Pilot Badge with Diamonds Recipients

[Mark Costa]

I will edit to make sure it has two FF's.

Mark

[Dieter Zinke]

Mark,

I had to correct Ralph Weddinger to
General der Flieger Rudolf (Ralph) Wenninger - Pour le Mérite

Dieter Z.

[Mikko H.]

There are three further unidentified recipients of this award as photos show:
2 Italian Officers and a Finnish General.

Mark, if by "a Finnish general" you mean the man shown in the picture posted by Warlord on 30 October 2002 titled 'Finnish badge holder', then this is a misidentification. The man in Warlord's picture is not wearing a Finnish uniform! Could he be a Romanian officer?

Besides, the man looks nothing like kenraaliluutnantti Jarl Lundqvist, commander of the Finnish Air Force and the sole FAF general during the WWII (see picture here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/f ... dqvist.jpg). After Mannerheim, Lundqvist would be the most logical Finnish recipient, but a list of Lundqvist's decorations doesn't even show the ordinary pilot's badge.

[Mark Costa]

Since my last post, I have been able to identify through photographic evidence, 4 more recipients of the Pilot / Observer Badge with Diamonds ! They are:

Renato Sandalli -- Italian Air Force General
Walter Sommé -- Luftwaffe General der Flieger
Otto Hoffmann von Waldau -- Luftwaffe Generalleutnant
Hans-Georg von Seidel -- Luftwaffe Generaloberst

This now brings the total of confirmed recipients to 78 !

Mark Costa

[Mark Costa]

Add another name to the list of recipients. I have been able to confirm through photographic evidence that Eckhard Christian was also a recipient of the Badge with Diamonds. This confirmed recipient along with the previous 4 mentioned directly above brings the known documented total to 79 recipients.

Mark Costa

[Mikko H.]

Lieutenant-General Wiljo Tuompo, Chief of Command Staff at the Finnish Supreme HQ during the Continuation War of 1941-44, accompanied Mannerheim on his visit to Germany in late June 1942. Tuompo described in his diary the occasion where Göring bestowed to Mannerheim the Pilot Badge with Diamonds. The date is 27 June (my translation):

At 9pm the dinner started. Mood was superb. At the dinner [we] were served schnapps (genever), wine and champagne. The first course was caviar served from big crystal bowls, and the food was superb. Göring held a fine speech to the Marshal [Mannerheim] and bestowed him a golden, brilliant-encrusted German pilot badge. We had the coffee in a big, high hall. In a big fireplace behind the coffee tables there was a huge open fire. Cognac, liqueur and thick Havanna cigars were served with the coffee.

And the opulent party goes on... Tuompo devotes in all 2 printed pages to Mannerheim's stay with Göring.

Source Tuompo: Päiväkirjani päämajasta 1941-1944, p. 145.

[Mark Costa]

With the keen eye of Michael Miller in identifying the the Officer below, we now have, yet another recipient of the Pilot / Observer Badge with Diamonds: Dr.-Ing. Fritz Görrnert !!

With this new ID the list continues to grow !! It is now at 80 !!!!


Mark Costa

[Mark Costa]

I have now been able to identify the general shown in a previous photo. The man shown is Slovakian Army Minister Ferdinand Catlos. This now brings the total number of recipients of this decoration to 81 !!

Mark Costa

[gerrysia]

Hello. Very many congratulations on a most interesting accumulation of information about this splendid badge and its recipients. May I make a couple of comments and pose a question or two ?
I believe it should be Admiral Miklos Horthy de Nagybanya and not 'Niklos'.

The recipient Navratil (former Imperial Austrian Pilot) was Minister of the Armed Forces, State of Croatia (NDH).

There is a Colonel Jean Moraglia of the French Air Force who was latterly Commander of the Groupement de Bombardement 15 in North Africa - possibly he held a post prior to the war whereby he may have received the award ?
I note you now say that 'Moraglia' was part of d'Astier de la Vigerie's name ?!

Regarding Flugkapitän Hans Baur, Hitler's personal pilot, I would find it hard to believe that he was NOT a
recipient of the award, given his closeness and loyalty to Hitler and his good relationship with Göring. Certainly he does not mention it in his autobiography, but neither does he mention his other decorations. As always, photographic evidence is lacking !

I cannot find a Jacques Petitjean - there is however a Commandant Albert Petitjean-Roget - ADC to General Vuillemin
(who received the award) - could this be the man ??

Interesting to note that when Marshal Mannerheim's safety deposit box was opened in 1994, (he had deposited it with his sister-in-law in Sweden in 1944 for safe-keeping and had stipulated it could only be opened after 50 years if Finland remained independent), they found only the gold wreath and pin of the Badge. He had apparently disposed of or sold (probably) the diamond-studded eagle and swastika ! However, no documentary evidence of any sale has come to light, but Mannerheim was well known for his financial 'meanness' ! He was never a pilot of any sort whatsoever, according to Finnish sources.

Best Wishes
Gerry Stevens
According to Christopher Ailsby's book, the Viennese manufacturer, Rudolf Stubiger, (son) said that only 70 original pieces were made. How do you reconcile this with the current total of confirmed/possible recipients ?

[Feldpost]

I have enjoyed this thread and thank Mark Costa for helping me put together a good footnote for my book. So far, eighty-one (81) recipients have been identified according to Mark. I am of the opinion that there must have been at least a few more recipients and would like to throw another name in the mix - Oberstleutnant Ullrich Diesing. Diesing was part of Göring's so-called "Little General Staff" as was Bernd von Brauchitsch, Dietrich Peltz and Karl Bodenschatz, all of whom Göring awarded the combined Pilot's and Observer's Badge in Diamonds. Diesing was one of Göring's biggest sycophants, so I have little doubt that Göring gave him the badge. This would bring the list up to eighty-two (82).

