Albert Kesselring and Heinrich von Vietinghoff in a Car

Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring (left, Oberbefehlshaber Süd) and Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff (Oberbefehlshaber 10. Armee) in the car on the Italian front. The picture was taken by Kriegsberichter Lüthge (Propaganda-Kompanie 699) in September 1943. At the Battle of Salerno in September 1943, Kesselring launched a full-scale counterattack against the US Fifth Army landings there with Generaloberst Vietinghoff's Tenth Army. The counterattack inflicted heavy casualties on the Allies, forced them back in several areas, and, for a time, made Allied commanders contemplate evacuation. The short distance from German airfields allowed Luftflotte 2 to put 120 aircraft over the Salerno area on 11 September 1943. The German offensive ultimately failed to throw the Allies back into the sea because of the intervention of Allied naval gunfire which decimated the advancing German units, stubborn Allied resistance and the advance of the British Eighth Army. On 17 September 1943, Kesselring gave Vietinghoff permission to break off the attack and withdraw.

Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring (left, Oberbefehlshaber Süd) and Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff (Oberbefehlshaber 10. Armee) walk down the stairs after the end of war conference in Italy. The picture was taken by Kriegsberichter Lüthge (Propaganda-Kompanie 699) in September 1943.

Source :
https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/1480/
https://digilander.libero.it/lacorsainfinita/guerra2/personaggi/kesselring.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kesselring

Ritterkreuz Action of Helmut Ringler

Helmut Ringler (4 October 1915 - 22 June 1962) received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 May 1940 as Leutnant in Sturmgruppe "Stahl" / Fallschirmjäger-Sturmabteilung "Koch". The medal was awarded for his role during the capture of the Veldwezelt bridge during the German invasion of Belgium. He and his Zug of HMGs landed as part of the second wave. Quickly taking charge, Ringler and his troops were able to seize a hostile trench section and thereafter break up opposing counterattacks against the German bridgehead with effective machine gun fire.

Source :
https://www.forum-der-wehrmacht.de/index.php?thread/51961-ritterkreuztr%C3%A4ger-helmut-ringler/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/66442/Ringler-Helmut.htm

U-Boat Aces and Ritterkreuzträger from 29. U-Flottille

German submarine aces and Ritterkreuzträger (Knight's Cross recipients) of 29. Unterseebootsflottille (29. U-Flottille) at La Spezia, Northern Italy, between August and September 1942. They were  all wearing Weißer Dienstrock (summer white uniform). From left to right:

1. Kapitänleutnant Friedrich Guggenberger (Kommandant U-81). 17 ships sunk (66,848 tons) from 10 patrols, 324 days at sea. Ritterkreuz on 10 December 1941 and Eichenlaub on 8 January 1943.

2. Kapitänleutnant Helmut Rosenbaum (Kommandant U-73). 9 ships sunk (57,863 tons) from 10 patrols, 265 days at sea. Ritterkreuz on 12 August 1942.

3. Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Schonder (Kommandant U-77). 15 ships sunk (29,368 tons) from 12 patrols, 291 days at sea. Ritterkreuz on 19 August 1942.

4. Kapitänleutnant Fritz Frauenheim (Flottillenchef 29. U-Flottille). 18 ships sunk (78,248 tons) from 9 patrols, 170 days at sea. Ritterkreuz on 29 August 1940.

5. Kapitänleutnant Hans-Werner Kraus (Kommandant U-83). 8 ships sunk (12,702 tons) from 10 patrols, 292 days at sea. Ritterkreuz on 19 June 1942.

Source:
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=29879&start=7680
https://uboat.net/flotillas/29flo.htm

Günter Kuhnke Welcomes Helmut Witte

13 July 1942: Kapitänleutnant Günter Kuhnke (left, Kommandant U-125) welcomes fellow U-boat commander, Kapitänleutnant Helmut Witte (Kommandant U-159), who just returning to the base of 10th U-boat Flottilla (10. Unterseebootsflottille) at Lorient, France, after sank 12 steamers in American waters. For that amazing feat - and additional victims from the next patrol - Witte received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 22 October 1942, while Kuhnke himself had received the same medal previously: on 19 September 1940 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant U-28.

Source :
https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/2742/16681a180a83d321351d3a71c29af66e/
https://uboat.net/men/kuhnke.htm

Rudolf von Ribbentrop and Friedrich Geisshardt

SS-Untersturmführer Rudolf von Ribbentrop (Zugführer in 3.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 LSSAH) speaks with Luftwaffe ace Oberleutnant Friedrich "Fritz" Geisshardt (Staffelkapitän 3.Staffel / I.Gruppe / Jagdgeschwader 77) in the summer of 1942. Ribbentrop was wounded in the left arm while serving as a Zugführer (platoon leader) in SS-Gebirgs Division "Nord" in the Finnish campaign against the Soviet Union in September 1941. In early 1942 he was assigned to the SS-Panzer Regiment 1 of the Leibstandarte Division.

Source :
http://5sswiking.tumblr.com/post/165829096512/ss-untersturmf%C3%BChrer-rudolf-von-ribbentrop-speaks

Herbert Nau in Award Ceremony for the Sailors of His Ship

Kapitänleutnant Herbert Nau awarding the Eisernes Kreuzes (Iron Crosses) to the sailors of his ship, July 1944. Herbert Georg Nau was born in Lüneburg, Germany, on 8 April 1913 and was a serving member of the Kriegsmarine during World War II and managed to attain the final rank of Korvettenkapitän. He received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Crosses) in 11 July 1944 as Chef 10. Räumbootsflottille. Nau was killed in an automobile accident in Yvetot, France, in 28 August 1944 (a month after this picture was taken!). The picture was taken by Kriegsberichter Goer.

Source :
https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/2877/7be4f9f6d8b1a7277f789888a6c19ba0/
http://www.gutenberg.us/articles/herbert_nau

Ugo Cavallero and Albert Kesselring

28 July 1942: Italian Marshal Ugo Cavallero (left) in conversation with Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring (Oberbefehlshaber Süd). Cavallero is the recipient of the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (Knight's Cross of the Iron Crosses), which he received in 19 February 1942 as Generale di Corpo d'Armata and Chief of the Defence Staff of the Royal Italian Army. He is one of nine Italian Ritterkreuzträger. After Mussolini’s government was toppled by the King, the newly appointed Prime Minister Pietro Badoglio ordered the arrest of Cavallero. In a document written in own defense, Cavallero claimed the merit of having opposed Mussolini and his regime. After the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943, he was freed by the Germans, and was offered by Kesselring the command of the forming armed forces of the Italian Social Republic, but the finding of the letter led to some suspicions. In the morning of 14 September 1943, he was found dead by a gunshot in the garden of a hotel in Frascati, after having dined and talked with Kesselring the night before. It is still up to debate whether he committed suicide or was assassinated by the Germans. It seems, however, that he firmly expressed his will to refuse to continue collaborating with the Germans.

Source :
https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/56856/16681a180a83d321351d3a71c29af66e/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugo_Cavallero