Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Leutnant der Reserve (2nd Lieutenant of Reserves)

Unit:

Führer, 2. Kompanie, I. Bataillon, Jäger-Regiment 228, 101. Jäger-Division, Heer

Awarded on:

March 20th, 1944

The following divisional order of the day, dated 03.05.1944, describes why Becker was awarded the Knight’s Cross…
“On the 20.03.1944 the Führer and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross to Leutnant d.R. Karl-Heinz Becker, commander of 2./Jäger-Regiment 228, as the 16th soldier of the Division to be so honoured.
Leutnant Becker, Kompanie commander of 2./Jäger-Regiment 228, has repeatedly distinguished himself through his flexible leadership and exemplary devotion to duty. On the 24.01.1944 he would distinguish himself through extraordinary bravery as both a leader and fighter.
On this day Leutnant Becker and his Kompanie took part in Jäger-Regiment 228’s attack against Konjuschewka. As he and his men were approaching the village’s southwestern edge he identified a primary resistance nest around a haystack at the village edge. Acting swiftly, he drove his Kompanie forward in short, swift bounds and broke into the enemy strongpoint. In the bitter struggle which followed he and his Kompanie smashed this cornerstone of the enemy defense. In the process 3 anti-tank guns and 2 heavy machine-guns were knocked out, and the garrison itself was wiped out in melee combat. After eliminating this resistance nest, he and his Kompanie thrust through the village from south to north. In doing so they smashed the entire enemy defensive position along the western edge of Konjuschewka. In this latter stage of the battle another 3 anti-tank guns and several MGs were put out of action.
At this stage Leutnant Becker received the mission of penetrating deeper into the village and reaching its opposite edge. Here he would hold his position and wait for further orders in order to allow the follow-up Bataillon to conduct an orderly regrouping within Konjuschewka. Following hard street and house combat, in which Becker personally eliminated several resistance nests with his machine-pistol, he reached the ordered objective. However strong enemy forces continued to hold out in the northern part of Konjuschewka. From here they plastered heavy fire onto both the following elements of I. Bataillon and II. Bataillon, forcing them to periodically take cover.
The enemy’s firepower suddenly received a substantial boost in the form of an additional enemy battery. Consisting of 3 artillery pieces (12.2 cm calibre), it fired into our Kompanien from a point about 1 km east of Konjuschewka. The enemy, who had hitherto only been able desperately defend in the northern part of the village, now found new courage from this artillery fire and even launched an energetic counterthrust. A threatening crisis for the Bataillon now began to emerge. The enemy started to regain ground.
At this point Leutnant Becker made a bold decision: he would go against his orders to hold the village edge. Instead, undeterred by the heavy and direct artillery fire, he would swiftly gather up the two nearest squads of his Kompanie and charge straight towards the enemy’s battery position. Personally intervening in the resultant close combat in a decisive manner, he and his men engaged the gun crews, killing some and forcing the remainder to flee. As a result the battery was eliminated, and with it the last buttress for the hostile resistance in Konjeschewka. The backbone of the enemy’s defense was broken, and the remaining elements of the Bataillon proceeded to capture the entire village within a short time. II. Bataillon was then able to prosecute its own attack unhindered.
I congratulate Leutnant d.R. Becker on receiving this well-deserved award for bravery.”

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)