Award List - Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty

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USAF1986
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#61

Post by USAF1986 » 31 Jul 2003, 08:57

Although slightly off topic, here's Luftwaffe GL Fritz Mensch displaying the neck badge and breast star of the Grand Commander (or Commander, 1st Class) with Swords of the Order of the Lion of Finland.

Regards,
Shawn
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#62

Post by Stauffenberg II » 31 Jul 2003, 09:02

Thanks Requin and Shawn!

Shawn, I´m just collecting Michael, the Brave pics for you.

Regards,
Stauffenberg II


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#63

Post by USAF1986 » 31 Jul 2003, 21:43

Not sure if he’s been mentioned, but another recipient of the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Swords was Luftwaffe Generalleutnant Heinz-Hellmuth von Wühlisch. For gee whiz, here are his decorations that I am aware of:

• German Cross in Gold: 23 October 1944, Generalleutnant, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Commander of the Netherlands.
• Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class (1914): 4 July 1915.
• Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914): 30 October 1914.
• 1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class
• 1939 Bar to the Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class
• Prussian Princely Hohenzollern Honor Cross, 3rd Class with Swords: 16 April 1918.
• Prussian Life Saving Medal: 12 March 1918.
• Cross of Honor for Combatants 1914-1918
• Armed Forces Long Service Award, 1st Class (25-year Service Cross)
• Armed Forces Long Service Award, 3rd Class (12-year Service Medal)
• Wound Badge in Black – World War I award
• German Army Observer’s Badge – World War I award
• German Army Pilot’s Badge – World War I award
• Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Swords

NOTE: The award dates for his WWI decorations are as given in von Wühlisch’s biography in Neal W. O’Connor’s excellent Aviation Awards of Imperial Germany in World War I and the Men Who Earned Them – Volume VII: The Aviation Awards of the Eight German States and the Three Free Cities (Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2002).
Last edited by USAF1986 on 31 Jul 2003, 22:01, edited 1 time in total.

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#64

Post by Stauffenberg II » 31 Jul 2003, 21:56

Wühlisch, never thought.

Thank you for the award list. I just realized a mistake in my files. I have him included being awarded the DKG this date. But you are the more reliable source. Thanks again.

btw: I´m sorry to tell you that I only found 2 pics with recipients of Michael, the Brave. I have Manstein, wearing the 1st Class (Cdr.) and Jaenecke, wearing the 2nd Class, but you will know both pics (and recipients) I think. Let me know if you want the pics. I´m going to visit Italy for some days. Will have a further look then.

Regards

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#65

Post by USAF1986 » 31 Jul 2003, 22:03

So much for being a reliable source! I just edited the post...per Scheibert, von Wühlisch DID receive the DKiG! Not sure why I had the DKiS and KVK I and II in my files. Corrected now!

Regards,
Shawn

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#66

Post by Stauffenberg II » 31 Jul 2003, 22:08

Fine that we have discussed it! :lol:

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#67

Post by USAF1986 » 01 Aug 2003, 00:34

Although of poor quality, this photo shows Mannerheim shaking hands with Generaloberst Eduard Dietl who is displaying the breast star of the Grand Cross with Swords of the Order of the White Rose of Finland. Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen Stumpff, Chief of Luftflotte 5, stands in the center. Stumpff is presumably displaying the same order, but its virtually impossible to tell from this photo. The photo was taken on the occasion of Mannerheim’s 75th birthday.

Regards,
Shawn
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#68

Post by VJK » 02 Aug 2003, 15:16

Hi!

I've finally come across a pic of Falkenhorst wearing the Order.

Regards,

VJK
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#69

Post by VJK » 02 Aug 2003, 15:23

Here are 2 clearer pics of Dietl wearing the breast star.

Regards,

VJK
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#70

Post by Stauffenberg II » 04 Aug 2003, 01:13

Marvellous pics!

Thank you VJK.

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More Candidates for the Cross of Liberty 1st Class

#71

Post by Edward L. Hsiao » 11 Aug 2003, 06:13

Hellow Fellows!

Here are some more candidates for the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class. :idea:

Oberst Josef Remold, Adjustant of the 20th Mountain Army in Finland

Generalleutnant Hermann Hoelter was also a officer of the 20th Mountian Army. He already received the 2nd Class of Finnish Cross of Liberty. He could be a candidate for the 1st Class of that same order.

SS-Brigadefuehrer Dr. Gerd Unbehaun, Korpsarzt of the III. (Germ.) SS-Panzerkorps. Already awarded the 2nd Class of Finnish Cross of Liberty.

