The #1 Tank Ace of WW2. Feldwebel (Staff Sergeant) Kurt Knispel was a German Army panzer (Tank) commander, becoming the highest-scoring tank ace of World War II, with a total of 168 confirmed tank kills. He served with the 12th Panzer Division and the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion. Knispel was born in Salisov (Salisfeld), a small settlement near the town of Zlaté Hory (Zuckmantel) in Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia. He spent most of his carefree childhood in nearby Mikulovice (Niklasdorf) where his father worked in an automotive factory. After completing his apprenticeship in an automobile factory in 1940, Knispel applied to join the armored branch of the German Army and was sent into battle in 1941, at the age 20. With 168 confirmed and 195 unconfirmed kills, Knispel was by far the most successful tank ace of the Second World War, even knocking out a Russian T-34 at 3,000 metres. He fought in virtually every type of German tank as a loader, gunner, and eventually as a commander. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class after destroying his fifth enemy tank and the Tank Assault Badge in Gold after more than 100 tank battles. When Knispel had destroyed 126 enemy tanks (with another 20 unconfirmed kills), he was awarded the German Cross in Gold. He became the only non-commissioned officer of the German tank branch to be named in an official Wehrmacht communique. As the commander of a Tiger I and finally a Tiger II, he destroyed another 42 enemy tanks. Though he was recommended for it four times, Knispel never received the coveted Knight's Cross, a standard award for most other WW2 German tank aces. But he was never eager for awards or honors. If ever there were conflicting claims for who destroyed the enemy tank, Knispel always stepped back, always willing to credit the success to someone else. Knispel's slow promotion is attributed to several conflicts with higher Nazi authorities. He once even assaulted a senior officer whom he saw mistreating Soviet prisoners of war. Against regulations, he had a tattoo on his neck, grew his hair much longer than allowed, as well as having a beard. Knispel was severely wounded and later died in a field hospital in Vrbovec (Urbau - Znojmo District) at age 23 and was buried at a local cemetery nearby. Ten days after his death, the war in Europe ended. On April 10, 2013, Czech authorities confirmed that Knispel's remains were found, among 15 other German soldiers, behind a church wall in an unmarked grave in the town of Znojemsko on the Czech-Austrian border. His remains were exhumed, and he was positively identified by the tattoo on his neck and his dog tag number. His remains were later relocated to the Central Cemetery of Honor in Brno, where he now rests in the "German Soldier's Section" of the cemetery. Researchers at the Moravian Regional Museum have discovered some evidence that his date of death should be adjusted to April 30, 1945.