Emilio Esteban Infantes

Emilio EstebanInfantes y Martn was a Spanish soldier and staff officer who served during the Spanish Civil War, and later in World War II as commander of the Wehrmachts Blue Division , or 250. InfanterieDivision of the German Army integrated mostly by Spanish falangist volunteers. He was also a recipient of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross . The Knights Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded by the Third Reich to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Infantes was born in Toledo on May 18, 1892. In 1907, aged 15, he entered the Toledo Military Infantry Academy where his classmates included Francisco Franco and Juan Yage. Graduating in 1910, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant and was sent to join the Spanish African Army in Morocco. In 1912, at onlyyears of age, he received a meritorious promotion to Captain during combat activity in the prolonged Rif War which lasted from 1909 to 1927. By 1928 he had achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and in that year, following the end of the Moroccan war, was appointed a Professor at the Zaragoza Military Academy by its new director, General Francisco Franco.

Source: Wikipedia