Ritterkreuzträger

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Monday, August 3, 2026

Ritterkreuzträger of Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 (StG 3) / Schlachtgeschwader 3 (SG 3)

Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 (StG 3) was a Luftwaffe dive-bomber wing formed on 9 July 1940 at Dinard in France from the Stab of Kampfgeschwader 28 and equipped primarily with the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, later redesignated Schlachtgeschwader 3 (SG 3) on 18 October 1943 at Eleusis as the Luftwaffe shifted toward broader close-air-support roles. Its first operations came during the Battle of Britain, when Stab and I. Gruppe attacked Channel shipping and coastal targets from bases near Cherbourg and Brétigny, suffering losses against RAF fighters while scoring hits on convoys such as Peewit. In early 1941 elements moved to Sicily for Mediterranean operations, striking Malta and the Royal Navy; on 10 January Ju 87s from units under StG 3 command scored multiple hits on the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, and later attacks damaged or sank other vessels including HMS Southampton. The wing then supported the invasions of Yugoslavia and Greece, operating from bases in Bulgaria, Larissa and Argos, before taking part in the Battle of Crete where its Stukas inflicted damage on British warships. Throughout the North African campaign from 1941 to 1943, I., II. and III. Gruppe flew intensive missions in support of the Deutsches Afrikakorps, operating from desert airstrips such as Derna, Tmimi, Fuka and Haggag el Quasaba, attacking Allied armour, supply lines and airfields until the Axis defeat in Tunisia forced withdrawal. After redesignation as SG 3 under Oberst Kurt Kuhlmey, the Geschwader continued close-support work on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans, converting progressively from Ju 87D to Focke-Wulf Fw 190F fighter-bombers. In June–July 1944 a composite formation known as Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey, built around elements of I./SG 3 together with other units, deployed to Immola in Finland and flew nearly 2,700 sorties during the Soviet summer offensive, helping stabilise the Finnish front at Tali-Ihantala. Thereafter SG 3 operated over the Baltic states, Courland and East Prussia until the final weeks of the war, with the Geschwaderstab last based at Finow under Major Bernhard Hamester.

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SCHWERTERTRÄGER

Major Theodor Nordmann (1918-1945) was born on 18 December 1918 in Dorsten and joined the Luftwaffe on 1 November 1937, initially serving as a reconnaissance pilot before transferring in March 1940 to fly the Junkers Ju 87 with 1./StG 186, which was later redesignated as part of III./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1. He took part in the Westfeldzug, receiving the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse on 24 May 1940 and I. Klasse on 29 August 1940 after about sixty sorties, then flew in the Battle of Britain and Mediterranean operations against Malta where he contributed to sinking and damaging significant shipping tonnage. From June 1941 his unit moved to the Eastern Front for Operation Barbarossa, and on 17 September 1941, as Leutnant and pilot in the 8./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 after roughly two hundred Feindflüge in which he destroyed twenty-one tanks and fourteen Flakbatterien while accounting for thousands of BRT of shipping, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. Promoted to Oberleutnant and appointed Staffelkapitän of the 8. Staffel, he became the first Stuka pilot to complete six hundred operational missions in August 1942 during fighting near Orel, with his Bordfunker Feldwebel Gerhard Rothe later also receiving the Ritterkreuz. After a period at the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin he returned to the front, completed his seven hundredth Feindflug, and on 16 or 17 March 1943 as Oberleutnant and Führer of III./Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 received the Eichenlaub as the 214th award. He advanced to Hauptmann, took command of II./Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 which became II./Schlachtgeschwader 3, reached his thousandth sortie in April 1944, and converted to the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. As Major and Gruppenkommandeur he flew his 1,140th mission and on 17 September 1944 was awarded the Schwerter as the 98th recipient for his accumulated successes that ultimately included some eighty Soviet tanks destroyed and around 43,000 GRT of merchant shipping sunk or damaged across nearly 1,300 Feindflüge. Appointed Kommodore of Schlachtgeschwader 3 in December 1944 after marrying on 23 October, Nordmann was killed on 19 January 1945 near Insterburg when his Fw 190 collided in bad weather with the aircraft of his Rottenflieger Oberfeldwebel Sroka.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER

Oberst Walter Sigel (1906-1944) was born on 12 January 1906 in Ulm and served as an officer in the Luftwaffe from 1934 until his death, rising to the rank of Oberst; as commanding officer of Sturzkampfgeschwader 76 he led the Junkers Ju 87 demonstration at Neuhammer on 15 August 1939 that became known as the Neuhammer Stuka-Unglück when low cloud caused thirteen other crews to crash fatally while he himself barely pulled out, and on the opening day of the Second World War he directed the German bombers in the attack on Wieluń. He received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 July 1940 as Hauptmann and Gruppenkommandeur of I./Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 for the outstanding success of his Gruppe in the Polish campaign and especially in the West, where his personal leadership from the front enabled effective strikes against troop concentrations in the Libramont–Givet area of southern Belgium, the Maginot Line south of Sedan, enemy tanks near Laon, columns near La Fère, St. Quentin, Lens, Arras, Béthune and Amiens, as well as against destroyers southwest of Calais and the harbour of Dunkirk, repeatedly facilitating the advance of German ground forces and repelling armoured counter-attacks. Promoted further, he was awarded the Eichenlaub (116th recipient) on 2 September 1942 as Oberstleutnant and Geschwaderkommodore of Schlachtgeschwader 3 in recognition of his continued command achievements during the air battles over the English Channel, in Greece, over Crete and throughout the North African campaign; Sigel was killed on 8 May 1944 when his aircraft crashed into the Trondheimsfjord in Norway.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturzkampfgeschwader_3

Sunday, August 2, 2026

Ritterkreuzträger with Mützenabzeichen (Cap Insignia) and Traditionsabzeichen

BRAUNSCHWEIGER TOTENKOPF

The Braunschweiger Totenkopf was a distinctive traditional death’s head cap insignia of the Wehrmacht Heer that continued a regional military heritage dating back to the Napoleonic era rather than the more widely known Prussian or SS variants. Its design, featuring a frontal-facing skull positioned directly above a pair of crossed bones without a lower jaw, originated in 1809 with the Schwarze Schar of Herzog Friedrich Wilhelm von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, whose black-uniformed volunteers adopted the emblem as a symbol of mourning and defiance against French occupation. In the Imperial German Army this badge was officially authorized for the Braunschweigisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17 from 1883 and for the Braunschweigisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 92 from 1912, appearing on both issued Krätzchen and private-purchase Schirmmützen. After the First World War the tradition survived in the Reichswehr and was formally retained by the Wehrmacht as a Traditionsabzeichen. During the Second World War it was worn exclusively by personnel of Infanterie-Regiment 17, the II. Abteilung and 4. Schwadron of Kavallerie-Regiment 13, and elements of Kavallerie-Regiment 41, units that traced their lineage to the old Brunswick formations. Manufactured in silvered tombac or aluminium alloy, the metal badge measured approximately thirty millimetres and was affixed by prongs to the front of the Schirmmütze, often positioned below the national eagle and cockade or occasionally on field caps. Unlike the Prussian-pattern Totenkopf used on the collar tabs of Panzertruppen or the later SS version, the Braunschweiger pattern remained a purely regimental tradition badge and was never adopted as a branch or formation emblem across the wider Heer. Its continued use until 1945 reflected the Wehrmacht’s deliberate preservation of pre-1918 unit identities even as the army expanded and modernized, allowing officers and enlisted men of these specific regiments to display a visible link to the Black Brunswickers of 1809–1815 while serving on the battlefields of the Second World War.

