Ulrich Kessler
Ulrich Otto Eduard Kessler | |
---|---|
Born | 3 November 1894 Danzig-Langfuhr |
Died | 27 March 1983 Bad Urach | (aged 88)
Allegiance | German Empire Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany |
Service/ | Imperial German Navy Reichsmarine Luftwaffe |
Years of service | 1914–45 |
Rank | General der Flieger |
Commands held | Kampfgeschwader 1 Fliegerführer Atlantik |
Battles/wars | World War I
World War II |
Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Ulrich Otto Eduard Kessler (3 November 1894 – 27 March 1983) was a German general (General der Flieger) in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded by Nazi Germany to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
Prior to the War Kessler had been in the Navy. He served as German Naval Attaché to the disarmament conference in Geneva, where he claimed to have befriended US Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson.[1]
Ulrich Kessler was captured on 15 May 1945 while on board U-234 by a 15-man boarding party from the destroyer USS Sutton. He was returning to active duty as Chief of the Luftwaffe-Liaison-Staff Tokyo and Air-Attache at the German Embassy in Tokyo. According to U-234's captain, Johann-Heinrich Fehler, who erroneously calls him 'Kassler', Kessler made his anti-Nazi views clear to Fehler from early on. On the voyage, according to Fehler, relations between Kessler and a convinced Nazi passenger, naval judge Kay Nieschling, became very strained.[2]
Awards and decorations[]
- German Cross in Gold (3 April 1944)
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 April 1944 as Generalleutnant and Fliegerführer Atlantik[3]
Citations[]
Bibliography[]
- (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.
- Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
- 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 Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
- 1894 births
- 1983 deaths
- Military personnel from Gdańsk
- People from West Prussia
- Luftwaffe World War II generals
- German diplomats
- Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class
- Recipients of the Hanseatic Cross (Lübeck)
- Recipients of the Gold German Cross
- Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
- German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States
- Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I
- Generals of Aviators
- German military personnel stubs