnius, making it possible to evacuate thousands of wounded soldiers before the city fell to the Soviets on July 13.

A significant event occurred that month at Hitler’s headquarters in East Prussia. On July 20 Major Claus von Stauffenberg planted a bomb at the Wolf’s Lair in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. At the time, Strachwitz was nursing a leg wound in Silesia. Many of Strachwitz’s acquaintances and friends were arrested and interrogated. The count tried to intervene but came under suspicion himself. When the Gestapo questioned Strachwitz’s Catholic religion and connections, Strachwitz admonished them for their Nazi atheism.

Strachwitz was soon needed back at the front. On August 1 the Soviets reached the Gulf of Riga at Tuckum, stranding 30 German divisions in northern Latvia and Estonia. In Operation Double Head, Third Panzer Army sought to reestablish contact by recapturing Tuckum and coming to the relief of beleaguered Riga. “If anyone can do it, it’s Strachwitz,” said Chief of Staff Heinz Guderian upon being informed that Strachwitz was to spearhead the attack.

On August 18, Strachwitz’s battle group advanced from of Frauenburg, East Prussia, crossing Lithuania on its way to Tuckum. Strachwitz’s command consisted of about 2,500 Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht soldiers and 60 panzers, mostly new Panthers from Panzer Brigade 101. There were also a couple of Tigers from the 103rd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, Mark IIIs and IVs of SS Brigade Gross, and armored personnel carriers and flak units.

At a bridge west of Tuckum, the surprised Soviet battalion gave up without a fight. Reaching the outskirts of the city on August 20, Strachwitz called for support from the cruiser Prinz Eugen in the Gulf of Riga. Prinz Eugen’s 203mm guns and the guns of several destroyers zeroed in on Tuckum’s market square, obliterating dozens of parked T-34s. Strachwitz’s panzer entered the city, driving by charred tanks. Some were overturned and their crews dead and burned. As for the survivors, they were too dazed to fight back. A few remaining tanks were easily dispatched. With SS Brigade Gross holding Tuckum, Strachwitz intercepted an approaching Soviet convoy. Believing themselves surrounded, the whole convoy surrendered.

Strachwitz pushed on to Riga with his grenadier battalions and his nine remaining Panthers, as many of the Panthers had broken down. After further engagements in a wood, Strachwitz entered Riga on the August 21. Driving by cheering Latvians and German troops, the count’s Panther stopped in the marketplace right in front of a number of high-ranking officers. In his sweat- and dirt-stained overall, his face smeared in oil, Strachwitz emerged from the cupola. “Hurra, Leutnant, you have busted the cauldron,” called out an officer. To astonished gazes, Strachwitz replied that he was a full fledged general.

Grossly overestimating Strachwitz’s force, the Soviet Fifty-First Army claimed that Tuckum had been attacked by 300 tanks. In three days, Strachwitz’s small battle group had captured 18,000 prisoners and destroyed numerous artillery pieces, tanks, and antitank guns. The wounded could be evacuated out of Riga and contact had been reestablished, albeit only temporarily, with Army Group North.

On August 24, 1944, Strachwitz was nearly killed in a traffic accident. Knocked unconscious, he woke up two weeks later in Riga hospital. He could hear the Soviets firing artillery at the city. Some rounds hit the hospital, but Strachwitz’s injuries prevented his transport. It was not until early October, with the fall of Riga imminent, that Strachwitz was flown to Breslau. The doctors counted on keeping him hospitalized for eight months. Strachwitz left after only seven days, continuing his recovery at Alt Siedel.

With the Soviets surging into Silesia on January 16, 1945, Strachwitz showed up at Field Marshal Ferdinand Schorner’s Oppeln headquarters on crutches. Strachwitz asked to return to the front to defend his homeland. Even Schorner, who sent anyone remotely combat-worthy to the front, was stunned. Schorner needed someone to organize tank hunters armed with panzerfausts. Strachwitz undertook the effort. Within a few weeks, 8,000 men volunteered. The force included hardened veterans, returning wounded, and idealistic teenagers. The desperate nature of the final days of fighting was embodied by Strachwitz’s youngest son, Hubertus Arthur, who despite being a leg amputee, volunteered to return to the front and was killed on March 25.

After Germany’s surrender on May 8, Strachwitz ensured that most of his soldiers ended up in American captivity. A still limping Strachwitz surrendered to an American lieutenant in Felgen. The count looked so haggard that the lieutenant thought he needed medical help. Taken to the Allendorf, Strachwitz found himself in the company of several hundred German officers, including Guderian and Adolf Galland. They were treated well and used to gain records of the war and military tactics. Strachwitz spent two years in captivity, during which he received the disheartening news that his wife Alda had been killed by a U.S. military truck.

Upon regaining his freedom in the spring of 1947, Strachwitz no longer had a home to which he could return. His ancestral lands in Upper Silesia had been occupied by Russians who later handed them over to Poland. His tattered uniform and his medals were all that Strachwitz had left. In a fresh start to a new life, Strachwitz married again. His bride was the much younger Nora von Stumm. After two years abroad beginning in 1949, the couple eventually returned to Germany, settling in upper Bavaria. Strachwitz founded a refugee foundation for displaced Silesians and became a Knight of Devotion of the Order of St. John.

On April 25, 1968, the 75-year-old Strachwitz, who was a heavy smoker, succumbed to lung cancer. “It was because of his bravery, which served as an example to all officers and soldiers, that he carried the highest decorations of the Knight’s Cross, the Oakleaves, the Swords and the Diamonds,” said General Heinz-Georg Lemm of the Bundeswehr, himself a holder of the Oak Leaves and Swords, at Strachwitz’s funeral. Unlike most senior commanders of the Third Reich, Strachwitz was buried with full military honors.

Strachwitz’s motto was, “Panzers should not be standing around, they should be rolling along, either shooting at the enemy or attacking and pursuing.” With speed and daring and a knack for improvisation and organization, Strachwitz achieved victories against great odds. Strachwitz was wounded 14 times, but he proved as tough as the wild boar on the Strachwitz coat of arms. Guderian rightly considered Strachwitz to be one of the greatest panzer leaders

Source :
"Mit Schwertern und Brillanten: Die Träger der höchsten deutschen Tapferkeitsauszeichnung" by Günter Fraschka
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http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/03/generalleutnant-der-reserve-graf.html
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https://www.geni.com/people/Hyacinth-Graf-Strachwitz-von-Gro%C3%9F-Zauche-und-Camminetz/6000000041804442749
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https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Strachwitz_von_Grob-Zauche_und_Camminetz-1