Major der Reserve Georg Michael (1917-1944) was born on 10 February 1917 in Hamburg and entered the Wehrmacht in 1936 by joining the 1. Kavallerie-Brigade. During the Polish campaign he served as a Wachtmeister and Zugführer in Reiter-Regiment 2, and on 30 April 1940 he was promoted to Leutnant der Reserve. In the western campaign he led a Zug in the 6. Schwadron of Reiter-Regiment 22 within the 1. Kavallerie-Division and distinguished himself by capturing an entire Senegalese battalion without loss while conducting a bold reconnaissance patrol that prevented a costly engagement with the rest of his advancing force. For this action he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 19 January 1941 as Leutnant der Reserve and Zugführer of the 6. Schwadron, II. Abteilung, Reiter-Regiment 22, and was simultaneously promoted to Oberleutnant der Reserve. After the 1. Kavallerie-Division was converted into the 24. Panzer-Division, Michael became Chef of the 6. Kompanie of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 24 and at times led the II. Bataillon. On the Eastern Front he took part in the advance across the Bug, the fighting around Briansk and Minia, and the entry into Voronezh that opened the way toward Stalingrad. On 26 July 1942 he again excelled during a night assault on Nishinij Tschirskaja and the large Don bridge, and for his outstanding leadership of the II. Bataillon of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 26 he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 25 January 1943 as the 187th recipient while still an Oberleutnant der Reserve. Severely wounded in the Stalingrad fighting, he was evacuated to a homeland hospital and promoted to Rittmeister. After recovery he assumed command in August 1943 of the newly formed II. Bataillon of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 26. On 17 January 1944 near Dujoprovka by Nikopol he was wounded for the eighth time and died of his injuries on 19 January 1944 in the Gehirnchirurgischen Luftwaffen-Sonderlazarett in Odessa; he was posthumously promoted to Major der Reserve.

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SCHWEDTER ADLER

The Schwedter Adler, also known as the Dragoneradler, was a distinctive German cavalry traditions badge originating in the early nineteenth century as a special honour for the Prussian Brandenburgisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 2, which was garrisoned in the town of Schwedt an der Oder and received the eagle insignia around 1815 in recognition of its service; the badge typically depicted a Prussian-style eagle, often with the inscription “Mit Gott für König und Vaterland” or similar motto elements, and was worn with particular pride as a unit tradition symbol. In the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and especially the Wehrmacht it continued to be authorised as a Traditionsabzeichen for successor formations, most notably Kavallerie-Regiment 6 and its subordinate troops (including elements of the 2nd and 4th Schwadronen as well as later reconnaissance and cavalry units that inherited the regiment’s lineage), where it was affixed to the front of the Schirmmütze or Feldmütze between the national Hoheitsabzeichen and the Reichskokarde, or sometimes positioned as a separate cap badge. Crafted in metal (silvered or gilt for officers, matt for other ranks) or occasionally embroidered in cloth for field use, the Schwedter Adler measured roughly 4–5 cm across the wings and served both as a mark of elite cavalry heritage and a visible link to Prussian military tradition throughout the Second World War, appearing on the headgear of troopers photographed as late as the Normandy campaign and on the Eastern Front; its use underscored the Wehrmacht’s practice of preserving pre-1918 regimental identities even after the formal dissolution of the old cavalry arm and the conversion of many mounted units into motorised or armoured reconnaissance formations.

Generalmajor Walter Gorn (1898-1968) was born on 24 September 1898 in Bieganin near Posen in the Kingdom of Prussia and enlisted as a Kriegsfreiwilliger in the West Prussian Grenadier-Regiment „König Wilhelm I.“ Nr. 7 during the First World War, seeing action on the Western Front before serving with machine-gun units and later joining Freikorps formations in the Baltic; after demobilization he entered the Schutzpolizei in 1920, rising through the ranks to Hauptmann by 1934 and transferring into the Wehrmacht in 1935 as commander of a company in the 3. Kradschützen-Bataillon of the 3. Panzer-Division. In the Second World War he served on the staff of the XIX. Armeekorps during the Polish campaign, then as Major took command of the I. Bataillon of Schützen-Regiment 10 (later redesignated Panzergrenadier-Regiment 10) of the 9. Panzer-Division; on 8–20 April 1941 during the invasion of Yugoslavia he led a mixed Abteilung in a bold advance from Gostivar toward Debar in Macedonia, overrunning strong Yugoslav resistance, capturing seven enemy batteries together with nine further batteries, twelve anti-tank guns and large quantities of matériel, liberating some 800 Italian prisoners whom he promptly rearmed and incorporated into his force, thereby establishing contact with Italian troops and earning the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 April 1941. Promoted Oberstleutnant and given command of Kradschützen-Bataillon 59, he fought in the fierce defensive battles around Voronezh in the summer of 1942, where his greatly depleted unit of only about fifty-five combat-effective men repeatedly repulsed heavy Soviet assaults, for which he received the Eichenlaub (113th award) on 17 August 1942. Taking over Panzergrenadier-Regiment 10, he distinguished himself in the winter battles of Rzhev, particularly near Sychyovka along the Vazuza and south of Loshki, where his regiment helped free the encircled 129. Infanterie-Division and destroy cut-off Soviet forces, resulting in the award of the Schwerter (30th award) on 8 June 1943 while he was Oberst. Later promoted Generalmajor, he commanded the 561. Grenadier-Division (subsequently Volksgrenadier-Division) in East Prussia and Lithuania against Operation Bagration and the subsequent Soviet offensives, then briefly the 710. Infanterie-Division in Austria before surrendering to American forces at Steyr on 8 May 1945; released from captivity in 1947, he died in Rosenheim on 10 July 1968.

Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2012/03/album-foto-schwedter-adler.html

Ritterkreuzträger with Telephone

FIELD TELEPHONE (FELDFERNSPRECHER)

The standard German field telephone of the Second World War was the Feldfernsprecher 33 (FF 33 or FFsp 33), a robust local-battery instrument introduced in 1933 by Siemens & Halske as a streamlined successor to the earlier Feldfernsprecher 26 and produced in more than 1.6 million examples by over twenty manufacturers between 1933 and 1945. Housed in a weather-resistant bakelite case measuring approximately 28 × 21 × 10 cm and weighing about 5.5–5.8 kg, it featured a removable generator crank that produced roughly 84 V AC ringing current, a single 1.5 V dry-cell battery for the speech circuit, a press-to-talk handset with standardized carbon transmitter and receiver capsules, dual line terminals (La and Lb/E) that permitted either two-wire metallic or single-wire earth-return operation, two patch sockets with a short jumper cord for linking instruments into simple multi-party nets, and external sockets for optional headphones or throat microphones when the set was used by switchboard operators. The FF 33 operated exclusively in local-battery mode, required the user to crank the magneto to ring the distant station and to press the handset switch while speaking, and could be connected point-to-point over field cable or integrated into larger networks via Klappenschrank switchboards and Amtsanschließer 33 adapters; it was also compatible as a remote handset with certain Tornisterfunkgeräte radio sets. Issued at every level from platoon to higher headquarters, the telephone was carried by Nachrichtentruppen on a leather shoulder strap, set up by snubbing the incoming wire to a fixed object before connecting the terminals, and proved extremely durable in all theatres, remaining in service with the early Bundeswehr, several European armies and civilian agencies well into the Cold War era.

