Ulrich Kessler

Ulrich Otto Eduard Kessler (3 November 1894 – 27 March 1983) was a German general (General der Flieger) in the Luftwaffe during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded by Nazi Germany to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Ulrich Otto Eduard Kessler
Yank, The Army Weekly, Cover showing German Lt. Gen. Ulrich Kessler following capture in 1945
Born3 November 1894
Danzig-Langfuhr
Died27 March 1983(1983-03-27) (aged 88)
Bad Urach
Allegiance German Empire
 Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany
Service/branch Imperial German Navy
 Reichsmarine
 Luftwaffe
Years of service1914–45
RankGeneral der Flieger
Commands heldKampfgeschwader 1
Fliegerführer Atlantik
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Prior to the War Kessler had been in the Navy. He served as German Naval Attaché to the disarmament conference in Geneva, where he claimed to have befriended US Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson. [1]

U-234 surrendering

Ulrich Kessler was captured on 15 May 1945 while on board U-234 by a 15-man boarding party from the destroyer USS Sutton. He was returning to active duty as Chief of the Luftwaffe-Liaison-Staff Tokyo and Air-Attache at the German Embassy in Tokyo. According to U-234's captain, Johann-Heinrich Fehler, who erroneously calls him 'Kassler', Kessler made his anti-Nazi views clear to Fehler from early on. On the voyage, according to Fehler, relations between Kessler and a convinced Nazi passenger, a naval judge called Nieman, became very strained.[2]

Awards and decorations

Citations
  1. A.V. Sellwood The Warring Seas, Universal-Tandem Publishing 1972, p. 181.
  2. A.V. Sellwood The Warring Seas, Universal-Tandem Publishing 1972, pp. 147-72.
  3. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 279.

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.
  • 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.
  • 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 Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
Military offices
Preceded by
None		 Commander of Kampfgeschwader 1
1 May 1939 – 17 December 1939		 Succeeded by
Oberst Ernst Exss
Preceded by
Generalmajor Wilhelm Speidel		 Chief of Staff of Luftflotte 1
19 December 1939 – 25 April 1940		 Succeeded by
Oberst Heinz-Hellmuth von Wühlisch
Preceded by
Oberstleutnant Martin Harlinghausen		 Chief of Staff of X. Fliegerkorps
25 April 1940 – 21 May 1940		 Succeeded by
Generalleutnant Günther Korten
Preceded by
Generalmajor Wolfgang von Wild		 Commander of Fliegerführer Atlantik
5 January 1942 – 1 April 1944		 Succeeded by
None
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