Luftwaffe - Lieutenant Hugo Broch and Grenadier Second Lieutenant Heinz Rafoth.
During the Second World War, thousands of German soldiers were awarded the Knight's Cross, the highest award for bravery and meritorious service. Today, October 2023 only two of them are still alive.
Luftwaffe - Lieutenant Hugo Broch (Fighter Squadron 54)
Date of birth: 6 January 1922 Leichlingen/Rhine Province, Germany.
Biography:
Hugo Broch achieved a total of 81 aerial victories in 324 missions during the Second World War. In January 1943, after completing his fighter pilot training, he joined the II./JG 54 as a private, then the 6th / JG 54, on 8 November 1943 he was awarded the Cup of Honour, then he returned to the 6th / JG 54. On 18 November 1944 he was transferred to the 8th / JG 54 WIA. / JG 54 WIA - when his Fw 190 A-6 with the code "Schwarz<1 +" was shot down south of Libau on 12 March 1945, he was promoted to sergeant and awarded the Knight's Cross, 8th / JG 54. In April 1945 he was promoted to lieutenant.
2nd Lieutenant Heinz Rafoth
Date of birth: 6 January 1923 (Putzar/Pomerania, Germany).
Biography:
Heinz Rafoth served in the German Armed Forces after World War II from 4 May 1956 to 31 March 1982, eventually reaching the rank of Colonel on the General Staff.
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Awarded on: 20 April 1945
Unit: Leader, 2nd Company, I Battalion, Grenadier Regiment 48 ,
12th People's Grenadier Division , Army.
Awarded on: 20 April 1945
Rafoth's Knight's Cross recommendation reads as follows:
"On 03/03/1945, Lieutenant Rafoth fought to cover the ordered breakout of the remnants of I / Grenadier Regiment 48 in a battle that primarily involved fierce urban fighting. He did this from a position at the south-eastern entrance to Blessem with a 20-man battle group (consisting of stragglers and supply troops) that had just been transferred to him. During this defensive battle he observed 2 reinforced enemy bicycle companies (supported by 2 tanks) along the Lechenich-Liblar road trying to reach the Erft. Lieutenant Rafoth therefore decided to withdraw from his battle at Blessem and fought his way through enemy occupied territory to the village of Liblar. From here, at the head of his men, he beat back the American attacking spearheads, which had already reached the undamaged railway bridges via the Kölner Straße and Brühler Straße (north-east of Liblar). had reached the undamaged railway bridges. Here he held both bridges for two hours against a much larger attacking force until the remnants of the I./Grenadier Regiment 48 arrived as reinforcements.
This courageous and determined action by Lieutenant Rafoth and his small fighting group prevented the enemy from taking these two undamaged bridges. This in turn prevented the Americans from advancing further beyond the division's incomplete front line towards Cologne."
To this came a revealing comment from the commander of the LVIII Panzer Corps....
"Lieutenant Rafoth's independent action to hold 2 bridges enabled the successful withdrawal of parts of I./Grenadier Regiment 48. His courageous conduct had a great influence on the fighting situation of his division." I expressly support the award of the Knight's Cross."