Source :
https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_telephone
https://fieldphones.org/episode3/

Ritterkreuzträger of 9. Panzer-Division

The 9. Panzer-Division was a German Army armoured formation of the Wehrmacht that existed from 3 January 1940 until its final dissolution in April 1945, originating from the 4. Leichte Division formed in Vienna after the Anschluss from Austrian Bundesheer mobile units and headquartered in Wehrkreis XVII. Redesignated and expanded into a full panzer division with Panzer-Regiment 33, two panzergrenadier regiments (Panzergrenadier-Regiment 10 and 11), Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 102 and supporting elements including Kradschützen-Bataillon 9 and Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 9, it first saw major action in the Battle of the Netherlands in May 1940 as the sole mechanized force of the 18. Armee, racing to link up with Fallschirmjäger at the Moerdijk bridges and advancing toward Rotterdam and Dordrecht before participating in the subsequent Battle of France under Panzergruppe Guderian, covering more ground than any other German division and reaching Lyon by the French armistice. After refitting it took part in the 1941 Balkans Campaign as the armoured spearhead of the 12. Armee, helping separate Greek and Yugoslav forces, then joined Operation Barbarossa with XIV. Panzerkorps of Heeresgruppe Süd, breaking through the Stalin Line, participating in the Uman and Kiev encirclements that netted hundreds of thousands of Soviet prisoners, capturing the Dnieper dam at Zaporizhia, and later advancing under Panzergruppe Guderian to help encircle Bryansk and seize Kursk in November 1941. It endured the Soviet winter offensives of 1941–42 near Shchigry, counterattacked around Voronezh during Case Blue in July 1942, fought in Operation Mars near Rzhev, and suffered severe losses at the Battle of Kursk in July 1943 as part of XLVII. Panzerkorps of the 9. Armee, losing dozens of tanks in a single air attack and advancing only about 15 km before withdrawing; thereafter it conducted a costly fighting retreat across Ukraine to the Mius front, Bryansk, and the Dnieper, dwindling by early 1944 to a handful of operational tanks. Withdrawn to Nîmes in France for rebuilding and reinforced with elements of the 155. Reserve-Panzer-Division, it was rushed north after D-Day, arriving in time to be nearly annihilated in the Falaise Pocket in August 1944, reduced to roughly 1,500 men and five tanks yet still covering the retreat of Heeresgruppe G. Partially reconstituted, it fought around Aachen, Geilenkirchen and the Peel Marshes, participated in the Battle of the Bulge with XLVII. Panzerkorps of the 5. Panzerarmee (with attached schwere Panzer-Abteilung 301), and later contested the Remagen bridgehead and the approaches to Cologne, by March 1945 reduced to a few hundred men and a dozen tanks; after futile resistance in Cologne its remnants were trapped in the Ruhr Pocket and largely surrendered to American forces in April 1945, with a small surviving Kampfgruppe absorbed into other units of the 11. Armee in the Harz Mountains before the formal disbandment of the division on 26 April 1945.

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SCHWERTERTRÄGER

Generalmajor Walter Gorn (1898-1968) was born on 24 September 1898 in Bieganin near Posen in the Kingdom of Prussia and enlisted as a Kriegsfreiwilliger in the West Prussian Grenadier-Regiment „König Wilhelm I.“ Nr. 7 during the First World War, seeing action on the Western Front before serving with machine-gun units and later joining Freikorps formations in the Baltic; after demobilization he entered the Schutzpolizei in 1920, rising through the ranks to Hauptmann by 1934 and transferring into the Wehrmacht in 1935 as commander of a company in the 3. Kradschützen-Bataillon of the 3. Panzer-Division. In the Second World War he served on the staff of the XIX. Armeekorps during the Polish campaign, then as Major took command of the I. Bataillon of Schützen-Regiment 10 (later redesignated Panzergrenadier-Regiment 10) of the 9. Panzer-Division; on 8–20 April 1941 during the invasion of Yugoslavia he led a mixed Abteilung in a bold advance from Gostivar toward Debar in Macedonia, overrunning strong Yugoslav resistance, capturing seven enemy batteries together with nine further batteries, twelve anti-tank guns and large quantities of matériel, liberating some 800 Italian prisoners whom he promptly rearmed and incorporated into his force, thereby establishing contact with Italian troops and earning the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20 April 1941. Promoted Oberstleutnant and given command of Kradschützen-Bataillon 59, he fought in the fierce defensive battles around Voronezh in the summer of 1942, where his greatly depleted unit of only about fifty-five combat-effective men repeatedly repulsed heavy Soviet assaults, for which he received the Eichenlaub (113th award) on 17 August 1942. Taking over Panzergrenadier-Regiment 10, he distinguished himself in the winter battles of Rzhev, particularly near Sychyovka along the Vazuza and south of Loshki, where his regiment helped free the encircled 129. Infanterie-Division and destroy cut-off Soviet forces, resulting in the award of the Schwerter (30th award) on 8 June 1943 while he was Oberst. Later promoted Generalmajor, he commanded the 561. Grenadier-Division (subsequently Volksgrenadier-Division) in East Prussia and Lithuania against Operation Bagration and the subsequent Soviet offensives, then briefly the 710. Infanterie-Division in Austria before surrendering to American forces at Steyr on 8 May 1945; released from captivity in 1947, he died in Rosenheim on 10 July 1968.

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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER

Generalleutnant Wilhelm Schmalz (1901-1983) was born on 1 March 1901 in Reußen, Saxony, and entered military service in 1919, rising through the cavalry ranks of the Reichswehr as Leutnant (1 February 1923), Oberleutnant (1 February 1928), Rittmeister (1 April 1934) and Major (1 April 1939). He commanded the I. Bataillon of Kavallerie-Schützen-Regiment 11 during the Polish campaign, receiving the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse on 14 September 1939 and the Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse on 16 October 1939. As Major and Kommandeur of the I. Bataillon, Kavallerie-Schützen-Regiment 11 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 28 November 1940 for actions during the pursuit phase of the Battle of France (Fall Rot): without specific orders he and his troops seized the bridge over the Loire at Allier as well as a crossing at Nevers, preventing the French from establishing a new defensive line along the river and enabling uninterrupted German pursuit operations between the Loire and the Swiss border. Promoted Oberstleutnant (1 February 1942) and Oberst (1 October 1942), he received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 8 February 1942 as Kommandeur of Kradschützen-Bataillon 59 and later commanded Schützen-Regiment 11 / Panzergrenadier-Regiment 11. Transferring to the Luftwaffe in 1943, he took command of the Brigade z.b.V. within the Panzer-Division “Hermann Göring” and led Kampfgruppe Schmalz on Sicily; for a brilliant series of defensive actions in the Mount Etna area from Catania to Messina despite shortages of troops and supplies he was awarded the Eichenlaub on 23 December 1943 (357th or 358th award). He became Kommandeur of the Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1 “Hermann Göring” in April 1944, was promoted Generalmajor on 1 May 1944 and Generalleutnant on 30 January 1945, and served as Kommandierender General of the Fallschirm-Panzerkorps “Hermann Göring” until the end of the war; after American captivity and acquittal of war-crime charges in 1950 he lived until his death on 14 March 1983.

