Knight's Cross, Oak-Leaves and Swords Recipients 1941 45

On 21 June 1941, as the Wehrmacht stormed forward across the frontiers of the Soviet Union, Hitler instituted a new higher grade of the Knight''s Cross decoration for gallantry 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 ...