Victoria Cross vs. Knight's Cross: A Tale From the Hand Grenade Division

[@AG9229]

I have stood on the very spot that Sidney stood his ground and won the VC. An eerie feeling.

[@ProtazyS]

Would it be possible to make a video about Beamten and Sonderführers?

[@HandGrenadeDivision]

It's a topic I'm also interested in, so possibly. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@wolfthegreat87]

A lovely video. I have a question, if you'd be willing to humor me: generally, there seems to be a perception that even the Knight's Cross was a more commonly awarded medal than the Victoria Cross, and I too tend to assume that for reasons I don't quite understand. Do you think this perception is justified, or is it an unjustified assumption?

[@HandGrenadeDivision]

I was going to do the math once but never got around to it. I did do a comparison once upon a time on the "supreme awards" given for ground combat in North Africa and Italy. I counted 60 VC, 74 Medals of Honor, and about 90 Knight's Crosses. The problem here is that the Knight's Cross was also given for leadership, not just bravery in combat. The US and British had separate awards for leadership - the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for the British for example. It makes it difficult to compare directly, and especially because you couldn't get the Knight's Cross without first getting the EK II and EK I though in rare cases concurrent awards were made. Having said all that, at least in the Mediterranean, the Allies gave out 1.5 times as many supreme awards for ground combat than the Germans. Some might say the Germans were defending which made it more difficult, but both the men in this video were rewarded for defensive actions. It's a good question.

[@wolfgangthiele9147]

7175 Knight's Cross (basic grade) were awarded in WWII. The Victoria Cross was awarded 181 times. Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves: 863 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords: 143 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds: 27 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds: 1 (to Hans-Ulrich Rudel)

[@SaintJavelin2022]

@wolfthegreat87 If we exclude the KC awards given to commanders, then probably not. The VC and KC are not exact equivalents, which makes comparison difficult at times, but in terms of their prestige I’d say they’re about the same. The reason so many KCs were given out is simply because Germany had so many more soldiers involved in active combat compared to Britain, and the fighting they were forced to endure was far more brutal.

[@HandGrenadeDivision]

How many were on the Eastern Front, where British soldiers weren't present, though. Makes a true comparison somewhat false.

[@nicholasshaler7442]

There are two instances of a father and son receiving the Medal of Honor down here in the States. One of them is Teddy Roosevelt and his son.

[@HandGrenadeDivision]

One guesses you are not a McArthur fan.... Teddy Roosevelt, Jr., is a fascinating study in leadership. The photos of his funeral in Normandy are also amazing, given the celebrity and rank of his honorary pallbearers.

[@nicholasshaler7442]

@@HandGrenadeDivision I’m a big McArthur fan. I also just happen to know that fact. It also helped growing up somewhere where the main street was named after him.

[@franciszeklatinik889]

Fascinating coincedence

[@HunterLord458]

I wonder if any Germans survived Charles Upham's VC and Bar

[@NikhilSingh-007]

😊