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Knight’s Cross: At 20:15 on the 25.08.1942, east of Leonowo, the Soviets launched an assault on a German defensive line with two regiments plus tank support following a heavy artillery preparation. The defending German unit, the 3./Infanterie-Regiment 520, only had a strength of just 25 men and the Soviets had little difficulty in penetrating the line. From here they threatened to roll up the lines of the entire 296. Infanterie-Division, which had been stretched thin in recent fighting. Without waiting for reserves, the German regimental commander (Oberst Hüttner) assembled an ad-hoc Kampfgruppe with the available forces at hand and launched a counterattack into both flanks of the enemy penetration.

Obergefreiter Schuss, a machine-gunner, was charged with giving flank support for the group led by Hüttner himself. By constantly changing positions over the course of several hours he was able to provide effective fire and prevent the Soviets from encircling Hüttner’s group. This was in spite of his own position being enveloped by Soviet infantry as well as the presence of two tanks that blasted his position from close range. He nonetheless continued to play a major role in the counterattack, and eventually he joined the attack itself and brought in several prisoners. The old German line was eventually recaptured, and for his important role in the final outcome Schuss was awarded the Knight’s Cross.