Tank Destruction Badge - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Tank Destruction Badge (German language

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

: Sonderabzeichen für das Niederkämpfen von Panzerkampfwagen durch Einzelkämpfer) was an award given to individuals of the Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

who destroyed an enemy tank single-handedly by an hand-held weapon. Anti-tank units were not eligible for this award. It was established by Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

on March 9, 1942 but could be awarded for actions after June 22, 1941 (Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

Notable recipients

Name	Tank Kills	Notes
Günther Viezenz Günther Viezenz Günther Viezenz was a highly decorated German Hauptmann in the Wehrmacht. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...	21
Adolf Peichl Adolf Peichl Adolf Peichl was a Untersturmführer , in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross; which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II...	11
Michael Pössinger Michael Pössinger Michael Pössinger was a German bobsledder who competed in the early 1950s. He won a complete set of medals in the four-man event at the FIBT World Championships with a gold in 1951, a silver in 1954, and a bronze in 1953...	5
Oskar Wolkerstorfer Oskar Wolkerstorfer Oskar Wolkerstorfer was an Austrian soldier who served in the Waffen-SS during World War II. He held the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer and was one of the most-decorated soldiers of the war...	4
Franz Bäke Franz Bäke Generalmajor der Reserve Dr. med. dent. Franz BäkeIn German a Doctor of Medical Dentistry is abbreviated as Dr. med. dent. . was a German Army officer and panzer ace. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...	3
Ekkehard Kylling-Schmidt Ekkehard Kylling-Schmidt Ekkehard Kylling-Schmidt was a highly decorated Hauptmann in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...	3
Urbano Gómez García	2
Hans Dorr Hans Dorr Hans Dorr was a German Waffen-SS Obersturmbannführer who served with the 5. SS-Panzer-Division Wiking and was a commander of the SS-Regiment Germania. He was wounded 16 times during WWII and died at a Field hospital near Judenburg only a month before the war's end...	2
Sylvester Stadler Sylvester Stadler Sylvester Stadler was a SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS, a commander of the 2nd SS Division Das Reich, 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen and a winner of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords...	2
Günther-Eberhardt Wisliceny Günther-Eberhardt Wisliceny Günther-Eberhardt Wisliceny was a German Waffen-SS officer. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...	2
Karl Auer	1
Ernst-Günther Baade Ernst-Günther Baade Generalleutnant Ernst-Günther Baade was a German general serving during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme...	1
Rudolf Demme Rudolf Demme Rudolf August Demme was a German General during World War II.-Biography:Demme was born in Mühlhausen in Thuringia. He entered Army Service on September 15, 1914 as a volunteer in the 1st Recruitment-Depot of the 11th Pioneer Replacement Battalion. During the first years of World War I he served...	1
Heinz-Georg Lemm Heinz-Georg Lemm Heinz-Georg Lemm was a German soldier who fought in the 12th Infantry Division during World War II and later served in the Bundeswehr, the post-war West German armed forces. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...	1
Werner Mummert Werner Mummert Werner Mummert was a German officer during both World War I and World War II. Mummert was born in Lüttewitz/Saxony. He first joined the German Army in August 1914 and became a Lieutenant of the Reserve , Sachs Karabiner Regiment in 1916...	1
Joachim Peiper Joachim Peiper Joachim Peiper , more often known as Jochen Peiper, was a field officer in the Waffen-SS during World War II, convicted of war crimes in Belgium and accused of war crimes in Italy. He was Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's personal adjutant . In 1945, he was an SS-Standartenführer, the Waffen-SS's...	1
Theodor Tolsdorff Theodor Tolsdorff Theodor Tolsdorff was a Lieutenant General in the German Army and one of 27 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds in the Second World War...	1

External links

Tank Destruction Badge @ Lexikon der Wehrmacht

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.