Meyer, Otto.

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Meyer, Otto, born 23-12-1912, in Moldenit, Sleeswijk-Holstein, was an SS Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS  during World War II who was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.  on 04-06-1944. The Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Meyer volunteered for service in the SS in 1934 and was selected to become an officer in 1936 and posted to the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz,    upon graduation he was promoted to SS Untersturmführer  (first lieutenant) SS-Nr. 10.260 and posted to the SS Deutschland Regiment . under command of SS Brigadeführer Otto Kumm  As a company commander he served in the Polish Campaign, the Battle of France, Operation Marita in the Balkans and the invasion of Russia Operation Barbarossa. 

On 09-11-1941 he was promoted to SS Sturmbannführer  (major) and in January 1942 awarded the German Cross in Gold  for personal bravery. At the beginning of 1943 he was transferred to the 9th SS Panzer Grenadier Division, in the in de 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen under command of SS Obergruppenführer Willi Bittrich   in France and promoted to SS Obersturmbannführer  (lieutenant colonel).

Death and burial ground of Meyer, Otto.

 

In January 1944 he was given command of the 9th SS Panzer Regiment and for his leadership during the battle for Tarnopol awarded the Knight’s Cross.[1] In June 1944 the division served in Normandy where he distinguished both himself and his regiment by destroying over 300 allied tanks. After escaping from the cauldron of Falaise (Falaise Pocket),  he was killed crossing the River Seine on 28-08-1944, age 31, near Duclair, Seine-Maritime. In September 1944 he was awarded a Posthumous award of the Oakleaves to the Knight’s Cross. In September, he was awarded a posthumous award of the Oakleaves to the Knight’s Cross. An Official Recommendation for a Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, by Bittrich, to Otto Meyer, Regiment Commander in 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen, KIA, c.1944.

Otto Meyer is buried on the German war cemetery of Bourdon.

 

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