Just sort of thought those folks would have been more careful:
KNIEP, Walter (RK; DKiG)
(1909 - 1944)
SS-Sturmbannf�¼hrer:
Born: 13.12.1909 in Lorenzen/OstpreuÃ??en.
Died: 22.04.1944 after being hit by an .08 Luger pistol round being unloaded by another soldier during firing practice near Thouars, France.
NSDAP-Nr.:/SS-Nr.:
Promotions:
SS-Stubaf.: ; SS-Hstuf.: ;
Assignments:
Kdr. Sturmgesch�¼tz-Abt./SS-Pz.Gren.Div. "Das Reich": 10.1942 - 22.04.1944.
IIa/IIb SS-Division "Reich" (mot.): (03.1942) -
Notes:
According to official reports detailing the peiord 5.07.43 to 17.01.1944, Kniep's Abteilung destroyed 129 Soviet tanks, while itself sustaining only two casualties. Decorations & Awards:
Ritterkreuz des E.K.: 14.08.1943 as SS-Stubaf. u.Kdr. Sturmgesch�¼tz-Abt./SS-Pz.Gren.Div. "Das Reich"/AOK "Kempf"/Heeresgruppe S�¼d, Eastern Front;
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold: 11.11.1941;
1939 EK I: 22.07.1940; 1939 EK II: 3.06.1940;
http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/SS...tubaf_J-L.html
rk