Generalleutnant Willibald Borowietz (1893-1945) was born on 17 September 1893 in Ratibor in the German Empire and began his military career on 5 March 1914 as a Fahnenjunker in the 4. Kompanie of the 3. Schlesisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 156. During the First World War he served on the Western Front, was wounded twice, and lost his right eye in September 1914 near Saint-André; he received both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz and the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz before the armistice. After the war he entered the Schutzpolizei in Breslau, rose to Polizei-Major, and returned to the Wehrmacht in 1935 as Major. His wife Eva Ledien, of Jewish descent, took her own life in October 1938 so that their children could be Aryanized. At the outbreak of the Second World War he commanded the Panzerabwehr-Abteilung 50 (later Panzerjäger-Abteilung 50) in the Polish and Western campaigns and the Balkans, earning clasps to his Iron Crosses. On 10 June 1941 he assumed command of Schützen-Regiment 10 of the 9. Panzer-Division. As Oberstleutnant he led a Vorausabteilung in a bold night thrust via Plurow and Zalosce toward Zbaraz northwest of Tarnopol; his force overran successive Soviet lines, destroyed or captured 92 tanks, 16 guns and 12 anti-aircraft pieces, and annihilated a Russian tank division, for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 24 July 1941. Promoted Oberst, he later took the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold. In November 1942 he transferred to North Africa, assumed leadership of the 15. Panzer-Division and was promoted Generalmajor on 1 January 1943. In the final battles west of Tunis he personally directed heroic defensive actions against overwhelming Allied forces supported by artillery and air power, repeatedly occupying new positions, inflicting heavy losses and delaying the enemy long enough for the demolition of key installations in Tunis; for this leadership he was awarded the Eichenlaub (235th) on 10 May 1943, the same day he surrendered with the Afrika Korps. Promoted Generalleutnant while a prisoner, he was held at Camp Clinton, Mississippi, where he died by electrocution in a bathtub on 1 July 1945.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_Panzer_Division_(Wehrmacht)
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=949476&sid=e9a9c21e019f143d69ab9544692a59fb#p949476

Ritterkreuzträger of 6. Panzer-Division

The 6. Panzer-Division of the German Wehrmacht was formed on 18 October 1939 in Wuppertal from the 1. leichte Division after the Polish campaign had exposed organizational weaknesses in the light divisions, and it was initially equipped largely with Czech-built Panzer 35(t) tanks in its Panzer-Regiment 11 along with supporting panzergrenadier, artillery and reconnaissance units. Under its first commander, General der Panzertruppe Werner Kempf, the division took part in the 1940 Western campaign, advancing through Belgium and the Ardennes, crossing the Meuse and Oise, and contributing to the rapid collapse of French and Allied forces in Flanders and northern France before being transferred to East Prussia in September 1940. In June 1941 it joined Operation Barbarossa as part of Panzergruppe 4 under Heeresgruppe Nord, fighting in the Baltic states and toward Leningrad, then transferred to Heeresgruppe Mitte for the drive on Moscow, where heavy losses in the winter battles around the capital and the Rzhev-Vyazma salient reduced it to a remnant that had to be withdrawn to France in spring 1942 for complete reconstitution and re-equipment with modern Panzer III and IV tanks. Returning to the Eastern Front in late 1942 under Generalleutnant Erhard Raus, the division fought with Heeresgruppe Don in the failed relief attempt of Unternehmen Wintergewitter toward Stalingrad, then participated in the recapture of Kharkov in early 1943 and the subsequent Battle of Kursk as part of the southern offensive; thereafter it conducted a long series of defensive and withdrawal actions across Ukraine, through the Korsun-Cherkassy and Kamenets-Podolsky pockets, into Hungary and the Lake Balaton area, and finally into Austria and Czechoslovakia. Successive commanders including Generalleutnant Walther von Hünersdorff (killed at Kursk) and Generalleutnant Rudolf Freiherr von Waldenfels led the division through these later campaigns until, reduced to a Kampfgruppe, it surrendered near Brno in May 1945, after which most of its surviving personnel were handed over to Soviet captivity.

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SCHWERTERTRÄGER

Generalmajor Dr. med.dent. Franz Bäke (1898-1978) was born on 28 February 1898 in Schwarzenfels and volunteered for military service in May 1915 during the First World War, serving in infantry and later artillery units on the Western Front where he earned the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse and was wounded before discharge in 1919 as an officer candidate. He then studied dentistry, received his doctorate in 1923, and established a successful practice in Hagen while briefly serving with the Freikorps Epp. Recalled to the reserves in 1937 as Leutnant der Reserve and later advanced through ranks, he joined Panzer-Abteilung 65 of what became the 6. Panzer-Division, participating in the Polish and French campaigns and Operation Barbarossa. As Major der Reserve and Kommandeur of II./Panzer-Regiment 11, Bäke received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 11 January 1943 for leading bitter urban fighting on 1 January 1943 in Nowo Marjewka against Soviet forces, destroying 27 tanks in the village and then launching a counterattack that eliminated another 32 tanks including 20 T-34s, thereby preventing a breakthrough by the Soviet 25th Tank Corps toward the railway west of Morosowskaja. During the Battle of Kursk in July 1943 near Belgorod, as Major der Reserve still commanding II./Panzer-Regiment 11, he persuaded superiors to seize Rschawez by night to form a bridgehead over the Sswernyi Donez; his Vorausabteilung encountered T-34s, and Bäke personally destroyed several with magnetic anti-tank grenades alongside his Ordonnanzoffizier, earning the Eichenlaub on 1 August 1943. Promoted to Oberstleutnant der Reserve and Kommandeur of Panzer-Regiment 11, he formed the ad-hoc schwere Panzer-Regiment Bäke with Tigers from schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 and Panthers from II./Panzer-Regiment 23; between 23 January and 1 February 1944 this unit thrust via Shaskow to relieve pressure on III. Panzer-Korps during operations around the Balabonowka and Cherkassy pockets, destroying 268 Soviet tanks and assault guns plus 156 guns, for which he received the Schwerter on 21 February 1944. Later commanding Panzer-Brigade 106 Feldherrnhalle and then Panzer-Division Feldherrnhalle 2 as Generalmajor from April 1945, Bäke surrendered to American forces in May 1945, was released after captivity, resumed his dental practice in Hagen, and died on 12 December 1978 following a car accident.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER

Generalleutnant Walther von Hünersdorff (1898-1943) was born on 28 November 1898 in Cairo and entered the Imperial German Army on 9 August 1915 as a Fahnenjunker in the 1. Schlesisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 4, taking part in the First World War on the Western Front and receiving promotion to Leutnant on 19 October 1916 while serving as an Ordonnanzoffizier. After the war he remained in the Reichswehr, advancing through the ranks and by the outbreak of the Second World War serving as Ia of the 253. Infanterie-Division before transferring in October 1939 to the Generalkommando II. Armeekorps. On 12 September 1940 he became Chef des Generalstabes of the XV. Armeekorps under Hermann Hoth, a post that continued after the formation became Panzergruppe 3 and later the 3. Panzerarmee, with which he participated in Operation Barbarossa; for his staff work he received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 26 January 1942 as Oberst i.G. On 1 July 1942 he assumed command of Panzer-Regiment 11 and during the winter of 1942–43 led it in the Entsatzangriff known as Operation Winter Storm, advancing from Kotelnikowo and seizing a bridgehead over the Myschkowa only 48 kilometres from the encircled Sixth Army at Stalingrad, actions for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 22 December 1942 as Oberst. In early February 1943 he took provisional command of the 6. Panzer-Division, being confirmed as Kommandeur and promoted to Generalmajor on 1 May 1943. During Unternehmen Zitadelle in July 1943 his division fought northeast of Belgorod; on 8 July he broke through a heavily defended Soviet anti-tank ditch, then on his own initiative brought forward his own and a subordinated Panzer-Regiment of the 19. Panzer-Division for a bold thrust that stormed the village of Melichewo while destroying twenty Soviet tanks and thirty heavy anti-tank guns, providing an inspiring example to his Panzergrenadiere. For these achievements between 5 and 9 July he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz (259th award) on 14 July 1943 as Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the 6. Panzer-Division. On 13 July he suffered a light Streifschuss in the morning and a severe head wound from a Soviet sniper in the afternoon; he died of his injuries on 17 July 1943 in a field hospital at Kharkov and was posthumously promoted to Generalleutnant.

