Who handed out decorations?
 

In the war, I think Hitler handed out the Ritterkreuz, but who handed out the Iron cross? Was it Hitler, or Donitz? Your help is much appreciated!

Cheers,

Dan Biddle

I believe awards like the Iron Cross 2nd Class / 1st Class were awarded by the Flotilla kommandant. I'm not sure about the German cross...maybe Donitz. Prestigious awards like the Knights Cross were awarded by Hitler...atleast in the beginning of the war I believe but I'm not sure how they awarded the grades of the knights cross (oak leaves, and such) and who gave them out.

He asks a good question.

I have no idea but along the same lines...

How you YOU hand out the awards ?

Not the qualifications but like promotions, Uboat badges, etc.

I generally start with the higher ranking officers and work my way down.

Yeah, that's pretty much the same way I give out medals, Officers, Petty officers then sailors.


As far as the Iron Crosses go, I was under the impression they were reasonably prestigeous awards and maybe Donitz would hand them out to successful U-boat officers.

Anyway, thatnks for the quick responses :D

Cheers,

Dan Biddle

I think most of the awards were given by Dönitz who knew all commanders personally and always tried to keep himself in close contact with his men, especially with those who were stationed in France. Later, when Dönitz became CINC of the Kriegsmarine he had to move to Berlin - from then on most awards were given by the Flottillenchefs, which was common for the subs stationed in Italy or Norway anyway.

The Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross) was commonly NOT given by Hitler. Only the higher grades of the RK from Oakleaves on were presented by Hitler personally. This was normally done in some sort of group event with several candidates. After the procedure there was normally a common dinner.

I found this through a Google search:

"Hitler reserved the right to authorize all awards, but in time of war, the right to authorize military related awards was often delegated down to various levels of command, depending on the award in question. Certain awards, like the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, were still bestowed through Hitler and the OKW, while others, like the Iron Cross IInd Class, were authorizied by local unit commanders.

The Iron Cross was a standard issue medal given by all ranks of the armed forces (Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine). Despite the prestige of this medal, it was very widely awarded having about six million recipients throughout wartime."

I allways try to remember who did what on patrol and give medals to those who earned it by shooting down planes or loading topredos fast or fix the damages.

A system like there was in Close Combat where program follow individuals fear and action would be nice to see even in SH.