- Dieter Kesten
-
Dieter Kesten Born 9 June 1914
Gelsenkirchen, GermanyDied 3 April 1945
Killed in Action, Möllersdorf, AustriaAllegiance 
Nazi GermanyService/branch 
Waffen SSYears of service 1933–1945 Rank Sturmbannführer Unit 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich Battles/wars World War II Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Iron Cross 1st Class
Iron Cross 2nd Class
Wound Badge in Silver
Panzer Badge [1][2]Dieter Kesten was a Sturmbannführer (Major), in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Contents
Early life
Dieter Kesten was born on the 9 June 1914 at Gelsenkirchen.[1] He volunteered to join the SS in September 1933, and served with the 7th and 79th Standarte, before being selected to become an officer and was posted to the SS-Junkerschule at Braunschweig in April 1936.[3]
After graduation he was posted to the II.Battalion, Germania Regiment, becoming the Ordonnanz offizier on the regimental staff.[3]
World War II
In May 1940 he left the regiment to become the Adjutant to SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Herrmann the Commander of the Waffen SS Nord, until December 1940.[3] He also occupied the same position for the Commander of the Waffen-SS Ost.[3]
In May 1941 he was posted to the Kampfgruppe Nord, again as the Adjutant until May 1942, when he returned to the Das Reich Division.[3]
He was given command of the 1st Company, SS Regiment Langemarck (27th SS Volunteer Division Langemarck) and later was made the Division Adjutant.[3]
He moved to the 2nd SS Panzer Regiment as the 6th Company Commander until November 1943 and it was while in command of the 6th Company that he was awarded the Knight's Cross.[2]
During the Battle of Kharkov[disambiguation needed
], Das Reich had been transferred south to oppose the Russian counterattack across the Mius River, and destroying 391 tanks and SUs (Samokhodnaya ustanovka (self propelled guns)) from 30 July to 21 August[year needed]. Das Reich then moved to the outskirts of Kharkov, where it was involved in even heavier fighting. Its Panther battalion first saw combat on 22 July, around Starja-Ljubotin and Kommuna, knocking out 53 Russian tanks. The next day, 12 Kilometers west of Kharkov, the platoon of Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant) Karl Mühleck broke up a Russian tank assault. He alone destroyed 7 tanks. On the 24 July, Kesten's 6th Company, newly supplied with side-skirted Panzer IVs, battled 60 T-34s between Udy-Bogens and Orkan, south west of Kharkov, which had fallen to the Russians on the previous day. Kesten's panzers knocked out 29 of the 60 tanks. Karl Mühleck and Kesten would later receive Knight's Crosses for these actions.[4]Kesten was the given the command of the II. Battalion, 2nd SS Panzer Regiment in November 1943.[2][3]
He was killed in action, near Möllersdorf south of Vienna on the 3 April 1945.[2][3]
See also
Like a Cliff in the Ocean, The History of the 3.SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf", Karl Ullrich, 2002, J.J. Federowicz Publishing, ISBN 0-921991-69-X
Notes
- ^ a b "orion47". Archived from the original on 2009-10-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20091027084643/http://geocities.com/~orion47/.
- ^ a b c d "frontkjemper". http://www.frontkjemper.info/show_person.php?P_ID=372.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "dasreich". http://www.dasreich.ca/kesten.html.
- ^ "kursk". http://www.dasreich.ca/kursk.html.
References
- Mattson, Gregory Louis (2002). SS—Das Reich: The History of the Second SS division, 1939–45. Spellmount. ISBN 1-86227-144-5.
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945. Friedburg: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
- Mitcham, Samuel, Jr. (2007). Retreat to the Reich. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-3384-X.
- Henschler, Henri; Will, Fay (2003). Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS, 1943–45. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-2905-2.
Categories:- 1914 births
- 1945 deaths
- SS officers
- Recipients of the Knight's Cross
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