Ritterkreuzträger of 56. Infanterie-Division

The 56. Infanterie-Division) nicknamed "Gekreuzte Säbel" (Crossed Sabres) after its divisional symbol, was a second-wave Wehrmacht unit formed on 26 August 1939 in Dresden from Saxon reservists in Wehrkreis IV, incorporating Infantry Regiments 171, 192, and 234 along with Artillery Regiment 156. It first saw action during the invasion of Poland in 1939 with the 14th Army, primarily handling mopping-up operations and collecting stragglers before shifting westward. In the 1940 Battle of France, it advanced through the southern Netherlands and Belgium, engaging in fierce fighting around Turnhout, the Albert Canal, Mechelen, Ghent, and Furnes near Dunkirk, then served in occupation duties in Belgium and near Paris. Transferred back to Poland in late 1940 (where it contributed cadres to other divisions), it joined Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 with Army Group South and XVII Corps, advancing through Volhynia and Ukraine to participate in the massive encirclement Battle of Kiev; it later transferred to Army Group Center for rear-area security near Bryansk, defensive actions during the Soviet winter counteroffensive, and attritional fighting around Orel. The division endured heavy combat in the Battle of Moscow and especially at Kursk in 1943, suffering severe losses that led to its dissolution in late 1943, with remnants forming Corps Detachment D (which was largely destroyed west of Vitebsk during the Soviet Operation Bagration in June 1944). Reformed in East Prussia on 10 September 1944 under Generalleutnant Edmund Blaurock from Korps-Abteilung D, the division fought desperate defensive battles in the East Prussian Offensive starting January 1945, including actions around the Willuhner See, Insterburg, and Wehlau, before being encircled and largely annihilated in the Heiligenbeil Pocket in March 1945; only about 250 men escaped westward, with the staff helping form the Ulrich von Hutten Division for the final battles like Halbe. Its commanders included figures such as Karl Kriebel, Paul von Hase (later executed for involvement in the 20 July plot), Karl von Oven, and others, reflecting the division's trajectory from mobile campaigns in the West to the grinding attrition and ultimate destruction on the Eastern Front.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Major Alfred Eidel (1910-1944) was born on 23 May 1910 in Boxtal am Main and entered military service in 1929 as a volunteer in Infanterie-Regiment 20. At the outbreak of the Second World War he served as Oberfeldwebel in Infanterie-Regiment 103, taking part in the Polish campaign and the Westfeldzug. Promoted to Leutnant on 1 February 1940, he was transferred after the Western campaign to Infanterie-Regiment 171 of the 56. Infanterie-Division. From the summer of 1941 he fought on the Eastern Front, rising to Hauptmann on 1 February 1942. He particularly distinguished himself during the attack on Suchinitschi, for which he received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 21 August 1942. As Führer of the I. Bataillon of Infanterie-Regiment 171 he earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 September 1942 for actions north of Orel in August 1942. In these operations Hauptmann Eidel personally led his Bataillon in the assault on the village of Muschkan, being among the first to enter it with rifle in hand; he then independently decided to advance beyond the assigned objective and led a further attack that seized a commanding hill, which his men successfully held against repeated strong Soviet counterattacks. Promoted to Major on 1 December 1942 and appointed Kommandeur of the I. Bataillon (by then of Grenadier-Regiment 171), he received the Eichenlaub on 24 August 1943 as the 283rd recipient for outstanding leadership during the defensive battles east of Orel in July 1943. When Soviet forces supported by tanks broke through into the deep flank of Grenadier-Regiment 171 on 13 July, Major Eidel gathered remnants of Grenadier-Regiment 192, established a new resistance line along Woskresensk–Gorodilowo, held a vital cornerstone of the front against superior numbers until friendly forces could reorganize, and two days later, without waiting for orders, launched a bold counterthrust with a small hastily assembled force that halted two fresh enemy rifle regiments. In October 1943 the remnants of his Bataillon joined Korpsabteilung D. Alfred Eidel was killed on 23 June 1944 during a bombing attack on Witebsk.

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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER


General der Infanterie Ludwig Wolff (1893-1968), born on 3 April 1893 in Chemnitz in the Kingdom of Saxony and died on 9 November 1968 in Mannheim, was a German army officer whose career extended from the Imperial German Army through the Reichswehr into the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany, where he ultimately rose to command the XXXIII. Armeekorps. Entering military service in 1912 as a one-year volunteer in the Infanterie-Regiment Kronprinz (5. Königlich Sächsisches) Nr. 104, he was commissioned Leutnant in 1913 and served with distinction in the First World War, earning both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz as well as the Ritterkreuz of the Militär-St.-Heinrichs-Orden. Retained in the postwar Reichswehr, he advanced through instructional and command roles, including as commander of Infanterie-Regiment 192 of the 56. Infanterie-Division at the start of the Second World War. During the 1940 invasion of the Low Countries, as Oberst he personally led his regiment in forcing the first crossings of the Schelde and Lys rivers near Nevele with inflatable rafts, an action that proved decisive to the German advance, secured thousands of prisoners, and earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 May 1940, the same day he suffered severe facial wounds that cost him an eye and required extensive surgery before his return to duty. Promoted to Generalmajor, he took command of the 22. Infanterie-Division (Luftlande) in late 1941, guiding it through the breakthrough at the Perekop Isthmus onto the Crimea and, in June 1942, achieving the first German penetration to the Severnaya Bay at Sevastopol while storming Fort Stalin on 13 June, feats that brought him the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold in February 1942 and the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz (as the 100th recipient) on 22 June 1942. Later serving as Befehlshaber Mittelnorwegen and commander of the XXXIII. Armeekorps with promotion to General der Infanterie in 1944, followed by staff and inspector positions including oversight of Hungarian formations, Wolff was captured by American forces in May 1945 and released from captivity in June 1947, thereafter living in retirement until his death.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/56th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)

Ritterkreuzträger of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3)

Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (NJG 3) was a Luftwaffe night-fighter wing formed on 29 September 1941 at Stade from the Stab of Zerstörergeschwader 26 and placed initially under the 1. Nachtjagddivision (later the 2. Jagddivision), operating primarily in the defence of the Reich over northern Germany, Denmark and the North Sea approaches with the Geschwaderkennung first L1 and later D5. Its Stab remained based at Stade for most of the war under successive Kommodore Major Johann Schalk (until 1 August 1943), Oberst Helmut Lent (1 August 1943 until his death on 7 October 1944) and finally Oberst Günther Radusch (from 12 November 1944), while its four Gruppen were raised from various Zerstörer and night-fighter elements: I. Gruppe (formed earlier as V.(Z)/Lehrgeschwader 1 at Vechta in October 1940) flew mainly from Vechta, Schleswig and Grove; II. Gruppe was established at Schleswig in September 1941; III. Gruppe was created at Stade in November 1941 from II./Zerstörergeschwader 76; and IV. Gruppe was formed at Grove in November 1942, later exchanging designations with elements of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2. Initially equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 110s (and some Dornier Do 217s from mid-1942), the wing progressively converted to Junkers Ju 88C night fighters from mid-1943 and Ju 88G models from mid-1944, with limited use of the Heinkel He 219, conducting both defensive night interceptions against RAF Bomber Command raids and occasional day operations; detachments operated briefly in the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Smolensk area early in the war, while later bases included Plantlünne, Gütersloh, Westerland, Jever and various Danish airfields such as Grove (Karup), Kastrup and Skrydstrup. Pilots of NJG 3 claimed approximately 820 aerial victories by day and night before the unit was progressively reduced in strength in early 1945, with several Staffeln disbanded or redesignated by late March, remaining operational until the German surrender on 8 May 1945; two of its aircraft—a Bf 110 G-4 and a Ju 88 R-1—survive today at the RAF Museum in London.

