Decorations
Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords
Spanienkreuz mit Schwertern in Bronze
The Spain Cross was given for outstanding service during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. It was only lend on the 6 June, 1939. On this day the Legion Condor paraded in front of Hitler in Berlin. The Spanish Cross was awarded in all classes a total of 26,117 times. The highest class, the Spanienkreuz mit Schwertern in Gold mit Brillanten was given only 29 times mostly for pilots like the later aces Galland, Mölders and Oesau. The Spanish Cross was awarded in four classes with swords and two classes without swords:
It had been said, that the commander of U-34 Kptlt. Harald Grosse sank on the 12th December, 1936 the Spanish Republican submarine C 3 and therefore became the only German Navy officer to receive the Spanish Cross in Gold with Swords, but I have no confirmation for either fact. |
Decorations ordered by last name
See this list sorted by date
Commander and rank | Age | Crew | Date | U-boat Command(s) held * | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Berkemann, Paul | 26 | 6 Jun 1939 | ||||
Eisele, Wilhelm | 32 | 6 Jun 1939 | ||||
Kptlt. | Freiwald, Kurt | 32 | 25 | 6 Jun 1939 | U-21, U-7, U-33 | |
Leinemann, Hannes | 31 | |||||
KrvKpt. | Pauckstadt, Hans | 34 | 26 | U-18, U-12, U-30, U-34 | ||
Rasch, Karl-Heinz + | 25 | 38 | 6 Jun 1939 | |||
Ltn. | Vogelsang, Ernst + | 24 | 31 |
7 U-boat Commanders decorated with Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords (Spanienkreuz mit Schwertern in Bronze) located.
Legend:
+ Indicates the Officer died in the war.
* Commands held indicates the U-boat commands held by this officer before award date. In some cases the officer had not taken command his first boat yet or was not even in the U-boat force yet.
Note: This listing is still being compiled and some recipients might be missing.