Willy Simke was a 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), 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...

 who 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 during World War II.

Willy Simke was born in Belgern

Belgern

Belgern is a town in the district Nordsachsen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is located on the left bank of the Elbe, 12 km southeast of Torgau and 55 km east of Leipzig....

 on the river Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

 on the 26 January 1914.
He volunteered to join the SS and was part of the SS-VT, which became the Das Reich Division.
He was awarded the Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The 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 class in February 1942 and the 1st class award in May 1942.

In 1943 Simke was a platoon commander in the 5th Company, 2nd SS Panzer Regiment at Uljaniki. His platoon was being held in reserve, when they were called upon to deal with an attack by 20 Russian

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....

 T-34

T-34

The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...

 tanks, which has broken through the Das Reich line.

Simke launched an immediate counterattack with his platoon and destroyed 17 of the Russian tanks. For his action on this day he was promoted to Hauptscharführer

Hauptscharführer

Hauptscharführer was a Nazi paramilitary rank which was used by the Schutzstaffel between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank was the highest enlisted rank of the SS, with the exception of the special Waffen-SS rank of Sturmscharführer....

(Master Sergeant) and awarded the Knight's Cross.

Willy Simke survived the war and died in West Germany on the 28 August 1964.