Joachim Boosfeld
Encyclopedia
Joachim Boosfeld was a Hauptsturmführer
(Chief Storm Leader/Captain) in the Waffen SS during World War II
. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany
during World War II. He was also one of only 631 men to be awarded the very rare Close Combat Clasp
in Gold. It was awarded for 50 days hand to hand or close combat.
.
After he had graduated from school in 1939 aged 17 years he volunteered to join the SS-VT (SS number 362.256), he was selected to become a tank commander and attended the SS NCO
's school.
.
His regiment was involved in Operation Barbarossa
the invasion of the Soviet Union
and by January 1942 was on the outskirts of Moscow
, involved in the heavy fighting around Ilmensee and Rzhev
, where he earned a reputation for his leadership.
In May 1942 he was posted as an instructor to the SS Cavalry School at Braunschweig
and in November 1943 was promoted to Obersturmführer
(First Lieutenant) and returned to the Eastern Front
to the newly formed 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer.
From December 1943 he was given commanded of the 4th Squadron, 16th SS Cavalry Regiment and led his Squadron during the fighting in Romania
and Hungary
.
In November 1944, together with the rest of the Division, Boosfeld was involved in the Battle of Budapest
and assigned the defence of the village of Vesce and counter attacks on the villages of Kiraly and Terebes. For his bravery in holding the front line he was awarded the German Cross
in gold.
At the end of December his Squadron was located in Budapest
defending the Golf
course below the Schwabenland mountain, which was the only location left where the Luftwaffe
could land their aircraft.
On 15 October 1944 he was wounded in the heel but remained in command of his squadron which was now located to defend Farkasréti Cemetery
.
On 11 February 1945 the order was given to attempt to break out of the encirclement of Budapest. Leading a small Kampfgruppe
Boosfeld managed to lead his men to the new German front line by 14 February.
Soon afterwards on the 21 February together with Hermann Maringgele
Boosfeld was ordered to report to Berlin
, where he was awarded the Knight's Cross in person by Adolf Hitler
, promoted to Hauptsturmführer
and awarded the Close Combat Clasp
in Gold for 57 days of hand to hand fighting.
He then returned to the SS Cavalry School at Göttingen
where he was captured by the advancing allied forces.
with the rank of Hauptmann
. He attended one of the first General staff courses between 1956 and 1959. Promoted to Major
he served on the staff of the new 11th Panzergrenadier Division in Oldenburg
.
In 1970 he was the deputy commander of the 1st Panzergrenadier Brigade and in 1972 moved to Bonn
to serve on the General staff.
He retired from the Bundeswehr with the rank of Oberst
on 31 September 1981.
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
(Chief Storm Leader/Captain) in the Waffen SS during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
during World War II. He was also one of only 631 men to be awarded the very rare Close Combat Clasp
Close Combat Clasp
The Close Combat Clasp is a German military award instituted on 25 November 1942 for achievement in hand to hand fighting in close quarters. The Close Combat Clasp was worn above the upper left uniform pocket...
in Gold. It was awarded for 50 days hand to hand or close combat.
Early life
Joachim Boosfeld was born on the 1 June 1922, in AachenAachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
.
After he had graduated from school in 1939 aged 17 years he volunteered to join the SS-VT (SS number 362.256), he was selected to become a tank commander and attended the SS NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
's school.
World War II
In May 1941 he was recommended to become an officer and sent to the SS-Junkerschule which he graduated from in December 1941. He was then posted to the 1st SS Cavalry Regiment as a platoon commander and later served as a Battalion AdjutantAdjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
.
His regiment was involved in Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
the invasion of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and by January 1942 was on the outskirts of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, involved in the heavy fighting around Ilmensee and Rzhev
Rzhev
Rzhev is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, southwest of Staritsa and from Tver, on the highway and railway connecting Moscow and Riga. It is the uppermost town situated on the Volga River. Population:...
, where he earned a reputation for his leadership.
