Walter Girg

Who was Walter Girg?

Walter Girg was a Hauptsturmführer in the Waffen SS during World War II and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Girg was born in Hamburg on 13 August 1919. At the start of World War II, he joined the SS and was posted to the SS-Verfügungstruppe. Girg served in the Balkans with SS Panzer Division Das Reich and took part in Operation Barbarossa in June 1941.

At the end of 1943, he was promoted to Untersturmführer. In April 1944, he became a platoon leader in the 1st Company, 502nd SS Jäger Battalion.

In early September 1944, he carried through Operation Landfried with his company of 105 men behind enemy lines in the Carpathian mountains in Romania. They were discovered in the Braşov region but were saved from capture by a German artillery barrage which allowed them to escape back to the German lines, during which, however, Girg was wounded. The intelligence that Girg had obtained was instrumental in the continued operations on the Romanian front. For his performance he was promoted to Obersturmführer on 16 September 1944 and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 October 1944.