photo of a RAD KC winner

[Radcollector]

Hello,

at a show this weekend I was lucky enough to to find a latewar 1944 newspaper with a full front page photo of RAD KC winner obertruppfuhrer Bittner.I believe he is one of only 2 RAD men to be awarded the KC(he also looks like he recieved a few other awards as well!)Does anyone know the details as to why these 2 RAD men won the KC-I assume they saw combat while assigned to RAD units but what did they do specifically?

Yancy

[Denis]

Hello Yancy
I don't think Bittner was awarded the KC as a member of a RAD unit. Several wartime photos shows RAD/SA members wearing the KC but most of time, these guys earned the KC being assigned to the Wehrmacht (Heer, WSS, LW or KM). They were photographed with their paramilitary uniform for propaganda purposes.

BITTNER RUDOLF
DoB :
DoD : 21/01/1945
DKiG : not awarded
RK :28/11/1942 as Gefr. 2/PZ. JÄG. ABT. 561

To my knowledge, there was one RAD member who was awarded the KC. It was :
KORN HEINZ
DoB : 19/02/1920
Last rank : OBERFELMEISTER
Last unit : RAD-PZ. JÄG. KP. (7. FALLSCH. JÄG. DIV.)
EK1 : 16/11/1941
DKiG : 27/10/1943 as Felmeister RAD ABT. 2/61
RK : 14/01/1945 (1565th) as Fmst. 4/SCHW. FLAK ABT. 232

You will find below a photo of Bittner in Heer uniform. I will try to show paramilitary units's members wearing the KC.

Regards
Denis

[Denis]

For example, there is a well known photo of Hans Hoffritz coming from the Hoffman sery and depicting him as a SA Ustuf. while he was awarded the KC as a Fw. on 04/09/1941, belonging to 14/GRE. RGT. 268.
(Sorry but I don't achieve to find it again. If any member could post it, I will appreciate it)

Another example is Josef Gollas. He was awarded the KC as a Fw. on 18/11/1941 belonging to 6/GRE. RGT. 106 (15. INF. DIV.) and he is shown wearing a SA uniform.

Regards
Denis

[Dick Pumphrey]

Hi Yancy and Denis,
For the record there is another Bittner listed. He is:
Herwig Bittner
Lt., Zugf. i.d. 1./St.Gesch.Abt. 270
D.O.A 18.1.44
D.O.D. +22.8.44 Russia
This information from Walther-Peer Fellgiebel's book.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Dick

[Radcollector]

Hello,

Thanks for the great information,According to Agnolias "Labor Organizations of the Reich" there were 2 RAD leaders awarded the KC-however it doesnt mention there names-units or circumstances??I automatically assumed Bittner was one if the 2.
Its interesting that hes wearing the RAD uniform as he was obviously discharged from RAD service to serve in the wehrmacht.I could see how this could be usefull propaganda for instilling some kind of fighting spirt/attitude in RAD men,who were called on more and more to serve in FLAK-later infantry- units as the war progressed then went badly for Germany.

Yancy

[Dick Pumphrey]

Gentlemen,
The other RAD winner of the Knights Cross was most probably Gerhard Konopka of II./Grenadier Rgt. GD. DOA 29.8.43
Regards,
Dick

[Radcollector]

oberarbeitsfuhrer Knopka

Hello,

You were right on the money with that one-I was re-reading a chapter in Angolias book "Labor Organizations of the Reich" and what did I find on page #487?a picture of RAD KC winner oberarbeitsfuhrer Knopka(how is it spelled? you have konopka,angolia says Knopka?)I dont know how I missed the photo the first time reading it!so my statement from above is incorrect-Angolia does mention one of the RAD KC winners!do you have anymore info on Knopka(or konopka!)other that what has allready been given?


Yancy

[Denis]

Hello
The name quoted in Angolia's is IMHO wrong. There is no KC winner of this name and he very surely refers to Gerhard Konopka as Dick mentioned it. You will find below some bio details about him.


