Youngest, Oldest, The First, The Most, and Other Records

[AlifRafikKhan]

This is Saving Private Ryan in real life :

Luftwaffe ace Major Otto Bertram was one of three brothers serving in the Luftwaffe, two of whom had been killed in action – Hans, Gruppen Adjutant of I./JG 27, had been shot down over England in September 1940, and Karl, a nightfighter pilot with 9./NJG 1, had been killed when he crashed his Bf 110 west of Kiel following an engagement with a RAF bomber on 28 October of the same year. Otto, as the sole surviving brother, was prohibited from further combat duty...

And another : Luftwaffe Staffelkapitän of 7/JG 53, Hauptmann Jürgen Harder, being withdrawn from combat duty in 1943 because he was now the only surviving son following the death of his two brothers in combat. Tragically, Harder then killed in flying accident 17 February 1945...

Source :
http://www.geocities.com/luftwaffe_aces ... rtram.html
http://www.geocities.com/luftwaffe_aces ... arder.html

[John Toner]

According to Obermaier, Erwin Clausen and three of his brothers fell during the war.

John

[Doktor Krollspell]

And then you have the three von Blücher brothers who all were killed on Crete in 1941.

[AlifRafikKhan]

Here is the story of Von Blücher brothers from Wikipedia :

Among the German dead at the Battle of Crete were a trio of brothers, relatives of the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher of Waterloo fame. The first to fall was Count Leberecht von Blücher, who was attempting to resupply his brother, Lieutenant Wolfgang von Blücher, with ammunition when the latter and his platoon were surrounded by members of the Black Watch. The 19-year old Leberecht had commandeered a horse which he attempted to gallop through British lines; he almost reached his brother's position, and in fact was shot before the count's very eyes. The next day, 24-year old Wolfgang was killed with his whole platoon, followed by the youngest brother, 17-year old Hans-Joachim, who was reported killed in action a few days later but whose body was never recovered. For years afterward, Cretan villagers report seeing a ghostly rider galloping at night down a road near the spot where Leberecht was shot; yet until they were told the story of the von Blücher brothers, they had assumed that he was British...

Source :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Blüche ... s_at_Crete
http://www.fallschirmjaeger-denkmal.de/G29eng.htm

[AlifRafikKhan]

The Easter Bunnies was the nickname Staffelkapitan Liebe-Piderit gave to the five young men who joined the 3rd Squadron of the Fernaufklärungsgruppe 123 in Hanau am Main at the end of March 1940. Tragically, four of the five Easter Bunnies did not survive the war...

Roman Gastager is today the last surviving member, not only of the Easter Bunnies, but also of the entire Flight Personnel from the early days. This book tells the story of his life and experiences in the Squadron and contains over 100 previously unpublished photographs...

Oberfeldwebel Gastager took part in nearly 400 front and enemy flights, most of which were over England and the Atlantic and plagued by flak, fighters and engine damage. His maiden long-distance flight on 30th June 1940 took him to the Island of Guernsey, where he was the first German soldier to step onto English soil!

Source :
http://www.cimm.de/Gastager.htm
http://www.flipkart.com/easter-bunnies- ... 6nx3fgz6ib

Roman Gastager died 10.May 2009

chris44

[Colonel Kurtz]

Following Alif Rafik Khan's input, the oldest general upon his death to have served in the Heer.

Generalleutnant Fritz Hengen
Birth : 28 March 1887
Death : 30 April 1988 (aged 101 years, 1 month, 2 days)

Other members of this group:

Generalleutnant Carl von Tiedemann
Birth: 28. June 1878
Death: 10. March 1879 (aged 100 years, 9 months, 10 days).

General der Infanterie Erich Buschenhagen
Birth: 8. December 1895
Death: 13. September 1994 (aged 99 years, 9 months, 5 days)

General der Artillerie Wilhelm Berlin
Birth: 24. April 1889
Death: 15. September 1987 (aged 98 years, 4 months, 22 days)

General der Panzertruppe Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Edelsheim
Birth: 6. July 1897
Death: 26. April 1994 (aged 96 years, 10 months, 20 days)


N.B. Another list could also be made for Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine and Waffen-SS.

