The Last PLM Recipient to Die

[EKman]

Greetings Gents,

I'm just looking for a bit of trivia that I thought about a few days ago. I'm sort of a mental collector of firsts, lasts, oldests... Anyway, I was wondering who was the last person in WWI to be awarded the PLM.

Also, when did the last PLM recipient die? I doubt there are any still living today as I believe I read about the last German WWI veteran dying not long ago.

I've been trying to find answers to these questions but haven't had any luck, though I did find out who was the youngest EKI recipient of the First World War! Can someone answer either of these questions?

Thank you,

Chris

[regular122]

Chris,

The last recipients in WWI would have been on November 8th, 1918. The Kaiser abdicated on November 9th, making any new or recommended recipient forever out of reach of the award. Pilot Herman Becker was approved for the award on Nov. 2nd but the award never came before the Kaiser abdicated--thus he is not listed among recipients.

Here are those that received the award on the last set of approved orders on November 8th, 1918:

Army
Col. Armand von Alberti
Gen. Maj. Hermann von Dresler und Scharsenstein
Maj. Erich Gaertner
Capt. Wilhelm Edler von Graeve
Capt. Karl Hansen
Maj. Franz Heinrigs
Lt. Col. Ernst Kaether
Capt. Emil Meyer
Col. Freiherr von Reitzenstein

Air Service
Leutnant Ulrich Neckel
Leutnant Carl Degelow (some sources list November 9th, which would make him the very last one. He was the last Air service recipient)

The last living recipient was Infantryman Ernst Jünger, reknown novelist after the war, who died February 17th, 1998.

Hope this helps. Some may have more accurate records than I. Below is a pic of Degelow and Jünger. Steve

[EKman]

Steve,

Excellent info! Thank you very much, this has been fascinating to read, I really appreciate your time in posting these facts.

Best,

Chris