Award List - Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty

[Stauffenberg II]

Shawn (USAF1986) has received the official award list from the responsible Finnish office. Unless he made a reading or typo error I would go with his data.

[Mikko H.]

According to Antti Matikkala's book Kunnian ruletti, Generaladmiral Rolf Carls was originally awarded Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class, with Swords and Oak Leaves on 25 March 1942. However, at the same time his subordinate Vizeadmiral Kurt Fricke was awarded the same decoration with Swords and Breast Star, a decoration one tier higher than Carls's. This was obviously an embarrassing mistake by Finns, and the decorations were eventually switched on 15 April: Swords and Breast Star for Carls, Swords and Oakleaves for Fricke. The official date of award remained 25 March.

Generaladmiral Carls received his decoration on 27 April when the Finnish representative at OKH, Lieutenant General Paavo Talvela and naval attaché Lieutenant Commander Hakon Grönholm visited him in Kiel.

[Kriegsmarine Großadmiral]

Thank you very much Mikko!

[Stauffenberg II]

Thanks Mikko!

[graveland]

Thanks, Mikko!

[Erich2019]

Heer Generalleutnant Iwan Heunert was also awarded the Order of the White Rose 1st Class with Swords and Breast Star!

Erich

[Mikko H.]

Heer Generalleutnant Iwan Heunert was also awarded the Order of the White Rose 1st Class with Swords and Breast Star!

Erich

According to Matikkala's aforementioned book, Heunert was only conferred Cross of Liberty, 1st Class, with Swords (28 March 1942) and Commander First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland with Swords (22 October 1942). No Breast Star.

[Erich2019]

Hi Mikko,

There is a photo of him wearing the Breast Star in Angolia’s “For Fuehrer and Fatherland: Military Awards of the Third Reich”. If you do not have the book, you can google his name with Images and it shows the same photo!

Erich

[Mikko H.]

Hi Mikko,

There is a photo of him wearing the Breast Star in Angolia’s “For Fuehrer and Fatherland: Military Awards of the Third Reich”. If you do not have the book, you can google his name with Images and it shows the same photo!

Erich

Hello, that’s not the Cross of Liberty breast star, but the Order of the White Rose breast star, part of his 1st Class Commander’s decoration. Admittedly the two breast stars look very similar.

[graveland]

Hi Mikko,

There is a photo of him wearing the Breast Star in Angolia’s “For Fuehrer and Fatherland: Military Awards of the Third Reich”. If you do not have the book, you can google his name with Images and it shows the same photo!

Erich

Hello, that’s not the Cross of Liberty breast star, but the Order of the White Rose breast star, part of his 1st Class Commander’s decoration. Admittedly the two breast stars look very similar.

Full agree with you, Mikko.

[Erich2019]

That is what I originally stated on the 23rd if you look at the post!

Erich

[Mikko H.]

That is what I originally stated on the 23rd if you look at the post!

Erich

Aw, bloody hell, my mistake!

[Erich2019]

No worries mate!!

[AlifRafikKhan]

Oberstleutnant Eugen-Heinrich Bleyer (Kommandeur Infanterie-Regiment 379 / 169.Infanterie-Division) received the Vapaudenristin ritarikunta 2nd class from Eversti (Colonel) Verner August Viikla (right, Commander of Finland's 6th Division). The picture was taken on 2 November 1941 in the Salla region, Lapland.

Source: sa-kuva

[jmark]

Courtesy of Tom, I received copies of the original Finnish documents detailing the German recipients of the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty in all classes as well as the associated medals.

Does anybody know if Tom/Shawn's list contains the names of recipients of the IV. Klasse? One officer relevant to my research received this medal on 3 March 1943 and I'm keen to find others from "my" unit who also received the medal.

I've sent Shawn a PM, but he has not been active on AHF since 2016.

Hopefully somebody here can help.

Thanks
Jason