Helmut Wendorff

Helmut Wendorff
Nickname(s)	Bubi
Born	20 October 1920 Grauwinkel
Died	14 August 1944(1944-08-14) (aged 23) Merzieres, France
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1939–44
Rank	Obersturmführer
Unit	1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler 101st SS Heavy Panzer Detachment
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class Eastern Front Medal Panzer Badge

Helmut Max Ernst Wendorff was an Obersturmführer (first lieutenant) in the Waffen-SS. He was issued with the SS number 365017 and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. This was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Wendorff was born on 20 October 1920 in Grauwinkel. In the autumn of 1939, Wendorff graduated from the Numburg National-Political School and volunteered for military service when war broke out and joined the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) on 4 September 1939.

On 6 November 1939, Wendorff joined up with the Regiment in Prague, where it had temporarily taken up quarters after the Polish Campaign. Wendorff was assigned to the 11th Company, but was transferred to the Sturmgeschütz (Assault Gun) Battery in June 1940. He saw action in the Balkans and the Soviet Union with this Company.

On 14 September 1941, Wendorff was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class; he was also promoted from Sturmmann to Oberscharführer (technical sergeant). On 1 November 1941, Wendorff was sent to the SS Junkerschule in Bad Tölz and returned to the Sturmgeschütz battalion in April 1942, as an Untersturmführer (second lieutenant).

On 24 December 1942 Wendorff was reassigned to the 13 (Tiger) Company, SS Regiment 1 LSSAH, at Fallingbostel, where he Commanded a platoon in the 2nd Company. He was awarded the Knight's Cross on 12 February 1944.

He was killed in action on 14 August 1944, when his Tiger was knocked out 3 kilometres west of Merzieres.

References

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler

SS-Division (motorized) SS-Infanterie-Regiment (motorized) "LSSAH"	Sepp Dietrich¹ (Oak Leaves, Swords & Diamonds) Gerhard Pleiß Heinrich Springer Theodor Wisch (Oak Leaves & Swords)

Stab	Rudolf Lehmann² (Oak Leaves)

SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 "LSSAH"	Josef Armberger Wilhelm Beck Hans Dauser Martin Groß Konrad Heubeck Heinrich Kling Herbert Kuhlmann Hans Malkomes Joachim Peiper³ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Werner Pötschke (Oak Leaves) Hans Reimling Rudolf von Ribbentrop Georg Schönberger Franz Staudegger Helmut Wendorff Michael Wittmann⁴ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Balthasar Woll Max Wünsche⁵ (Oak Leaves)

SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1 "LSSAH"	Hermann Dahlke Albert Frey (Oak Leaves) Erich Göstl Erich Grätz Max Hansen (Oak Leaves) Frank Hasse Heinz Nowotnik Alfred Schneidereit Fritz Witt⁶ (Oak Leaves)

SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2 "LSSAH"	Hans Becker Josef Diefenthal Gerhard Grebarsche Paul Guhl Georg Karck Hugo Kraas (Oak Leaves) Joachim Peiper³ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Georg Preuß Rudolf Sandig Bernhard Siebken Werner Wolff

SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 1 "LSSAH"	Alfred Günther Heinrich Heimann Fritz Henke Karl Rettlinger Emil Wiesemann

SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 1 "LSSAH"	Kurt Sametreiter

SS-(Panzer-)Aufklärungs-Abteilung 1 "LSSAH"	Gerhard Bremer⁷ (Oak Leaves) Gustav Knittel Kurt Meyer⁸ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Hermann Weiser

SS-Flakartillerie-Abteilung 1 "LSSAH"	Walter Pitsch?

SS-Panzergrenadier Ausbildungs und Ersatz-Bataillon 1 "LSSAH"	Friedrich Blond?

¹Diamonds with the I SS Panzer Corps. ²Oak Leaves with the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich. ³Knight's Cross with SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2, Oak Leaves and Swords with SS-Panzer-Regiment 1. ⁴Swords with 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. ⁵Oak Leaves with SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 "Hitlerjugend" (12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend). ⁶Knight's with SS-Infanterie-Regiment "Deutschland" (2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich). ⁷Oak Leaves with SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 12 "Hitlerjugend" (12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend). ⁸Swords with the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. This along with the ? (question mark) indicates doubt regarding the veracity and formal correctness of the listing.

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Helmut Wendorff

See also

References