Last documented award of EK's in WWII

[DBRoyal]

Anyone know the last documented dates on which the a WWII EK1 and EK 2 was awarded? I seemed to remember seeing something like late May or early June 45, but am not sure.

[streptile]

Here's one from July (!):



Check this awesome thread.

[Tom B]

Here's one from July (!):



Check this awesome thread.

I have seen a few from this month. I don't remember seeing any with later dates.Most were for "mine" clearing and other disarming work after the war was over, but none for "combat" action of course. Tom

[Brian R]

Yes, most are related to mine clearing in Norway. See Simon's excellent thread here:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=658139

I also have an interesting example in my book related to a combat medic from 23. Panzer-Division dated August 10, 1945.

[Simon O.]

The latest awards i've thus far seen occured on the 14th Sept.45

The members of the last German 'unit' to officially surrender, the arctic weather station 'Haudegen' based on Spitzbergen were awarded the EK upon their return to Norway, the leader of the group Leutnant Dr. Dege was awarded the EKI and 9 of the 10 others got the EKII (the other man already held the EKII)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Haudegen

[Tony T-S]

Its rather good to have all the references here in one thread. Its a very interesting topic.

[Tom B]

The latest awards i've thus far seen occured on the 14th Sept.45

The members of the last German 'unit' to officially surrender, the arctic weather station 'Haudegen' based on Spitzbergen were awarded the EK upon their return to Norway, the leader of the group Leutnant Dr. Dege was awarded the EKI and 9 of the 10 others got the EKII (the other man already held the EKII)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Haudegen

OH yes, I had forgotten all about this info ! Thanks

[vacollector]

Were these camp issued award documents honored by the German Government once it reformed ? The KC blanket awards right before the surrender by Donitz where not. As where the Lappland Shield awards. Where these men eligible for reissued awards ?

[Ludwig]

OK, but are those award citation legal?
Were the awarding officers authorized to award?

[Simon O.]

By the book they are not 'legal' as far as the government goes, but it's not as simple as that.

Many decorations awarded to allied soldiers occurred after the war, some even today, why should it be any different for a German soldier? That's a political question rather than anything to do with entitlement.

The large number of awards and promotions that occurred in Norway post 8th May '45 fall in to two categories, firstly, those awards that were in the system or qualified for prior to defeat and secondly those earned post-defeat. After the dust of defeat had settled and prior to being shipped out of the country to either being discharged from service or being sent into captivity the Wehrmacht in Norway had plenty of time and opportunity to catch up on paperwork, making sure all the T's were crossed and the I's dotted as it were. Pictured is a good example of what i mean, a LW flakkampf awarded June'45 but qualified for during the winter\spring of 44-45.

The mine clearing EKs are based on legitimate pre-defeat criteria for the award and were subject to the same recommendation process as prior to defeat, more so in fact as all of the recommendations went right up to army level, something that was not required normally for divisional or korps level units.

I also look at these awards as an act of defiance by the Germans, the war may have been lost, but the Wehrmacht in Norway saw themselves as being undefeated, they certainly were not POWs, nor were they treated as such nor did they have that status, baring those arrested on suspicion of war crimes or the immediate arrest categories like the SS and sipo.


The awarding officers or rather authorities were the same as those who approved awards prior to the 8th May, so of course they were authorized, it's also why the Lappland shield awards are very specific in who the awarding authority is as the highest authority in Norway was Böhme as head of 20 Gebirgs Armee, remember that this was also done with the full knowledge of the allies.

[Tom B]

By the book they are not 'legal' as far as the government goes, but it's not as simple as that.

Many decorations awarded to allied soldiers occurred after the war, some even today, why should it be any different for a German soldier? That's a political question rather than anything to do with entitlement.

The large number of awards and promotions that occurred in Norway post 8th May '45 fall in to two categories, firstly, those awards that were in the system or qualified for prior to defeat and secondly those earned post-defeat. After the dust of defeat had settled and prior to being shipped out of the country to either being discharged from service or being sent into captivity the Wehrmacht in Norway had plenty of time and opportunity to catch up on paperwork, making sure all the T's were crossed and the I's dotted as it were. Pictured is a good example of what i mean, a LW flakkampf awarded June'45 but qualified for during the winter\spring of 44-45.

The mine clearing EKs are based on legitimate pre-defeat criteria for the award and were subject to the same recommendation process as prior to defeat, more so in fact as all of the recommendations went right up to army level, something that was not required normally for divisional or korps level units.

I also look at these awards as an act of defiance by the Germans, the war may have been lost, but the Wehrmacht in Norway saw themselves as being undefeated, they certainly were not POWs, nor were they treated as such nor did they have that status, baring those arrested on suspicion of war crimes or the immediate arrest categories like the SS and sipo.


The awarding officers or rather authorities were the same as those who approved awards prior to the 8th May, so of course they were authorized, it's also why the Lappland shield awards are very specific in who the awarding authority is as the highest authority in Norway was Böhme as head of 20 Gebirgs Armee, remember that this was also done with the full knowledge of the allies.

All you have said is true & factual, and IMO these awards were legal. Tom

[Ludwig]

Oh, so then perhaps the Weidinger, Stadler and so on... Swords to the Knight´s Cross are OK?...

If we are counting by the book, are these Iron Crosses "legal"?
It´s not what you or I think, what counts.
If you ask me, I´m sure they all deserve the Iron Cross!

[DBRoyal]

Which leads to the next question. Were there other awards besides EK's made post surrender? DKIG?

Oh, so then perhaps the Weidinger, Stadler and so on... Swords to the Knight´s Cross are OK?...

If we are counting by the book, are these Iron Crosses "legal"?
It´s not what you or I think, what counts.
If you ask me, I´m sure they all deserve the Iron Cross!

[Simon O.]

Oh, so then perhaps the Weidinger, Stadler and so on... Swords to the Knight´s Cross are OK?...

If we are counting by the book, are these Iron Crosses "legal"?
It´s not what you or I think, what counts.
If you ask me, I´m sure they all deserve the Iron Cross!

To the first part of your question the answer is no. The higher awards had to be approved and awarded by OKH\OKW etc. These offices ceased to function after the surrender so the correct award procedure could not be followed. This is the big difference between the high and low awards.

I already answered the second question, you're right it's not what you or i think, it's what they did at the time that counts, as far as collecting goes, legality doesn't come into it.

[Simon O.]

Which leads to the next question. Were there other awards besides EK's made post surrender? DKIG?

Refer to my above answer re. the higher awards that needed to be approved and awarded by offices that no longer existed.

Again, this question needs to be broken down in to 2 parts, awards for actions\qualified for prior to surrender and awards for actions post-surrender, like the mine clearing EKs.

Of the first category i have seen EKs, KVKs, flak kampf , marineartillerie badge, WB, minesweeper badge, i have also seen paperwork for the DK that had been in the pipeline when the war ended. By far the largest number of course is the Lappland shield, awards for which commenced on the 1st July. It's not always so easy to tell when an award was made as they could easily be backdated, a good example of this is the 20th April 45 bulk KVK awards. There are clearly others in this group

Of the second category, ie. awards for actions post-8th may, i have come across the following. EKII, EKII+sp, EKI, EKI+sp (both for mine clearing and other actions), KVKII m/S, wound badge, drivers badge in all 3 grades.
In the pictured example of a KVKII, note the wording used.