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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER

General der Panzertruppe Werner Kempf (1886-1964) was born on 9 March 1886 in Königsberg, East Prussia, as the son of a Prussian Oberstleutnant, and after education in the Prussian cadet corps he entered the Imperial German Army on 14 March 1905 as Fähnrich in the 6. Westpreußische Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 149, being commissioned Leutnant in 1906 and later serving with the II. Seebataillon; during the First World War he fought with the Marinekorps Flandern on the Western Front, rising to Hauptmann by 1916 and performing general-staff duties, after which he continued in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic in various staff and command posts with motorized and infantry units before taking command of the newly formed 4. Panzer-Brigade in October 1937 and being promoted Generalmajor in January 1939. At the outbreak of the Second World War he commanded the improvised Panzer-Division Kempf (also known as Panzerverband Ostpreußen) during the invasion of Poland, then assumed command of the 6. Panzer-Division with which he took part in the 1940 Western campaign; for his leadership in that offensive, in which his division plunged deep into the enemy on the first day, crossed the Oise River and captured more than 10 000 prisoners in three days of bold advance and pursuit while he personally remained the driving force of the attack even under fire, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 3 June 1940 as Generalleutnant and Kommandeur of the 6. Panzer-Division and was promoted Generalleutnant the following month. In early 1941 he formed and took command of the XXXXVIII. Armeekorps (mot.), being promoted General der Panzertruppe on 1 April 1941, and with this formation participated in Operation Barbarossa as part of Panzergruppe 1 of Heeresgruppe Süd, distinguishing himself in the breakthrough of the Stalin Line, the encirclement battles at Uman and Kiev, and the capture of Kursk in 1941; the following year, still as Kommandierender General of the XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps, he directed the capture of Voronezh and the subsequent thrust that reached the southern outskirts of Stalingrad, for which achievements on the Eastern Front he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz (111th award) on 10 August 1942. After temporary transfer to the Führerreserve he commanded the Armeeabteilung Kempf during the Battle of Kursk in 1943, later served briefly as Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Ostland, and ended the war in American captivity in April 1945, from which he was released in 1947; he spent his remaining years in Bad Harzburg until his death on 6 January 1964.

Generaloberst Erhard Raus (1889-1956) was born on 8 January 1889 in Wolframitz, Austria-Hungary, and died on 3 April 1956 in Vienna after a distinguished military career spanning both world wars. He enrolled in an Austro-Hungarian officer school at age 18, served in the First World War commanding a bicycle infantry company on the Eastern Front in southern Poland, and later joined the Austrian army as commander of a Vienna bicycle infantry battalion and instructor at the military academy. Following the Anschluss in 1938 he transferred to the Wehrmacht, serving initially in staff roles before assuming field command. During Operation Barbarossa, as Oberst and Kommandeur of the 6. Schützen-Brigade within the 6. Panzer-Division of XXXXI. Armee-Korps under Heeresgruppe Nord, Raus led a daring thrust on 13-14 July 1941 that seized two undamaged bridges over the Pljussa at Ljday and over the Luga at Porietsche, establishing a vital bridgehead. This action created a springboard enabling the Korps to resume its advance toward Leningrad and outflank strong Soviet defenses along the Luga, earning him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 11 October 1941 for its operational significance. Promoted successively to Generalmajor, Generalleutnant and General der Panzertruppe, he later commanded the 6. Panzer-Division, then as Kommandierender General of the XI. Armeekorps within Armeeabteilung Kempf of Heeresgruppe Süd conducted a solid defense during the fighting around Belgorod in August 1943 that prevented an enemy breakthrough through his lines, for which he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 22 August 1943. Raus subsequently led higher formations including the 4. Panzerarmee, 1. Panzerarmee and 3. Panzerarmee on the Eastern Front through successive defensive battles until relieved in March 1945, reaching the rank of Generaloberst. After the war he authored several analytical works on armored tactics and the peculiarities of Russian warfare before his death.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Panzer_Division

Ritterkreuzträger of 13. Panzer-Division

The 13. Panzer-Division was formed in October 1940 in Vienna by converting the 13. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert) into an armored formation, incorporating Panzer-Regiment 4 along with Schützen-Regimenter 66 and 93, and after initial training duties in Romania it joined Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 as part of Heeresgruppe Süd and Panzergruppe 1, fighting through the Ukraine in battles at Uman, Kiev, and the Dnepropetrovsk bridgehead before capturing Rostov; under commanders including Generalmajor Traugott Herr it advanced deep into the Caucasus during the 1942 summer offensive as part of Heeresgruppe A, reaching areas near Mozdok, then conducted prolonged defensive operations in the Kuban bridgehead in 1943 before withdrawing through the Ukraine amid heavy fighting around Kryvyi Rih and the Dniester. Severely depleted during the 1944 Soviet offensives that destroyed much of Heeresgruppe Südukraine, the remnants were withdrawn to Hungary for refitting, where the division participated in the Battle of Debrecen before becoming encircled and largely destroyed during the siege of Budapest in late 1944–early 1945; surviving elements were later reorganized into Panzer-Division Feldherrnhalle 2 and continued limited operations until the end of the war in May 1945.

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SCHWERTERTRÄGER

Major im Generalstab Waldemar von Gazen genannt von Gaza (1917-2014) was born on 6 December 1917 in Hamburg as the son of Oberst a.D. Oskar von Gazen and after completing his Abitur and Reichsarbeitsdienst joined the Wehrmacht in 1936 as Fahnenjunker in Infanterie-Regiment 66 of the later 13. Panzer-Division. Promoted to Leutnant on 1 September 1938 he served as Zugführer during the Invasion of Poland and the Westfeldzug, receiving both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz in September and October 1939, and was advanced to Oberleutnant on 1 September 1940. On the Eastern Front he became Chef of the 2. Kompanie of Schützen-Regiment 66, which was redesignated Panzergrenadier-Regiment 66, and for leading his company forward to the Temernik river, capturing an intact bridge and establishing a bridgehead that decisively aided the capture of Rostov on 25 July 1942 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 18 September 1942 as Oberleutnant. Shortly thereafter he took command of the I. Bataillon and in early 1943, as Führer of a Kampfgruppe of the 13. Panzer-Division in the Kuban bridgehead and Caucasus, destroyed 22 Soviet tanks in two days while contributing decisively to the orderly withdrawal of German divisions from the Terek and Kuban areas, earning the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 18 January 1943 as Hauptmann, the 182nd recipient. In April 1943 he became Führer of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 66 and was formally appointed its Kommandeur on 28 August 1943 at the age of 25, making him one of the youngest regimental commanders in the Heer. At the end of September 1943 near Oktoberfeld close to Melitopol his regiment held the threatened front line against repeated Red Army assaults; for this outstanding defensive performance he was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht and awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub on 3 October 1943 as Major, the 38th recipient, though he was severely wounded in the fighting. After convalescence he entered the Generalstab des Heeres on 1 July 1944, completed staff training, and served as Ia of the 13. Panzer-Division in Hungary from September 1944 and later as Ia of the 2. Panzer-Division until the end of the war, when he was taken prisoner. Released in 1946 he studied law and worked thereafter as a lawyer and notary in Uslar until his death in Göttingen on 13 January 2014 at the age of 96.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER

General der Panzertruppe Traugott Herr (1890-1976) was born on 16 September 1890 in Weferlingen and entered the Imperial German Army in 1911 as a Fahnenjunker in the Füsilier-Regiment „Prinz Heinrich von Preußen“ (Brandenburgisches) Nr. 35, serving through the First World War and remaining in the Reichswehr afterward before rising in the Wehrmacht; during the Second World War he commanded the 13. Schützen-Brigade of the 13. Panzer-Division and was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 October 1941 as Oberst for his leadership in expanding the bridgehead at Dnepropetrovsk and related actions on the Eastern Front. Promoted and appointed Kommandeur of the 13. Panzer-Division, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 9 August 1942 as Generalmajor for the division’s successful advance into the Caucasus and capture of key positions including Rostov; after recovering from a severe head wound sustained in late 1942 he later took command of the LXXVI. Panzerkorps in Italy, where he was awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz on 18 December 1944 as General der Panzertruppe and Kommandierender General for the corps’ determined defensive performance against successive Allied offensives near Rimini that prevented breakthroughs despite heavy pressure, subsequently briefly leading the 14. Armee and then the 10. Armee until the German surrender in Italy in May 1945, after which he spent time as a prisoner of war before his release and death on 13 April 1976 in Achterwehr.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Panzer_Division

Ritterkreuzträger of Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11)

Jagdgeschwader 11 (JG 11) was a Luftwaffe fighter wing formed on 1 April 1943 by splitting elements of Jagdgeschwader 1, with its Stab and Gruppen initially based along the North German coast in places such as Jever, Husum, and Neumünster to defend northern Germany, the German Bight, southern Norway, and western Denmark against Allied day bomber raids as part of the Reichsluftverteidigung; equipped primarily with Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters, it quickly became one of the most active units in the Defense of the Reich, claiming a substantial share of victories during the intense summer 1943 campaigns against unescorted USAAF bomber formations, and later incorporating specialized high-altitude variants and tactics against heavy bombers and their escorts. Under successive Geschwaderkommodore including Major Anton Mader, Oberstleutnant Hermann Graf, Major Anton Hackl, Major Herbert Ihlefeld, and Major Günther Specht, the wing operated under commands such as the 2. Jagddivision and later shifted bases inland as the Allied bombing offensive intensified, participating in the defense against the Normandy invasion forces in mid-1944 before returning to home defense; in January 1945 it took part in Operation Bodenplatte, attacking Allied airfields such as Asch (Y-29) in Belgium with heavy losses including its commander, and continued fighting until the final weeks of the war with remaining aircraft including Fw 190D variants before surrendering to British forces in early May 1945 at Leck.

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SCHWERTERTRÄGER

Major Anton Hackl (1915-1984), known as "Toni", was born on 25 March 1915 in Regensburg and volunteered for service in the Reichsheer in 1933 before transferring to the Luftwaffe in 1935 for pilot training, eventually joining Jagdgeschwader 77 where he saw action in the Norwegian campaign, North Africa, and especially on the Eastern Front during Operation Barbarossa; appointed Staffelkapitän of the 5. Staffel of II. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 77 in early 1942, he rapidly increased his score and was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 25 May 1942 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän after claiming his 48th (or 51st according to some accounts) aerial victory. In a spectacular period of success around Voronezh in July 1942 he claimed 37 victories including multiple ace-in-a-day performances, reaching his 100th victory in early August and receiving the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 9 August 1942 as Hauptmann and Staffelkapitän of the same Staffel after his 104th victory; later serving in defense of the Reich with Jagdgeschwader 11 as Gruppenkommandeur of III. Gruppe, he continued to score heavily against Allied bombers and was awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz on 9 July 1944 as Major and Gruppenkommandeur after approximately 150 to 162 victories. Going on to command roles including Kommodore of Jagdgeschwader 76, II. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 26, and later Jagdgeschwader 300 and Jagdgeschwader 11, Hackl flew over 1,000 combat missions, was shot down eight times and wounded four times, and ended the war with 192 confirmed aerial victories (including around 87 on the Western Front of which at least 32 were four-engined bombers) plus further unconfirmed claims before dying on 10 July 1984 in Regensburg.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdgeschwader_11

Saturday, August 1, 2026

Ritterkreuzträger in White Summer Uniform (Weißer Dienstrock)

HEER WHITE SUMMER UNIFORM

The German Army (Heer) white summer uniform of the Second World War was an optional warm-weather dress garment primarily available to officers and certain senior non-commissioned officers, consisting of a lightweight white cotton tunic authorized for wear from April through September. Two principal versions existed: the older “ältere Art” model inherited from Reichswehr practice, which featured a stand-up collar, a six-button front closure and plain sleeves and was intended mainly for barracks duty, supervision of training and attendance at sporting events; and the newer “neue Art” model introduced in 1937, which had a more modern rise-and-fall collar, an eight-button front and French cuffs and was authorized as a summer walking-out and undress uniform. Both tunics were deliberately designed with fully removable buttons, shoulder boards and a metal breast eagle (Wehrmachtsadler) so that the garment could be thoroughly laundered; collar Litzen were never worn. The white tunic was customarily paired with matching white or dark trousers (or riding breeches), a white or field-grey shirt, and either the peaked Schirmmütze (often fitted with a white summer cover) or a side cap, and it served as a cooler, more formal alternative to the standard field-grey service dress during the warmer months in the homeland and in temperate occupation zones, remaining a distinctive mark of rank and privilege rather than a combat uniform.

Oberleutnant Otto Carius (1922-2015) was born on 27 May 1922 in Zweibrücken and, after twice being rejected as underweight, enlisted in the Heer in 1940, initially serving in the infantry before volunteering for the Panzertruppe and later transferring in 1943 to the schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502, with which he fought on the Eastern Front as a successful Tiger I commander credited by some sources with over 150 enemy tanks destroyed (though he himself later estimated around 100 or fewer). As Leutnant der Reserve and Zugführer in the 2. Kompanie of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 4 May 1944 for leading three Tigers in a series of engagements from 17 to 22 March 1944 near Lembitu west of Narva, during which his force destroyed 28 tanks, four assault guns and 17 artillery pieces. Promoted to lead the 2. Kompanie, he received the Eichenlaub on 27 July 1944 for his action on 22 July 1944 at the village of Malinava northeast of Dünaburg, when, accompanied only by his wingman Oberfeldwebel Albert Kerscher, the two Tigers charged into the village and engaged a force of 17 Soviet tanks (including several IS-2 heavy tanks); Carius personally destroyed ten, Kerscher four and nearby Sturmgeschütze three more, achieving the destruction with no friendly losses and thereby preventing a Soviet breakthrough toward Dünaburg so that a defensive front could be re-established. Severely wounded two days later on 24 July 1944, Carius recovered sufficiently to take command in early 1945 of a company of Jagdtigers in the schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 512 on the Western Front, where his unit fought in the defence of the Rhine before he ordered the remaining vehicles destroyed and surrendered to American forces in the Ruhr Pocket in April–May 1945; after the war he studied pharmacy, opened the Tiger Apotheke in Herschweiler-Pettersheim as a tribute to the Tiger tank, published his memoirs Tigers in the Mud in 1960, and died there on 24 January 2015 at the age of 92.