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BRILLANTENTRÄGER


Oberst Helmut Lent (1918-1944) was born on 13 June 1918 in Pyrehne, Landsberg an der Warthe, into a devoutly Lutheran family as the fifth child of a minister; after primary schooling and private tutoring he passed his Abitur in December 1935, completed Reichsarbeitsdienst, and against his father’s wishes entered the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker on 1 April 1936, training at Luftkriegsschule 2 Gatow where he earned his wings and was commissioned Leutnant on 1 March 1938 before converting to the Messerschmitt Bf 110 with I./Zerstörergeschwader 76. He claimed his first victories during the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and further successes over the North Sea, including two confirmed Wellingtons in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight on 18 December 1939, then flew ground-support missions during the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, force-landing at Fornebu after engine damage while helping secure the airfield. Transferred to the newly formed Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, he scored his first nocturnal victory on 12 May 1941 and, as Staffelkapitän of 6./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 with 8 day and 14 night victories, received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 August 1941. Promoted Hauptmann and appointed Kommandeur of II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, he continued to accumulate night victories against RAF bombers and was awarded the Eichenlaub on 6 June 1942 after 35 nocturnal kills; later as Kommandeur of IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 he received the Schwerter on 2 August 1943 after 66 night victories. On the night of 15–16 June 1944, by then Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3, he became the first night-fighter pilot to claim his 100th nocturnal victory, for which he was awarded the Brillanten on 31 July 1944; overall he was credited with 110 aerial victories (102 at night, including 61 four-engined bombers) in 507 sorties. On 5 October 1944, while flying a Junkers Ju 88 on a routine transit flight from Stade to Nordborchen near Paderborn, an engine failed on approach and the aircraft struck power lines; Lent succumbed to his injuries two days later on 7 October 1944 and was posthumously promoted to Oberst.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachtjagdgeschwader_3

Ritterkreuzträger of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 (NJG 2)

Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 (NJG 2) was a Luftwaffe night-fighter and night-intruder wing active from 1 September 1940 until 5 May 1945, formed initially when I./NJG 2 was created at Gilze-Rijen from elements of II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and other Zerstörer units, with Stab/NJG 2 established only on 1 November 1941 under Oberstleutnant Karl Hülshoff; uniquely among early night-fighter formations, I./NJG 2 specialised in long-range Fernnachtjagd intruder missions over Britain, operating modified Junkers Ju 88C and Dornier Do 17Z/Do 215 aircraft that could carry bombs as well as forward-firing armament, flying from bases in the Netherlands to intercept RAF bombers taking off or returning to their airfields in eastern England, claiming around 143 victories (with roughly 90 confirmed RAF losses) between October 1940 and October 1941 before Hitler ordered the cessation of such operations on 12 October 1941 in favour of destroying bombers over German territory. Thereafter the Geschwader expanded with II. and III. Gruppen (subject to several redesignations, including temporary absorption into NJG 1 and later re-formations from NJG 6 and NJG 7 elements), shifting to conventional Himmelbett and later free-lance night-fighting under the Kammhuber Line while also deploying detachments to the Mediterranean—Sicily, North Africa and Crete—from late 1941 onward for defence of Axis shipping and airfields; equipped primarily with Ju 88C/G variants (later also Bf 110, Do 217 and briefly the Ju 388J), NJG 2 claimed approximately 800 aerial victories overall, producing notable aces such as Paul Semrau, Heinz Strüning and Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, and in July 1944 one of its Ju 88G-1s accidentally landed intact at RAF Woodbridge, giving the Allies their first detailed examination of the Lichtenstein SN-2 radar and Flensburg detector. In the final months the wing defended the Ruhr and other industrial regions from bases in western Germany, receiving limited numbers of the advanced Ju 388 before fuel shortages and overwhelming Allied air superiority ended operations in May 1945.

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SCHWERTERTRÄGER


Major Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (1916-1944) was born on 14 August 1916 in Copenhagen to diplomat Gustav Alexander Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Walburga Freiin von Friesen. After schooling in Switzerland, Bavaria and Freiburg, where he obtained his Abitur, he joined the Hitler Youth and completed Reichsarbeitsdienst before entering the 17. Kavallerie-Regiment in Bamberg in 1937. He soon transferred to the Luftwaffe, trained at the Fliegerschule Braunschweig and was commissioned Leutnant in June 1938. As observer and later pilot with Kampfgeschwader 1 Hindenburg and Kampfgeschwader 51 Edelweiss he flew some 150 combat missions in the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain and Operation Barbarossa with Heeresgruppe Nord. In late 1941 he volunteered for the Nachtjagd and became Staffelkapitän of 9./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2. His first nocturnal victory came on the night of 6/7 May 1942. Rapid success followed; after 22 confirmed night victories he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 October 1942 as Hauptmann. Posted to the Eastern Front as Gruppenkommandeur of IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 5, later redesignated I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 100, he achieved multiple victories including seven in one night near Oryol. Awarded the Eichenlaub on 31 August 1943 after 54 victories, he next commanded II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 and II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2. On 1 January 1944 he was appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 and promoted Major, already holding 68 victories. On the night of 21 January 1944, flying a Ju 88 near Berlin, he shot down five British bombers, raising his total to 83 and becoming the Luftwaffe’s leading Nachtjäger. Immediately after the fifth success his aircraft was hit, the left wing caught fire and he ordered his crew to parachute; they survived while he was killed near Lübars by Stendal when his parachute failed to open. Posthumously he received the Schwerter on 23 January 1944 as the 44th recipient, in recognition of his 83 night victories.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Oberst Helmut Lent (1918-1944) was born on 13 June 1918 in Pyrehne, Landsberg an der Warthe, into a devoutly Lutheran family as the fifth child of a minister; after primary schooling and private tutoring he passed his Abitur in December 1935, completed Reichsarbeitsdienst, and against his father’s wishes entered the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker on 1 April 1936, training at Luftkriegsschule 2 Gatow where he earned his wings and was commissioned Leutnant on 1 March 1938 before converting to the Messerschmitt Bf 110 with I./Zerstörergeschwader 76. He claimed his first victories during the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and further successes over the North Sea, including two confirmed Wellingtons in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight on 18 December 1939, then flew ground-support missions during the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, force-landing at Fornebu after engine damage while helping secure the airfield. Transferred to the newly formed Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, he scored his first nocturnal victory on 12 May 1941 and, as Staffelkapitän of 6./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 with 8 day and 14 night victories, received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 August 1941. Promoted Hauptmann and appointed Kommandeur of II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, he continued to accumulate night victories against RAF bombers and was awarded the Eichenlaub on 6 June 1942 after 35 nocturnal kills; later as Kommandeur of IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 he received the Schwerter on 2 August 1943 after 66 night victories. On the night of 15–16 June 1944, by then Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3, he became the first night-fighter pilot to claim his 100th nocturnal victory, for which he was awarded the Brillanten on 31 July 1944; overall he was credited with 110 aerial victories (102 at night, including 61 four-engined bombers) in 507 sorties. On 5 October 1944, while flying a Junkers Ju 88 on a routine transit flight from Stade to Nordborchen near Paderborn, an engine failed on approach and the aircraft struck power lines; Lent succumbed to his injuries two days later on 7 October 1944 and was posthumously promoted to Oberst.

