- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- Leutnant der Reserve (2nd Lieutenant of Reserves)
- Unit:
- Zugführer, 2. Kompanie, Grenadier-Regiment 333, 225. Infanterie-Division, Heer
- Awarded on:
- October 19th, 1944
The following newspaper article (dated 07.12.1944) describes why Wulff received the Knight’s Cross…
“A Bold Hamburger:
In the area around Riga the Bolsheviks succeeded in achieving a penetration that got to as far as the firing positions of the German artillery. But, while it was still nighttime, this penetration was sealed off by a hastily assembled Alarm Bataillon. However on the next morning the enemy employed massive artillery and air power and managed to reach the approaches to the northern Düna bridges. It looked as if the entire front would be rolled up.
Leutnant Hermann Wulff (the leader of the regimental reserve) recognized the imminent threat to his Division, and he immediately initiated a counterthrust. He plunged into the enemy at the head of just 6 men, having chosen not to wait for reinforcements. He was able to push back the enemy to their jump-off positions following bitter close combat with machine-pistols and hand grenades. Along the way he gathered up bravely fighting German soldiers that were still holding out in scattered resistance nests, and with them he created a security line along the edge of a forest that managed to withstand every subsequent Soviet onslaught.
The great danger of a breakthrough to the northern Düna bridges was thus averted thanks to the heroic bravery of Leutnant Wulff. For this the Führer has awarded him the Knight’s Cross.”