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
Born	3 November 1894 Danzig-Langfuhr
Died	27 March 1983 (aged 88) Bad Urach
Allegiance	German Empire  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Navy  Reichsmarine  Luftwaffe
Years of service	1914–45
Rank	General der Flieger
Commands held	Kampfgeschwader 1 Fliegerführer Atlantik
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight'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

• German Cross in Gold (3 April 1944)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 April 1944 as Generalleutnant and Fliegerführer Atlantik[3]

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.