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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER


Major Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld (1918-1944) was born on 14 July 1918 in Salzburg, Austria-Hungary, as the only son of Alfred Rudolf Maria Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld and Gräfin Anna von Goëss, belonging to a cadet branch of the House of Lippe; the family resided at Schloss Alt-Wartenburg in Upper Austria. Enthusiastic about mountains, hunting, music and flying from youth, he trained as a glider pilot with the Austrian Aero Club and completed basic flying courses before joining the infantry of the Austrian Bundesheer in 1936 at age eighteen. Following the Anschluss in 1938 he transferred to the Luftwaffe, earned his Flugzeugführerabzeichen on 5 October 1938 and was promoted to Leutnant in 1939. He initially served as a reconnaissance pilot with II. Gruppe of Zerstörergeschwader 76 before transferring on 4 August 1940 to the night fighter force of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Operating mainly from bases in the Netherlands with Messerschmitt Bf 110 aircraft, he claimed his first nocturnal victory, a Vickers Wellington, on the night of 16 to 17 November 1940. Promoted to Oberleutnant and appointed Staffelkapitän of 5. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 in November 1941, he steadily increased his score. On the night of 26 to 27 March 1942 he shot down four RAF bombers, bringing his total to 21 victories, for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 16 April 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 5./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2. Later promoted to Hauptmann, he commanded I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 from October 1942 and then III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 from June 1943. After reaching 45 aerial victories he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 2 August 1943 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of III./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1; Adolf Hitler presented the decoration personally at the Wolfsschanze. In February 1944 he was promoted to Major and appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 5. On 12 March 1944, while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 from Parchim to Athies-sous-Laon, he and his crew, Oberfeldwebel Josef Renette and Unteroffizier Kurt Röber, crashed near St. Hubert in Belgium in dense fog and bad weather, probably due to icing; all three perished. Credited with 51 nocturnal victories in 167 sorties, he was buried at the German war cemetery in Ysselsteyn.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachtjagdgeschwader_2

Ritterkreuzträger of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1)

Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1) was the first and most successful German Luftwaffe night-fighter wing of the Second World War, formed on 22 June 1940 at the direction of Hermann Göring under the command of Oberst Wolfgang Falck (who remained Geschwaderkommodore until 30 June 1943) as an air-defence unit for the Defence of the Reich against RAF Bomber Command night raids, initially organised from elements of I./Zerstörergeschwader 1, IV./Zerstörergeschwader 26, IV.(N)/Jagdgeschwader 2 and other Zerstörer units and based primarily at Deelen-Arnhem, Venlo, Düsseldorf, St. Trond, Twente and Leeuwarden; it eventually comprised four Gruppen equipped successively with the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Dornier Do 17, Messerschmitt Bf 110 (its mainstay), Junkers Ju 88, Dornier Do 217 and the advanced Heinkel He 219 Uhu, operating under the evolving Kammhuber Line system of Himmelbett controlled interceptions that combined Freya and Würzburg ground radars, searchlights and, from 1941–42, airborne Lichtenstein radar. Early experimental intercepts in July 1940 yielded the wing’s first claims (including an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley by Werner Streib), and by the end of 1941 pilots such as Streib, Paul Gildner and Helmut Lent had become leading night aces; the wing played a central role in the battles over the Ruhr, Hamburg and Berlin, introducing innovative attack tactics (notably Ludwig Becker’s underside approach) and producing the highest-scoring night-fighter pilot in history, Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (121 victories), who later commanded IV./NJG 1. Command passed to Oberst Werner Streib in July 1943 and then to Oberstleutnant Hans-Joachim Jabs in March 1944; despite mounting losses from improved Allied electronic countermeasures, Mosquito night fighters and overwhelming numbers, NJG 1 claimed approximately 2,311 victories by day and night for the loss of some 676 aircrew killed, remaining operational until the final collapse in May 1945 when its remnants withdrew to Husum and other northern bases before the German surrender on 8 May.

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SCHWERTERTRÄGER


Oberst Helmut Lent (1918-1944) was born on 13 June 1918 in Pyrehne, Landsberg an der Warthe, into a devoutly Lutheran family as the fifth child of a minister; after primary schooling and private tutoring he passed his Abitur in December 1935, completed Reichsarbeitsdienst, and against his father’s wishes entered the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker on 1 April 1936, training at Luftkriegsschule 2 Gatow where he earned his wings and was commissioned Leutnant on 1 March 1938 before converting to the Messerschmitt Bf 110 with I./Zerstörergeschwader 76. He claimed his first victories during the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and further successes over the North Sea, including two confirmed Wellingtons in the Battle of the Heligoland Bight on 18 December 1939, then flew ground-support missions during the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, force-landing at Fornebu after engine damage while helping secure the airfield. Transferred to the newly formed Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, he scored his first nocturnal victory on 12 May 1941 and, as Staffelkapitän of 6./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 with 8 day and 14 night victories, received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 August 1941. Promoted Hauptmann and appointed Kommandeur of II./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, he continued to accumulate night victories against RAF bombers and was awarded the Eichenlaub on 6 June 1942 after 35 nocturnal kills; later as Kommandeur of IV./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 he received the Schwerter on 2 August 1943 after 66 night victories. On the night of 15–16 June 1944, by then Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3, he became the first night-fighter pilot to claim his 100th nocturnal victory, for which he was awarded the Brillanten on 31 July 1944; overall he was credited with 110 aerial victories (102 at night, including 61 four-engined bombers) in 507 sorties. On 5 October 1944, while flying a Junkers Ju 88 on a routine transit flight from Stade to Nordborchen near Paderborn, an engine failed on approach and the aircraft struck power lines; Lent succumbed to his injuries two days later on 7 October 1944 and was posthumously promoted to Oberst.



Oberst Werner Streib (1911-1986) was born on 13 June 1911 in Pforzheim and after completing his Abitur and a commercial apprenticeship joined the Reichswehr in 1934 as a Fahnenjunker in Infanterie-Regiment 14 before transferring to the Luftwaffe in 1936 where he trained as an observer and later as a pilot serving initially with Zerstörergeschwader 1. On 10 May 1940 during the Westfeldzug he scored his first and only daytime aerial victory by shooting down a Bristol Blenheim while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and shortly thereafter as Staffelkapitän of 2. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 achieved the Luftwaffe’s first confirmed night victory on the night of 19/20 July 1940. After accumulating eight victories of which seven were at night he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 6 October 1940 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 2./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and was simultaneously promoted to Hauptmann then appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Continuing his success in the Defense of the Reich against RAF Bomber Command he reached approximately forty-two night victories and on 26 February 1943 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz. On the night of 11/12 June 1943 while evaluating the new Heinkel He 219 A-0 with his Bordfunker Unteroffizier Helmut Fischer he claimed five four-engined bombers in a single mission near the Dutch-German border. Appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 on 1 July 1943 he continued to lead operations until after sixty-five to sixty-six confirmed victories he was awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub on 11 March 1944 as Major and Kommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 the fifty-fourth such award. He was then withdrawn from front-line flying and appointed Inspekteur der Nachtjäger remaining in that post until the end of the war with the rank of Oberst. After a period in civilian business following his release from captivity he rejoined the armed forces in 1956 serving in the Bundeswehr and rising to the rank of Brigadegeneral before retiring in 1966. Streib died on 15 June 1986 in München having been credited overall with sixty-six to sixty-eight aerial victories nearly all at night in roughly one hundred fifty combat missions and having played a key role in the development of German night-fighter tactics and organization.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Hauptmann Reinhold Knacke (1919-1943) was born on 1 January 1919 in Strelitz Alt in Mecklenburg-Strelitz and entered the Luftwaffe in 1937, completing pilot training before serving initially with Zerstörergeschwader 1. In the autumn of 1940 he was transferred to the night-fighter arm and assigned to Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, where he flew the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and claimed his first nocturnal victory on the night of 9 March 1941 while serving with the 2. Staffel. He later transferred to the 3. Staffel of the I. Gruppe and steadily increased his score against RAF Bomber Command over the Western Front. On 14 April 1942 he received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold as Oberleutnant in the 2. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. For achieving approximately thirty night victories, including several multiple successes such as three bombers destroyed on the night of 30/31 May 1942, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 1 July 1942 while still an Oberleutnant and Flugzeugführer in the 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Appointed Staffelkapitän of the 3. Staffel of the I. Gruppe, he continued to add to his tally and reached his fortieth victory near the end of 1942. On the night of 2/3 February 1943 Knacke shot down two further bombers, bringing his total to forty-four confirmed night victories in roughly 160 combat missions, before his Bf 110 F-4 “G9+DK” was fatally damaged in combat with an RAF four-engined bomber over the Netherlands. His Bordfunker, Unteroffizier Kurt Bundrock, managed to parachute to safety, but Knacke was killed when the aircraft crashed near Achterveld. He was posthumously promoted to Hauptmann and on 7 February 1943 received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 190th recipient for his outstanding record as Staffelkapitän of the 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1.



