Wilhelm Meendsen-Bohlken

Wilhelm Meendsen-Bohlken
Born	(1897-06-25)25 June 1897 Brake
Died	20 August 1985(1985-08-20) (aged 88) Cologne
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1919) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Imperial German Navy Reichsmarine Kriegsmarine
Years of service	1915–45
Rank	Vizeadmiral
Unit	SMS Freya U-80 U-117
Commands held	pocket battleship Admiral Scheer
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Operation Wunderland
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Wilhelm Gerhard Oskar Julius Meendsen-Bohlken (25 June 1897 – 20 August 1985) was a Vizeadmiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (1 July 1916)
  • 1st Class (30 December 1919)
• U-boat War Badge (1914) (October 1918)
• Friedrich-August Cross
  • 2nd Class (19 November 1917)
  • 1st Class (1918)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (5 October 1934)
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award 4th to 2nd Class
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (10 June 1942)
  • 1st Class (30 August 1942)
• War Merit Cross with Swords
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• German Cross in Gold (15 September 1942)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 15 May 1944 as Konteradmiral and Befehlshaber der deutsches Marinekommandos in Italien (Commander-in-chief of the German Naval Commando in Italy)
• High Seas Fleet Badge (29 November 1942)
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 5 October 1943
• Ärmelband Afrika (1943)

References

Bibliography

• Dörr, Manfred (1996). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine—Band 2: L–Z (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2497-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Range, Clemens (1974). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Kriegsmarine. Stuttgart, Germany: Motorbuch Verlag. ISBN 978-3-87943-355-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• 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 (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)