FRIEDRICH LUDERS. The Jagdpanther was a superior machine with the armament to tear allied armor apart and shatter their armored formations. The first German armored unit to receive this awesome weapon was Schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 654, and was used in the Normandy battles of France 1944 unfortunately in very small numbers (less than a dozen). But this impressive armored fighting vehicle succeeded in making its presence felt. The unrelenting decisiveness and selfless personal commitment of Hauptmann Friedrich Luders, a crack veteran of Schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 654, was able to deny the intention of the enemy to exploit and cut-off the entire German 7th Armee which was weakly held by the German 326. Infanterie Division. On July 31 1944, Hauptmann Luders, the leader of a Kampfgruppe consisting of only 3 Jagdpanthers, was employed in the area to block the enemy's advance. Hauptmann Luders, through exemplary aggressiveness and tough perseverance, in a lightning-fast advance and clever combat leadership, had decieved the enemy through the illusion of a much stronger armored force. Within seconds, Churchill tanks of the 15th Scottish Division suddenly started to explode in flames, one after another. In less than 2 minutes, 11 Churchill tanks had been destroyed. Continuing his attack in an aggressive manner, an enemy armored personnel carrier column with mounted infantry was set ablaze, also two additional tanks were set on fire, and in addition, two enemy infantry companies were eliminated through high-explosive rounds. On August 3 1944, the enemy attacked again at the same place after an intense artillery barrage that lasted for hours. Even in that hopeless situation, Kampfgruppe Luders, with their 3 Jagdpanthers, held out and knocked out another 6 enemy armored vehicles of the 15th Scottish Division, and reduced the Scottish 6th Guards Brigade to four vehicles! As a result, the enemy was forced to halt his attack and go over to the defensive. as a result, the intent of the enemy to encircle the German 326. Infanterie Division was foiled. The superior enemy armored forces pulled back as a result of that forceful and vigorously pursued attack by the Jagdpanthers. The enemy's intention of rolling up and encircle the German forces in that area was deprived by the decisive actions of Hauptmann Friedrich Luders. For this action he was presented with the Knight's Cross on 21 October 1944. Hauptmann Friedrich Luders fearlessness, the only possible condition of victory, triumphs there at the boundary between destruction and victory. These incredible actions, in the truest sense the illuminating light of the exceptional, propelled by the lightning of a weapon of special inspiration, truely remain an example worthy of astonishment of what a man and a special weapon inspiration is capable of.