Barry

[Feldpost]

I also would not rule out that Paul "Pilli" Körner, another member of Göring's inner circle and long-time associate, and Siegfried Knemeyer, Göring's Technical Officer, received the badge. This would bring the total to eighty-four (84).

Barry

[Mark Costa]

I am bringing this old thread back to life as there has been several additions to the list and some names will be removed. But recently Grand Admiral Dönitz' citation document and folder for the Combined Pilot/Observer Badge with Diamonds was found ! And finally a photo has surfaced actually showing the Grand Admiral wearing it !! It has long been believed that he was not a recipient as there was no physical evidence of the badge ever being presented to him. But as you can see from the photo below, the Grand Admiral is DEFINATELY a recipient of this beautiful award. I will be posting my latest list of recipients and "possibles" in the very near future, but wanted everyone to see this great photo from the Polish Archives NAC.

Mark Costa

[coburg22]

Great photo Mark, can't wait to see the revised list. It makes me wonder if there were also more awards given of the Submarine War Badge with Diamonds and the E-Boat War Badge with Diamonds that were not listed in Angolia's book "For Führer and Fatherland".

Best Regards,

James

[Mark Costa]

As promised here is my latest list of the recipients of the Combined Pilot/Observer Badge with Diamonds. The list below shows all 79 confirmed recipients where there is positive proof based on period documentation and/or photographic evidence.

Angerstein, Karl
Antonescu, Ion
d' Astier de La Vigerie, François
Balbo, Italo
Bär, Heinz
Baumbach, Werner
Below, Nicolaus von
Blomberg, Werner von
Bodenschatz, Karl
Brauchitsch, Bernd von
Čatloš, Ferdinand
Christian, Eckhard
Christiansen, Friedrich
Dessloch, Otto
Dietl, Eduard
Dietrich, Josef "Sepp"
Dönitz, Karl
Druschel, Alfred
Franco, Fransisco
Gablenz, Carl-Albrecht Freiherr von
Galland, Adolf
de Geffrier, Hubert-Marie Joseph
Gollob, Gordon M.
Göring, Hermann
Görnert, Fritz Dr.-Ing.
Graf, Hermann
Grauert, Ulrich Hans
Greim, Robert Ritter von
Harlinghausen, Martin
Hartmann, Erich
Helbig, Joachim
Herrmann, Hajo
Himmler, Heinrich
Horthy von Nagybánya, Miklós (Nikolaus)
Jeschonnek, Hans
Kammhuber, Josef
Kastner-Kirdof, Gustav
Keller, Alfred
Kesselring, Albert
Kettembeil, Hans
Kindelán y Duany, Alfredo
Korten, Eduard
Lent, Helmut
Loerzer, Bruno
Löhr, Alexander
Lützow, Günther
Mannerheim, Carl Gustav
Marseille, Hans Joachim
Milch, Erhard
Mölders, Werner
Navratil, Miroslav (Friedrich)
Nowotny, Walter
Oesau, Walter
de Orleans y Borbón, Alfonso
Parani, Alberto
Paul of Yugoslavia, Prince
Peltz, Dietrich
Petitjean-Roget, Albert
Pfugbeil, Hans
Ramcke, Bernhard Hermann
Reitsch, Hanna
Richthofen, Dr.-Ing. Wolfram von
Rommel, Erwin
Rudel, Hans Ulrich
Sandalli, Renato
Schmidtlein, ?
Schnaufer, Heinz-Wolfgang
Skorzeny, Otto
Sperrle, Hugo
Stauffenberg, Melitta Schenk Gräfin von
Stehlin, Paul
Student, Kurt
Stumpff, Hans-Jürgen
Trettner, Heinrich
Udet, Ernst
Valle, Victor G.
Vuillemin, Joseph
Wenninger, Rudolf
Wever, Walter


The following names are those speculated to have held the award but of which there is no concrete documentation.

Baur, Hans
Diesing, Ulrich
Fraff, ?
Hoffmann von Waldau, Otto
Koller, Karl
Körner, Paul
Manstein, Erich von
Rüdel, Günther
Seidel, Hans-Georg
Weise, Hubert


I have removed three names from my original lists as they were NOT recipients.

Sommé, Walter
Wick, Helmut
Philipp, Hans


Earlier the question was asked as to why we seem to have more recipients than the number of badges actually produced. I can not answer that question other than to say that the 79 names shown above were absolutely awarded and wore this decoration and that the discrepancy must be that the number of badges produced is in error. We can not rule out the possibility that some of these badges might have been produced by someone other than the official manufacturer, Rudolf Stubiger. It is very possible other manufacturers were involved or the number is simply incorrect as photographic evidence shows 79 recipients.

Mark Costa

Dear Mark,
I have corrected for you the name of
Alfonso de Orleans y Bourbon
and arranged it under "O"
also
François d'Astier de La Vigerie
is to list (without "Moraglia") under "A",
and Hubert-Marie Joseph de Geffrier is to list under "G"
and finally
Otto Hoffmann von Waldau is to list under "H" !
Best
Dieter

[coburg22]

Hello Mark,

I thought I saw Karl Koller wearing the P/O with Diamonds in Goebbels: The Final Entries picture section but I no longer own the book, does anyone have a copy to check please. If I remember it is during a staff meeting with Hitler looking at a table map.

Best,

James