Oberleutnant Paul Gildner (1914-1943) was born on 1 February 1914 in Nimptsch in Silesia and entered military service in 1933 with Infanterie-Regiment 7 before transferring to the Luftwaffe in 1935, where he trained as a pilot and was promoted to Unteroffizier in 1937. After serving in reconnaissance units he moved to Zerstörergeschwader 1 and flew the Messerschmitt Bf 110 with I. Gruppe during the Polish campaign and the Battle of France, claiming four daytime victories. In the summer of 1940 he transferred to the newly formed Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and joined 3. Staffel of I. Gruppe, scoring his first nocturnal victory on the night of 2/3 September 1940 over a Handley Page Hampden. Flying regular night-fighter missions over the Netherlands and northern Germany against RAF Bomber Command, he steadily increased his score and by early July 1941 had claimed fourteen night victories. On 9 July 1941 he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as Oberfeldwebel for these successes, becoming one of the first non-commissioned officers of the night-fighter arm to be so decorated. Promoted to Oberleutnant in 1942 and awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold, he continued to fly with NJG 1 and by early 1943 had raised his total to approximately forty-four nocturnal victories plus a small number of daytime claims. In February 1943 he was appointed Staffelkapitän of 1. Staffel of NJG 1. On the night of 24 February 1943 his Messerschmitt Bf 110 suffered engine failure near Gilze-Rijen; after ordering his radio operator to bail out, Gildner crash-landed and was unable to escape the burning aircraft, perishing in the flames. Two days later, on 26 February 1943, he was posthumously awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz as the 196th recipient in recognition of his overall record of night and day victories.



Hauptmann Ludwig Becker (1911-1943) was born on 22 August 1911 in Dortmund-Aplerbeck and, after studying law and economics while developing a passion for aviation, joined the Luftwaffe reserves, serving initially as a Leutnant der Reserve. He flew with Zerstörergeschwader units during the early campaigns before transferring in summer 1940 to the II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, where he achieved his first nocturnal victory on the night of 16/17 October 1940 against a Wellington bomber in a ground-radar controlled interception. As an early pioneer of night fighting tactics and equipment, including work with the Lichtenstein airborne radar and service as a test pilot at the Nachtjagdversuchsstaffel in Werneuchen, he developed specialised attack methods from below and behind, later flying the Dornier Do 215 B-5. Promoted to Oberleutnant, he served with 6. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2, earning the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold, and by late 1941 had become Staffelkapitän of the 12. Staffel of IV. Gruppe, Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. After claiming his 25th night victory he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 1 July 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of that unit. Continuing his successes against RAF Bomber Command, he reached around 40 victories by the end of 1942 and was promoted to Hauptmann. On 26 February 1943, after being informed of the award of the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz as the 198th recipient for his 46 night victories while serving as Staffelkapitän of the 12. Staffel, IV. Gruppe, Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, he took off with his Bordfunker Oberfeldwebel Josef Staub in a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 on a daylight interception of American bombers over the North Sea and was reported missing north of Schiermonnikoog after his 165th combat mission, never to return.



Major Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld (1918-1944) was born on 14 July 1918 in Salzburg, Austria-Hungary, as the only son of Alfred Rudolf Maria Egmont Prinz zur Lippe-Weißenfeld and Gräfin Anna von Goëss, belonging to a cadet branch of the House of Lippe; the family resided at Schloss Alt-Wartenburg in Upper Austria. Enthusiastic about mountains, hunting, music and flying from youth, he trained as a glider pilot with the Austrian Aero Club and completed basic flying courses before joining the infantry of the Austrian Bundesheer in 1936 at age eighteen. Following the Anschluss in 1938 he transferred to the Luftwaffe, earned his Flugzeugführerabzeichen on 5 October 1938 and was promoted to Leutnant in 1939. He initially served as a reconnaissance pilot with II. Gruppe of Zerstörergeschwader 76 before transferring on 4 August 1940 to the night fighter force of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. Operating mainly from bases in the Netherlands with Messerschmitt Bf 110 aircraft, he claimed his first nocturnal victory, a Vickers Wellington, on the night of 16 to 17 November 1940. Promoted to Oberleutnant and appointed Staffelkapitän of 5. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 2 in November 1941, he steadily increased his score. On the night of 26 to 27 March 1942 he shot down four RAF bombers, bringing his total to 21 victories, for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 16 April 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 5./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2. Later promoted to Hauptmann, he commanded I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 from October 1942 and then III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 from June 1943. After reaching 45 aerial victories he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 2 August 1943 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of III./Nachtjagdgeschwader 1; Adolf Hitler presented the decoration personally at the Wolfsschanze. In February 1944 he was promoted to Major and appointed Geschwaderkommodore of Nachtjagdgeschwader 5. On 12 March 1944, while flying a Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 from Parchim to Athies-sous-Laon, he and his crew, Oberfeldwebel Josef Renette and Unteroffizier Kurt Röber, crashed near St. Hubert in Belgium in dense fog and bad weather, probably due to icing; all three perished. Credited with 51 nocturnal victories in 167 sorties, he was buried at the German war cemetery in Ysselsteyn.



Hauptmann Manfred Meurer (1919-1944) was born on 8 September 1919 in Hamburg and after completing his Abitur at the Gymnasium Johanneum and Reichsarbeitsdienst he entered the Luftwaffe in 1938 as Fahnenjunker in Flak-Regiment 6. Following the outbreak of war he volunteered for flying training, was promoted to Leutnant on 1 April 1940 and initially served with Zerstörergeschwader 76 flying the Messerschmitt Bf 110. In October 1941 he transferred to III. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and was assigned to 9. Staffel, claiming his first nocturnal victory, a Vickers Wellington, on the night of 26/27 March 1942. By the end of 1942 he had eight confirmed kills and received the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse. Appointed Staffelkapitän of 3. Staffel of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 on 1 January 1943, Meurer rapidly increased his score; on the night of 14/15 February he destroyed three bombers and on 12/13 March, during the Battle of the Ruhr, he claimed four more—two Handley Page Halifax, one Avro Lancaster and one Wellington—bringing his total to 23. For these achievements he was awarded the Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe on 15 March, the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 31 March and the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 16 April 1943 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän. Promoted to Hauptmann, he continued his success and on the night of 27/28 July 1943, flying a specialised Junkers Ju 88, he shot down a de Havilland Mosquito for his 50th victory. This feat earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz, the 264th award, presented by Adolf Hitler at the Wolfsschanze on 2 August 1943. Shortly afterwards he became Gruppenkommandeur of II. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 5 and later of I. Gruppe of Nachtjagdgeschwader 1, flying the Heinkel He 219. On the night of 21/22 January 1944, while intercepting a raid near Magdeburg, his He 219 collided with a Lancaster and both he and his radar operator Oberfeldwebel Gerhard Scheibe were killed. In 130 combat missions Meurer achieved 65 nocturnal victories, including 40 four-engined bombers, establishing him as one of the leading night-fighter aces of the Defence of the Reich.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachtjagdgeschwader_1

Ritterkreuzträger with SS Runen Abzeichen (SS Rune Breast Badge)

The SS Runen Abzeichen, also known as the SS Runes Breast Badge or Sig-Runen Brustabzeichen, was a distinctive cloth insignia of the Schutzstaffel consisting of the double lightning-bolt Sig runes (the iconic “SS” symbol derived from the ancient Germanic Sowilo rune) embroidered in silver or aluminum thread on a black wool or felt backing, typically measuring a few centimetres in height and worn centred on the lower left breast pocket of the tunic; introduced by a formal order of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler dated 16 January 1937 and originally designated simply as “die Sig-Runen,” it was first authorised for members of the Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) who simultaneously held SS membership or who had left the Allgemeine-SS under honourable circumstances, thereby visually affirming their dual affiliation while they continued to wear standard police uniforms. In July 1943 the right to wear the badge was extended to full SS personnel serving in certain foreign-volunteer or ethnically mixed Waffen-SS formations—most notably the 4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division, 7. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division “Prinz Eugen,” 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division “Nordland,” and 13. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS “Handschar”—whose collar patches carried national or unit emblems rather than the SS runes themselves, allowing these men to display their membership in the broader SS order. Officer versions were usually finely hand-embroidered, while enlisted and NCO examples were machine-woven or embroidered; the badge appeared on black service tunics, black panzer jackets, white summer uniforms, and occasionally on tropical or field-grey garments, and its presence on a uniform remains one of the clearer visual indicators that the wearer belonged to the SS organisation even when other SS-specific collar insignia were absent.

