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Hermann-Bernhard "Gerhard" Ramcke (24 January 1889 – 4 July 1968) was a German general. He was a recipient of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Swords, Oak Leaves, and Diamonds, one of only 27 people in the German military so decorated. Ramcke's career was unusual in that he served in all three branches of the German armed forces.〔Williamson and McGregor 2006, p. 48.〕 ==Early life and World War I== Ramcke was born in Schleswig to a family of farmers. He joined the German Imperial Navy in 1905 as ship's boy. During the First World War he served aboard the armored cruiser in the Baltic and North Sea. When the ''Adalbert'' suffered extensive damage in 1915, fearing that the war might end before the ship returned to service, Ramcke transferred to the Marines. The ''Adalbert'' returned to service months later and was lost with 672〔City of Kiel Cemetery website http://www.kiel.de/Aemter_61_bis_92/67/Friedhoefe/Friedhoefe/Nordfriedhof/marine/prinzadalbert.htm retrieved 1/26/2011〕 of her crew, as Ramcke would learn from a short telegram received at the front.〔From Ship's Boy to Paratrooper General, Herman Bernhard Ramcke, German Army Press, 1943〕 Ramcke fought in the West with the German Marine-Infanterie, mainly in the area of Flanders. In 1916 he was decorated with the Iron Cross second class and later the Iron Cross first class.〔Williamson 2006, p. 49.〕 After a defensive action against three British attacks he was decorated with the Prussian Golden Merit Cross, the highest decoration for non-commissioned officers in the German Imperial Forces, and became a deputy-commissioned officer.〔Quarrie 2005, p. 13.〕 In 1918 he attained the rank of ''Leutnant der Marine-Infanterie''. By the time the Armistice was signed, he had risen to the rank of ''Oberleutnant''.〔 He had been wounded 5 times in combat and spent 18 months in hospital.〔Mitcham 2009, pp. 182–184.〕 In 1919 he then fought against the Bolsheviks in the Baltic as a member of the so-called "Russian Army of the West" (composed mostly of German veterans) and was wounded once in the shoulder.〔 Ramcke stayed in the Reichswehr during the Weimar Republic period. He continued to serve in the new Wehrmacht during the Third Reich, climbing through the ranks until he attained the rank of ''Oberstleutnant'' in 1937.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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