Tank Busting

[John]

Is there any sort of WWII ace for tank destruction by an infantryman on any side, ie by bazooka, mine, hand...etc

[Nick]

I can tell you that the highest number of kills to an infantryman on the Axis side side must go to Panzerknacker G?nther Viezenz Company Commander of 10 Grenadier Regt. 7. He single handedly destroyed 21 tanks and amazingly survived the war.

[Barney]

PANZERKNACKER? Tell me thats a made up Rank, please!

How could they have lost with such an imagination?

[Nick]

Panzerknacker is not a rank, his rank was actually Oberleutnant.

Panzerknacker is actually the German nickname for Tank Buster or Tank Killer. cheeky

[John]

Is this where the term 'Knackered' comes from ?

[Rikster]

Yes.

[John]

So where does 'Knacker's Yard' come from?

[research7]

Is there any sort of WWII ace for tank destruction by an infantryman on any side, ie by bazooka, mine, hand...etc

www.quikmaneuvers.com has a number of books on the subject including:

Wehrmacht (German Army and SS) Individual Tank Killing

Japanese Army Individual Tank Killing

[peter monahan]

Do you mean someone who did it more than once? regularly? Sounds like a complicated form of suicide to me!

We Canadians had Pte. "Smokey" Smith, a Native from the west Coast, who knocked out a Tiger with a PIAT, all by himself. He died only a couple years ago and was, when not running a fishing business [guiding tourists, I think] a regular on WWII battlefield tours to Italy. A gent I knew often roomed with Smoke and had a fund of stories, not all suitable for delictae ears!

Peter

[Laurence Strong]

Maybe not the biggest total however the last recipient of the RK in Berlin was a was a Frenchman with the rank of Unterscharführer by the name of Eugene Vaulot. He destroyed 2 Soviet tanks in the Neukoelln sector, and then 6 more in Berlin over a 24 hour period. The RK was personally bestowed upon him on the 29 Apr 1945 by Brigfhr. Krukenberg.

On the 2nd of May he was KIA.

[hucks216]

So where does 'Knacker's Yard' come from?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knacker

[leigh kitchen]

Not an "ace" as such, but Fusilier Frank Jefferson, 2nd Bn Lancashire Fusiliers was awarded the VC for an action at Monte Cassino in 1944, knockng out a German tank with a PIAT.

[leigh kitchen]

So where does 'Knacker's Yard' come from? <!--emo&--><img src='http://gmic.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

A knacker's a horse slaughterer, hence knacker's yard. Also knackers, knackered, knackering etc's slang for an old worn out horse, testicles, castrating, stealing, killing, wrecking, & for being very tired & worn out.