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SS-Obergruppenführer Alfred Wünnenberg (1891-1963) was born on 20 July 1891 in Saarburg, Alsace-Lorraine, in the German Empire, and entered military service on 25 February 1913 as a Fahnenjunker in the Infanterie-Regiment „Vogel von Falckenstein“ (7. Westfälisches) Nr. 56 of the Prussian Army; during the First World War he served as a Kompaniechef, was wounded on both the Western and Eastern fronts, trained as a pilot from June 1916, and flew as an Aufklärungsflieger with Feld-Flieger-Abteilung 47 from August 1917, earning the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on 10 February 1915 and 1. Klasse on 9 September 1915 along with other decorations including the Königlich Preussisches Flugzeugbeobachter-Abzeichen and the Ritter des Königlicher Preussischer Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern. After the war he briefly served with Grenzschutz Ost and a Freikorps in Oberschlesien before joining the Preußische Schutzpolizei as a Polizei-Oberleutnant in September 1920, rising through various police commands and training roles in Essen, Potsdam-Eiche, Krefeld, Köln, Charlottenburg, Hindenburg, Beuthen, Gleiwitz, Saarbrücken, Bremen, and Mannheim, joining the NSDAP on 1 May 1933 (Mitgliedsnummer 2.222.600) and the SS (SS-Nr. 405.898), and by December 1938 serving on the staff of the Inspekteur der Ordnungspolizei in Stuttgart. On 2 October 1939 he became Kommandeur of Polizei-Schützen-Regiment 3 of the Polizei-Division (later SS-Polizei-Division) with the rank of SS-Standartenführer and Oberst der Schutzpolizei, participating in the Western campaign of 1940 and the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941; for his leadership in the Luga sector—particularly his personal bravery on 11 August 1941 in capturing the hills at Stojanowschtschina (taking seventeen enemy tanks and numerous heavy bunkers), his advance on 23 August to seize Ssyrez, the hills west of it, and the heights at Turowo that enabled the capture of Luga, and his regiment’s breakthrough of the outer defensive lines of Leningrad on 13 September by securing bridges and key positions while advancing toward Pushkin via the Ishora position—he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 November 1941 as SS-Standartenführer and Oberst der Schupo. He assumed command of the SS-Polizei-Division on 15 December 1941, and for his successful leadership of the division at the Volkhov, where he closed the ring around the Volkhov pocket by attacking through extremely swampy terrain to achieve surprise against an enemy expecting an advance along the road, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz (91st award) on 23 April 1942 as SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Polizei. Promoted further to SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant der Polizei in July 1942 and then to SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS und Polizei in July 1943, he briefly commanded the IV. SS-Panzer-Korps from 10 June 1943 until 31 August 1943, after which he succeeded Kurt Daluege as Chef des Hauptamtes der Ordnungspolizei, a post he held until the end of the war (and briefly as Chef der Deutschen Polizei in the final days); he fled via the Rattenlinie Nord to Flensburg, was interned as a POW in Dachau in 1946, released in 1947, and died on 30 December 1963 in Krefeld, West Germany.

Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2014/01/ss-runen-abzeichen-ss-runes-breast.html

Ritterkreuzträger with Imperial Pilot Awards

KÖNIGLICH PREUSSISCHES FLUGZEUGBEOBACHTER-ABZEICHEN

The Königlich Preussisches Flugzeugbeobachter-Abzeichen, officially designated the Abzeichen für Beobachtungsoffiziere aus Flugzeugen, was instituted on 27 January 1914 by Kaiser Wilhelm II as a qualification badge for observation officers of the Imperial German Fliegertruppe and was awarded by the General-Inspektion des Militär-Verkehrswesens to personnel who had completed a minimum of 1,000 kilometres of flight as an observer, passed the required technical aircraft-assistance examination (or its refresher), conducted successful reconnaissance missions, and obtained the formal Befähigungszeugnis as a Beobachtungsoffizier; the high-oval badge measured approximately 71 mm in height and 45 mm in width and was manufactured in silver or silver-plated non-ferrous metal, featuring at its centre a red-enamelled square containing a smaller black-and-white chequered square (the traditional General Staff emblem) set against a rayed background, the whole enclosed by a closed wreath of laurel leaves on the left and oak leaves on the right that met in a bow at the base and were surmounted by the Imperial Crown, with the reverse usually showing a vertical pin and the maker’s mark of C.E. Juncker of Berlin; worn as a Steckabzeichen on the left breast of the uniform, it remained in use throughout the First World War as the principal recognition of qualified aerial observers in the Prussian contingent of the German air service until the collapse of the monarchy in 1918.



SS-Obergruppenführer Alfred Wünnenberg (1891-1963) was born on 20 July 1891 in Saarburg, Alsace-Lorraine, in the German Empire, and entered military service on 25 February 1913 as a Fahnenjunker in the Infanterie-Regiment „Vogel von Falckenstein“ (7. Westfälisches) Nr. 56 of the Prussian Army; during the First World War he served as a Kompaniechef, was wounded on both the Western and Eastern fronts, trained as a pilot from June 1916, and flew as an Aufklärungsflieger with Feld-Flieger-Abteilung 47 from August 1917, earning the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on 10 February 1915 and 1. Klasse on 9 September 1915 along with other decorations including the Königlich Preussisches Flugzeugbeobachter-Abzeichen and the Ritter des Königlicher Preussischer Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern. After the war he briefly served with Grenzschutz Ost and a Freikorps in Oberschlesien before joining the Preußische Schutzpolizei as a Polizei-Oberleutnant in September 1920, rising through various police commands and training roles in Essen, Potsdam-Eiche, Krefeld, Köln, Charlottenburg, Hindenburg, Beuthen, Gleiwitz, Saarbrücken, Bremen, and Mannheim, joining the NSDAP on 1 May 1933 (Mitgliedsnummer 2.222.600) and the SS (SS-Nr. 405.898), and by December 1938 serving on the staff of the Inspekteur der Ordnungspolizei in Stuttgart. On 2 October 1939 he became Kommandeur of Polizei-Schützen-Regiment 3 of the Polizei-Division (later SS-Polizei-Division) with the rank of SS-Standartenführer and Oberst der Schutzpolizei, participating in the Western campaign of 1940 and the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941; for his leadership in the Luga sector—particularly his personal bravery on 11 August 1941 in capturing the hills at Stojanowschtschina (taking seventeen enemy tanks and numerous heavy bunkers), his advance on 23 August to seize Ssyrez, the hills west of it, and the heights at Turowo that enabled the capture of Luga, and his regiment’s breakthrough of the outer defensive lines of Leningrad on 13 September by securing bridges and key positions while advancing toward Pushkin via the Ishora position—he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 November 1941 as SS-Standartenführer and Oberst der Schupo. He assumed command of the SS-Polizei-Division on 15 December 1941, and for his successful leadership of the division at the Volkhov, where he closed the ring around the Volkhov pocket by attacking through extremely swampy terrain to achieve surprise against an enemy expecting an advance along the road, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz (91st award) on 23 April 1942 as SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Polizei. Promoted further to SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant der Polizei in July 1942 and then to SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS und Polizei in July 1943, he briefly commanded the IV. SS-Panzer-Korps from 10 June 1943 until 31 August 1943, after which he succeeded Kurt Daluege as Chef des Hauptamtes der Ordnungspolizei, a post he held until the end of the war (and briefly as Chef der Deutschen Polizei in the final days); he fled via the Rattenlinie Nord to Flensburg, was interned as a POW in Dachau in 1946, released in 1947, and died on 30 December 1963 in Krefeld, West Germany.

Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2014/03/album-foto-tokoh-third-reich-peraih.html

Ritterkreuzträger in Polizei Uniform

In the transitional years of 1933–1934, immediately following the Nazi seizure of power, the uniforms of the German Polizei remained largely those of the decentralized Weimar-era state and municipal forces rather than a single national pattern, with the various Landespolizei, Schutzpolizei, and Gendarmerie units continuing to wear predominantly dark-blue or blue-grey tunics, trousers, and greatcoats that had been standard since the early 1920s, often featuring high standing collars, external patch pockets, and traditional rank insignia on shoulder boards and collar patches that still reflected pre-1933 state designs; headgear typically consisted of the distinctive rigid police shako (Tschako) with a metal state-coat-of-arms badge or a peaked visor cap (Schirmmütze), while footwear was black leather boots or shoes and the belt was usually black or brown leather with a simple rectangular buckle. As Nazi control tightened—particularly after Hermann Göring’s decrees in Prussia prioritizing SA and SS members for police appointments and Kurt Daluege’s ideological indoctrination measures—Nazi political symbols began to appear on these otherwise traditional garments, including the early addition of a swastika armband or a small metal eagle-and-swastika badge on the left breast or cap, though the full standardization of the distinctive “Grüne Polizei” (green police) uniform with brown collars and cuffs, the wreathed Polizeiadler sleeve eagle, and branch-specific Truppenfarbe piping would not be introduced until the complete nationalization under Heinrich Himmler in June 1936. Officers of higher rank often retained more elaborate parade versions with silver or gold embroidery, while rank-and-file policemen wore simpler service dress suited to urban or rural duties; overall, the 1933–1934 period thus represented a hybrid phase in which the old blue state-police appearance coexisted with the gradual visual Nazification of the force, setting the stage for the fully militarized and centralized green Ordnungspolizei uniform that followed.

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WAFFEN-SS


SS-Obergruppenführer Alfred Wünnenberg (1891-1963) was born on 20 July 1891 in Saarburg, Alsace-Lorraine, in the German Empire, and entered military service on 25 February 1913 as a Fahnenjunker in the Infanterie-Regiment „Vogel von Falckenstein“ (7. Westfälisches) Nr. 56 of the Prussian Army; during the First World War he served as a Kompaniechef, was wounded on both the Western and Eastern fronts, trained as a pilot from June 1916, and flew as an Aufklärungsflieger with Feld-Flieger-Abteilung 47 from August 1917, earning the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on 10 February 1915 and 1. Klasse on 9 September 1915 along with other decorations including the Königlich Preussisches Flugzeugbeobachter-Abzeichen and the Ritter des Königlicher Preussischer Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern. After the war he briefly served with Grenzschutz Ost and a Freikorps in Oberschlesien before joining the Preußische Schutzpolizei as a Polizei-Oberleutnant in September 1920, rising through various police commands and training roles in Essen, Potsdam-Eiche, Krefeld, Köln, Charlottenburg, Hindenburg, Beuthen, Gleiwitz, Saarbrücken, Bremen, and Mannheim, joining the NSDAP on 1 May 1933 (Mitgliedsnummer 2.222.600) and the SS (SS-Nr. 405.898), and by December 1938 serving on the staff of the Inspekteur der Ordnungspolizei in Stuttgart. On 2 October 1939 he became Kommandeur of Polizei-Schützen-Regiment 3 of the Polizei-Division (later SS-Polizei-Division) with the rank of SS-Standartenführer and Oberst der Schutzpolizei, participating in the Western campaign of 1940 and the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941; for his leadership in the Luga sector—particularly his personal bravery on 11 August 1941 in capturing the hills at Stojanowschtschina (taking seventeen enemy tanks and numerous heavy bunkers), his advance on 23 August to seize Ssyrez, the hills west of it, and the heights at Turowo that enabled the capture of Luga, and his regiment’s breakthrough of the outer defensive lines of Leningrad on 13 September by securing bridges and key positions while advancing toward Pushkin via the Ishora position—he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 November 1941 as SS-Standartenführer and Oberst der Schupo. He assumed command of the SS-Polizei-Division on 15 December 1941, and for his successful leadership of the division at the Volkhov, where he closed the ring around the Volkhov pocket by attacking through extremely swampy terrain to achieve surprise against an enemy expecting an advance along the road, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz (91st award) on 23 April 1942 as SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Polizei. Promoted further to SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant der Polizei in July 1942 and then to SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS und Polizei in July 1943, he briefly commanded the IV. SS-Panzer-Korps from 10 June 1943 until 31 August 1943, after which he succeeded Kurt Daluege as Chef des Hauptamtes der Ordnungspolizei, a post he held until the end of the war (and briefly as Chef der Deutschen Polizei in the final days); he fled via the Rattenlinie Nord to Flensburg, was interned as a POW in Dachau in 1946, released in 1947, and died on 30 December 1963 in Krefeld, West Germany.

Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2014/11/foto-tokoh-third-reich-dengan-seragam.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranks_and_insignia_of_the_Ordnungspolizei

Ritterkreuzträger with Romanian Medals

ORDINUL MIHAI VITEAZUL

The Order of Michael the Brave, known in Romanian as Ordinul Mihai Viteazul, is Romania’s highest military decoration, instituted by King Ferdinand I on 26 September 1916 and awarded again during the Second World War for exceptional deeds on the battlefield by officers only, existing in three classes. While Romania was allied with Germany as part of the Axis until the coup of 23 August 1944, the order was conferred on numerous members of the Wehrmacht and other German forces in recognition of their combat achievements, particularly during joint operations on the Eastern Front. High-ranking recipients of the 1st class included Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, Großadmiral Erich Raeder, Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Brauchitsch, and Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel. Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein, commander of the 11. Armee, received the order for his leadership in the Crimean campaigns, while Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel and Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt were also among the prominent awardees of the higher classes. Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock and Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus likewise obtained the decoration in connection with their commands on the Eastern Front. Other notable German officers included General der Infanterie Otto Wöhler and General der Artillerie Walter Warlimont. The 1941 model of the order, featuring the cipher of King Mihai I, was specifically used for awards to Axis allies including Germans, whereas a later 1944 version with swords was introduced after Romania switched sides and was reserved for actions against former German partners. Overall wartime awards totaled fifteen of the 1st class, seventy-six of the 2nd class, and 1,628 of the 3rd class, with a substantial portion of the foreign bestowals going to German personnel of the Heer, Luftwaffe, and Kriegsmarine for distinguished service in theaters where Romanian and German units cooperated closely. These decorations underscored the wartime alliance and were typically presented for outstanding leadership or personal bravery in major engagements. After Romania’s change of allegiance the practice of awarding the order to Germans ceased, and the decoration itself was discontinued in 1947 before being reinstituted in modern form in 2000.



Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein (1987-1973), born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski on 24 November 1887 in Berlin as the tenth child of Prussian artillery general Eduard von Lewinski and Helene von Sperling, was adopted by his childless uncle General Georg von Manstein and took that family name, joining the 3. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß as Fähnrich in 1906 and rising through the ranks after service on both fronts in the First World War, where he was wounded and promoted to Hauptmann. Remaining in the Reichswehr after 1918, he held staff and command posts, reached Generalmajor by 1936, and as Chief of Staff of Heeresgruppe Süd under Gerd von Rundstedt planned the 1939 Polish campaign before devising the Sichelschnitt plan that became the basis for the 1940 invasion of France. As Kommandierender General of XXXVIII. Armeekorps he led the first crossing of the Seine and subsequent advances to the Loire, earning the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 19 July 1940 as General der Infanterie for his decisive leadership in the fighting along the Somme, Seine and Loire. In 1941 he commanded LVI. Panzerkorps during Operation Barbarossa, advancing rapidly toward Leningrad, then took over 11. Armee, conquered the Crimea, captured Sevastopol in July 1942 and was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall. After the failed relief of Stalingrad as Oberbefehlshaber of Heeresgruppe Don he assumed command of Heeresgruppe Süd and in February–March 1943 executed the famous Backhand Blow counteroffensive that recaptured Kharkov and Belgorod, destroying three Soviet armies and stabilising the southern front, for which he received the Eichenlaub on 14 March 1943. Continuing to direct Heeresgruppe Süd through the defensive battles from the Donets to the Polish border after Kursk, his skilful crisis management and orderly withdrawals prevented total collapse despite severe conditions, resulting in the award of the Schwerter on 30 March 1944, the same day Hitler dismissed him. After the war he was convicted of war crimes, imprisoned until 1953, published "Verlorene Siege", advised the Bundeswehr and died on 10 June 1973 in Irschenhausen.

