- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- Oberleutnant (Flying Officer)
- Unit:
- Staffelkapitän, 4. Staffel, II. Gruppe, Lehrgeschwader 2, Luftwaffe
- Awarded on:
- July 21st, 1940
The following wartime excerpt (dated 30.08.1940) describes why Grote received the Knight’s Cross…
“Oberleutnant Freiherr von Grote has distinguished himself as a Staffelkapitän in a Schlachtgruppe because of the outstanding bravery and excellent leadership he has demonstrated while commanding his Staffel. His bold devotion to duty enabled his Staffel to accomplish decisive feats-of-arms on the battlefield. Our ground troops had a much easier time of pushing back the enemy thanks to the intervention of the ground attack flyers. This fact is attributable to the singular bravery of this Staffelkapitän, as he was always the first one to brave the enemy’s combined defensive firepower.”