Kurt Dittmar (January 5, 1891 in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

– April 26, 1959 in Stadtoldendorf) was a German general in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, who served as the Official Military Commentator of the German Armed Forces.

Biography

Dittmar entered the

German Imperial Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

as Officer candidate in March 1909. He was assigned to the 4th Engineer Battalion (''Magdeburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr.4.'') and commissioned a second lieutenant one year later. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Dittmar served with the rank of captain as a company commander and also as a temporary battalion commander. After the War, Dittmar entered the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

and continued to serve with engineers units, where he reached the rank of Colonel (''Oberst'') to the date of April 1, 1936. With the outbreak of the World War II, Dittmar served as a commander of the engineer school in Berlin-Karlshorst. He became a divisional commander in February 1941 and led the 169th Infantry Division, which was later stationed in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. In the summer of 1941, he participated in

Operation Polarfuchs Operation Arctic Fox (German: ''Unternehmen Polarfuchs''; ; Russian: ''Кандалакшская операция'') was the codename given to a World War II campaign by German and Finnish forces against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Sall ...

but was evacuated from Finland a few months later due to illness. He was rewarded for his leadership with the German Cross in Gold and also received Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Swords by the Finnish government. He was posted to the Army High Command Leader Reserve in October 1941, and became General for Special Employment in April 1942. In that post, which he held over the remainder of his war service, he was the Official Military Commentator of the German Armed Forces. A rumour that he committed suicide in April 1945 was dispelled on the 23rd when he surrendered to soldiers of the 30th U.S. Infantry Division at

. He later told his captors that the

National Redoubt A national redoubt or national fortress is an area to which the (remnant) military forces of a nation can be withdrawn if the main battle has been lost or even earlier if defeat is considered inevitable. Typically, a region is chosen with a geogra ...

did not exist. Dittmar was held in U.S and later in British captivity until May 1948.

Awards and decorations

* Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with Swords (26 October 1941) * German Cross in Gold (19 December 1941) * 1939 Clasps to the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class * Prussian Order of the Crown, 4th Class (World War I award) * Prussian Iron Cross of 1914, 1st and 2nd Class (World War I award) * Hanseatic Cross of Lübeck (World War I award) * The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (Post World War I award) * Wehrmacht Long Service Award I. - IV. Class

References

* Ryan, Cornelius. (1966). ''The Last Battle'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dittmar, Kurt 1891 births 1959 deaths Military personnel from Magdeburg German Army personnel of World War I Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Hanseatic Cross (Lübeck) Military personnel from the Province of Saxony German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States