WW2 German 1939 Knights Cross of the Iron Cross Award and Citation Grouping to Wachtmeister Alfred S

WW2 German 1939 Knights Cross of the Iron Cross Award and Citation Grouping to Wachtmeister Alfred Sekund 6 / Artillery Regiment Nr 11, 11th Infantry Division, Awarded for Gallantry on the Eastern Front During the Battle of Narva (Latvia) and in the Kurland Pocket, superb example of a 2nd model Klein & Quenzer made Knights Cross (Ritterkreuz) with the loop being stamped “800” and “65”. The cross retains all the features and the die flaws you expect to see on original examples by this maker. Complete with its original full length ribbon. Nice patina to the frame of the award. The medal is accompanied by the original award citation dated 23rd September 1944 and signed by General Wilhelm Burgdorf, who was Adolf Hitler’s chief Adjutant and was with Hitler in the final days of the battle of Berlin, committing suicide in the Fuhrer Bunker after the death of Adolf Hitler in 1945. Other citations in the grouping include those for the Iron Cross 1st class (2nd August 1943), Eastern Front medal (3rd August 1942) and Iron Cross 2nd class (1st April 1943). Also accompanying the medal and citations is a number of snapshot photographs, which we assume were taken by Sekund during his service with the regiment on the eastern front and also a postcard photograph of him in uniform, proudly wearing the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. The Artillery Regiment Nr 11 was part of the 11th Infanterie division. They took part in the Poland campaign and then a minor role in the battle for France in 1940. The division was heavily involved in the advance east as part of operation Barbarossa. They suffered heavy casualties during the Soviet offensive south of Lake Ladoga. Pulled from the line for rest and refitting in Greece in late 1943, the fresh 11.Infanterie-Division was posted once again to the Leningrad sector where it fought in the Battle of Narva, and was subsequently involved in the general withdrawal from this salient to western Latvia. It became one of the encircled units of Heeresgruppe Nord in the Kurland Pocket when the Soviets penetrated to the Baltic sea in late autumn of 1944, cutting them off. It remained a staple ”fire-brigade” of the Kurland front until April 30, 1945 when it was evacuated from the Kurland pocket to what was left of the Reich, along with the 14.Panzer Division. Alfred Sekund survived the war and he died on 22nd April 2013 in Bremen.