SS-Oberfuehrer Joachim Ziegler (RK with Oak Leaves), Chief of Staff of the III.SS-Panzer Korps (Gemanic). Ziegler was later promoted to SS-Brigadefuehrer on August 1, 1944.


Sincerely,

Edward :wink:

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#72

Post by USAF1986 » 12 Aug 2003, 13:39

Here’s an interesting World War I recipient of the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Swords: Charakter als Konteradmiral Walter Isendahl. He received the order for participating in the German operations in Finland from 20 February 1918-24 April 1918.

From 2 May 1918-14 September 1918, he served as Harbor Captain of Sevastopol following the German occupation of the Crimea. From 15 September 1918-21 November 1918, he commanded the Russian battleship Volya (ex-Imperator Aleksandr III). After being taken over at Sevastopol by a German crew under Isendahl, the Volya was held in readiness to repel an expected new Allied attack on the Dardanelles that never developed. The ship was later returned to Russian control and renamed General Alekseev. The battleship was part of the fleet that evacuated over 145,000 members of General Baron Petr Nikolaevich Wrangel’s White Russian forces from the Crimea in November 1920. The General Alekseev was ultimately interned in Bizerta where she was broken up by 1937.

Recalled to service in World War II, Isendahl served as the Representative of the Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine for Special Tasks in Southern Russia from 26 July 1941-31 January 1943. In this capacity he was responsible for the security and handling of written materials captured at Russian naval facilities and shipyards. Presumably, Isendahl was chosen for this duty in light of his experiences in the Crimea in World War I.

Regards,
Shawn
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Ernst August Rudolf Kusserow

#73

Post by Edward L. Hsiao » 11 Dec 2003, 00:08

Gentlemen!

Oberst i.G. Ernst August Rudolf Kusserow whose assignment was Chef des Generalstabes der Luftflotte 5, was probably a holder of the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class. I'm sure there were plenty of high ranking officers Oberst and above and worked in Luftflotte 5 had gotten this high Finnish neck order.
Kapitan zu See Kothe,Kommandeur of Zerstorergeschwader 6 was a prime candidate for the 1st Class because his destroyers had sailed in the Gulf of Finland during the early months of 1944.
Vizeadmiral August Thiele,the only sea admiral to be awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross and had commanded Kampfgruppe Thiele seemed to be awarded the 1st Class also.
So was Kapitan zu See Hans-Juergen Reinicke (RK),commander of the German Heavy Cruiser "Prinz Eugen".

These are my candidates so far! :idea:

Edward :)

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#74

Post by Harri » 11 Dec 2003, 00:57

8O
USAF1986 wrote:...he commanded the Russian battleship Volya (ex-Imperator Aleksandr III)....The ship was later returned to Russian control and renamed General Alekseev. The battleship was part of the fleet that evacuated over 145,000 members of General Baron Petr Nikolaevich Wrangel’s White Russian forces from the Crimea in November 1920. The General Alekseev was ultimately interned in Bizerta where she was broken up by 1937.
Although this is off topic I have to mention that Finnish Army later bought twelve heavy 305 mm (12") barrels (I don't remember about the lower calibre ones?) during the Winter War. The shipping was delayed and Germans captured all of them in France in 1940. Actually only eight barrels arrived in Finland because Germans used four ones for their coastal batteries in France (or was it in Norway?). These were called "Bizerta guns" in Finland.

Barrels were used for repairing three heavy 305 mm railway guns Soviet troops had partly demolished in Hanko naval base on Finnish soil when they evaquated the area later in 1941. The first gun was completed in Finland in October 1942, second in February 1943 and the third in July 1943. Guns designated 305/52 ORaut in Finland remained in Hanko area where they formed the 3rd Railway Battery which actually shot only a few trials. In October 1944 battery was attached to Separate Railway Artillery Battalion together with 2nd Railway Battery (4x 180 mm ex-Soviet railway guns). Finally on 1.1.1945 all captured and repaired former Soviet railway guns were ceded to Soviet Union as part of Finnish war indemnity program.

Isn't the history strange? :wink:

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#75

Post by USAF1986 » 11 Dec 2003, 01:29

I see only Kusserow on the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty award lists. He was a recipient of the 2nd Class with Swords (21 May 1942).

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. These documents cover the period of 1941-1944. Here is the list of all German recipients of the 1st Class and higher that received their orders during this time frame.