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BREVET DE PILOT / OBSERVATOR MILITAR

The Royal Romanian Air Force Military Pilot / Aeronautical Observer Badge (Brevet de Pilot / Observator Militar), also known as the pilot’s or observer’s wing of the Aeronautica Regală Română, was the principal qualification insignia awarded to trained military aviators and aerial observers of the Kingdom of Romania from the early years of organised military aviation through the interwar period and the Second World War, evolving in design with successive reigns while retaining a consistent winged form that reflected both national heraldry and contemporary European aviation traditions; the earliest versions under King Carol I took the shape of a Blériot-style monoplane worn on the collar, but after the reign of King Ferdinand I (1914–1927) the standard pattern emerged as a pair of outstretched wings surmounted by a royal crown and bearing the inverted monogram (cipher) of the sovereign—double “F” for Ferdinand—set above a central device, with the pilot’s badge typically larger (approximately 44 mm wide by 57 mm high) and featuring a full eagle standing on a globe or sphere, while the observer’s badge was slightly smaller (around 40 mm by 49 mm) and consisted of the crowned cipher alone with upraised wings; during the reign of King Carol II (1930–1940) a new design instituted by royal decree in June 1931 replaced the Ferdinand cipher with a crowned blue-enamelled double “C” monogram of Carol, often combined with a propeller-blade sword, and was manufactured in silvered bronze with a horizontal pin fastening, measuring roughly 66 mm by 36 mm; after Carol’s abdication in 1940 and the return of King Michael I, the badge again changed, substituting the royal monogram with the Romanian national coat of arms (or later a cross under crown) while retaining the winged outline, produced in both silver and bronze, and worn on the upper right breast of the service tunic; these badges, awarded upon successful completion of pilot or observer training and serving as official proof of aeronautical qualification, remained in use until the abolition of the monarchy in 1947, after which communist-era versions replaced the crown and royal symbols with a red star while preserving the essential winged silhouette.



Oberst Hermann Graf (1912-1988) was born on 24 October 1912 in Engen, Baden, the youngest of three sons of a farmer who had served as an artilleryman in the First World War, and after completing Volksschule he worked first as a locksmith’s apprentice and later as a clerk at the Engen town hall while pursuing his dual passions for football (as a goalkeeper coached by future World Cup-winning manager Sepp Herberger until a thumb injury ended his hopes of a professional career) and gliding; accepted into the Luftwaffe in 1936, he completed A- and B-level pilot training before being posted in May 1939 as an Unteroffizier to 2. Staffel of I./Jagdgeschwader 51, flying uneventful patrols on the Franco-German border during the Phoney War and later serving as a flight instructor with the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien training Romanian pilots, participating in limited ground-support missions over Crete in May 1941. Transferred with III./Jagdgeschwader 52 to the Eastern Front after the start of Operation Barbarossa, he scored his first aerial victory on 4 August 1941 near Kiev while flying a Bf 109, rapidly increasing his tally amid the intense fighting over Ukraine and the Crimea to reach 42 victories by the end of the year, for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 January 1942 as Leutnant der Reserve and Flugzeugführer of 9. Staffel, III. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 52; promoted to Staffelkapitän of 9./JG 52 in March 1942, his scoring rate exploded during the summer campaign of 1942, culminating in the award of the Eichenlaub (93rd recipient) on 17 May 1942 after 104 victories, the Schwerter (11th recipient) only two days later on 19 May after 106 victories, and finally the Brillanten (5th recipient) on 16 September 1942 after 172 victories, making him the first fighter pilot in history to claim 200 aerial victories when he downed three more aircraft over the Pitomnik airfield near Stalingrad on 26 September 1942. Withdrawn from front-line combat as a national hero and promoted through the ranks to Major and later Oberst, he commanded the high-altitude Jagdgeschwader 50 formed to intercept Mosquitoes, then served as Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 11 on the Western Front where he claimed ten four-engine bombers before being severely wounded on 29 March 1944 after ramming a P-51, and finally took command of Jagdgeschwader 52 in late 1944, surrendering with the unit to American forces on 8 May 1945 only to be handed over to the Soviets and held in captivity until 1949; after the war he worked as an electronic-sales manager, married three times (including a brief wartime marriage to actress Jola Jobst), and died of Parkinson’s disease in his hometown of Engen on 4 November 1988, having flown approximately 830 combat missions and been officially credited with 212 aerial victories, nearly all on the Eastern Front.

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ORDINUL VIRTUTEA AERONAUTICÂ

The Order of Aeronautical Virtue (Ordinul "Virtutea Aeronautică") is a Romanian decoration instituted by King Carol II through Royal Decree No. 2895 on 31 July 1930 as the world’s first military order specifically dedicated to aviators, created in recognition of the airmen of the 2nd Aviation Flotilla who had helped him return to Romania and reclaim the throne by flying him across the border in defiance of restrictions; originally comprising four ranks—Golden Cross (the lowest), Knight, Officer, and Commander—the first two of which could be awarded up to three times with a metal bar added to the ribbon for each subsequent bestowal, the order was conferred on both military and civilian personnel for distinguished service, acts of bravery, or contributions to aeronautics in peace or war, and featured a distinctive cross whose longer vertical arm formed a trefoil while the shorter horizontal arms were shaped as stylized wings, bearing on the obverse a white-enamelled shield with the Romanian eagle and the royal cypher of Carol II (later changed to that of Michael I in 1940) and the year “1930” on the reverse, with Officer and Commander grades distinguished by a green-enamelled laurel wreath between the arms and a wartime version adding crossed swords. A related Medal of Aeronautical Virtue was established on 24 February 1931 for ground personnel, and in December 1938 both the order and medal received wartime variants with gold-edged ribbons and swords; after briefly shifting places in the order of precedence, the decoration ranked among Romania’s highest honours during the Second World War, when it was awarded to numerous Romanian and allied airmen, before becoming obsolete with the abolition of the monarchy in 1947. Reinstituted after the fall of communism, the modern Order of Aeronautical Virtue retains the ranks of Knight, Officer, Commander, and Grand Officer (no longer permitting consecutive awards of the lower grades) and continues to be conferred by the President of Romania on military and civilian aviators for outstanding achievements in aviation, preserving the essential design of the original 1930 insignia while adapting it to the republican era.



Hauptmann Wolf-Dietrich Huy (1917-2003), who rose to the rank of Hauptmann in the Luftwaffe, served primarily as Staffelkapitän of the 7. Staffel of III. Gruppe, Jagdgeschwader 77, and was a fighter ace credited with 40 aerial victories (including 38 on the Eastern Front) in over 500 operational sorties; he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 July 1941 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 7./Jagdgeschwader 77 principally for his successful fighter-bomber attacks during operations in the Balkans and the Battle of Crete, where after nine aerial victories he sank approximately 34,000 GRT of Allied shipping including the freighter Hellas of 22,000 GRT and scored direct hits on the battleship Warspite, the cruiser Fiji and a destroyer, and he later received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub as the 83rd recipient on 17 March 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of 7./Jagdgeschwader 77 after accumulating 32 aerial victories (reaching his 38th claim around that time while operating with III./Jagdgeschwader 77 in the Crimea), before being shot down over Tanyet Harun on 29 October 1942 and spending the remainder of the war as a prisoner.

Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/09/daftar-para-anggota-wehrmacht-yang.html

Ritterkreuzträger with Beards

In the German military during the Second World War, facial hair was strictly regulated across the Wehrmacht, with the Heer, Luftwaffe, and Waffen-SS generally requiring soldiers and officers to remain clean-shaven or to wear only a small, neatly trimmed moustache that did not extend beyond the corners of the mouth, a standard rooted in the need for a proper seal on gas masks, maintenance of a disciplined martial appearance, and the practical demands of hygiene in barracks and on the march; these rules were formally outlined in service regulations and were enforced rigorously in rear areas and during inspections, though they were frequently relaxed under prolonged field conditions, particularly on the Eastern Front during the harsh winters of 1941–1943, where limited access to hot water, soap, and razors, combined with the extreme cold that made shaving painful or impractical, led many ordinary soldiers, Gebirgsjäger mountain troops, and even some officers such as Generalmajor Theodor Scherer during the 105-day Cholm Pocket siege to grow full beards or heavy stubble as a matter of necessity rather than preference. In the Kriegsmarine the approach was more permissive, especially among U-boat crews, who routinely grew thick, full beards during extended Atlantic or Arctic patrols because fresh water was rationed primarily for drinking and cooking, shaving was considered a wasteful luxury in the cramped, damp conditions of a Type VII or Type IX boat, and the resulting facial hair became an unofficial badge of endurance and camaraderie that was almost invariably shaved off upon return to port in order to restore the regulation clean-shaven or lightly moustached appearance expected of sailors and officers ashore; surface-ship personnel followed stricter standards closer to those of the army, though longer deployments could still produce temporary beards. Overall, while photographs occasionally capture bearded German troops in isolated combat zones or after prolonged encirclements, the overwhelming visual record of the period shows clean-shaven faces as the norm for the vast majority of soldiers, airmen, and naval personnel, reflecting both institutional discipline and the technological requirements of modern warfare.

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HEER


Generalleutnant Theodor Scherer (1889-1951) was born on 17 September 1889 in Höchstädt an der Donau, Bavaria, and began his military career on 14 July 1908 as a Fahnenjunker in the 12. Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Arnulf“ of the Bayerische Armee, receiving his commission as Leutnant in 1910; during the First World War he served on the Western Front, was captured by the British in July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, later interned in the Netherlands, and released after the armistice, thereafter leaving the army on 30 August 1920 under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and joining the Bavarian Landespolizei, rising to Oberstleutnant der Polizei by 1935 before re-entering the Wehrmacht that November in the same rank and serving as Bataillonskommandeur and later Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 56, then as Oberst and Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 507 during the Western campaign of 1940, where he led an assault across the Marne and earned the Spange to both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz. Promoted to Generalmajor in November 1940, he briefly commanded Adolf Hitler’s headquarters at the OKH in Zossen from March to September 1941 before assuming command of the 281. Sicherungs-Division on 1 October 1941 for rear-area security duties against partisans in the occupied Soviet Union; in January 1942, when Soviet forces and partisans attacked and encircled German units at Kholm (Cholm), Scherer took charge of the ad-hoc Kampfgruppe Scherer, initially some 3,500 men drawn from elements of his division, police companies, and other stragglers that later grew to around 5,000–6,000, organizing improvised defenses without heavy artillery or adequate supplies amid severe winter conditions, repeatedly repelling superior Soviet assaults, coordinating limited aerial resupply and wounded evacuations, and holding the pocket for 105 days until relief forces linked up on 5 May 1942. For his leadership during the first month of the siege he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 February 1942 as Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the 281. Sicherungs-Division, and following the successful relief he received the Eichenlaub (92nd award) on 5 May 1942, along with a mention in the Wehrmachtbericht and the newly created Cholmschild for the survivors; subsequently promoted to Generalleutnant on 1 November 1942, he commanded the 34. Infanterie-Division and then the 83. Infanterie-Division (which suffered heavy losses at Velikiye Luki), later served as Inspekteur des Küstenschutzes for the Eastern Front, and at the war’s end directed field-gendarmerie units in the Elbe sector before entering captivity, dying in a car accident near Ludwigsburg on 17 May 1951.



Oberfeldwebel Christoph Krämer (1913-1990) was born on 21 August 1913 in Menden in Westphalia and died on 6 October 1990 in Brühl in North Rhine-Westphalia. Serving in the Heer during the Second World War, he rose to the rank of Oberfeldwebel and distinguished himself as a Zugführer in the ranks of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 7 of the 7. Panzer-Division. His decorations included the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse and 1. Klasse, the Medaille “Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42”, the Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 4. Klasse for four years of service, the Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938 with Spange, the Nahkampfspange in Bronze, and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold awarded on 7 August 1943 while he was with the 7. Kompanie of the II. Bataillon. On 14 May 1944 he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as Oberfeldwebel and Zugführer of the 5. Kompanie, II. Bataillon, Panzergrenadier-Regiment 7. At that time the 7. Panzer-Division was heavily engaged on the Eastern Front in the southern sector, having fought through the bitter defensive battles around Zhitomir and Shepetovka in early 1944 before being drawn into the great encirclement of the 1. Panzer-Armee in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket during March and April. In the course of the subsequent breakout operations westward across the Zbruch River under continuous pressure from superior Soviet forces, the division’s panzergrenadiers repeatedly conducted determined close-combat actions to keep escape corridors open, protect the flanks of the advancing columns, and repel enemy attempts to cut the withdrawing formations. As Zugführer, Krämer led his platoon through these critical fighting days, demonstrating the personal bravery and tactical skill required of junior leaders in the fluid and costly battles that enabled the remnants of the division to extricate themselves from the pocket and reassemble further west near Buczacz and Brody. His award of the Ritterkreuz recognised outstanding leadership and combat performance in these operations that preserved the fighting strength of his unit under extreme conditions. After the war he lived quietly in Brühl until his death in 1990.

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KRIEGSMARINE

Kapitän zur See Klaus Scholtz (1908-1987) was born on 22 March 1908 in Magdeburg and joined the Reichsmarine on 5 April 1927 as a Seeoffiziersbewerber of Crew 1927, serving initially on training ships and later on torpedo boats including the Jaguar, which he commanded from 1937 to 1939. In April 1940 he transferred voluntarily to the U-Bootwaffe, completed the necessary courses, and on 22 October 1940 assumed command of the Type IXB submarine U-108 of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille. On his first Feindfahrt from 15 February to 12 March 1941 he sank two ships totalling 8,078 BRT; on the second patrol he sank the British Hilfskreuzer Rajputana of 16,444 BRT on 13 April 1941. Subsequent Atlantic patrols yielded further successes, including seven ships of 26,931 BRT on the third voyage, and by the end of his fifth Feindfahrt in December 1941 he had sunk thirteen ships amounting to 61,760 BRT. For these achievements he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 December 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-108. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 November 1941, he continued successful operations, sinking five ships of 20,082 BRT on his sixth patrol and five more of 31,340 BRT on the seventh. On his eighth and final Feindfahrt from 13 July to 10 September 1942 he sank three additional ships of 17,496 BRT, bringing his total to twenty-five vessels of approximately 128,000 BRT. For these further successes he received the Eichenlaub on 10 September 1942 as the 123rd recipient while still Kommandant of U-108. He then relinquished command and on 15 October 1942 became Flottillenchef of the 12. Unterseebootsflottille based at Bordeaux. Promoted to Fregattenkapitän in July 1944, he was captured by American forces on 11 September 1944 while leading remaining personnel from the isolated fortress of Bordeaux and was released in April 1946. After the war he served in the Grenzschutz See and later the Bundesmarine, rising to Kapitän zur See before retiring in 1966; he died on 1 May 1987 in Bad Schwartau.

Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/06/album-foto-jenggot-dan-cambang-nazi.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=5192