Knight's Cross Holder
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2004 8:28 pm
Hello,
My family and I recently discovered (thanks to this website) that among the medals he earned during the war as an officer in the Poiniere, (combat engineers) my grandfather Dirk Hoefer was a recipient of the Knight's Cross effective 4/14/45. His listed rank for the award is "Hauptmann," but I know that he ended the war officially as a Major. Possibly the promotion was related?
He passed away from Lymphoma in 1995, but I was very close with him and fortunately my love of history was such that I exhausted him with my constant badgering to tell me about his service years.
However, he never mentioned earning this high honor, and I suspect he never actually knew he had been recommended for it because he was captured by US forces in the Darmstadt area in early April, who had crossed the Rhine in his sector.
The story of his capture is a miracle in and of itself, in that he was traveling in a Kuebelwagen with his adjutant seeking to scrounge what reinforcements they could from a forward command post, when on the road ahead they heard the sounds of Panzers. Not knowing the Americans had already crossed the Rhine, they assumed the tanks must be German.
Rounding the bend, a lead Sherman opened up on the German vehicle, instantly killing the adjutant, destroying the vehicle, and wounding my grandfather who had at the last second leapt for his life onto the ground.
But I digress from my original question: What records if any, exist to this day which would allow me to shed some light on why and by whom my grandfather was recommended for the Knight's Cross? I'm sure many records were destroyed, or not even properly documented given the critical military situation at the time.
Any light on this would be greatly appreciated!
Eckhart B.
My family and I recently discovered (thanks to this website) that among the medals he earned during the war as an officer in the Poiniere, (combat engineers) my grandfather Dirk Hoefer was a recipient of the Knight's Cross effective 4/14/45. His listed rank for the award is "Hauptmann," but I know that he ended the war officially as a Major. Possibly the promotion was related?
He passed away from Lymphoma in 1995, but I was very close with him and fortunately my love of history was such that I exhausted him with my constant badgering to tell me about his service years.
However, he never mentioned earning this high honor, and I suspect he never actually knew he had been recommended for it because he was captured by US forces in the Darmstadt area in early April, who had crossed the Rhine in his sector.
The story of his capture is a miracle in and of itself, in that he was traveling in a Kuebelwagen with his adjutant seeking to scrounge what reinforcements they could from a forward command post, when on the road ahead they heard the sounds of Panzers. Not knowing the Americans had already crossed the Rhine, they assumed the tanks must be German.
Rounding the bend, a lead Sherman opened up on the German vehicle, instantly killing the adjutant, destroying the vehicle, and wounding my grandfather who had at the last second leapt for his life onto the ground.
But I digress from my original question: What records if any, exist to this day which would allow me to shed some light on why and by whom my grandfather was recommended for the Knight's Cross? I'm sure many records were destroyed, or not even properly documented given the critical military situation at the time.
Any light on this would be greatly appreciated!
Eckhart B.