Mystery EK1 portrait

[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 promotion?

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.

Does anyone have such a portriat? Note( not gefreiters and higher ranks, only privates) J

[Simon O.]

Now there's a photo that raises some questions.

Loss of rank can be an explanation as well as anything else.

[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.

[Simon O.]

The RK is a relatively easy one to pin down as the data has been researched up and down.

There were a total of 9 men that were awarded the RK whilst holding private rank at the time, including a 47 year old Bau-Pionier

http://www.das-ritterkreuz.de/index_...=verleihung_rk

[jacquesf]

Simon, thanx for the info. I assume that they were also promoted with the award of the RK? J

[chrischa]

It is a very interesting subject and one that pricked my interest since reading about Christen years ago.

I wonder if an individual would turn promotion down, I doubt it considering the propoganda opportunity. Maybe having a private winning a high award would be an incentive to a very wide audience?

I suppose some guys are brave but perhaps a bit stupid.

[PanzerElite]

sorry, private got EK1 is very very rare, i dont have to support your thread,
my man is obergefreiten, who got the DK, but not promote to the next rank until several months later.

[Simon O.]

I believe a major fact in the rarity of a soldat gaining the EK1 was down to the rank system. The mannschaften ranks are essentially privates, they are not ranks connected to any form of command. So in theory you could have an entire company where all the privates were gefreite or obergefreite. A soldat was thus often a recruit or relatively new guy. Alternatively a soldier who had disciplinary problems or otherwise wasn't too interested in being a soldier.
The other thing of course is that the soldier required the EK2 first and the EK1 was be no means an easy or quick decoration to be recommended for if you were a regular soldier, meaning it took time, often years and you had to have been decorated previously. The exception being single acts of extreme bravery.

[Lionel H.]

Any Photo showing a single "Schütze" or "Pz-Gren" awarded with EK.1 is very rare. Here is my only example so far, already shared in the Thread "unidentified TDB-Holder". This Pic is dated "Italien, 2.02.1945" on the back and signed "Hansl"..... I can imagine, without further Proofs, that this Soldier received simultanously several Awards for the singlehanded Destruction of two tanks.... The Pic don't show entirely his sleeve, but a Gefr. or Ogefr. chevron would have been at least partially visible if being sewn. Lionel.

[PanzerElite]

oh, s**t, very nice !! and with TDB
so i am pleased to save the foto, thanks!

[jacquesf]

Lionel, thanx that is exactly what I am looking for. A private awarded the ek1 witout being promoted. J

[PanzerElite]

my man, DK + GAB 25.

[jacquesf]

Yours is a gefreiter not a private. Here is one that might be, cannot see a chevron. He is wearing a m44 tunic, rarely seen with awards. J

[PanzerElite]

yes, mine is obergefreiten as i said,
private got EK1 is very rare, i collect these fotos!
so your fotos are very nice!

[Simon O.]

Yours is a gefreiter not a private. Here is one that might be, cannot see a chevron. He is wearing a m44 tunic, rarely seen with awards. J

I think he's a recently promoted unteroffizier, missing the collar tress but look at the thickness of the tress on his shoulderstraps