[Simon Orchard]

The Northernmost combat decorations awarded to members of the Heer in WWII were some 60 EKII and 6 EKI to a battalion sized contingent of some 600 men from Grenadier Regiment 349 of the 230 Infanterie division for their role in the raid on Spitzbergen on the 8th Sept.1943, Unternehmen Sizilien.

[John Toner]

Some Luftwaffe records.

First Luftwaffe ace (5 aerial victories): Johannes Gentzen
First Luftwaffe aerial victory at night: Werner Streib
First to achieve 100 aerial victories: Werner Mölders
First to achieve 150 aerial victories: Gordon Gollob
First to achieve 200 aerial victories: Hermann Graf
First to achieve 250 aerial victories: Walter Nowotny
First to achieve 300 aerial victories: Erich Hartmann
First to achieve 350 aerial victories: Erich Hartmann
First to achieve 100 aerial victories at night: Helmut Lent

Highest average aerial victories: Günther Scheel (70 missions; 71 aerial victories)
Most aerial missions: Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2,530)
Most aerial missions in a multi-engine aircraft: Hansgeorg Bätcher (approx 1,350).

John

[AlifRafikKhan]

I submit Generalleutnant Carl von Tiedemann as oldest German general upon his death to have served in WWII.

Birth: 28. June 1878
Death: 10. March 1979 (aged 100 years, 9 months, 10 days).

Other members of this group:

General der Infanterie Erich Buschenhagen
Birth: 8. December 1895
Death: 13. September 1994 (aged 99 years, 9 months, 5 days)

General der Artillerie Wilhelm Berlin
Birth: 24. April 1889
Death: 15. September 1987 (aged 98 years, 4 months, 22 days)

General der Panzertruppe Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Edelsheim
Birth: 6. July 1897
Death: 26. April 1994 (aged 96 years, 10 months, 20 days)

How about Generalleutnant Fritz Hengen?
Birth : 28 March 1887
Death : 30 April 1988 (aged 101 years, 1 month, 2 days)

Source :
http://unithistories.com/units_index/de ... sonsx.html
http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/WEHRM ... FRITZ.html

[AlifRafikKhan]

Some Luftwaffe records.

First Luftwaffe ace (5 aerial victories): Johannes Gentzen
First Luftwaffe aerial victory at night: Werner Streib
First to achieve 100 aerial victories: Werner Mölders
First to achieve 150 aerial victories: Gordon Gollob
First to achieve 200 aerial victories: Hermann Graf
First to achieve 250 aerial victories: Walter Nowotny
First to achieve 300 aerial victories: Erich Hartmann
First to achieve 350 aerial victories: Erich Hartmann
First to achieve 100 aerial victories at night: Helmut Lent

Highest average aerial victories: Günther Scheel (70 missions; 71 aerial victories)
Most aerial missions: Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2,530)
Most aerial missions in a multi-engine aircraft: Hansgeorg Bätcher (approx 1,350).

John

I can add one : First to achieve 50 aerial victories: Helmut Wick.

On 6 November 1940, Wick claimed five RAF fighters shot down (48-52). On 28 November 1940, Wick achieved his 55th victory during an early sortie to become the leading fighter ace in the world...

Source :
http://www.luftwaffe.cz/wick.html
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... t_Wick.jpg

[AlifRafikKhan]

Another one : The first pilot who break the record victories of Manfred von Richthofen's 80 kills on the World War I : Oberst Werner Mölders.

Here is the interesting story about how he break the 80 kills record and achieved the 'magic number' 100 :

On 30 June the Messerschmitts Bf109F of JG 51 were perfectly directed on a great formation of Russian bombers flying without a fighters cover near Minsk. During a huge air fight Mölders’ pilots claimed shooting down as many as 114 enemy aircraft, and one of these shot-downs apeared to be JG51’s thousandth victory. That was only 20 shot-downs less than was the claim of this unit for the whole September 1940 in the Battle of England! Mölders himself shot down five Tupolevs SB-2 raising his score to 82 victories. In such a way he came to a level with a German ace of WW I Manfred von Richthofen, and for that Hitler awarded him with Swords to the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves...

