This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the Axis nations, as well as the First and Second World Wars in general hosted by Marcus Wendel's Axis History Factbook in cooperation with Michael Miller's Axis Biographical Research and Christoph Awender's WW2 day by day.










The names of 32 women are
documented. The Iron Cross was awarded to 2 female foreigners, one Wallonian,
and one Norwegian. The first award made in 1940 was to Hanna Reitsch, followed
by 7 additional awards that were made in 1942. Four of 7 women were decorated
posthumously in 1944, and no less than 17 were decorated for valor during the
first months in 1945. One recipient was the wife of a past Knight's Cross recipient.
Nearing the end of World War
II between 1944-1945, when every German citizen from each of the various social
classes was expected to fight, women too were called to arms. Between 1939-1945,
the Iron Cross Second Class was officially bestowed onto approximately 40 women[9];
during the first 5 years of war the majority were awarded to Red Cross nurses
at the front. The most well-known recipients were the German Red Cross Nurses
(GRCN) Elfriede Wnuk and Use Daub, as well as the pilots Hanna Reitsch and the
Jewish Melitta Countess Schenk von Stauffenberg. Hanna Reitsch and the GRCN
Else Grossmann were both awarded the Iron Cross First Class.



Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests