Gustav Knittel - Wartime Career

Wartime Career

Shortly before the German invasion of France and the Low Countries Knittel was transferred to the 15th (motorcycle) company of the Leibstandarte. He was to replace Max Wünsche as a platoon commander (the other platoon commanders being Hugo Kraas and Hermann Weiser) but the transfer was postponed until after the capitulation of The Netherlands. Knittel took part in the Battle of France saw action at Wormhout and Bollezeele and was awarded the Iron cross 2nd class before he was wounded while leading the attack on Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule on 19 June 1940 and transported to a German field hospital in Troyes. The campaign in France also earned him the Infantry Assault Badge and the Wound Badge in black. When the commander of the 15th (motorcycle) company, Kurt Meyer, raised the Aufklärungsabteilung LSSAH (Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH) in Metz in late 1940 he assigned Knittel as commander of the 4th (heavy) company. Knittel recovered from his leg wound in the SS hospital in Hohenlychen and returned to the Leibstandarte in November 1940.

After taking part with the Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH in the German attack on Yugoslavia and the battle for Greece he next participated in Operation Barbarossa: the German invasion of the Soviet Union. He led his company during the drive of the Leibstandarte on Zhytomyr but was wounded during the fighting for the heights north of Marchlewsk on 11 July 1941. This time Knittel had sustained shrapnel wounds and he was shot through the right armpit. He recovered in Hohenlychen hospital again and he was then posed to the SS Training camp Dachau. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class and returned to his company in November.

Knittel distinquised himself on 19 November 1941 during the attack on Sultan-Sali during the battle for Rostov and later between 27 November and 1 December when he led an ad hoc Kampfgruppe (battlegroup) to defend the German retreat on Taganrog against the Red Army.

In March 1942 he was appointed as the company commander of the 3rd (light half-track) company in the Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH. After formation of this unit at the Sennelager training grounds in Germany and further training in Normandy, Knittel led this company during the battle for Kharkov and distinguished himself between 2 and 4 February 1943. Having received orders to lead an ad hoc battlegroup formed around his company and move behind enemy lines to cover the retreat of the 298. Infanterie-Division, he made contact with this battered division in Shevchenkove, was cut off by the advancing Red Army but managed to fight his way back to the German lines with his battlegroup and a group of rescued soldiers. He further distinguished himself when the 1st SS reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH was encircled in Alexejewka and Knittel led one of the counterattacks against the Red Army on 13 February. The following day the battalion was saved from destruction because Max Wünsche managed to reach Alexejewka coming from Yefremivka with his tank regiment. On 15 February Meyer and Wünsche wanted to reach the lines of Fritz Witt and Knittel with his company was send to Bereka to reconnoitre the planned route. He found Bereka occupied by the Red Army and he was wounded in the following attack. The next day the combined battlegroup of Meyer and Wünsche managed to reach Yefremivka. Knittel was hospitalized with a leg wound but returned to his company for the successful counterattack on Kharkov. Following the recapture of Kharkov, Emil Wawrzinek, one of the platoon commanders who served under Knittel, was awarded the German Cross in Gold.

In April 1943 Meyer left the Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH and Knittel succeeded him as battalion commander. He was wounded on 11 July during the Battle of Kursk but stayed with his troops. Knittel led his battalion in Italy and during the 1943-1944 winter battles in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, further distinguishing himself at Turbovka and at Divin, where he personally led his men around the defensive positions of the Red Army and took the town from the east by surprise. He was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 23 January 1944.

He continued to lead the remains of his battered battalion during the battles in February and March, earning the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for securing the Bowenez Pocket between Ternopil and Proskurov on 13 March and his defence of Hill 300 south of Andrejewka between 30 March and 1 April 1944. To defend Hill 300 Knittel led the men of the 68. Infanterie-Division back into their defensive positions after they had been pushed out by the attacking Red Army. He then managed to fend off four more attacks from the Red Army that day and one more on 1 April. This enabled the German Army to safely cross the Zbruch River and retreat to Lemberg. The decimated Leibstandarte was then transferred to Belgium. Knittel set up his headquarters in Turnhout where he was awarded the Knight's Cross on 4 June 1944. His former adjutant Hans-Martin Leidreiter, who now led a company, was awarded the German Cross in gold.

The Leibstandarte was shipped to Normandy a week after D-Day and Knittel led his battalion during the German attempts to counter the allied invasion. It was in Normandy that he realized that Germany would lose the war, especially after he witnessed the devastating power of the allied fighter-bombers and artillery during Operation Lüttich and in the Falaise Pocket. After the retreat from France Knittel left for a short holiday in Neu-Ulm. He was awarded the Close Combat Clasp in gold on 13 October 1944 and he tried hard to obtain a position behind the front which he found as commander of the Field Replacement Battalion LSSAH in Lübbecke.