"Amerkamp fought as a machine-gunner during his division’s battles south
of Gomel in October 1943. In this time the Soviets formed a bridgehead
over the Dnieper near Chernigov, directly at the boundary of
Grenadier Regiment 459. Amerkamp’s Kompanie was ordered to contain it at
all costs.
During a night attack the Soviets succeeded in pushing back the German
lines at the boundary with the neighboring company, pushing back
Amerkamp’s unit about 200 meters. Amerkamp’s company launched a
counterattack to retake the old positions, and although Amerkamp himself
was able to eliminate 5 Soviet MGs and the attack overall was bogged down
due to the Soviet artillery fire.
Although Amerkamp’s squad leader had fallen out in this failed attempt,
Amerkamp himself decided to try again. Taking along the five survivors
of his squad (Obergefreiten Marth, Bösener, Veth and Niedersteberg as
well as Gefreiter Bach), he was able to infiltrate back to the old lines
without losses. After sending 2 men to restore contact with his company, and ordering another 2 to stay behind and form a strong-point,
Amerkamp and Gefreiter Bach moved out to roll up the trenches to the
right. Utilizing an LMG, grenades, spades and flare pistols they
succeeded in restoring contact with the neighboring company. Once
again acting on his own initiative, Amerkamp moved out beyond the
trenches with his comrades and worked his way to a shell hole in no-mans
land. From here he provided flanking fire to both the left and right,
thereby enabling the rest of his company to fully recapture the main
battle line." from his Knight's Cross to the Iron Cross citation, awarded on November 22nd, 1943 as Obergefreiter in Grenadier Regiment 459 of the 251 Infantry Division.
Another deadly enemy elite,
Brian
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