Kunz, Rudolf

Date of birth:: September 23rd, 1918 (Dillingen/Rhineprovince, Germany)
Date of death:: August 9th, 2010 (Hattingen/North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)
Nationality:: German

Biography

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Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Oberleutnant der Reserve (1st Lieutenant of Reserves)
Unit:: Führer Schnelle-Abteilung 306 / 306.Infanterie-Division
Awarded on:: June 10th, 1943

The following first-hand account by Kunz himself describes the circumstances that led him to being awarded the Knight’s Cross…

“As a soldier on leave from Stalingrad who could no longer to return to his old unit (which was trapped in the pocket), I was attached to the 306. Infanterie-Division. As a Leutnant der Reserve I received the task of providing military advice to the commander (a Major) of the Schnelle Abteilung 306, as this unit had just come from France with no combat experience. The Abteilung was ordered to cover the retreat of the Division as a rearguard. On the second day the commander became a casualty, and so the leadership of the unit was passed to me. This was in spite of the fact that a Hauptmann and several Oberleutnants were present in the Abteilung, the reason being that none of these had combat experience.

On one night, after I had just been given the order to pull back to the next position, a column of German soldiers appeared on a path between the almost 2 metre high snowbanks from the north. At their head was their divisional commander, and their appearance was due to the fact that they could not retreat in their own frontline sector. In order to prevent the Russians from easily destroying this group by striking its flank while it was on the march, I ordered my Kompanien to reoccupy our recently vacated positions. As a result the approximately 6000 men of the neighbouring division could reach their new positions unmolested. We were also successfully able to reach our new positions before dawn. The Russians had fortunately noticed nothing unusual, and so we also sustained no casualties. The commander of the neighbouring division consequently recommended that my divisional commander write up a Knight’s Cross proposal for me.”