The Kriegsberichter der Heer-Wehrmacht.
Ritterkreuztrager Johannes-Matthias Honsheid Kriegsberichter der Luftwaffe u, Heeres:
Johannes-Matthias Honscheid was a war correspondent and Leutnant of the Reserves as well as a Fallschirmjager during WWII. Johannes-Matthias Honscheid was the only war correspondent (Kriegsberichter) in the Wehrmacht to receive the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.
After an education in Frankfurt am Main, he joined the Lufnachrichtenkompanie, Flirgerhorst Frizlar, January 1942. Honscheid served as Kriegsberichter der Luftwaffe with the German / Italian newspaper “II Popolo di Sicilia” in Catania. During this period, he flew III. LGI and Kampfgeschwader 54. He flew a total of 28 missions and shot down an aircraft while there.
After this, he was placed as Kriegsberichter at Rommels Headquarters and the Oberbefehlshaber Sud (Kesselring). Next, Honscheid was transferred to 1. Fallschirmjager-Division and took part in operations on Sicily with “Bataillon Grasmehl”. During the fighting at Monte Cassino, he destroyed seven enemy tanks. During this period, he was taken prisoner by the British.
But he managed to escape. During his escape, he was injured 3 times. After recovering, he served from the 14th of September 1944 as Kriegsberichter with the Heer at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. He acted as Referatleiter for the placing of journalists, military censor, liaison officer to Goebbels, and as Kriegstagebuchfuhrer at the Führerhauptquartier.
His last posting during the war was Kriegsberichter and Pressesprecher (Press Liaison) with the Reichsregierung Donitz at Plon and Flensburg. His final rank was Leutnant der Reserve, awarded on 1st March 1945.
Honscheid was highly decorated by both the Luftwaffe and the Heer / Wehrmacht. He is in the photograph, where he is receiving the Knight’s Cross, and he also wears the Luftwaffe’s Ground Attack Badge alongside the Heer’s version of the Close Combat Badge in Silver. He wears the Iron Cross 1st Class, the War Merit Cross 1st Class, as well as the German Cross in Gold. It’s interesting the way the badges are hung through reinforced holes, like belt hooks have holes for internal suspender hooks.
He wears no ribbon bar. He wears the Kreigsberichter des Heers Cuff Title, awarded the Luftwaffe’s version, while surrounded by the Afrika Campaign Title. Just visible on the right sleeve are two silver and a single gold Tank Destruction Badges, showing recognition for 7 of the tanks he knocked out using handheld makeshift devices.
Honscheid’s tunic represented here is very interesting; an M43 has the dark green collar added to it as a customer conversion. It was not authorized and was rare.
This uniform was worn before his staff position at OKW, so it may have been planned for a better appearance while working around high-ranking officers. The two stripes on the shoulder boards indicate he is an officer candidate. He obtained the officer rank in 1945, just before the end of the war. Photographic evidence shows he has already applied officer-quality national insignia to his M43 cap, as well as his tunic at the time the photo was taken.
Honscheid completes his uniform with a standard-issue shirt, trousers, and marching boots. He wears an enlisted belt buckle.
