Brinkforth, Hubert

Date of birth:: April 15th, 1916 (Marl/Westphalia, Germany)
Date of death:: June 5th, 1942 (Pogostje/Russia, Soviet Union)
Buried on:: German War Cemetery Sologubovka
Plot: 4. Row: 12. Grave: 1184.
Nationality:: German

Biography

Hubert Brinkforth reached the rank of Unteroffizier.

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Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Gefreiter (Lance Corporal)
Unit:: Richtschütze, 14. (Panzerjäger) Kompanie, III. Bataillon, Infanterie-Regiment 25, Heer
Awarded on:: March 7th, 1941

The following wartime excerpt describes why Brinkforth was awarded the Knight’s Cross…

“On the 27.05.1940 Gefreiter Brinkforth, the gunner of a Pak gun, shot up a deeply echeloned English tank formation during the defensive fighting near Abbeville. He did this from a forward position 6 km in front of the main battle line along the southern edge of the village of Huppy, one of the most important points of the bridgehead. By allowing the enemy armour to approach within a range of 100 metres he destroyed 11 tanks within 20 minutes despite the heavy cannon and machine gun fire that plastered his own position. This exemplary behaviour also inspired the Pak crews near Gefreiter Brinkforth to give their utmost in this battle, and the result was that the strong English attack was defeated.”

It should be noted that, after the war, the former gun commander Unteroffizier Nickstat wrote that 2 of these 11 tanks were destroyed by another gun from the Kompanie.