Walther Kittel

Walther Kittel
Born	20 March 1887 Metz, Alsace-Lorraine
Died	11 November 1971 Wiesbaden, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1945)
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1905–45
Rank	Generalstabsarzt
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	German Cross in Silver

Walther Kittel (1887–1971) was a German general during World War II.

Biography

Walther Kittel was born in Metz, Alsace-Lorraine, on March 20, 1887. Kittel joined the German Army straight from school at eighteen years old in order to become a military doctor. As Oberarzt, Kittel began a brilliant career in the University of Göttingen.

From 1914 to 1918, during the First World War, Kittel served as Stabsarzt. He stayed in the army after the war, as a medical officer. Walther Kittel was promoted to the rank of Generaloberarzt on April 1931, and Oberstarzt on January janvier 1934. He continued his career as Generalarzt on January 1937 and janvier 1937, and eventually Generalstabsarzt on 1 October 1940.

Affected first in the 1st Army, he was posted then in the 12th Army on 22 December 1940, then in the 6th Army on June 19, 1942. As Chief Medical Officer in the Army Group Don, Kittel received the German Cross in silver on February 24, 1943. Chief Medical Officer in the Army Group South from March 1943 to April 1944, he was then assigned to the Army Group Ukraine, athen to the Army Group A from September 1944 to January 1945 and eventually to the Army Group Centre, from January to May 1945. Prisoner of war on May 8, 1945, Walter Kittel remained in captivity until 1947.

Member of the Scientific Council for Health Affairs of the German Ministry of Defence from 1963 to 1967, Walter Kittel died on 11 November 1971, in Wiesbaden.

Awards and decorations

• German Cross in Silver (24 February 1943), as Surgeon General and Army Group South doctor in the quartermaster department of task force Don
• Iron Cross 1914 (2nd and 1st classes)
• Knight's Cross of Order of Franz Joseph with war decoration (Austro-Hungary)
• Austro-Hungarian Badge of Honour of the Red Cross (2nd class) with war decoration
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (4th to 1st classes)
• War Merit Cross (1939), 1st and 2nd class with Swords
• Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords (4 June 1944) as Surgeon General and Army Group South doctor in the quartermaster department of task force Don

Sources

• Helmut Berthold: Die Lilien und den Wein: Gottfried Benns Frankreich, Würzburg : Königshausen & Neumann, 1999.