- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- Oberfeldwebel (Warrant Officer)
- Unit:
- Zugführer 4. / Panzer-Regiment 35 / 4. Panzer-Division / 9.Armee / Heeresgruppe Mitte
- Awarded on:
- February 23rd, 1944
On the 08.01.1944 the Soviets attacked the sector of the 4. Panzer-Division (located north of Kalinkowitschi) with 7 rifle divisions and 1 tank corps. In the fighting which followed a force of 40 Soviet tanks passed through a gap in the frontline (which consisted only of a chain of strongpoints) and headed southwest towards the only available retreat road. In order to escape the threat of envelopment the Division decided to pull back to a rearward position on the following night.
Oberfeldwebel Beginen and his Panzer-Zug were deployed just to the south of this break-in point. Realizing the danger in his area, he led his Zug on his own initiative towards the Soviet tank formation. Overcoming strong anti-tank gun fire, he and his men engaged the Soviet armour and Beginen himself destroyed 6 tanks. However his own Panzer also received severe damage right at the start of the battle. The turret jammed, meaning that Beginen had to pivot turn the entire vehicle for every shot. He nonetheless held out until reinforcements arrived, and after this he was ordered by the Kompanie commander to return to the repair shop.
But later that evening, as he was passing through the village of T. on his way there, enemy tanks were spotted coming from the north at a point just 3 km away from the road the Division intended to use for its nighttime withdrawal. Thusly, despite the unfixed damage to his own Panzer, Oberfeldwebel Beginen held off the Soviet tanks for the entire night alongside two other friendly Panzers that were also barely operational. The hostile armour was prevented from breaking through to the south, and in the resultant combat Beginen destroyed another 3 tanks. At around midday on the day that followed he was informed that the Division had completed its withdrawal.
For his actions during this time, which also brought his total of destroyed armour in the last 6 months to 25 tanks, Oberfeldwebel Beginen was awarded the Knight’s Cross.
Submitted on February 8th 1944.
Preliminary document and decoration on February 26th 1944 to AOK 9.