Date of birth:

June 23rd, 1916 (Ockfen/Rhineprovince, Germany)

Date of death:

June 19th, 2006 (Ockfen/Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany)

Nationality:

German (1933-1945, Third Reich)

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberfeldwebel der Reserve

Unit:

5. / Infanterie-Regiment 124

Awarded on:

September 19th, 1942

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Oberfeldwebel der Reserve (Warrant Officer of Reserves)

Unit:

Zugführer 5. / Infanterie-Regiment 124

Awarded on:

October 15th, 1942

The following wartime excerpt describes why Merten received the Knight’s Cross…

“Oberfeldwebel Peter Merten… received the Knight’s Cross on the 15.10.1942 while serving as a Zugführer in an Infanterie-Regiment. In the area around Rzhev he led a handful of infantrymen in an immediate counterattack that brought a Bolshevik attack to a halt. Then, although he was himself twice wounded, he decided to continue storming ahead. In doing so he definitively crushed the enemy attack.”

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

• Photo 1: Wilco Vermeer
• Photo: Wilco Vermeer collection, the Netherlands
  
• - Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002
  - Fellgiebel W.P., Elite of the Third Reich, The recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-1945: A Reference, Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003, ISBN 1-874622-46-9
  - Patzwall K., Scherzer V., Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Geschichte und Inhaber Band II, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001, ISBN 3-931533-45-X
  - Unteroffiziere des Heeres mit dem Ritterkreuz - Sammelbilder