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Gelbhaar, Rudi

Date of birth:
January 24th, 1915 (Falkenberg (Saxony), Germany)
Date of death:
November 24th, 2002
Nationality:
German

Biography

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Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Oberleutnant (MA) der Reserve
Unit:
Chef Marine-Batterie "Hamburg" / Marine Artillerie-Abteilung 604
Awarded on:
June 26th, 1944
Awarded for the achievements of his Marine-Batterie “Hamburg” during the defense of Fortress Cherbourg. His actions are summarized in the following Wehrmachtbericht excerpt from the 26.06.1944 (it should be noted that, contrary to the claims presented here, Gelbhaar’s guns damaged several allied ships on the 25.06.1944 but did not actually sink any):

“Yesterday the Batterie ‘Hamburg’, commanded by Oberleutnant of the Marineartillerie Gelbhaar, sunk two enemy cruisers in the Cherbourg area while itself being under heavy artillery fire. Furthermore another 4 cruisers were heavily damaged by Marinebatterien in the same area during the preceding days.”
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes

Sources

Photo