Fritz Knöchlein was born on 27 May 1911 in Munich, then part of the German Empire. On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg. The Second World War started on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. During the invasion, Knöchlein led a unit of the SS-Standarte "Upper Bavaria," and after the Polish campaign, he took command of the 3rd Company in the 2nd Motorized SS Regiment, which was part of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf." The SS Division Totenkopf, also known as the Death's Head Division, was an elite unit of the Waffen-SS, the military branch of the SS. This division was strongly indoctrinated with Nazi Party ideology by its commander, Theodor Eicke. The German invasion of France through the Low Countries began on 10 May 1940, and one of the participating forces was the SS unit commanded by Fritz Knöchlein. The Battle of France was the SS Division Totenkopf's first major engagement of the Second World War, during which the Totenkopf soldiers fought fiercely throughout the campaign, suffering higher death rates than other German forces.
Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment and the 8th Lancashire Fusiliers, who were tasked with defending the French villages of Riez du Vinage, Le Cornet Malo, and Le Paradis. On 27 May, the Totenkopf troops, including Knöchlein’s 3rd Company, attacked the British at Le Cornet Malo, resulting in the deaths of 150 men from both sides.
Meanwhile, the Norfolks had set up their headquarters at a farmhouse just outside Le Paradis. The company commanders had been informed by radio that their units were isolated and would receive no assistance. During the battle, the Germans under Knöchlein's command attacked the farmhouse with mortars, tanks, and artillery shelling, which destroyed the building and forced the defenders to relocate to a cowshed.
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