Willi Lechtenbörger

Dipl.-Ing. Willi Lechtenbörger
Born	2 February 1914 Bottrop
Died	27 August 1943 (aged 29) Sargasso Sea 28°19′N 37°58′W / 28.317°N 37.967°W
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1934–43
Rank	Kapitänleutnant (Ing.) of the Reserves (posthumous)
Unit	U-60 U-201 U-847
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of the Atlantic
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Dipl.-Ing. Willi Lechtenbörger^{[Notes 1]} (2 February 1914 in Bottrop – 27 August 1943 in the Sargasso Sea) was a German chief engineer (Leitender Ingenieur - LI) on a U-boat in World War II and a posthumous recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Willi Lechtenbörger was chief engineer under the command of Adalbert Schnee on board of U-60 and U-201. He and the entire crew of U-847 under the command of Herbert Kuppisch were killed by aircraft from the US escort carrier USS Card on 27 August 1943.

Awards

• U-boat War Badge (1939) (10 September 1940)^[1]
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (10 September 1940)^[1]
  • 1st Class (21 May 1941)^[1]
• German Cross in Gold on 30 September 1942 as Oberleutnant (Ing.) of the Reserves on U-201 in the 1st U-boat Flotilla^[2]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 September 1943 (posthumous) as Oberleutnant (Ing.) of the Reserves and chief engineer on U-847^[3]

Notes

1. In German an engineer's degree is called Diplom-Ingenieur (abbreviated Dipl.-Ing.)

References

Citations

1. Busch & Röll 2003, p. 382.
2. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 272.
3. Scherzer 2007, p. 498.

Bibliography

• Busch, Rainer; Röll, Hans-Joachim (2003). Der U-Boot-Krieg 1939–1945 — Die Ritterkreuzträger der U-Boot-Waffe von September 1939 bis Mai 1945 [The U-Boat War 1939–1945 — The Knight's Cross Bearers of the U-Boat Force from September 1939 to May 1945] (in German). Hamburg, Berlin, Bonn Germany: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn. ISBN 978-3-8132-0515-2.
• 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.
• Kurowski, Franz (1995). Knight's Cross Holders of the U-Boat Service. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-88740-748-2.
• 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.
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the Navy]. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1.
• 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.

External links

• uboat.net
• Lexikon der Wehrmacht