WW2 Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords,included Ribbon - SUPERIOR

Hitler reserved the right to personally authorize bestowal of the Knights Cross and all ranks were eligible for the awards.Originally the criteria for bestowal of the Knights Cross was outstanding personal bravery or decisive leadership in combat but this was later expanded to include personnel who had continually demonstrated exceptional acts of courage or an extremely high success rate on the battlefield.The Knights Cross of the Iron Cross was the most coveted awards of the Third Reich period and those presented with it were elevated to the status of a national hero.In total it is estimated that roughly 7,360 Knights Crosses were awarded during WWII,a relatively small number when one considers the amound of troops fielded and the magnitude of the war.On June 3.1940 a higher echelon of the Knights Cross was established with the introduktion of the Knights Cross with Oak-Leaves and on July 15.1941 an additional two higher grades of the Knights Cross with Oak-Leaves were introduced with the establishmend of the Knights Cross with Oak-Leaves and Swords and the Knights Cross with Oak-Leaves,Swords and Diamonds.Finally on December 29TH 1944 Hitler established the grade of the Knights Cross with the Golden Oak-Leaves,Swords and Diamonds.

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
Knight's Cross Alternate version	... with Oak Leaves Alternate version	... and Swords Alternate version	... and Diamonds Alternate version	...in Gold ... Alternate version

The standard 1939 Iron Cross was issued in the following two grades:

• Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse - abbreviated as EK II or E.K.II.)
• Iron Cross 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse - abbreviated as EK I or E.K.I.)

The Iron Cross was awarded for bravery in battle as well as other military contributions in a battlefield environment.

The Iron Cross 2nd Class came with a ribbon and the cross itself was worn in one of two different ways:

• From the second button in the tunic for the first day after award.
• When in formal dress, the entire cross was worn mounted alone or as part of a medal bar.

Note that for everyday wear, only the ribbon itself was worn from the second buttonhole in the tunic.

The Iron Cross 1st Class was a pin-on medal with no ribbon and was worn centered on a uniform breast pocket, either on dress uniforms or everyday outfit. It was a progressive award, with the second class having to be earned before the first class and so on for the higher degrees.

It is estimated that some four and a half million 2nd Class Iron Crosses were awarded during World War II, and 300,000 of the 1st Class.Two Iron Cross 1st Class recipients were women, one of whom was test pilot Hanna Reitsch. One of the Muslim SS members to receive the award, SS Obersturmführer Imam Halim Malkoć, was granted the Iron Cross (2nd Class) in October 1943 for his role in suppressing the Villefranche-de-Rouergue mutiny. He, together with several other Bosnian Muslims, was decorated with the EK. II personally by Himmler in the days after the mutiny. Because of his Muslim faith, he only wore the ribbon, and not the cross. Two Jewish officers of the Finnish Army and one female Lotta Svärd member were awarded Iron Crosses, but they would not accept them.The Spanish double-agent Joan Pujol Garcia, known to the Germans as Arabel and the British as Garbo received the 2nd Class Iron Cross,and an MBE from King George VI four months later.

                                   Knight's Cross Of The Iron Cross.

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, often simply Ritterkreuz) recognized extreme battlefield bravery or successful leadership. The Knight's Cross was divided into five degrees:

• Knight's Cross (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes)
• Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves (mit Eichenlaub)
• Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern)
• Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten)
• Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (mit Goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten)
• In total, 7,313 awards of the Knight's Cross were made. Only 883 received the Oak Leaves; 160 both the Oak Leaves and Swords (including Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (posthumously)); 27 with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds; and one with the Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (Oberst Hans-Ulrich Rudel).

                                                                                Pilots.

• Colonel (Oberst) Werner Mölders (15 July 1941)
• Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant) Adolf Galland (28 February 1942)
• Colonel (Oberst) Gordon M. Gollob (3 August 1942)
• Captain (Hauptmann) Hans-Joachim Marseille (3 September 1942)
• Colonel (Oberst) Helmut Lent (7 July 1944)
• Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer (14 October 1944)
• Major Walter Nowotny (19 October 1943)
• Colonel (Oberst) Hans-Ulrich Rudel (Diamonds: 29 March 1944, Golden Oak Leaves: 1 January 1945)
• Major Erich Hartmann (8 August 1944)
• Colonel (Oberst) Hermann Graf (16 September 1942)

Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring never held the Diamonds. He, being one of the first soldiers presented with the Knight's Cross in 1939, was presented with the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross in 1940.

                                                                      Submarine captains.

Submarine captains of the Kriegsmarine:

• Captain (Kapitän zur See) Wolfgang Lüth (11 August 1943)
• Commander (Fregattenkapitän) Albrecht Brandi (21 November 1944)

                                                                     General Field Marshals.

                                                General Field Marshals (Generalfeldmarschälle):

• Erwin Rommel (11 March 1943)
• Albert Kesselring (19 July 1944)
• Walter Model (17 August 1944)
• Ferdinand Schörner (1 January 1945)

                                                                  Generals and state officials.

• Brig. General (Generalmajor) Adelbert Schulz (9 January 1944)
• Waffen-SS Lt. General (SS-Obergruppenführer) Herbert Otto Gille (19 September 1944)
• Lt. General (General der Fallschirmtruppe) Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (19 September 1944)
• Maj. General (Generalleutnant) Theodor Tolsdorff (18 March 1945)
• Maj. General (Generalleutnant) Dr. Karl Mauss, DDS (15 April 1945)
• Lt. General (General der Panzertruppe) Dietrich von Saucken (8 May 1945)
• Lt. General (General der Panzertruppe) Hermann Balck (31 August 1944)
• Lt. General (General der Panzertruppe) Hasso von Manteuffel (18 February 1945)
• Maj. General (Generalleutnant) Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz (15 April 1944)
• Waffen-SS General (SS-Oberstgruppenführer) Sepp Dietrich (6 August 1944)
• General (Generaloberst) Hans-Valentin Hube (20 April 1944)