Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Ritterkreuzträger Romanian General Petre Dumitrescu

Romanian general Petre Dumitrescu received the German Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Crosses) in 1 September 1942 after leading his Third Army to victories against the Soviet forces in Crimea, Eastern Front. Back in the summer of 1941, after Hitler convinced Ion Antonescu to continue the war beyond Romania's pre-1940 borders, Dumitrescu then led the Third Army to the Crimea, taking part in the Battle of the Sea of Azov. By October 10, the Third Army had marched 1,700 kilometres from Romania, fought four major battles and 42 minor engagements. By this time, Dumitrescu's Third Army had inflicted casualties of over 20,000 killed and 40,000 wounded and also captured 15,565 prisoners of war, 149 tanks, 128 artillery pieces, and more than 700 machine guns, while suffering 10,541 casualties (2,555 dead, 6,201 wounded and 1,785 missing in action.). For his effort in this campaign, Dumitrescu was awarded the Ritterkreuz, the second Romanian to receive the award after Ion Antonescu. Later on he was even given the Eichenlaub (4 April 1944). In 17 October 1941, he was awarded the Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class, and 2nd Class (19 February 1944).


Source :
https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/54472/16681a180a83d321351d3a71c29af66e/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petre_Dumitrescu

No comments:

Post a Comment