In May 1942 he was posted as an instructor to the SS Cavalry School at Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
and in November 1943 was promoted to Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
(First Lieutenant) and returned to the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
to the newly formed 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer.
From December 1943 he was given commanded of the 4th Squadron, 16th SS Cavalry Regiment and led his Squadron during the fighting in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
.
In November 1944, together with the rest of the Division, Boosfeld was involved in the Battle of Budapest
Battle of Budapest
The Siege of Budapest centered on the Hungarian capital city of Budapest. It was fought towards the end of World War II in Europe, during the Soviet Budapest Offensive. The siege started when Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, was first encircled on 29 December 1944 by the Red Army...
and assigned the defence of the village of Vesce and counter attacks on the villages of Kiraly and Terebes. For his bravery in holding the front line he was awarded the German Cross
German Cross
The German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in gold.
At the end of December his Squadron was located in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
defending the Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
course below the Schwabenland mountain, which was the only location left where the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
could land their aircraft.
On 15 October 1944 he was wounded in the heel but remained in command of his squadron which was now located to defend Farkasréti Cemetery
Farkasréti Cemetery
Farkasréti Cemetery or Farkasrét Cemetery is one of the most famous cemeteries in Budapest. It was opened in 1894 and is noted for its spectacular sight towards the city ....
.
On 11 February 1945 the order was given to attempt to break out of the encirclement of Budapest. Leading a small Kampfgruppe
Kampfgruppe
In military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
Boosfeld managed to lead his men to the new German front line by 14 February.
Soon afterwards on the 21 February together with Hermann Maringgele
Hermann Maringgele
Hermann Maringgele was a Untersturmführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II...
Boosfeld was ordered to report to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, where he was awarded the Knight's Cross in person by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, promoted to Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
and awarded the Close Combat Clasp
Close Combat Clasp
The Close Combat Clasp is a German military award instituted on 25 November 1942 for achievement in hand to hand fighting in close quarters. The Close Combat Clasp was worn above the upper left uniform pocket...
in Gold for 57 days of hand to hand fighting.
He then returned to the SS Cavalry School at Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
where he was captured by the advancing allied forces.
Post war
In 1956 Joachim Boosfeld was one of the few former Waffen SS officers to be allowed into the BundeswehrBundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
with the rank of Hauptmann
Hauptmann
Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...
. He attended one of the first General staff courses between 1956 and 1959. Promoted to Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
he served on the staff of the new 11th Panzergrenadier Division in Oldenburg
Oldenburg
Oldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
.
In 1970 he was the deputy commander of the 1st Panzergrenadier Brigade and in 1972 moved to Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
to serve on the General staff.
He retired from the Bundeswehr with the rank of Oberst
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
on 31 September 1981.
Awards
- Wound BadgeWound BadgeWound Badge was a German military award for wounded or frost-bitten soldiers of Imperial German Army in World War I, the Reichswehr between the wars, and the Wehrmacht, SS and the auxiliary service organizations during the Second World War. After March 1943, due to the increasing number of Allied...
in Black - Infantry Assault BadgeInfantry Assault BadgeThe Infantry Assault Badge was a German war badge awarded to Waffen SS and Wehrmacht Heer soldiers during WWII. This decoration was instituted on December 20th 1939 by the Oberstbefehlshaber des Heeres, Generalfeldmarschall von Brauchitsch...
in Silver - Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
2nd and 1st Class - German CrossGerman CrossThe German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in Gold on 30 December 1944 as SS-ObersturmführerObersturmführerObersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
in the 4./SS-Kavalerie-Regiment 16 - Close Combat ClaspClose Combat ClaspThe Close Combat Clasp is a German military award instituted on 25 November 1942 for achievement in hand to hand fighting in close quarters. The Close Combat Clasp was worn above the upper left uniform pocket...
in Gold on 21 February 1945 for 57 days in close combat - Knight's Cross of the Iron CrossKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
on 21 February 1945 as SS-Obersturmführer and chief of the 4./SS-Kavalerie-Regiment 16