Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Gefreiter (Aircraftman class 2)

Unit:

Bataillonsmelder, Stab, II. Bataillon, Fallschirm-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2 "Hermann Göring"

Awarded on:

November 30th, 1944

The following wartime excerpt describes why Steets received the Knight’s Cross…

“On the 19.10.1944 he was unable to make a report due to enemy anti-tank gun fire. He thus eliminated the two flanking anti-tank guns and thereby simultaneously enabled another friendly Kompanie to reach its attack objective without excessive losses.

On the 24.10.1944 he was conducting a message run by himself when he discovered that the enemy was preparing launch a battalion-sized attack at the boundary with the neighbouring Kompanie. The crew of a friendly MG had fallen out. He took up this MG all by himself and worked his way into a well-camouflaged flanking position. He waited with cold blood, allowing the enemy to partially bypass him before opening up from a range of 200 metres with deadly effect. 100 dead troops lay before his MG position as the whole attack ground to a halt. Enemy mortars plus other weapons plastered his hole in the ground, and he stopped moving. The enemy believed he had been eliminated. However the MG roared back into life during the next attack, reaping a deadly harvest. After an 11-man strong assault troop had managed to get within very close proximity to him, he attacked it while firing his MG from the hip. He killed 8 Soviet soldiers and took the other 3 prisoner. His commander has named him as the best and most dutiful soldier in the Bataillon.”

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)