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LUFTWAFFE WHITE SUMMER UNIFORM

The Luftwaffe white summer uniform, known as the Sommeranzug or Sommerrock, was a lightweight dress option primarily for officers (as well as certain officials and engineers) consisting of a single-breasted white cotton or linen tunic cut similarly to the standard blue-grey Tuchrock, featuring an open collar with lapels, four patch pockets with buttoned flaps, and four front buttons (silver-coloured for most officers and gilt for generals), which was officially authorised for wear between 1 April and 30 September each year as a cooler alternative to the wool service dress; the tunic was typically unlined or lightly constructed in a waffle-weave or gabardine fabric for breathability, with all insignia—including collar tabs (Kragenspiegel), shoulder boards, and the breast eagle—designed to be fully removable via snaps, loops, or slip-on fittings so the garment could be easily laundered without damaging rank or branch markings, and it was commonly paired with matching white trousers (Weiße Hose), a white shirt with black or dark tie, white shoes, and a white-topped peaked service cap (Sommermütze) whose crown could also be detached for cleaning, though regulations also permitted its combination with standard blue-grey trousers; outside the designated summer period the white tunic could still be worn for office duties or within closed military installations provided it was accompanied by blue-grey trousers and without collar patches, and while formal production and widespread issue were scaled back or officially suspended after the outbreak of war in 1939, private purchase and continued use remained common, especially in warmer theatres, for walking-out dress, formal occasions, or parade wear, distinguishing it clearly from the khaki tropical uniforms issued for North Africa and the Mediterranean as well as from practical flying suits.

Major Heinrich Setz (1915-1943) was born on 12 March 1915 in Gundelsdorf near Kronach in the Kingdom of Bavaria as the son of an Oberförster and entered the Luftwaffe as a Fahnenjunker on 6 April 1936, receiving promotion to Leutnant on 1 January 1938 and later serving as an instructor at a Jagdfliegerschule before joining II. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 77 in Norway in the summer of 1940, where he scored his first three aerial victories against RAF aircraft; appointed Staffelkapitän of 4./Jagdgeschwader 77 in July 1941, he led the Staffel during Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front, claiming numerous successes including his 45th victory by late November 1941, for which Oberleutnant Setz was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941, and continued to excel in the Crimea and during the fighting around Voronezh, becoming an ace-in-a-day on several occasions and reaching his 81st victory on 23 June 1942, the same day he received the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz (the 102nd such award) which was presented by Adolf Hitler at the Führerhauptquartier in Rastenburg a few days later, subsequently achieving his 100th victory on 24 July 1942 and ending his Eastern Front career with 135 confirmed claims before promotion to Hauptmann on 1 November 1942 and appointment as Gruppenkommandeur of I./Jagdgeschwader 27 on the Western Front in November 1942, where on 13 March 1943, during his 274th combat mission while intercepting American bombers near Abbeville, he claimed three Spitfires but was killed in a mid-air collision with a fourth over Yzengremer, being posthumously promoted to Major with a final total of 138 aerial victories.

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KRIEGSMARINE WHITE SUMMER UNIFORM

The Kriegsmarine white summer uniform, officially part of the Tropen- und Sommeranzug regulations, consisted of lightweight white cotton or cotton-blend garments designed for warm weather and tropical climates and was worn primarily between roughly 20 April and 30 September or in hot operational areas, with blue uniforms prescribed for the cooler months from 1 October to 19 April. For officers it typically featured an open-collar service jacket (Weißer Dienstanzug or Sommerdienstjackett) closed by four or six gilt naval buttons bearing the crowned anchor motif, four pleated patch pockets with scalloped flaps, removable shoulder boards indicating rank on a white or dark underlay, a gilt metal breast eagle (Brustadler) pinned above the right pocket, and matching long white trousers, often accompanied by a white shirt, black tie, and peaked cap or side cap; an older pattern with a stand-up collar also existed. Enlisted personnel and petty officers wore a white pull-over jumper (Hemd) with a blue jean collar edged by three white stripes, a black silk neckerchief, rank badges in light blue on the left sleeve, and white trousers, while senior non-commissioned officers could wear a white jacket similar to the officers’ pattern with shoulder straps. During wartime the white uniform saw reduced use outside tropical theaters, where it was sometimes supplemented or replaced by khaki tropical dress from 1943, and it remained a formal walking-out or service dress rather than everyday working attire, reflecting both practical considerations of climate and the Kriegsmarine’s traditional naval appearance derived from earlier European navy styles.

Kapitänleutnant Engelbert Endrass (1911-1941) was born on 2 March 1911 in Bamberg and, after service in the merchant navy, joined the Kriegsmarine in April 1935, transferring to the U-Boot-Waffe in 1937 and serving from December 1938 as 1. Wachoffizier aboard U-47 under Kapitänleutnant Günther Prien, during which he took part in the successful penetration of Scapa Flow on 14 October 1939 that sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak and himself painted the famous snorting-bull emblem on the conning tower. In May 1940 he assumed command of U-46 in the 7. Unterseebootsflottille and immediately achieved major successes, sinking five ships totaling 35 347 BRT on his first patrol—including the British auxiliary cruiser HMS Carinthia of 20 277 BRT—and repeating the feat on his second patrol by sinking another five ships totaling 27 038 BRT despite a damaged periscope, among them the auxiliary cruiser HMS Dunvegan Castle of 15 007 BRT; for these early achievements as Oberleutnant zur See and Kommandant of U-46 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 September 1940. After five further successful patrols that brought his overall tally to twenty-two ships sunk for 118 528 BRT he received the Eichenlaub on 10 June 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-46 (the fourteenth award of the Oak Leaves), was promoted to Kapitänleutnant, and in September 1941 left U-46 to take command of U-567 the following month; on 21 December 1941, while operating against Convoy HG 76 northeast of the Azores, U-567 was sunk with all hands by depth charges from the British sloop HMS Deptford and the corvette HMS Samphire, ending the career of one of the Kriegsmarine’s early U-boat aces at the age of thirty.

Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/06/album-foto-tokoh-third-reich-dengan_29.html

Ritterkreuzträger with Ehrendolch (Honor Dagger)

HEER EHRENDOLCH

The German Army honor dagger of the Second World War, known as the Ehrendolch des Heeres or more commonly the Heeresoffiziersdolch, was a ceremonial sidearm introduced for officers of the Heer following approval of its design by Adolf Hitler on 4 May 1935, the work of artist Paul Casberg of the renowned Solingen firm Carl Eickhorn. Intended strictly as a symbol of rank, tradition, and military dignity rather than a combat weapon, it was privately purchased by officers from Leutnant to Generalfeldmarschall and worn with the dress uniform on parades, formal occasions, and official ceremonies. The standard pattern featured a double-edged, spear-pointed nickel- or silver-plated steel blade approximately twenty-five to twenty-six centimetres in length with a flat central ridge, a four-piece hilt consisting of a ribbed celluloid grip in white, yellow, or orange amber tones, a crossguard embossed with the Wehrmacht-style eagle clutching a wreathed mobile swastika, and a pommel and ferrule decorated with oak-leaf motifs, all fitted into a pebbled metal scabbard with oak-leaf suspension bands. Early examples employed high-quality silver-plated nickel-silver or brass fittings, while later wartime production increasingly used zinc and other substitutes as material shortages mounted. Special honour variants, far rarer than the mass-produced service daggers, often incorporated genuine Damascus steel blades acid-etched with the motto “Ehre-Freiheit Vaterland,” personal dedications, unit inscriptions, or the recipient’s name and rank, and were presented as marks of distinction by regimental staffs or higher commands. Roughly three dozen Solingen manufacturers supplied these pieces until production was ordered halted on 27 May 1943, after which the wearing of the dress dagger was forbidden by regulation of 5 September 1944 in favour of the pistol for reasons of practicality and safety in the final stages of the war. Today surviving examples, particularly the Damascus-bladed honour pieces, remain among the most studied and collected edged weapons of the Wehrmacht period, embodying both the formal martial aesthetics of the German officer corps and the material constraints of total war.

