The Panzervernichtungsabzeichen, officially designated the "Sonderabzeichen für das Niederkämpfen von Panzerkampfwagen durch Einzelkämpfer", was a highly prestigious World War II German military decoration instituted by Adolf Hitler on 9 March 1942 to honor individual soldiers of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS who had single-handedly destroyed or disabled an enemy tank or armored fighting vehicle in close combat using hand-held weapons. The award applied retroactively to actions from the opening of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941 and was strictly limited to personal feats of bravery by infantrymen or close-combat troops employing infantry anti-tank weapons such as the Panzerfaust, Panzerschreck, Hafthohlladung magnetic mines, satchel charges, bundled hand grenades, rifle grenades, or Molotov cocktails; dedicated anti-tank gun crews were explicitly ineligible, as the badge emphasized individual initiative against superior armored threats rather than crew-served equipment. Initially issued only in a silver version for each confirmed destruction and worn pinned then sewn onto the upper right sleeve of the tunic, the badge consisted of a rectangular embroidered field approximately 88 mm by 33 mm featuring a blackened 42 mm by 18 mm silhouette of a Panzer IV tank on a silver background bordered by thin black stripes; on 18 December 1943 a gold class was introduced for the single-handed destruction of five tanks, after which the recipient retained the four prior silver badges while wearing the gold one, with additional silver badges added below subsequent gold ones for every further set of five destructions. Approximately 18,500 silver and around 400 gold examples were awarded throughout the war, with the most prolific recipient being Oberstleutnant Günther Viezenz, who earned an extraordinary twenty-one badges, often through repeated acts of extreme courage on the Eastern Front where Soviet armor posed a constant threat. The Panzervernichtungsabzeichen symbolized the desperate heroism required of individual German soldiers in the later stages of the conflict and remained one of the most respected close-combat awards in the Wehrmacht, distinct from the earlier General Assault Badge that had sometimes recognized similar feats before its creation.
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Hauptmann der Reserve Friedrich Anding (1915-1996), 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.
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Hauptmann Bodo Spranz (1920-2007), born in Nordhausen, was one of the most successful Sturmgeschütz commanders of the Wehrmacht, serving as Chef of the 1. Batterie, Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 237 under the 2. Armee of Heeresgruppe Mitte; by early September 1943 he had personally destroyed fifty enemy tanks since the beginning of the war, while his Batterie, operating in the sector of the 330. Infanterie-Division near Smolensk, destroyed sixty-one Soviet tanks in only six days of fighting at the end of August and beginning of September. In mid-September his unit crushed a fierce Soviet armoured assault, knocking out twenty-seven tanks in a single engagement, and by 17 September 1943 Spranz had raised his personal total to seventy-six tanks destroyed (four of them in close combat), having been wounded for the ninth time on that same day. For these sustained achievements he was awarded both the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes and the 308th Eichenlaub thereto on the same day, 3 October 1943, while still serving as Batteriechef of the 1./Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 237; he later survived the fighting in the Halbe pocket and, after the war, became a distinguished ethnologist and director of the Museum für Völkerkunde in Freiburg.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Vinzenz Kaiser (1904-1945), born on 28 February 1904 in Waltersdorf near Judenburg in Styria, Austria, and killed in action on 20 April 1945 near Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany, was an Austrian SS officer whose military career in the Waffen-SS spanned from the pre-war SS-Verfügungstruppe through major campaigns on the Eastern Front, culminating in the award of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for his decisive leadership during the Third Battle of Kharkov. After early involvement in the Austrian Nazi movement, including founding SA troops and SS units in Styria, arrests by the Austrian authorities, and flight to Germany as a political refugee in 1933, he completed training with the Austrian SS Legion at Lechfeld and advanced through various SS training and leadership roles before the war, eventually serving as a company commander in SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 "Der Führer" of the 2. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Das Reich". On 12 March 1943, as SS-Hauptsturmführer and Führer of the III.