Hans - Valentin Hube Hans - Valentin Hube ( 29 October 1890 – 21 April 1944 ) was a German general who served in the German Army during the First and Second World Wars . He was one of 27 people to be awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds ( ) . The Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade the Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership . At the time of its presentation to Hube it was Germany ' s highest military decoration . He died in an airplane crash in April 1944 . Hube was nicknamed " der Mensch " ( " The Man " ) by his troops during the Second World War . Career . Pre - war period and World War I . Hube was born in Naumburg an der Saale in the Prussian Province of Saxony . Hube joined the German Army on 27 February 1909 , and after officer training , was assigned as a Fahnenjunker to Infantry Regiment Nr . 26 " Fürst Leopold von Anhalt - Dessau " , based at Magdeburg . With the outbreak of war in August 1914 , Hube , now a platoon leader in the 26th , was sent to the front . He saw action during the early period of the war , being promoted to adjutant of the 26th ' s second battalion . On 20 September 1914 , he was severely wounded at Fontenoy , Aisne , and as a result had his left arm amputated . After a year convalescing , Hube returned to the front , this time as the 26th ' s 7 . Company commander . By early 1918 , he was acting as a standing General Staff officer with the 7th Infantry Division . On 10 April 1918 , while commanding the defence against an English tank attack , Hube received severe gas poisoning . He spent the next year convalescing in hospital and saw the end of the war from his hospital bed . Inter - War period . Upon his release from hospital , Hube was given a place in the Reichswehr . He continued his role as company commander in several Reichswehr regiments . In April 1925 , he was promoted to Hauptmann and transferred to the " Infanterieschule Dresden " ( Infantry School Dresden ) , to serve as an instructor to officer candidates . After he spent two years on training young officers , Hube was transferred to a general staff unit , and as a part of this posting was sent on a service trip to the USA . After his return from the US , Hube resumed his position as instructor at Dresden . In 1932 , now a major , he was given command of IIIrd Battalion of the ( East Prussia n ) Infantry Regiment 3 . In 1933 , after completing a heavy weapons training course in Döberitz , Hube was promoted to Oberstleutnant ( Lieutenant Colonel ) and placed in command of IIIrd Battalion of the Infantry Regiment 3 in Deutsch Eylau . On 1 January 1935 , Hube was transferred to the Infantry Training Staff at Döberitz . During this time he wrote the 2 - volume manual " Der Infanterist " ( The Infantryman ) . ( The timeline may be off here , as the 1925 Edition of Der Infanterist shows the book as edited and compiled by Hube . He dates his introduction to the book in the Summer of 1924 , giving his title at the time as Captain ( Hauptmann ) and Chief of the 11th Company of the 12th Infantry - Regiment . ) During this period , Hube was promoted to Oberst . On October 19 , 1939 , Hube was transferred to command the Infantry Regiment 3 . World War II . In September 1939 , Hube ' s regiment saw action in " Fall Weiss " , the invasion of Poland . The regiment was then transferred west and took part in " Fall Gelb " , the invasion of France and the Low Countries . On 1 June 1940 , Hube was promoted to " Generalmajor " and given command of 16th Infantry Division . In early August , the 16th was split into two divisions , one motorised infantry , one Panzer . Hube oversaw the formation of the 16 . Panzer Division , and then led the division as a part of Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt ' s Army Group South during Operation Barbarossa . On 7 July , near Starokonstantinov , Hube ' s 16th halted an enemy counterattack . For this action , Hube got the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross . On 16 January 1942 , he was awarded the Oakleaves to the Knight ' s Cross for his actions near Nikolajew during the Battles around Kiev . Hube then led the 16th during Fall Blau , the attack to capture Stalingrad . The 16th Panzer Division was to form one of the armoured divisions to assault the city itself . In September 1942 , Hube was given command of XIV Panzerkorps , the parent formation of the 16th Panzer . Hube commanded the XIVth during the disaster at Stalingrad . He was promoted to " Generalleutnant " and received the Swords to the Knight ' s Cross from Adolf Hitler personally on 21 December 1942 . During his time at the Führer - Headquarters in Rastenburg , Hube argued strongly , but to no avail , for Hitler to allow 6th Army to attempt a breakout . Hube continued in command of the XIVth during the encirclement . On 18 January , Hitler ordered him to be flown out of the pocket . Despite his protests , Hube was flown out from the snow - covered Gumrak Airfield on the 19th in a Focke - Wulf 200C transport flown by the ace Leutnant Hans Gilbert . Hube was promoted to " General der Panzertruppe " . After the destruction of Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus ' Sixth Army , and with it the XIVth Panzerkorps , Hube was given the task of reforming the XIVth from scratch . After the completion of this task , Hube was sent to the Mediterranean front . In Sicily , he was charged with setting up its defence . He created " Gruppe Hube " , an army - sized formation whose task it was to defend the island . With the advent of Operation Husky on 10 July , Hube commanded the overall German defence . To make this task easier , on 17 July 1943 Hube was given command of all army and Flak troops on the island . Hube commanded the German forces ' fighting retreat , and organised the evacuation to the Italian peninsula . Hube had prepared a strong defensive line , the ' Etna Line ' around Messina , that would enable Germans to make a progressive retreat while evacuating large parts of his army to the mainland . Patton began his assault on the line at Troina , but it was a linchpin of the defense and stubbornly held . Despite three ' end run ' amphibious landings the Germans managed to keep the bulk of their forces beyond reach of capture , and maintain their evacuation plans . Rescuing such a large number of troops from the threat of capture on Sicily represented a major success for the Axis . Hube was later involved in the battles defending Salerno from the Allied invasion . Hube was moved back to Germany to take command of the Führer - Reserve OKH . On 23 October 1943 , Hube was delegated as commander of the 200 , 000 man 1 . Panzer Army , then serving with Army Group South under " Generalfeldmarschall " Erich von Manstein . In February 1944 , Hube was officially confirmed as commander of 1 . Panzer Army . Shortly after , III . Panzerkorps , one of Hube ' s units , was required to assist German forces breaking out of the Korsun - Cherkassy Pocket . Soon after this , Hube ' s entire force was trapped in a pocket near Kamenets - Podolsky . Hube and Manstein managed to extricate the formation and avoid disaster . The breakout lasted from 27 March 1944 until 15 April 1944 , during which time Hube ' s forces destroyed 350 Russian tanks and 40 assault guns . On 20 April 1944 , Hube returned to Germany where Adolf Hitler personally awarded him the Diamonds to the Knight ' s Cross and promoted him to " Generaloberst " for his actions in Sicily , Salerno and in the Kamenets - Podolsky pocket . Hans - Valentin Hube was killed when the Heinkel He 111 which was shuttling him to Berlin crashed shortly after takeoff in Salzburg at Ainring on 21 April 1944 . Only his black metal hand was recovered from the wreckage . He received a full state funeral .