Walter Sander – Fallschirm-Pionier-Bataillon 5 (Battle of the Bulge)

Awarded for his Kompanie’s successes during the initial phases of the Battle of the Bulge. At the start of the attack they moved swiftly through a gap in the US 109th Infantry Regiment (28th US Infantry Division) and reached the crossroads of Fels Kalochette, 20 km in the US rear. Here they captured a US communications battalion with 200 men and 50 vehicles. Later, on the 18.12.1944, Sander’s Kompanie captured the crossroads at Café Schumann (5 km SW of Wiltz), thus completing the encirclement of the town. During a US breakout attempt the Kompanie took a further 280 Americans prisoner. Finally, on the 20.12.1944, the place fell to the Germans with the loss of hundreds of US prisoners and 40 Sherman tanks. Sander was recognized appropriately for his Kompanie’s role in bringing about this outcome.