Peter Prien

Peter Prien
Born 9 June 1922
Altona
Died 28 September 2006(2006-09-28) (aged 84)
Altona
Allegiance  Nazi Germany
Service/branch Heer
Years of service ?–1945
Rank Oberleutnant of the Reserves
Unit Panzer-Regiment 3
Battles/wars

World War II

Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Peter Prien (9 June 1922 – 28 September 2006) was a highly decorated Oberleutnant of the Reserves in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Awards and decorations

Notes

  1. Peter Prien was nominated twice for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The first nomination was made for actions before end of March 1945, a second nomination was submitted on 9 May 1945, presumably for a different deed. A contemporary file card for the first nomination still exists, which was created by the Heerespersonalamt (HPA—Army Staff Office) for a nomination received from the troop on 28 March 1945. This nomination did not prevail. A Heerespersonalamt-Verleihungsvorschlag (HPA-VV—Army Staff Office Nomination Recommendation) was not created. He was also not listed in the book "Verliehene Ritterkreuze" (Awarded Knight Crosses) for his first nomination. The first nomination was either left unfinished by the end of the war, or it was rejected. An argument supporting the rejection thesis is the fact that the nomination by the troop is no longer available. On the other hand, there is no rejection number or note on the file card.
    The second nomination, presumably a teleprinter message, is also no longer available. Again no HPA-VV was created nor a file card. Major Joachim Domaschk noted this nomination in the first section of the book "Verliehene Ritterkreuze" with an entry Nr. 5101. This number was assigned twice, the second section of this book starts with Nr. 5100. Why Domaschk listed him there cannot be determined anymore. This entry states that this nomination by the troop was received by the HPA on 9 May 1945 and was forwarded (Scherzer assumes to General Ernst Maisel) and awarded the very same day. The presentation was unlawfully made, first because it is dated after 8 May 1945, secondly because neither General Maisel nor Major Domaschk had been authorized to do so. Prien was a member of the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR).[2]

References

Citations

  1. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 281.
  2. Scherzer 2007, pp. 163–164.

Bibliography

  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 

External links

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