The moving forward German forces pushed the Russian units ever further east. Lithuania and Latvia were taken and Estonia was entered, while several Russian armies were surrounded near Minsk and destroyed. The Red Army was withdrawing on the whole front...

Meanwhile, staying from 1 July at Stary Bychov airfield, Jagdgeschwader 51 was still effectively fighting the opponent’s air forces. On 5 July, to the north of Minsk, a group of six bombers Tupolew SB-2 was taken over and all of them were shot down within two minutes. Two of them fell victim to Mölders, who five hours later sent to the ground burning with flames two I-18 fighters, also known as Yakovlev Yak-1. Four days later, in one air fight, he claimed two Curtiss (I-153) and one I-16 shot down. The next day during his ‘Freie Jagd’ he got a lone two-winged reconnaissance Polikarpov RZ, which he shot down easily. Twenty minutes later another RZ appeared, and that one faced the predecessor’s fate, too. Mölders’ account increased to 91 victories. On 11 July he had two more kills, and still one more the day after. He was ever closer to the magic number of 100 victories – something never before achieved by anyone. Whereas on 12 July JG 51 claimed the 500th victory on the eastern front and the 1200th in their history...

Oberstleutnant Mölders was now taking off to fight several times a day. The waiting of the whole unit for the ‘’hundred’’ became an obsession. JG 51 leader broke the record of von Richthofen by far, and the new record was at hand. Everyone waited for the leader’s return and watched if he waved his wings flying over the airfield, which was the agreed token of a victory. On 13 July Mölders’ Messerschmitt waved the wings three times. The last victory of that day he had before the whole personnel’s eyes, when he shot down a bomber Pietlakov Pe-2 over the base. The next day two more machines of that same type went in flames to the ground, and his account reached 99 victories...

On the morning of 15 July 1941 Oberstleutnant Mölders divided tasks between his staff, and before noon he took off for a routine patrol flight. To the south of Orsha he saw five fighters Polikarpow I-16, which he attacked with his wingman. After a quick attack from the sun side the shot I-16 caught fire and went in a spin to the ground. The remaining Russian fighters dispersed in a blink. Mölders flied around a little receiving congratulations from his colleagues, who on the airffield radio heard his claim of the ‘’hundredth’’ and the wingman’s confirmation. On his way back he met a lone bomber DB-3, which he immediately attacked and shot down. In this way he gained his 100th and 101st victory as the first pilot in the world. At the Stary Bychov airfield great enthusiasm reigned: all pilots and mechanics gathered in the take-off area. When the JG 51’s leader’s Messerschmitt landed, champagne and other drink bottles shot, and Mölders was carried out of his cockpit on the people’s hands. They celebrated till the break of dawn...

Source :
http://www.elknet.pl/acestory/molders/molders.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_M%C3%B6lders
http://homepage2.nifty.com/fuss/image/w ... elders.jpg

[AlifRafikKhan]

For Nazi figur (or figurine), I think the oldest living person is Leni Riefenstahl...
Birth : 22 August 1902
Death : 8 September 2003 (aged 101 years and 17 days)

Leni Riefenstahl died in her sleep on the late evening of September 8, 2003 at her home in Pöcking, Germany, a few weeks after her 101st birthday. She had been suffering from cancer. She was buried in the Waldfriedhof cemetery in Munich...

Source :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni_Riefenstahl

[Bernd R]

Has anyone noticed that the photo of Christian Lohrey on page 1 of this thread has been "flipped"? His Luftwaffe eagle is on the wrong pocket and the swastika is the wrong way around. Yet his signature on the photo is the right way around. Was gibt?

The mirror image has been exchanged with the "correct" version on behalf of chris44. / Bernd, Mod

[AlifRafikKhan]

In the book titled "Monte Cassino" (I forget the author, next I will back for the confirmation), there's a member of Fallschirmjäger who fought in Cassino rubbles with the name of WILHELM B. I don't know if it's a nickname or what, but sure it's the shortest name a man can get!

