The fate of the Diamonds.

[markus]

Lovely image of Dietrich. Are the three 'pips' on the collar genuine or edited? I read that he never wore the third one.

John

That particular summer tunic from Aug 1944 is in a private collection today. Another 2 tunics and a leather great coat with Oberst-Gruppenführer insignia (3 pips) are in collections in the U.S., Europe and Mexico.
Dietrich had his uniforms upgraded after his promotion in Aug. 1944 and receiving corresponding insignia at the Wolfe's Lair in Eastern Prussia.

Cheers
Markus

[John Toner]

Thanks for clarifying that, Markus.

John

[chen]

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[Sepp45]

SS-Oberstgruppenführer Sepp Dietrich (in summer tunic) wearing the newly awarded Diamonds set, August 1944.

According to author Dietrich Maerz, it is difficult to establish whether this is the A- or B-piece

I was told by a reliable source that Dietrich is wearing the A piece

[markus]

I was told by a reliable source that Dietrich is wearing the A piece

Could be since he was at home.

He wore his B-piece when surrendering to the Americans. (In reality, it went into his wife's purse slightly before and she was not searched so the piece went into family pocession afterwards.

[Dietrich Maerz]

Hello My Friend !!! This is a really great photo. I don't remember ever seeing it before ! Thanks ! Tom

That photo (and others) is from an article I wrote about the B-Piece of Sepp Dietrich, published in my magazine International Militaria Collector.

[Sepp45]

That photo (and others) is from an article I wrote about the B-Piece of Sepp Dietrich, published in my magazine International Militaria Collector.

That's right Dietrich, and I did give the credit to the International Militaria Collector Magazine in my initial post

[Sepp45]

I'm back posting in the thread! Thanks to a very good friend who helped me!

GFM Erwin Rommel in Normandy, wearing his B type while inspecting the field.

[Sepp45]

Hasso von Manteuffel field-notification of his diamonds award.

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[Sepp45]

Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring Type A, 2nd Form set

(Photo credits to author Adrian Forman)

[Sepp45]

Color photo of the last soldier to be awarded the Diamonds during the war: General der Panzertruppe Dietrich von Saucken.

He was notified of the award on May 8th, 1945. But he never got any diamond set or documentation.

2 years ago I uploaded a postwar photo of him wearing his KC, but no idea about the set. http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...&postcount=307

[Sepp45]

Part of the estate belonging to Kapitän zur See Wolfgang Luth

(Thanks to my friend Daniel for sending the picture)

[Sepp45]

Funeral and Ordenskissen of Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube in Berlin on 26 April 1944.

On 20 April 1944, Hube returned to Germany where Adolf Hitler personally awarded him the Diamonds and promoted him to Generaloberst for his actions in Sicily, Salerno and in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket. Hube was killed when the aircraft that was transporting him to Berlin crashed after takeoff in Salzburg on 21 April 1944.

According to the information, his cassette was destroyed during an air raid over Munich, 13 July, 1944.

No info about the diamonds pieces, so far.

[Sepp45]

Color picture of the formal diamonds document of Major Hermann Graf. This amazing item was sold by Graf himself to a collector in Germany many decades ago. It also has its original cassette in blue leather, and bears AH original signature.

(Photo credits to Andreas-Thies and the International Medal Collector Magazine)

[Sepp45]

Oficial photo of General der Panzertruppe Hasso von Manteuffel wearing his set of diamonds, after being awarded by Hitler.