Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Unteroffizier (Junior Officer)

Unit:

9./Panzer-Regiment 33

Awarded for his successes as a tank gunner. One of his came when a Russian force of 15 tanks attacked a German-held village, where the only defending tank was that of Hendricks himself. Of the attacking tanks he shot up 5, the last from a range of just 5 meters.

Two weeks later he was involved in an attack by Kampfgruppe Kohler (consisting of 4 Panzers, 2 Sturmgeschütze and about 80 infantry). While operating as security for the left flank Hendricks encountered a force of about 20 Soviet tanks in a depression. Within 3 minutes he destroyed 6 tanks, 2 Pak and a Pak-Flak gun. In total the Soviets lost 20 tanks and over 1000 dead in this battle, and the Kampfgruppe managed to reclaim the recently lost village.

By the end of October 1943 Hendricks had reached a total of 38 enemy tanks destroyed.