KONOPKA GERHARD
DoB : 27/03/1911
Last rank : MAJOR
Last unit : :GRE. RGT. "F.L. JAHN" (RAD-DIV. "F.L. JAHN")
EK1 : 01/07/1941
DKiG : 09/10/1942 as Lt.d.R. STBKP/INF. RGT. "GD" 1
NKSiG : 20/04/1945
RK : 29/08/1943 (2053rd) as Oblt. d.R. II/GRE. RGT. "GD" (PZ. GRE. DIV. "GD")


As you will see, Konopka ended the war as assigned to a RAD unit but he earned his KC as a Heer member (assigned to the Elite Grossdeutschland division). It is worth also noting that Gerhard was awarded the Close Combat Clasp in Gold (among the 615 known recipients to this day) and also received 4 Tank Destruction Badges. There is a well known sery of photos showing him as an instructor in an anti-tank course. He is shown teaching how to put the magnetic mine on T-34s. I am nearly sure that a photo of him can be found in Bender/Breyette's Tank Killers.
To come back to the original matter, Konopka can't be considered as a RAD KC holder since he was bestowed the RK in a Heer unit. For the moment, only one RAD member (given in a previous thread in the same topic) was awarded the KC.
BTW, 3 other KC holders ended the war in RAD units. they are listed below (excluding Konopka) :

BIEG KARL
DoB : 13/09/1919
Last rank : MAJOR
Last unit : GRE. RGT. "THEODOR KÖRNER" (3. RAD. DIV.)
EK1 : 02/09/1941
DKiG : Not awarded
RK : 17/09/1943 (2136th) as Hptm. II/GRE. RGT. 868 (355. INF. DIV.)

HILGEMANN KLAUS
DoB : 21/02/1918
DoD : 06/07/1973
Last rank : MAJOR
Last unit : RAD DIV.
EK1 : 13/02/1942
DKiG : 28/04/1944 as Hptm. II/GRE. RGT. 426
RK : 08/10/1942 (1254th) as Oblt. 13/GRE. RGT. 422 (126. INF. DIV.)
EL : 29/10/1944 (641st) as Major II/GRE. RGT. 426

JAEGER KARL-HEINZ
DoB : 25/06/1914
DoD : 20/12/1992
Last rank : MAJOR d.R.
Last unit : FÜS. BTL. (RAD-DIV. "F.L. JAHN")
EK1 : 10/07/1943
DKiG : 07/12/1944 as Hptm. d.R. II/GRE. RGT. 184
RK : 04/08/1943 (1927th) as Lt. d.R. 1/GRE. RGT. 167 (86. INF. DIV.)
EL : 16/03/1945 (786th) Hptm. d.R. GRE. RGT. 448

Regards
Denis

[Radcollector]

Hello Denis,

thanks for the great information-you cleared up a lot of mis-information that I had regarding RAD KC winners-Do you know a good source of Information(book/website?) regarding the 4 RAD divisions?I have only the basic information regarding these units-commanders-dates and AO-and order of battle listing the componant units of these divisions,I would like to research them more if possible-

thanks again yancy

[Denis]

Hi Yancy
Unfortunately, i don't know any books delaing with that specific matter. Maybe you should leave a new thread in the relevant subsection in order to have more replies from more kowledgeable members than me.
My info was picked up in books covering KC recipients (Fellgebiel's one and the multi sery published by Biblio Verlag.
Sorry
Denis

[Greg]

Heinz Korn

This postwar reprint (signed 1987) shows Korn with KC in RAD uniform. On the back he wrote his rank of Oberfeldmeister and also Major of the Reserves.

Regards,
Greg

[Radcollector]

while surfing the web i came across a RAD KC thread on another forum,they had an additional source for information (Gerhard von Seemen "Ritterkreuzträger" 1976) that had a few more men listed as haveing been awarded the KC and also haveing served in the RAD.

Here's some RKT who also where members of the RAD:

Bittner, Rudolf, RK 28.11.42 als Gefr., Richtkan. i.d. 2./Pz.Jäg.Abt. 561 (Obertruppführer im RAD)
Bornhof, Rudolf, RK 3.5.42 als Lt. d.R., Fhr. 1./Jäger-Rgt. 38 (Oberfeldmeister im RAD)
Faulmüller, Klaus, Dr., RK 25.06.43 als Lt. d.R., Fhr. 7./Geb.Jäg.Rgt. 13 (Obertsfeldmeister im RAD)
Frese, Ernst, RK 27.8.44 als Lt. d.R., Fhr. 6./G.R. 869 (Oberstfeldmeister im RAD)
Garz, Walter, RK 16.12.42 als Feldw., Zugf. i.d. 3./Pz.G.R. 74 (Obertruppführer (G) im RAD)
Konopka, Gerhard, RK 29.8.43 als Oblt. d.R., Fhr. II./G.R. "Grossdeutschland" (Oberarbeitsführer im RAD)
Korn, Heinz, RK 14.1.45 als Feldmeister im RAD, Meßoffz. i.d. 4./schw.Flak-Abt. 232 (RAD 8/60)
Kreitmar, Rudolf, RK 31.3.43 als Hptm. d.R., Fhr. 7./G.R. 282 (Oberstfeldmeister im RAD)
Lipfert, Helmut, RK 5.4.44 als Lt. d.R., Staffelfhr. i.d. II./J.G. 52 (Oberfeldmeister im RAD)
Ott, Helmuth, RK 16.11.43 als Oblt. d.R., Chef 3./G.R. 97 (Oberstfeldmeister im RAD)
Pfitzner, Heinz, RK 15.1.43 als Oblt. d.R., Chef 2./Pi.Btl. 290 (Oberfeldmeister im RAD)
Quest, Ewald, RK 4.5.44 als Oblt. d.R., Bttr.Chef i.d. I./Flak-Rgt. 33 (mot) (Oberstfeldmeister im RAD)
Schaumann, Horst, RK 17.4.45 als Lt. d.R., Fhr. 3.(Jäg)/G.R. 2 (Feldmeister im RAD)
Stein, Erich, RK 3.1.44 als Oblt. d.R., Fhr. II./G.R. 105 (Oberstfeldmeister im RAD)
Strauß, Hubert, RK 4.10.44 als Oblt. d.R., Fhr. 9./G.R. 361 (mot) (Oberstfeldmeister im RAD)
Vogel, Robert, RK 26.8.43 als Feldw., Zugf. 7./G.R. 119 (mot) (Obertruppführer im RAD)
Vollmer, Günter, RK 20.4.43 als Oblt. d.R., Fhr. 3./G.R. 411 (Feldmeister im RAD)
Wetjen, Heinrich, RK 28.3.45 als Hptm. d.R., Kdr. I./Jäger-Rgt. 49 (Oberstfeldmeister im RAD)

...and finally the only soldier (that I could find) who recieved the Ritterkreuz while serving in one of the RAD Infantry Divisions, namely:

Sauter, Jordan, RK 7.5.45 als Hptm. d.R., Btl.Kdr. im Rgt. "Theodor Körner 1", Division "Theodor Körner".


Source for the above listing: Gerhard von Seemen "Ritterkreuzträger" (1976).

[Radcollector]

the most intersting part about this list for me was that someone was awarded the KC while serving in one of the RAD combat divisions,i am very curious to know the details of his combat experiance where he was awarded the KC,that would mean at least some of the RAD combat units did put up a fight (the only first hand accounts i have received from a 16 year old member of one of the RAD combat divisions was a complete opposite picture of men being awarded the KC,he said his RAD unit all ran away from the Russians and surrendered to the Americans)does anyone have more infrmation about Sauter, Jordan, RK 7.5.45 als Hptm. d.R., Btl.Kdr. im Rgt. "Theodor K******246;rner 1", Division "Theodor K******246;rner".

[Radcollector]

the main reason i brought this thread up is a few weeks ago at a local show i found and amazeing find in a box on a dealers table.he had hundreads of loose pictures (WWI and WWII) ,cigarett cards,postcards,KC winner pics copies etc all piled into a box in no kind of order,ther had to be 700 or 800 pieces of paper in that box but i was bored (came in at dealer set up time) so i started looking (it took me more than an hour to look)but i found some great picture finds-i found a picture of RAD men manning a 88mm FLAK gun,as well as some neat pics of luftwaffe ground troops in snow cammo in russia and some heer soldiers wearing cammo zelts,i was happy enough finding these and i was allmost at the bottom of the box when i found the motherload of RAD pictures-13 pictures of a man wearing his RAD uniform with a KC!!not only are the pictures closeups they are very crisp and clear pictures,he is wearing his KC,EKI,and a CCC (in the pictures were he is not wearing a overcoat)also standing next to him in a few pictures is a RAD officer wearing a lufftwaffe flak badge (the first picture i have in my collection of that!)

[Radcollector]

now my biggest question,who is he??!!at first i thought it was Konopka because this guy is wearing a CCC and the info that i had (it proved to be wrong) was that out of all the KC winners who had served in the RAD only Konopka had a CCC (i have since seen the guys i have pics of as well as another RAD KC winner with a CCC posted on another forum) is there any KC winner collectors out there who could ID this man? is there an online sourece for KC winners were i could look up the men listed as RAD KC winners and referance there awards and see what ones were actually awarded the CCC and at least narrow it down (it should be one of 3 men and we know its not konopka so it should be a 50/50 guess)