SS Wiking in Action (Kowel 1944)

SS Wiking in Action (Kowel 1944) After a brief period of rest and refit, the tattered Wiking was sent to assist in the defence of Kovel, currently threatened by strong Soviet forces. Gille led his men towards the town and began setting up a defensive perimeter. However, soon the Soviets had completed the encirclement of the city. The II./5. SS-Panzer-Regiment Wiking, newly equipped with Panther tanks, along with the III./SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Germania, newly equipped and up to strength, arrived at the front from Germany and immediately began forming a relief unit. The unit was formed under the command of SS-Obersturmführer Karl Nicolussi-Leck, commander of 8.Kompanie/II. Abt./5. SS-Panzer-Regiment Wiking. Nicolussi-Leck immediately launched an attack with five Panthers. Soon after beginning the attack, he received a radio message from the besieged commander to halt his attack and withdraw. Nicolussi-Leck ordered his radio operator to ignore the call, and continued his attack. Risking court-martial, Nicolussi-Leck then proceeded to fight his way though the Soviet encirclement, destroying several Soviet tanks in the process. His Panther was the first vehicle to break the encirclement, and for his actions he received the Knight's Cross. After the relief force established a corridor to the encircled force, the withdrawal began. Unlike the previous encirclement at Korsun, the trapped force managed to escape with most of its equipment intact, and the division was ready for action immediately. (Wikipedia)