Germany – Third Reich: An Afrika Korps Luftwaffe Flak Badge and Eastern Front Iron Cross 2nd Class and Wound Badge in Black document and photograph group to Obergefreiten Eduard Korten, 114th Heavy Artillery Abteilung and later 12th Battery, Artillery Regiment 21, 21st Luftwaffe Field Division who saw service in North Africa including at the Battle of El Alamein. Surviving the destruction of his unit at the end of the fighting in May 1943, he would later serve on the Eastern Front as part of the 21st Luftwaffe Field Division where he would receive the Iron Cross 2nd Class in Belarus and then would be wounded in the fighting in Latvia on 28th September 1944. He would be taken Prisoner of War at the end of the war and would be repatriated in September 1947.
Award Documents:
1) Luftwaffe Flak Badge awarded on 12th June 1942 as an Obergefreiten, 3rd Battery, Heavy Flak Abteilung 114. Signed by Burchard as Generalmajor and Commander.
Burchard would receive the German Cross in Gold on 23rd February 1943 as a Generalleutnant and Commander of the 19th Flak Division.
2) Iron Cross 2nd Class awarded on 5th August 1944 as an Obergefreiten in 12th Battery, Artillery Regiment 21 (Luftwaffe) at Divisional Headquarters on 5th August 1944. Signed by Rudolf-Eduard Licht of the 21st Luftwaffe Field Division.
Licht would be awarded the German Cross in Gold on 18th October 1941 as Commander of Schutzen Regiment 40, 17th Panzer Division. He had also been mentioned in the Honour Roll of the German Army on 30th August 1941 as Commander Schutzen Regiment 40, 17th Panzer Division.
3) Wound Badge in Black awarded in the field on 18th October 1944 for a wound received on 28th September 1944 whilst serving as an Obergefreiten, with 12th Battery, Artillery Regiment 21 (Luftwaffe). Signed by a Chief Doctor.
Other documents:
Discharge certificate dated 24th September 1947
A photograph of Kusten in his Luftwaffe uniform.
A photograph of Kusten standing next to a Ju-52 transport aircraft in Tripoli, North Africa
An image of Kusten on horseback in tropical uniform somewhere in Africa.
A small portrait photograph of Kusten in uniform wearing his Wound Badge in Black Flak Badge and Ribbon for the Iron Cross 2nd Class. This photograph is annotated on the reverse to show that it had been taken in September 1944.
11 small images taken during the campaign in North Africa some of which include Kusten
9 images taken during the campaign in Russia some of which include Kusten.
9 post war Prisoner of War postcards sent from Russia back to Kusten’s family in Germany.
A sketchbook which includes hand drawn maps of Poland, France, North America, North Africa and Asia and covers some of Kusten’s travels during the war.
Eduard Korten initially saw service in North Africa with the 114th Heavy Flak Abteilung including at the Battle of Alam el Haifa and at the Battle of El Alamein. He would receive the Luftwaffe Flak Badge on 12th June 1942 whilst serving there. He appears to have escaped the capitulation of his unit as part of the 19th Flak Division in North Africa in May 1943 and would later go on to serve on the Eastern Front as part of the 12th Battery, 21st Luftwaffe Artillery Battalion, 21st Luftwaffe Field Division.
The Division would be involved in defensive fighting during the summer of 1944 including attempts to repel the Red Army’s Operation Barbarossa. Kusten would have been involved in the withdrawal across Belarus into Latvia where the unit eventually ended up as part of the pocket in Kurland. He would be awarded the Iron Cross 1939 2nd Class on 5th August 1944 and would be awarded the Wound Badge in Black on 18th October 1944 for a wound received on 28th September 1944. He would be taken prisoner of war by the Red Army at the end of the war finally being discharged on his return to Germany in September 1947