The book is "Cassino, The Hollow Victory" by John Ellis...

[AlifRafikKhan]

Léon Degrelle, Agustín Muñoz Grandes and Alfons Rebaine were the most highly decorated foreign volunteers for Germany and they were recipients of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves...

Léon Degrelle :
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (June 15, 1906 – April 1, 1994) was a Walloon Belgian politician, who founded Rexism and later joined the Nazi German Waffen SS (becoming a leader of its Walloon contingent) which were front-line troops in the fight against the Soviet Union. After World War II, he was a prominent figure in the neo-nazi movements...
Severely wounded at Cherkasy in 1944, Degrelle steadily climbed in the Schutzstaffel hierarchy after the inclusion of Walloons in the Waffen-SS, being made an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the early months of 1945. He received the Ritterkreuz from Hitler's hands (he later claimed Hitler told him "if I had a son, I wish he'd resemble you"). He was later awarded the oakleaves (mit Eichenlaub), an distinction earned by only one other foreigner, the Estonian Alfons Rebane...

Agustín Muñoz Grandes :
Agustín Muñoz Grandes (January 27, 1896 – July 11, 1970) was a Spanish general, and politician, vice-president of the Spanish Government and minister with Francisco Franco several times; also known as the commander of the Blue Division between 1941 and 1943...
During his command Muñoz Grandes was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, with Oak Leaves personally added by Hitler. He was also decorated by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower after World War II ended and by Adenauer, First chancellor of West Germany after the war. These recognitions from governments on both sides of the conflict reflect General Munoz-Grandes dedication to his country and his value both as a military and as part of Spain's government. He was recalled to Spain in December 1942. A promotion to Lieutenant General awaited him at home, and his post on the Eastern Front was taken up by Emilio Esteban Infantes...

Alfons Rebane :
Alfons Vilhelm Robert Rebane, commonly known as Alfons Rebane (June 24, 1908 – March 8, 1976) was an Estonian military commander. He was the most highly decorated Estonian military officer in the course of the Second World War, participating in various German military units against the armed forces of the Soviet Union...
According to Carlos Caballero Jurado, Nigel Thomas, and Darko Pavlović: Alfons Rebane was "the most decorated and probably the most talented and charismatic Baltic soldier during WWII".Rebane became one of Estonia's most decorated soldiers. During his days in the Estonian Army, he was awarded the Defence League White Cross 3rd Class and the Latvian Aizsargi Cross of Merit. In the German army he was awarded the Iron Cross first and second class, the War Merit Cross with swords second class, the Eastern Front Medal, the silver Infantry Assault Badge and the silver Ostvolk Medal for bravery. Rebane was also decorated with the silver Close Combat Clasp, awarded for hand-to-hand fighting by unsupported infantry for a total of 30 days. In February 1944 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and in April 1945 he was promoted to Waffen-Standartenführer and awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves or extreme bravery in the battlefield. Rebane was one of the only two non-Germans awarded the oak leaves. Rebane did not receive the award or confirmation of the promotion until 1975. At the end of the war there were some rumours that Rebane had been awarded the Oak Leaves but no official notification reached Rebane at the time. The archives were moved to Great Britain and returned to Germany in 1975. At that time Rebane asked if the rumours held any truth and he was then formally notified that he had been in fact given the award and promoted by the then-Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz at the war's end...

Note : Actually the articles on Wikipedia about Degrelle and Rebane is rather confusing. They both said that there's only TWO non-Germans awarded with Oakleaves (without mentioning Muñoz Grandes). Maybe someone can explain this?


Source :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfons_Rebane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agustín_Muñoz_Grandes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Degrelle
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 8#p1355378
http://imagehost.epier.com/101020/munoz-grandes2a.jpg
http://nsdapao.biz/pt-2307-leon-degrelle-75dpi.jpg
http://www.hot.ee/crisman/alfons_rebane.JPG