Good day. I'm wondering who the highest-ranking living WWII veterans are? Is there a list available of who is still alive? Can anyone throw out some notable names? I'm always fascinated when I read that someone like the German pilot who shot down Strafer Gott is still alive. I tried doing a search for the phrase "still alive", but couldn't find my answer. Thanks so much, Greg
There`s Oberst Hajo Herrmann, who`s also one of the left four Schwerterträger still alive, along Günther Rall, Erich Rudorffer and Waldemar von Gazen. Photo: Picasa Web Albums - Harry von Gebhardt - Luftfahrminis...
This is going to sound facicious (sp) but Im being serious...Honest... Queen Elizabeth the second is quite high up as things go in todays world. A vetran herself from army service in ww2. And proudly wears her vetrans badge on occasions.
Sounds reasonable to me, urqh, but I wonder if he was talking about who had the highest rank during the war. Wasn't she something like a second assistant lug nut polisher or something like that during the war, even if she was a Princess?
Thanks for the names Julio. I guess I'm wondering who the living legends are of WWII, seeing as the BIG names have all passed on. Certainly the 4 names mentioned fit the description. Any other names from the Allies side? -Greg
She was a mechanic, Slip and PzJgr. But you are right in saying she was only head of state and therefore the highest ranking member of the armed forces when she was crowned, in 1953. As she was only a princess during WW2, she was not the highest ranking. I think I remember seeing photographs and she is wearing a corpral's insignia, but I could be wrong.
Greg, these are some of the greats that are still alive (the ones I remember now... please folks, put some more names in there): Germany Gunther Rall (third-greatest ace of history, 275 victories) Hajo Herrmann (Kommandeur 9.Fliegerdivision) Erich Rudorffer (Kommandeur II.Gr/JG.7) Waldemar von Gazen (Major im Generalstab) Otto Carius (panzer ace, 150-200 tanks destroyed) Sepp Allerberger (second highest German sniper, 257 kills) Rochus Misch (Hitler`s bodyguard) Reinhard Hardegen (submarine commander, sank 27 ships) Jürgen Oesten (submarine commander, went to Malaya in late 1944 and returned to Norway in safety in April 1945 ) Italy Amedeo Guillet (the "Italian Lawrence of Arabia" or "The Devil Commander" of AOI. He`s going to turn 100 next year!) Emilio Bianchi (Decima MAS diver who sank battleship HMS Valiant at Alexandria in December, 1941) Luigi Gorrini (top-Italian ace still alive, 17-24 victories) Japan Satoshi Anabuki (top-ace of Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, 51 victories) Soviet Union Ivan Sidorenko (top soviet sniper, with 500+ kills) Great Britain John Moffat (the man who put a torpedo on KMS Bismarck`s rudder) Romenia Ion Dobran (ace and last wingman of Constantin Cantacuzino) Ion Dicezare (Me 109 ace and one of the leaders of post-war Romanian Air Force) Finland Kyösti Karhila (top-Finnish ace still alive, 32 victories) Brazil Rui Moreira Lima (P-47 pilot, most influent veteran of 1st Brazilian Fighter Squadron in MTO and post-war commander of Brazilian Air Force) United States John Finn (oldest recipient of the Medal of Honor still alive, Pearl Harbor veteran, turning 100 next year!) PS: I`m sure there are many other great American veterans still there, and I`d if someone list them here.
von Gazen is now deceased. However, I think Kriegsmarine Admiral Friedrich Kemnade is still alive. If he is deceased, I have not heard about it.
Wait Carl... I don't think von Gazen has passed... he's still alive, although very fragile. Friedrich Kemnade passed away January 29, 2008. I made a death notice back then: Sala de Guerra: Nota de Falecimento: Friedrich Kemnade
Carl I posted Kemnades official death release here on this site, as sent to me from the German Bundesmarine. Feldt at 90 plus is the only Living KM S-Boot RK winner alive remember this thread : http://www.ww2f.com/roll-honor-memories-wwii-obituaries/21391-knights-cross-winners.html in fact I am going to do a nice little write up soon on Kemnade in the Atlantic/MTO forums soon after a neat little item comes from Deutschland concerning the man and his 3rd S-Boot Flottille guys here is the other thread about Kemnade with some background bio on the man http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-today/10867-knights-cross-recipients-up-date-10.html#post263902
Hi Julio, Erich, thanks for the corections made here. I'll have to contact the guy who has a collectables website that has a list of famous people who passed away kept there yearly-for referances. He had Gazen listed as gone but I don't recall him mentioing anything about Kemnade? Ill check his site when I leave here and see if that was indeed where I heard about von Gazen and or Kemnade. Thanks again Gents--C.
Highest ranking living WWII veteran is doubtless former Romanian king Mihai I, Marshal of Romania (1941).
The highest ranking WWII veteran is doubtless former Cambodian king Sihanouk (1941). He relinquished his throne in the 1950s and became Prince Sihanouk and has held more government offices than anyone else. Cambodia remained under Vichy control and, so, was aligned with the Axis. Sihanouk still holds an honorary position in Cambodia as King-Father. Pope Benedict XVI is a WWII veteran aligned with the Axis. He is currently the sovereign of the Holy See which was officially neutral in WWII, but more cooperative with the Allies than with the Axis. The Dalai Lama was the sovereign of Tibet during WWII and so in alliance with the Republic of China and, so, aligned with the Allies. The wartime rank of the Dalai Lama is depicted in the Brad Pitt movie "Seven Years In Tibet" wherein he takes into custody the alien Austrian mountaineer who is propagandizing for the Axis.
Incidentally, the Dalai Lama is probably the youngest WWII veteran. He was born on July 6, 1935. In his capacity as commander-in-chief of Tibet in alliance with the Allied war efforts, he received military advisers and allowed overflights of Tibetan airspace as an alternative flight route between China and India.
The highest-ranking Germans in terms of actual rank are probably Hubert Meyer (commander of 12th SS Panzer division) who was an SS-Obersturmbannfueher and Bernhard Frank of the same rank. The highest scoring soldiers that are still living are Erich Rudorffer with 222 aerial victories and Otto Carius with over 150 tank kills. In terms of oldest living veteran, that would probably be Erich Schlemminger, born in 1908, and is aged 103 years young. Hope this helps!
