August Thiele

August Thiele (26 August 1893 – 31 March 1981) was an admiral during World War II and commander of the heavy cruiser "Lützow". He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

August Thiele
Born	(1893-08-26)26 August 1893 Charlottenburg, German Empire
Died	31 March 1981(1981-03-31) (aged 87) Mölln, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Navy  Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Rank	Vizeadmiral
Commands held	Minesweeper M 111 SSS Gorch Fock SSS Horst Wessel heavy cruiser Lützow Kampfgruppe "Thiele"
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Thiele received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his command of Lützow and his leadership of Kampfgruppe V (5th battle group) during the occupation of Oslo. Thiele had taken command of the battle group after the sinking of Blücher.[1] He was appointed commander of the Kampfgruppe II (2nd battle group) in the Baltic Sea on 28 July 1944 and commander of Kampfgruppe "Thiele" on 23 March 1945. With the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, Admiral Hipper, Admiral Scheer and Lützow, and the ships of the line Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein and the light cruisers Emden, Köln, Leipzig and Nürnberg he participated from sea in the land battles for Courland and in Samland.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (8 January 1916) &1st Class (29 June 1919)[2]
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (30 May 1918)[2]
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 1st Class (5 March 1937)[2]
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (14 April 1940) & 1st Class (15 April 1940)[2]
• High Seas Fleet Badge (1940)[2]
• Naval Front Clasp in Bronze (12 April 1945)[2]
• German Cross in Gold on 9 March 1945 as Vizeadmiral in Kampfgruppe "Thiele"[3]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 18 January 1941 as Kapitän zur See and commander of heavy cruiser "Lützow"[4][5]
  • 824th Oak Leaves on 14 April 1945 as Vizeadmiral and commander of Kampfgruppe "Thiele"[5][6]

References

Citations

1. Dörr 1996, p. 282.
2. Dörr 1996, p. 285.
3. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 473.
4. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 421.
5. Scherzer 2007, p. 741.
6. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 101.

Bibliography

• Dörr, Manfred (1996). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 2: L–Z (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 3-7648-2497-2.
• 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.
• 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.