(gepanzerten) Bataillon of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 "Der Führer", during the bitter fighting to retake Kharkov, he found himself in a critical sector where the I. Bataillon of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Deutschland" had established a bridgehead in the first rows of houses in the Zalyutino suburbs after the 16. Kompanie breached a deep Soviet anti-tank ditch, only for heavy enemy counterattacks to threaten its collapse in the early morning hours. Rather than simply reinforcing the defensive line as initially planned while awaiting the arrival of tanks, Kaiser proactively decided to launch an immediate attack from the bridgehead with his SPW-equipped battalion to relieve the hard-pressed I. Bataillon "Deutschland" and expand the foothold; his bold initiative and personal leadership turned the situation completely, enabling his forces to push the Soviets back, advance to the railway station area, link up with reconnaissance elements of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" near the Red Square, and then pursue the retreating enemy in a Kampfgruppe of armored personnel carriers that inflicted heavy losses and captured approximately forty artillery pieces in the woods southwest of the city. Kaiser himself personally destroyed four enemy tanks at close range with handheld weapons during the fighting, earning him four silver Tank Destruction Badges, and his tremendous personal bravery, tactical decisiveness, and proven combat leadership were singled out in the recommendation submitted by acting divisional commander SS-Standartenführer Kurt Brasack, leading to the award of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 6 April 1943 (the 1684th such award). He later rose to the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer, commanded units in formations including the 17. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Götz von Berlichingen", and met his end during a reconnaissance mission in the final defensive battles around Nuremberg in April 1945.
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Hauptmann Franz Bayer (1920-2014), born in Langau in Lower Austria, was a highly experienced Panzer officer who served successively with the 6./Panzer-Regiment 39 of the 17. Panzer-Division, the III. Abteilung of Panzer-Regiment “Großdeutschland”, and as Kommandeur of the I. Abteilung, Panzer-Regiment 26 of the 26. Panzer-Division; he earned the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold as a Leutnant Zugführer in 1942 and the Panzerkampfabzeichen III. Stufe “50” while leading elements of the Großdeutschland regiment. In late December 1944, while temporarily subordinated to the Panzer-Grenadier-Division Feldherrnhalle and still commanding the I./Panzer-Regiment 26, he achieved outstanding results between 22 and 24 December near Pazmand and the hills south of Vereb, destroying with only seventeen of his own Panzers a total of seventy-three enemy tanks, twenty-six anti-tank guns and seventeen trucks at the cost of a single vehicle; on 22 December, ordered to seize the village of Pazmand from the north with supporting SPW and Sturmhaubitzen, he captured Hills 155 and 152, then, despite a withdrawal order and a smashed radio, on his own initiative held the newly won ground against a counter-attack by roughly forty Soviet tanks, destroying twenty-one of them and four trucks with limbered guns, thereby preventing an enemy thrust toward Komarom and enabling the orderly withdrawal of the 271. Volksgrenadier-Division and elements of the 6. Panzer-Division. For these actions he was recommended for the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, which sources record as awarded on 9 May 1945 (though the formal presentation remains historically contested), and he survived the war to die in Vienna in 2014.
Leutnant
Josef Glatz (1920-1991), known as "Sepp", was born on 3 November 1920
and died on 14 January 1991. During the Second World War he served in
the Heer as a member of Panzerjäger-Abteilung 46, which formed part of
the (44.) Reichsgrenadier-Division Hoch- und Deutschmeister. He earned
the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse, the Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen in der I.
Stufe, the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse, the Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in
Silber and the Panzervernichtungsabzeichen in Silber before receiving
the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 7 August 1944 while serving as Leutnant
in the I. Abteilung of Panzerjäger-Abteilung 46. On 12 January 1945,
still holding the rank of Leutnant, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des
Eisernen Kreuzes as Führer der 1./Panzer-Jäger-Abteilung 46 for his
outstanding leadership and combat achievements in that role during the
final stages of the war. His last rank remained Leutnant.
Source :
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonderabzeichen_f%C3%BCr_das_Niederk%C3%A4mpfen_von_Panzerkampfwagen_durch_Einzelk%C3%A4mpfer
https://www.tracesofwar.com/awards/98/Panzervernichtungsabzeichen.htm
