Alfred Sturm Explained

Alfred Sturm
Birth Date:	23 August 1888
Death Place:	Detmold ----->
Allegiance:
Branch:	Luftwaffe
Rank:	Generalleutnant
Battles:	Battle of Crete
Awards:	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Alfred Sturm (23 August 1888 – 8 March 1962) was a German general during World War II.

During the Battle of Crete, Sturm (then an Oberst) was commander of the 2nd Parachute Rifle Regiment. On 20 May 1941, he jumped from an aircraft over Crete and landed west of the Pigi airfield, a key objective, near Rethymno (Retimo). Sturm was captured as a POW on 21 May 1941 by soldiers of the Greek 4th Infantry Regiment, and delivered to the headquarters of the Australian 2/11th Battalion for imprisonment. For 10 days Sturm was held in a makeshift POW camp at Pigi village. As a commissioned officer (and in accordance with German military practices), at Sturm's own request he was held in a place separate from German enlisted personnel. Sturm was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions at Crete.

Promotions

• Vizefeldwebel (1 August 1913)
• Offiziers-Stellvertreter (1 January 1915)
• Leutnant (5 June 1919)
• Oberleutnant (15 January 1921)
• Hauptmann (1 March 1926)
• Major (21 April 1935)
• Oberstleutnant (2 August 1936)
• Oberst (1 October 1938)
• Generalmajor (1 August 1941)
• Generalleutnant (1 August 1943)

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (18 June 1916) & 1st Class (17 January 1917)^[1]
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (28 October 1940) & 1st Class (25 June 1941)^[1]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 July 1941 as Oberst and commander of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 2^[2]

References

Bibliography

• Book: 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 . The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives . German . Jena, Germany . Scherzers Militaer-Verlag . 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Book: Thomas . Franz . Wegmann . Günter . 1986 . Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Teil II: Fallschirmjäger . The Knight's Cross Bearers of the German Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Part II: Paratroopers . German . Osnabrück, Germany . Biblio-Verlag . 978-3-7648-1461-8.

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Notes and References

1. Thomas & Wegmann 1986, p. 309.
2. Scherzer 2007, p. 734.