Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Major

Unit:

Festungskommandeur Abschnitt 44 / Kampfgruppe Matterstock

Awarded on:

March 11th, 1945

On the evening of the 01.02.1945 Major Delius received orders to go to the Oder road bridge at Odereck, located along the Züllichau—Grünberg road. His mission was to prevent the bridge from falling into enemy hands at all costs.

The following day Soviet tanks arrived in Odereck, and as 3 tanks crossed the bridge the ignition for its demolition charges was set off. However the ignition failed, and the Soviets tanks proceeded to cross the bridge and then form a semi-circle about 300-400 metres towards the west of it. Meanwhile Major Delius crossed under the bridge with the help of ice floes and managed to reach the eastern shore. Here he found the reserve ignition equipment and set off the charges from here. This time they did not fail, and part of the bridge fell under the water. With this the structure was made impassable, and the 11 Soviet tanks on the western bank were destroyed over the course of the day by 8.8 cm Pak guns brought up into the fight. Major Delius would go on to receive the Knight’s Cross for his brave and independent actions on this day.