List of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients (C)

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment, Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of 1 September 1939 instituted the Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz), the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). Article 2 of the enactment mandated that the award of a higher class be preceded by the award of all preceding classes.^[6] As the war progressed, some of the recipients of the Knight's Cross distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub), was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of 3 June 1940.^[7] In 1941, two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of 28 September 1941 introduced the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern) and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten).^[8] At the end of 1944 the final grade, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten), based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of 29 December 1944, became the final variant of the Knight's Cross authorized.^[9]

The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) kept separate Knight's Cross lists for the Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Waffen-SS. Within each of these lists a unique sequential number was assigned to each recipient. The same numbering paradigm was applied to the higher grades of the Knight's Cross, one list per grade.^[10] Of the 82 awards made to servicemen whose last name starts with "C", ten were later awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and five presentations were made posthumously. Heer members received 51 of the medals, five went to the Kriegsmarine, 22 to the Luftwaffe, and four to the Waffen-SS.^[5]

  This along with the + (plus) indicates that a higher grade of Knight's Cross was awarded as well.
  This along with the * (asterisk) indicates that the Knight's Cross was awarded posthumously.

Name	Service	Rank	Role and unit[Note 2]	Date of award	Notes	Image
Werner Canders	Heer	15-HMajor[11]	Commander of the III./Grenadier-Regiment 408[11][12]	6 April 1944[11]	—	—
Ulrich Freiherr von Canstein	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant[11]	Commander of Grenadier-Regiment 220[11][12]	12 February 1944[11]	—	—
Kurt Capesius	Luftwaffe	14-LHauptmann[11]	Deputy Gruppenkommandeur of the III./Kampfgeschwader 66[11][12]	30 November 1944[11]	—	—
Wilhelm Cappel	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant[11]	Commander of Grenadier-Regiment 424[11][12]	23 February 1944[11]	—	—
Horst Carganico	Luftwaffe	13-LOberleutnant[11]	Staffelkapitän of the 6./Jagdgeschwader 5[12][Note 3]	25 September 1941[11]	—	—
Otto Carius+	Heer	12-HLeutnant of the Reserves[11]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 2./schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502[11][12]	4 May 1944[11]	Awarded 535th Oak Leaves 27 July 1944[11]
Friedrich Carl	Heer	13-HOberleutnant[11]	Leader of the 11./Artillerie-Regiment 269[11][12]	9 May 1942[11]	—	—
Rolf Carls	Kriegsmarine	20-MAdmiral[11]	Marinegruppenbefehlshaber Ost (Naval Group Commander East)[12][Note 4]	14 June 1940[11]	—
Alfredo Carpaneto	Heer	06-HUnteroffizier[11]	Panzer commander in the 2./schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502[11][12]	28 March 1945*[11]	Killed in action 26 January 1945[12]	—
Carl Casper	Heer	17-HOberst[13]	Commander of Infanterie-Regiment 118 (motorized)[12][13]	22 September 1941[13]	—	—
Prosper Graf zu Castell-Castell	Heer	12-HLeutnant of the Reserves[13]	Leader of the 9./Panzergrenadier-Regiment 14[12][13]	23 February 1944[13]	—	—
Horst Castka[Note 5]	Heer	10-HOberwachtmeister[14]	Vorgeschobener Beobachter (Artillery observer) in the 11./Artillerie-Regiment 1562[12][14]	11 March 1945[14]	—	—
Albert Celerin	Luftwaffe	13-LOberleutnant[13]	Pilot and observer in the Fernaufklärungs-Gruppe 4[12][13]	10 October 1944[13]	—	—
