Casper Sporck
| Casper Sporck | |
|---|---|
| Born |
10 August 1922 Heerlen, the Netherlands |
| Died |
8 April 1945 (aged 22) Bayreuth, Germany |
| Allegiance |
.svg.png){kind=small} Nazi Germany |
| Service/branch |
 Waffen SS |
| Years of service | 1941–1945 |
| Rank | Unterscharführer |
| Unit | 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | |
Casper "Antoine" Sporck (10 August 1922 – 8 April 1945) was a Unterscharführer in the Waffen SS during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded for battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany. He was the third Dutchman to be awarded the Knight's Cross.
Early life
Casper Sporck was born on 10 August 1922, in Heerlen, the Netherlands.[1]
World War II
Sporck volunteered to join the Waffen SS in April 1941. He was commander of a Sdkfz 251/9 half-track Schützenpanzerwagen (armored personnel carrier) equipped with a 75 mm L/24 low velocity gun, nicknamed "Stummel". The panzerwagen was attached to the 5th (Heavy) Company, 11th SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland. He took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, and was awarded the Eastern Front Medal for service on the Eastern Front during the first Russian winter of the war. He was wounded for the first time in April 1942 near Veliky Novgorod. Evacuated to hospital, he remained there until July, when he was sent to Bussum in the Netherlands to recuperate until October 1942.
He was awarded the Knight's Cross for his actions near the town of Gubanizy in January 1944. A Russian tank force had broken the German line and entered the town. Sporck drove his Stummel into their midst and began to engage them, eventually making 11 kills.
Later, during the last hours of the Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive during the Battle for Narva Bridgehead on 31 January 1944, Sporck stayed back alone with his Stummel and patrolled to the east of the main battle lines, seeking out enemy vehicles and providing protection for stragglers. At dusk, with the enemy close behind, Sporck's vehicle was the last to cross into the German lines. For his bravery he was recommended for the Knight's Cross by his battalion commander, Rudolf Saalbach.
Sporck did not survive the war. He died from wounds that he received at the Stettin Bridgehead. He died in a field hospital in Bayreuth on 8 April 1945.He was buried on 14-4-1945. His grave Nr. 413 is at the Ehrenfriedhof St Georgen in Bayreuth. [1]
References
- 1 2 "Casper Sporck" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2011-09-16.
Further reading
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
- Henschler, Henri; Fey, Willi (2003). Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS, 1943–45. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-2905-5.
- Mitcham, Samuel W (2007). Retreat to the Reich : the German defeat in France, 1944. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3384-7.
- Mitcham, Samuel W (2007). The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3371-7.