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 Horst Niemack |
Horst Niemack Horst Niemack commanded the Panzer-Füsilier-Regiment “GD” as of October 1943. Born in Hanover in 1909, Niemack developed a career in the military centered on his love for all things equestrian. With the conversion of the German cavalry formations into armoured units, Niemack rose through the ranks in a succession of staff and front line roles. His ability as a soldier and leader of men was reflected in the bestowal on him of both Knight’s Cross and Oak leaf cluster by 1941, to be followed by the associated Swords in June 1944 for his actions during the defensive engagements at Targul Frumos in Romania. There, on 2nd May 1944, he had rallied his troops around the village of Facuti after some 30 Soviet tanks (including the then new ‘Josef Stalin’ type) broke into the positions of the Füsilier Regiment. Aware that help from the Panzer Regiment “GD” was not immediately available, after handing out hollow charge weapons and giving the explicit order that the village was to be held at all costs, Oberst Niemack and his men stalked the tanks, destroying eight before a counter attack by the neighboring 24. Panzer Division helped lift the Füsilier Regiment back into their former front line. Niemack was severely wounded in August 1944 whilst the Füsilier Regiment was assembling for an attack at Schaulen, Lithuania. Sources differ on what actually happened, but it appears that he was ultimately airlifted to Berlin where he received surgery to save his left arm. In January 1945 a recuperated Niemack took over the Panzer-Lehr Division in Western Germany before once again being wounded in the spring of 1945. He ended the war in British captivity. |
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