Mortimer von Kessel


Mortimer von Kessel was a German general in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany.

Biography

Kessel joined the Imperial German Army in August 1914 and was then retained in the Reichswehr following World War I. He led a reconnaissance regiment during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. Promoted to Oberst in October that year, he was appointed as the head of the Army Personnel Department and remained in this post until January 1943. In May 1943 he was appointed as the commander of the 20th Panzer Division.
On 28 December 1943, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions in the Vitebsk region on the Eastern Front. Then for his actions during the Soviet 1944 summer offensive, Operation Bagration, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. In December 1944, he was appointed commander of the VII Panzer Corps in East Prussia with which he surrendered at the end of the war.

Awards