The award dates are those given in the Finnish documents. Presumably, this was the original date approved by the Finnish authorities and was probably not the date the recipient might actually have been awarded it.

Of note, there were several (though not terribly many) misspelled names. All of the recipients of the 1st Class and higher are pretty familiar names except two: Oberst Karl Seber and Oberst Eduard Ausfeld. Does anyone recognize these officers? I wonder if their names were misspelled in the original Finnish documents.

Regards,
Shawn

Order of the Cross of Liberty, Grand Cross with Swords
1. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring: 25 March 1942
2. Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel: 25 March 1942
3. Großadmiral Dr. phil. h. c. Erich Raeder: 25 March 1942
4. Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Brauchitsch: 25 June 1942
5. Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler: 30 July 1942
6. Großadmiral Karl Dönitz: 11 April 1944
7. Generaloberst Eduard Dietl: 24 June 1944

Order of the Cross of Liberty, Gold Medal of Merit
1. General der Infanterie Dr. phil. Waldemar Erfurth: 13 June 1944

Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Star, Oakleaf and Swords
1. Generaloberst Franz Halder: 25 March 1942
2. Generalfeldmarschall Georg von Küchler: 29 March 1943
3. Generaloberst Eduard Dietl: 21 January 1944

Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Star and Swords
1. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris: 16 September 1941
2. General der Infanterie Dr. phil. Waldemar Erfurth: 16 September 1941
3. Vizeadmiral Kurt Fricke: 25 March 1942
4. Generaloberst (Luftwaffe) Hans Jeschonnek: 25 March 1942
5. General der Artillerie Alfred Jodl: 25 March 1942
6. General der Infanterie Rudolf Ernst Otto Gercke: 15 July 1942
7. Generaloberst Ernst Busch: 29 March 1943
8. Generaloberst Georg Lindemann: 29 March 1943
9. SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Felix Steiner: 6 July 1943
10. General der Infanterie Kurt Zeitzler: 18 December 1943
11. General der Flieger (Luftwaffe) Günther Korten: 7 January 1944

Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Oakleaf and Swords
1. General der Flieger (Luftwaffe) Karl Bodenschatz: 25 March 1942
2. Generaladmiral Rolf Carls: 25 March 1942
3. General der Nachrichtentruppe Erich Fellgiebel: 25 March 1942
4. General der Infanterie Bodewin Keitel: 25 March 1942
5. Generalleutnant Herbert Osterkamp: 25 March 1942
6. General der Panzertruppe Friedrich Paulus: 25 March 1942
7. Admiral Conrad Patzig: 25 March 1942
8. General der Flieger (Luftwaffe) Bodo von Witzendorff: 25 March 1942
9. Generalleutnant Ferdinand Schörner: 28 March 1942
10. General der Infanterie Karl Weisenberger: 28 March 1942
11. General der Kavallerie Philipp Kleffel: 29 March 1943
12. General der Artillerie Albert Wodrig: 29 March 1943
13. General der Flieger (Luftwaffe) Hans-Georg von Seidel: 31 March 1943
14. General der Infanterie Franz Böhme: 13 May 1943
15. General der Pioniere Alfred Jacob: 5 October 1943
16. General der Flieger (Luftwaffe) Julius Ferdinand Schulz: 7 January 1944
17. Generalleutnant Ferdinand Jodl: 20 February 1944

Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Swords
1. Generalleutnant Erwin Engelbrecht: 21 September 1941
2. Kapitän zur See Hans Bütow: 12 October 1941
3. Oberst Karl Seber: 23 October 1941
4. Generalmajor Erich Buschenhagen: 26 October 1941
5. Generalmajor Kurt Dittmar: 26 October 1941
6. Generalmajor Ernst Goettke: 26 October 1941
7. Generalmajor Hans Kreysing: 26 October 1941
8. Generalmajor Ernst Schlemmer: 26 October 1941
9. Generalmajor (Luftwaffe) Wilhelm Becker: 9 November 1941
10. SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Karl-Maria Demelhuber: 1 December 1941 (His rank is listed simply as Generalmajor in the Finnish documents.)
11. Kapitän zur See Leopold Bürkner: 10 December 1941
12. Oberst Hans Piekenbrock: 10 December 1941
13. Konteradmiral Reimar von Bonin: 31 January 1942
14. Generalmajor Horst Rössing: 31 January 1942
15. Generalleutnant Rudolf Ernst Otto Gercke: 25 March 1942 (Later awarded the 1st Class with Star and Swords on 15 July 1942.)
16. Generalmajor Adolf Heusinger: 25 March 1942
17. Generalmajor (Luftwaffe) Otto Hoffmann von Waldau: 25 March 1942
18. Generalmajor (Luftwaffe) Walter Lorenz: 25 March 1942
19. Generalmajor Bernhard von Loßberg: 25 March 1942
20. Generalmajor Gerhard Matzky: 25 March 1942
21. Vizeadmiral Hubert Schmundt: 25 March 1942
22. Generalmajor Eduard Wagner: 25 March 1942
23. Generalmajor Walter Warlimont: 25 March 1942
24. Generalarzt Dr. Kurt Bingler: 28 March 1942
25. Generalleutnant Iwan Huenert: 28 March 1942
26. Generalmajor Ferdinand Jodl: 28 March 1942 (Later awarded the 1st Class with Oakleaf and Swords on 20 February 1944.)
27. Generalmajor Christian Philipp: 28 March 1942
28. Oberst Eduard Ausfeld: 28 April 1942
29. Generalleutnant Hermann Tittel: 7 May 1942
30. Oberst Werner Wachsmuth: 13 May 1942 (Commander of Infantry Regiment 310 of the 163rd Infantry Division; previously awarded the 2nd Class with Swords on 21 September 1941.)
31. Konteradmiral Otto Klüber: 21 May 1942
32. Generalmajor (Luftwaffe) Heinz-Hellmuth von Wühlisch: 21 May 1942
33. Generalmajor Rudolf Schmundt: 11 June 1942
34. SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Felix Steiner: 16 June 1942 (Later awarded the 1st Class with Star and Swords on 6 July 1943.)
35. Generalleutnant Wilhelm Berlin: 23 August 1942
36. Oberst (Luftwaffe) Alexander Holle: 23 August 1942
37. Generalmajor Heinrich Kittel: 23 August 1942
38. Generalmajor Gerhard Medem: 23 August 1942
39. Generalmajor Wilhelm “Willi” Raithel: 23 August 1942
40. SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Peter Hansen: 29 September 1942
41. Generalmajor Fritz Thiele: 7 October 1942
42. Kapitän zur See Kurt Böhmer: 10 October 1942
43. Generalmajor Dipl. Wirtsch. Ernst Becht: 12 November 1942
44. Generalmajor Rudolf Hünermann: 12 November 1942
45. Generalmajor Otto Will: 22 January 1943
46. SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Herbert Otto Gille: 6 March 1943
47. Generalleutnant Karl Allmendinger: 29 March 1943
48. Generalleutnant Hans Kratzert: 29 March 1943
49. Generalmajor Gerhard Reus: 29 March 1943
50. Generalmajor Martin Wandel: 29 March 1943
51. Generalmajor Wilhelm Wegener: 29 March 1943
52. Generalmajor Richard Bazing: 13 May 1943
53. SS-Oberführer Heinrich Gärtner: 13 May 1943
54. Generalmajor Georg Ritter von Hengl: 13 May 1943
55. SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei Heinrich “Heino” Jürs: 13 May 1943 (His rank is listed simply as Generalmajor in the Finnish documents.)
56. SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Matthias Kleinheisterkamp: 13 May 1943
57. Generalmajor August Krakau: 13 May 1943
58. Generalmajor Franz Rossi: 13 May 1943
59. Vizeadmiral Theodor Burchardi: 7 June 1943
60. Generalleutnant Wilhelm Haase: 7 June 1943
61. Generalmajor Paul Winter: 17 June 1943
62. Generalmajor Georg Radziej: 30 June 1943
63. Generalleutnant Kurt Weckmann: 13 August 1943
64. Generalmajor (Luftwaffe) Kurt Kleinrath: 24 October 1943
65. Generalmajor (Luftwaffe) Xaver Sattler: 24 October 1943
66. Generalmajor (Luftwaffe) Herbert Joachim Karl Walter Rieckhoff: 8 January 1944
67. Generalarzt Dr. Rudolf Lipf: 19 January 1944
68. Generalmajor Karl Rübel: 19 January 1944 (Previously awarded the 2nd Class with Swords on 12 December 1941.)
69. Generalmajor Hans Degen: 4 April 1944
70. Konteradmiral Heinz Nordmann: 15 April 1944
71. Konteradmiral Werner Stichling: 15 April 1944
72. Generalmajor Hero Breusing: 31 July 1944

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