Wolfgang von Chamier-Glisczinski	Luftwaffe	17-LOberst[13]	Geschwaderkommodore of Kampfgeschwader 3[13][15]	6 October 1940[13]	—	—
Friedrich-Wilhelm von Chappuis	Heer	19-HGeneralleutnant[13]	Commander of the 15. Infanterie-Division[13][15]	15 August 1940[13]	—	—
Hans-Georg von Charpentier	Waffen-SS	14-WSS-Hauptsturmführer[16][Note 6]	Chief of the 3./SS-Reiter-Regiment 1[13][16]	29 October 1942[13]	—
Hellmut von der Chevallerie	Heer	18-HGeneralmajor[13]	Commander of the 13. Panzer-Division[13][15]	30 April 1943[13]	—	—
Kurt von der Chevallerie+	Heer	19-HGeneralleutnant[13]	Commander of the 99. leichte Division[13][15]	23 October 1941[13]	Awarded 357th Oak Leaves 19 December 1943[13]	—
Botho von La Chevallerie	Heer	15-HMajor[13]	Commander of the I./Infanterie-Regiment 408[13][15]	24 July 1941[15][Note 7]	—	—
Kurt Chill	Heer	19-HGeneralleutnant[13]	Commander of the 122. Infanterie-Division[13][15]	25 October 1943[13]	—	—
Max Chmel	Heer	04-HObergefreiter[17]	Group leader in the 8./Grenadier-Regiment 200 (motorized)[15][17]	18 November 1944[17]	—	—
Dietrich von Choltitz	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant[17]	Commander of the III./Infanterie-Regiment 16 (LL)[15][Note 8]	18 May 1940[15][Note 8]	—
Otto Chowanetz	Heer	09-HFeldwebel[17]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 1./Grenadier-Regiment 17[15][17]	8 August 1943[17]	—	—
Torsten Christ	Luftwaffe	16-LOberstleutnant im Generalstab[17]	Chief of the general staff of the VIII. Fliegerkorps[15][Note 9]	21 October 1942[17]	—	—
Kurt Christel	Heer	14-HHauptmann[15][Note 10]	Company chief in Bau-Bataillon 132[15][Note 10]	4 March 1942*[17]	Killed in action 3 March 1942[15]	—
Fritz Christen	Waffen-SS	03-WSS-Sturmmann[17]	Richtschütze (gunner) in the 2./SS-Panzer-Jagd-Abteilung 3 "Totenkopf"[15][Note 11]	20 October 1941[17]	—	—
Hans Christern	Heer	15-HMajor[17]	Commander of the II./Panzer-Regiment 31[15][17]	31 January 1941[17]	—	—
Georg Christiansen+	Kriegsmarine	13-MOberleutnant zur See[17]	Commander of Schnellboot S-101 in the 1. Schnellbootflottille[15][17]	8 May 1941[17]	Awarded 326th Oak Leaves 13 November 1943[17]	—
Georg Christl	Luftwaffe	14-LHauptmann[17]	Gruppenkommandeur of the III./Zerstörergeschwader 26 "Horst Wessel"[15][17]	18 March 1942[17]	—	—
Karl Christmann	Luftwaffe	10-LOberfeldwebel[17]	Observer in the 6./Kampfgeschwader 53 "Legion Condor"[15][17]	5 April 1944[17]	—	—
Kurt Christofzik	Heer	13-HOberleutnant of the Reserves[17]	Chief of the 6./Grenadier-Regiment 530[15][17]	22 August 1943[17]	—	—
Egon Christophersen	Waffen-SS	06-WSS-Unterscharführer[18]	Group leader in the 7./SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 24 "Danmark"[15][Note 12]	11 July 1944[18]	—	—
Bruno Chrobek	Heer	15-HMajor[18]	Commander of I./Infanterie-Regiment 54[18][19]	4 July 1940[18]	—	—
Günter Chrzonsz	Heer	10-HOberwachtmeister[18]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 2./Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 277[18][19]	12 November 1943[18]	—	—
Walter Cierpka	Heer	15-HMajor[18]	Commander of Heeres-Artillerie-Abteilung 774[19][Note 13]	5 April 1945[18]	—	—
Otto Ciliax	Kriegsmarine	19-MVizeadmiral[18]	Befehlshaber der Schlachtschiffe[18][19]	21 March 1942[18]	—
Oskar Cipa	Heer	06-HUnteroffizier[18]	Group leader in the 1./Infanterie-Regiment 305[18][19]	13 November 1942[18]	—	—
Wilhelm Cirener	Heer	13-HOberleutnant[18]	Chief of the 3./Pionier-Bataillon 33[18][19]	13 July 1940[18]	—	—
Paul Claas	Luftwaffe	15-LMajor[18]	Gruppenkommandeur of the I./Kampfgeschwader 100[18][19]	14 March 1943[18]	Killed in action 20 June 1943[18]	—
Richard Claassen	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant[18]	Commander of Infanterie-Regiment 517[18][19]	29 January 1943[18]	—	—
Theo Claassen	Heer	12-HLeutnant[19][Note 14]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 14.(Panzerjäger)/Grenadier-Regiment 899[18][19]	27 August 1944[18]	—	—