Generalleutnant Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild (1896-1953) was born Bruno Hauenschild on 9 June 1896 in Würzburg and volunteered for service in the Bavarian Army at the outbreak of the First World War, joining the 11. bayerisches Feldartillerie-Regiment as a Fahnenjunker and later serving as Batterieführer. For outstanding leadership in 1918 he received the Ritterkreuz des Militär-Max-Joseph-Ordens on 2 September 1918, an award that conferred personal nobility and allowed him to style himself Ritter von Hauenschild. In the Second World War he rose to Oberst and took command of the 4. Panzer-Brigade within the 10. Panzer-Division of XXXXVI. Panzer-Korps under Armeegruppe Guderian. During the rapid advance from the Berezina to the Dnieper in the summer of 1941 his brigade formed the spearhead, seized vital bridges and corridors, and destroyed large numbers of Soviet tanks, anti-tank guns, artillery pieces and vehicles, actions for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 25 August 1941. Promoted to Generalmajor, he assumed command of the 24. Panzer-Division on 15 April 1942 and led it with distinction during Operation Blau, contributing decisively to the victories near Voronezh, the fighting in the Don bend and the subsequent drive toward Stalingrad. Severely wounded in early September 1942 near Stalingrad, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 27 September 1942 as the 129th recipient while still listed as Kommandeur of the 24. Panzer-Division. Later promoted to Generalleutnant, he held staff and training commands including the Panzertruppenschulen and briefly directed the Berlin defence area in early 1945 before being relieved on grounds of illness. He died in Munich on 10 March 1953.

Oberstleutnant Werner Ziegler (1916-2001) was born on 30 April 1916 in Hausach in the Black Forest and entered the Wehrmacht in 1936 by joining Infanterie-Regiment 20, receiving promotion to Leutnant in 1939 before becoming Adjutant of the I. Bataillon of Infanterie-Regiment 186 on 3 October 1939. After taking part in the Westfeldzug he assumed command of the 2. Kompanie of Infanterie-Regiment 186 on 1 October 1940 and led it through the Balkanfeldzug and into the opening stages of the campaign against the Soviet Union. On 14 August 1941, during the fighting between the Dniester and the Bug, Leutnant Ziegler and his Kompanie seized the heavily defended town of Petrovskoye on the western bank of the Bug in a swift assault and cleared the surrounding area in bitter house-to-house combat, capturing more than three hundred prisoners; for this action he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941 as Führer of the 2./Infanterie-Regiment 186 of the 73. Infanterie-Division. After the hard positional battles on the Mius in the winter of 1941/42 he again distinguished himself in the Kuban region, and on 6 September 1942 his decisive leadership in the urban fighting during the capture of Noworossisk earned him the Eichenlaub on 8 September 1942 as Oberleutnant and Führer of the same company. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to Hauptmann and took command of the I. Bataillon, advancing to Major on 1 May 1943 near Noworossisk before serving on the staff of the V. Armeekorps and later the 19. Panzerdivision. Returning as Führer of Grenadier-Regiment 186 on 6 March 1944, he was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 June 1944 and became its Kommandeur; during the final battle for Sevastopol his regiment held its positions on Windmill Hill against a major Soviet assault on 7 May 1944 even after being surrounded, maintaining the defence until relieved the following morning by Kampfgruppen Marienfeld and Faulhaber, for which outstanding stand he received the Schwerter on 23 October 1944 as Major and Führer of Grenadier-Regiment 186. Severely wounded, he later served again on the staff of the V. Armeekorps, was taken prisoner at the war’s end and released in 1946. In 1956 he joined the Bundeswehr, eventually commanding the Panzergrenadierbrigade 19 and retiring as Oberst in 1968; he died on 15 April 2001 in Oftersheim.
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LUFTWAFFE EHRENDOLCH

The Luftwaffe Ehrendolch, or Honour Dagger, was not a standardized mass-issued sidearm like the well-known SS-Ehrendolch but rather denoted rare presentation or gift versions of the Luftwaffe officer’s dress dagger, often specially commissioned as high-status awards or personal tokens of recognition within Hermann Göring’s air force; evolving from the earlier Deutscher Luftsportverband (DLV) dagger, the first-model Fliegerdolch appeared around 1935 as a relatively long, blue-leather-wrapped weapon primarily for flying personnel and later senior NCOs, featuring nickel or aluminium fittings with sunwheel swastikas, while the far more common second-model Offiziersdolch introduced in 1937 and worn until late 1944 became the classic form with a shorter stiletto blade, white or ivory-coloured grip bound in silver wire, aluminium or alloy pommel bearing a gilded swastika amid oak leaves, and a distinctive crossguard cast with a Luftwaffe eagle clutching a swastika, the whole suspended from dual blue-grey velvet-backed hangers with oak-leaf buckles and finished with a silver portepee; true Ehrendolche elevated this design through luxurious extras such as Damascus-steel blades, elaborate etched or gold-inlaid presentation inscriptions (frequently naming the recipient and sometimes bearing dedications from Göring himself, for example “Meinem getreuen Mitarbeiter”), ivory or amber grips, silvered or gold-finished scabbards, and custom cases, making them exceptional rarities awarded to distinguished officers, aces, or staff for outstanding service, personal loyalty, or commemorative occasions rather than as routine equipment, and today they rank among the most prized and expensive Third Reich edged weapons precisely because of their extreme scarcity, historical association with the Luftwaffe elite, and superior craftsmanship by Solingen makers such as Eickhorn, Weyersberg, or Dinger.

Leutnant der Reserve Leopold Steinbatz (1918-1942) was born on 25 October 1918 in Stammersdorf (now part of Vienna), Austria-Hungary, learned to fly gliders in his youth and trained as a butcher before volunteering for the Austrian Air Force’s Flieger-Ausbildungsregiment at Wiener Neustadt on 1 October 1937; after the Anschluss in March 1938 he transferred to the Luftwaffe, completed fighter-pilot training at the Jagdfliegerschule Wien-Aspern, and at the outbreak of war was posted to 2. Staffel of the Ergänzungsgruppe of Jagdgeschwader 52, later joining 9. Staffel of III./Jagdgeschwader 52 in August 1940. Deployed with his Gruppe to Romania in October 1940 as part of the Luftwaffenmission Rumänien to protect the Ploiești oil fields and train Romanian pilots, he flew ground-attack missions during the Battle of Crete in May–June 1941 before returning to Romania and converting to the Bf 109 F-4; with the launch of Operation Barbarossa he claimed his first aerial victory, a Polikarpov I-16, southeast of Kiev on 4 August 1941 while escorting Ju 87s, and thereafter scored steadily through the battles for Kiev, Poltava, the Crimea and Kharkov, reaching 42 victories by mid-February 1942. For these successes he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 14 February 1942 as Oberfeldwebel and Flugzeugführer in 9./Jagdgeschwader 52; continuing to fly as Hermann Graf’s wingman in the highly successful Karaya-Staffel, he became an ace-in-a-day several times over the Kerch Peninsula and during the Second Battle of Kharkov, raising his tally to 83 by early June and receiving the Eichenlaub on 2 June 1942—the third non-commissioned officer in the Luftwaffe so honoured. Determined to reach 100 victories before leave, he claimed four more aircraft east of Vovchansk on 15 June 1942, bringing his total to 99 in over 300 combat missions, all on the Eastern Front; shortly afterward his Bf 109 F-4/R1 was hit by Soviet anti-aircraft fire northwest of Shebekino and crashed into woodland, his body never being recovered. Posthumously awarded the Schwerter on 23 June 1942 (the only NCO in the entire Wehrmacht to receive this distinction) and promoted to Leutnant der Reserve effective 1 June 1942, Steinbatz remains the sole non-commissioned officer to have earned the Ritterkreuz with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Source :
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/dagger-ceremonial-officer-luftwaffe/nasm_A19751370000