Four Wartime Knight's Cross Recipient Postcards

A grouping of postcards, measuring 91x140mm, extremely fine condition with minor scuffing, slightly bent.

Footnote Obergefreiter Brinkforth: Hubert Brinkforth (1916–1942) was a gunner in the 14th Battalion (antitank defense) of Infantry Regiment 25. On May 27, 1940, he was able to destroy nine British tanks in just 20 minutes.

He received the Knight’s Cross as a Lance Corporal on March 7, 1941, the first enlisted man to do so. Brinkforth was killed in action by artillery fire on the Eastern Front.

Footnote General Chevalier: Kurt von der Chevallerie (1891–1945) was an infantry General and Supreme Commander of the 1st Army. He received the Knight’s Cross on October 23, 1941 for his leadership of the 99th Light Division during its advancement into southern Ukraine. The Oak Leaves followed on December 19, 1943 for commanding the 59th Army Corps during defensive battles in the vicinity of Kiev in November. He went missing in action.

Footnote Major Graf: Hermann Graf (1912–1988) was a highly decorated Luftwaffe ace during the Second World War. Graf joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 and initially only flew transport missions. Even after the start of the war he was given patrol duty and instructing future pilots. Only during the attack on Russia in 1941 Graf would finally be able to show his qualities as a fighter pilot. In roughly half a year on the Eastern Front, he claimed 45 aerial victories for which he was awarded the Knight’s Cross in January of 1942. By September of that year his tally had gone up to 172 victories. This feat won him the Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds. At the end of the month he claimed his 200th victory, the first person in aviation history to do so.

Since becoming a national hero, he was seen as too valuable to fly combat missions and returned to training pilots and leading a high flying intercept unit, Fighter Wing 50. Only in late 1943 did he return to flying combat missions. In March 1944 he achieved his 212th and final victory, during which he was severely wounded. After recovering, he took command of the Fighter Wing 52, a position he remained in until the end of the war.

Graf flew over 830 combat missions and was awarded, among other decorations, the Combined Pilots/Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds, the Front Flying Clasp for Fighter Pilots in Gold, and he was mentioned five times in the Wehrmachtbericht.

Footnote Hauptmann Georg Grüner: Georg Grüner (1915–1944) was born in German South-West Africa. He served in a Panzer regiment. On November 25, 1941, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross for his leadership of the 1st Company of Panzer Regiment 33 in the vicinity of Kursk. In March of 1943, Grüner became the commander of the 1st Detachment of Panzer Regiment 2. A year later, he died during the establishing of a bridgehead near Cherkasy. For his commitment he was posthumously awarded the Oak Leaves and promoted to Major on March 26,1944.