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World War II
Otto Carius (27 May 1922 – 24 January 2015) was a German tank ace within the German Army who fought during World War II and was credited with destroying more than 150 tanks. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves were awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
Early in the war, the slightly built Carius was rejected twice for military service for being underweight.[1] However, he was eventually enlisted and initially served in the infantry, before volunteering for the Panzer branch.[1]
In 1943, Carius transferred to the 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion (schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502). He was severely wounded on 24 July 1944 while reconnoitering a village on a motorcycle. Until that day, he was unofficially running the 2nd Company of the 502nd. He officially became commander of 2nd Company on the day he was shot through the leg and arm, with four more wounds in the back and one the neck. When he recovered, he became commander of a Jagdtiger company of the 512th Heavy Antitank Battalion (schwere Panzerjägerabteilung) at the beginning of 1945. On 8 March 1945, 2nd Company was directed to the front line near Siegburg, where it took part in the defense of the River Rhine and eventually surrendered to the United States Army on 15 April 1945.
After the war Carius studied pharmacy at Heidelberg University. In 1956 he opened his own pharmacy shop called Tiger Apotheke[2] in Herschweiler-Pettersheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, named after the Tiger tank. He ran his shop until he retired in 2011. He also wrote a book about his own experience in the war, entitled Tigers in the Mud.[3] Carius died on 24 January 2015 at age 92.[4][5]
Total victories (kills):
Cold War, Battle of Stalingrad, Nazi Germany, Battle of the Atlantic, Second Sino-Japanese War
Germany, Mainz, Berlin, States of Germany, Bavaria
World War II, Adolf Hitler, Soviet Union, The Holocaust, Germany
Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg, France, United Kingdom
Arabic language, Google, English language, French language, Turkey
World War II, Nazi Germany, Berlin, Iserlohn, Westphalia
Nazi Germany, World War II, Tiger II, England, Tank destroyer
World War II, Nazi Germany, Mülheim, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, North Rhine-Westphalia
Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Battle of Narva (1944), Narva, Estonia
World War II, France, Vehicle armour, Maybach, Nazi Germany