Germany – Third Reich: A good and unusual Second Battle of El Alamein Iron Cross 2nd Class certificate awarded to Unteroffizier Erich Quaerk, 2nd (Sound Ranging) Battery, 11th Light Observation Battalion, Panzer Army Afrika who would have been decorated for an act of bravery during the early part of the fighting in the El Alamein position in July 1942. His unit would be taken prisoner in Tunisia in May 1943 and it is possible that Quaerk was captured and would survive the war.
Award Certificate:
The Iron Cross 2nd Class awarded on 14th July 1942 by Army HQ as an Unteroffizer with the Sound Ranging Battery, 11th Observation Battalion. Facsimile Signature of Rommel as General Field Marshall and Commander in Chief of Panzer Army Afrika.
A rare certificate to an individual who saw active service in North Africa. His act of bravery most likely having taken place during the early period of combat in the El Alamein position in July 1942.
It is likely that Erich Quaerk was mobilised just prior to the beginning of the Second World War and saw active service with 11 Observation Battalion in Poland in 1939, France in 1940, The Balkans in 1941, before the battalion was sent to North Africa where it arrived in the autumn of 1941. The battalion was taken prisoner in May 1943 in Tunisia by the Americans. The unit’s personnel did not return home until January 1946 where they were discharged in Munster/Westphalia. It is not known if the recipient survived the war but it is quite possible
