Mortimer von Kessel

Mortimer von Kessel
Born	25 May 1893 Arnswalde, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia German Empire now Choszczno, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland
Died	8 January 1981 (aged 87) Goslar, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1914–45
Rank	General der Panzertruppe
Commands held	20th Panzer Division Head of the Army Personnel Department VII Panzer Corps
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Mortimer von Kessel (25 May 1893 – 8 January 1981) was a Panzer General in the German army during the Second World War.

He joined the Imperial German Army as an officer cadet in 1914 and was commissioned as a leutnant in the 12th Hussar Regiment on 22 March 1915 and was awarded the Iron Cross first and second class in the First World War. He was then retained in the Reichswehr in which he reached the rank of Oberstleutnant by 1937.

He led a reconnaissance regiment during the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and was promoted to Oberst in October that year and appointed as the head of the Army Personnel Department the following month and remained in this post until January 1943, having been promoted to Generalmajor in 1942. When he was moved to the leadership reserve until 8 May 1943 when he was appointed as the commander of the 20th Panzer Division.

On 1 December 1943, he was promoted to Generalleutnant, and for his defence of the Vitebsk region on the Eastern Front he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Then for his actions during the Soviet Summer Offensive of 1944 he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. In December 1944, he was appointed commander of the VII Panzer Corps in East Prussia. On 1 March 1945, he was promoted to General der Panzertruppe and continued to command the panzer corps until he was captured.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (27 March 1915)^[1]
  • 1st Class (25 September 1917)^[1]
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (5 July 1943)^[1]
  • 1st Class (23 July 1943)^[1]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 28 December 1943 as Generalmajor and commander of 20. Panzer-Division^[2]
  • 611th Oak Leaves on 16 October 1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of 20. Panzer-Division
• Knight's Cross of the Second Class of the Order of the White Falcon with Swords

References

Citations

1. Thomas 1997, p. 359.
2. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 254.

Bibliography

• 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.
• 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 Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 1: A–K] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6.

External links

• Mortimer von Kessel at Lexikon der Wehrmacht
• Mortimer von Kessel at Axis Biographical Research