EK1 award question

[jacquesf]

Were there any privates in the Wehrmacht that was awarded the EK1, but not promoted to the next rank. I was under the impression that the award of the EK 1 was accompanied by a promition?

There was another discussion on the forum about em's/ privates that received EK1's and very few if any photografic proof was produced. This is the pic that prompted my question.J

[stukapilot]

Promotion to the next rank was after increasing your commander skills and levels. And the EK1 was just a sign of bravery on the field. I do not think these definitions were often connected.

[Brian R]

Jacques - I don't recall anything in my review of EK regulations that specifically says that a promotion is in order for the award of the EK1. My sense is these things were done on a case by case basis and that promotions were very common but not automatic.

That said, it is very uncommon to find low ranking enlisted men with EK1s during the first two years of the war - or even through the first months of Barbarossa.

[jacquesf]

Brian, I agree, but I am referring not low rank, like gefreiters etc, but spesifically privates.

[Brian R]

Brian, I agree, but I am referring not low rank, like gefreiters etc, but spesifically privates.

Yup, I am unaware of any specific regulation for privates. I think they were the same as other low rankers - all case by case, but the promotion likely happened a significant amount of the time.

[jacquesf]

I found this ss guy, Fritz Christen" Christen was credited with having knocked out 13 Soviet tanks and killed nearly 100 enemy soldiers singlehandedly. The soldiers that greeted him were baffled that a single artilleryman could hold his position against hundreds of Soviet troops and a formidable armor presence. For this stunning act of individual bravery, SS-Obergruppenführer Theodor Eicke awarded Christen with the Iron Cross, First Class and recommended him simultaneously for the Knight's Cross. Subsequently, Hitler awarded him the Knight's Cross, making Christen the first enlisted man in his division to be given the honor.