On 21 June 1941, as the Wehrmacht stormed forward across frontiers of the Soviet Union, Hitler instituted a new higher grade of the Knight's Cross decoration for galantry and leadership: the silver clasp of the Oak-leaves with Swords. It would be awarded to only 159 men of the approximately 15 million who served in the German armed forces during World War II. This third in a sequence of four titles describes and illustrates a selection of the recipients: from much-wounded front line infantry officers, to Hitler's 'brother-in-law'; from a sergeant pilot fighter ace, to the commanding general of the greatest tank force ever gathered on the Russian Front.
- ISBN10 1841766437
- ISBN13 9781841766430
- Publish Date 13 September 2005
- Publish Status Transferred
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Imprint Osprey Publishing
- Format Paperback
- Pages 64
- Language English