View source for List of Knight's Cross recipients 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)

{{Infobox military award
|name=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
|image=<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Knight'sCrossOfTheIronCrossWithGoldenOakleavesSwordsAndDiamonds.jpg|150px]] -->
|caption=The ultimate expression of the award: the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, awarded only to [[Hans-Ulrich Rudel]].
|awarded_by=[[Nazi Germany]]
|type=[[Neck order]]
|eligibility=Military personnel
|for=Awarded to holders of the [[Iron Cross]] to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership
|campaign=[[World War II]]
|status=Obsolete
|description=
|clasps=
|established=1 September 1939
|first_award=30 September 1939
|last_award=11 May 1945 / 17 June 1945{{ref label|Note1|a|a}}
|total=
|posthumous=
|recipients=
|individual=
|higher=[[Grand Cross of the Iron Cross]]
|same=
|lower=[[Iron Cross|Iron Cross 1st Class]]
|related=
|image2=[[File:33divss.gif]] 
|caption2=Insignia of 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division ''Charlemagne''
}}
The '''[[33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)]]''' and ''' ''Charlemagne'' Regiment''' are collective names used for units of French volunteers in the [[Wehrmacht]] and later [[Waffen-SS]] during  [[World War II]]. The ''Charlemagne'' division was formed in 1944 from an amalgam of troops serving in other French units of the German armed forces, as well as from the paramilitary Franc-Garde of the [[Milice]].<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica</ref>

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate [[Coming into force|enactments]]. The first enactment ''Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573'' <ref name="RGBl. I S. 1573">@ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek [http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?apm=0&aid=dra&datum=19390007&zoom=2&seite=00001573&ues=on&x=21&y=6 Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 1573; 1 September 1939]</ref> of September 1, 1939 instituted the [[Iron Cross]] and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As the war progressed some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment ''Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849'' <ref name="RGBl. I S. 849">@ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek [http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?apm=0&aid=dra&datum=19400007&zoom=2&seite=00000849&ues=on&x=22&y=10 Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 849; 3 June 1940]</ref> of June 3, 1940. In 1941 two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment ''Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613'' <ref name="RGBl. I S. 613">@ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek [http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?apm=0&aid=dra&datum=19410007&zoom=2&seite=00000613&ues=on&x=14&y=9 Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 613; 28 September 1941]</ref> of September 28, 1941 introduced the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. At the end of 1944 the last and final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, based on the enactment ''Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11'' <ref name="RGBl. I S. 11">@ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothek [http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno-plus?apm=0&aid=dra&datum=19450007&zoom=2&seite=00000011&ues=on&x=14&y=10 Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11; 29 December 1944]</ref> of December 29, 1944 concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.

==Prerequisites==

To qualify for the Knight's Cross, a soldier had to already hold the 1939 [[Iron Cross]] First Class, though the Iron Cross I Class was awarded concurrently with the Knight's Cross in rare cases.
Unit commanders could also be awarded the medal for exemplary conduct by the unit as a whole.

==Grades==

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was divided into five grades, excluding the [[Grand Cross of the Iron Cross]]:
*Knights Cross
*Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
*Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and swords
*Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
*Knights Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

==Knight's Cross==
Only four members of the Division were awarded the Knight's Cross, all during the [[Battle of Berlin]]

*[[Francis Appolot]], SS-[[Oberscharführer]] (29 April 1945)
*[[Henri Joseph Fenet]], SS-[[Hauptsturmführer]] (29 April 1945)
*[[Eugene Vaulot]], SS-[[Unterscharführer]] (29 April 1945)
*[[Wilhelm Weber (SS officer)|Wilhelm Weber]], SS-[[Obersturmführer]] (29 April 1945) <ref>{{cite web|title=axishistory|url=http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7258}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=wilhelmweber|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RLcUxh-szkMC&pg=PA155&lpg=PA155&dq=Wilhelm+Weber+SS-Obersturmf%C3%BChrer&source=web&ots=BltuCILkMX&sig=0splQCVsNQkmhpabVYgYDQeUvUc&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA139,M1}}</ref>

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|2}}

===References===
*SEEMEN, Gerhard von: '''Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945'''. Podzun-Pallas, 1976.
*SCHERZER, Veit: '''Knight's Cross Recipients 1939 - 1945''' (Paperback) by Enid Blyton, 1999

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{{Wikipedia|List of Knight&#39;s Cross recipients 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)}}

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[[Category:Lists of Knight's Cross recipients]]