Hermann Bernhard Ramcke

HermannBernhard Gerhard Ramcke was a German general. He was a recipient of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Swords, Oak Leaves, and Diamonds, one of onlypeople in the German military so decorated. Ramckes career was unusual in that he served in all three branches of the German armed forces. Ramcke was convicted of war crimes in a French court after the war and then released.

Ramcke was born in Schleswig to a family of farmers. He joined the German Imperial Navy in 1905 as ships boy. During the First World War he served aboard the armored cruiser Prinz Adalbert 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 of her crew, as Ramcke would learn from a short telegram received at the front.

Source: Wikipedia