Erwin Clausen+	Luftwaffe	13-LOberleutnant[18]	Staffelkapitän of the 6./Jagdgeschwader 77[19][Note 15]	19 May 1942[19][Note 15]	Awarded 106th Oak Leaves 23 July 1942[18]
Karl-Ulrich Clausen	Heer	14-HHauptmann[20]	Chief of the 2./Artillerie-Regiment 30[19][20]	16 April 1944[20]	—	—
Nicolai Clausen	Kriegsmarine	14-MKapitänleutnant[20]	Commander of U-129[19][20]	13 March 1942[20]	—
Ernst Clemente	Heer	04-HObergefreiter[20]	PAK (anti tank) gunner in the 16./Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 13[19][20]	30 September 1944[20]	—	—
Dieter-Hans Clemm von Hohenberg	Luftwaffe	14-LHauptmann[20]	Gruppenkommandeur of the II.(K)/Lehrgeschwader 1[19][20]	18 November 1944*[20]	Killed in action 29 June 1944[20]	—
Rudolf Cleve	Luftwaffe	14-LHauptmann[20]	Chief of the 3./Flak-Regiment 4 (motorized)[19][20]	4 May 1944[20]	—	—
Erich Clößner	Heer	19-HGeneralleutnant[20]	Commander of the 25. Infanterie-Division[19][20]	29 September 1940[20]	—	—
Hans Clüver	Heer	15-HMajor of the Reserves[20]	Commander of the II./Grenadier-Regiment 266[19][20]	22 January 1944[20]	—	—
Joachim Coeler	Luftwaffe	18-LGeneralmajor[20]	Commander of the 9. Flieger-Division[19][20]	12 July 1940[20]	—	—
Erwin Cohrs	Heer	15-HMajor[20]	Commander of the II./Panzergrenadier-Regiment 67[19][20]	9 December 1944[20]	—	—
Hans Collani	Waffen-SS	16-WSS-Obersturmbannführer[20]	Commander of the SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 49 "De Ruyter" (niederländische Nr. 2)[19][20]	19 August 1944*[20]	Killed in action 29 July 1944[20]	—
Robert Colli	Heer	17-HOberst[20]	Commander of Grenadier-Regiment 547[19][20]	19 February 1944[20]	—	—
Johann Condné	Heer	14-HHauptmann[20]	Leader of the II./Panzergrenadier-Regiment 6[20][21]	5 April 1945[20]	—	—
Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard Conrad	Luftwaffe	17-LOberst[22]	Geschwaderkommodore of Kampfgeschwader z.b.V. 2[22][23]	24 May 1940[22]	—	—
Hermann Conrad	Heer	10-HOberfeldwebel[22]	Shock troop leader in the 7./Infanterie-Regiment 330[21][22]	9 July 1941[22]	—	—
Alexander Conrady+	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant[22]	Commander of the I./Infanterie-Regiment 118 (motorized)[21][22]	17 October 1942[22]	Awarded 279th Oak Leaves 22 August 1943[22]	—
Paul Conrath+	Luftwaffe	17-LOberst[22]	Commander of Flak-Regiment (motorized) "General Göring"[21][22]	4 September 1941[22]	Awarded 276th Oak Leaves 21 August 1943[21][Note 16]
Klaus Coracino	Heer	13-HOberleutnant of the Reserves[22]	Chief of Sturmgeschütz-Begleitkompanie 254 in the I./Grenadier-Regiment 431[21][Note 17]	2 September 1944[22]	—	—
Udo Cordes	Luftwaffe	12-LLeutnant[22]	Pilot in the 9.(Eis)/Kampfgeschwader 3 "Lützow"[21][22]	12 June 1943[21][Note 18]	—	—
[Prof. Dr.] Günter Corßen[Note 19]	Heer	14-HHauptmann[22]	Department leader of Panzer-Regiment 39[21][22]	8 February 1943[22]	—	—
Helmut Corts	Luftwaffe	13-LOberleutnant[21][Note 20]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 2./Flak-Regiment 64 (motorized)[21][Note 20]	20 June 1940[22]	—	—
Hans-Detloff von Cossel+	Heer	13-HOberleutnant[22]	Leader of the 1./Panzer-Regiment 35[21][22]	8 September 1941[22]	Awarded 285th Oak Leaves 29 August 1943[22]	—
Georg le Coutre	Luftwaffe	12-LLeutnant[22]	Leader of the 10./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6[21][22]	7 February 1945[22]	—	—
Hans Cramer	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant[22]	Commander of Panzer-Regiment 8 im DAK[21][22]	27 June 1941[22]	—
Heinz Cramer	Luftwaffe	15-LMajor[24]	Gruppenkommandeur of the II.(K)/Lehrgeschwader 1[21][24]	18 September 1940[24]	—	—
Wilhelm-Ernst Freiherr von Cramm	Heer	15-HMajor[24]	Commander of Divisions-Füsilier-Abteilung 58[24][25]	11 April 1944[24]	—	—
Friedrich Crantz	Heer	13-HOberleutnant of the Reserves[24]	Chief of the 10./Grenadier-Regiment 416[21][24]	3 March 1943[24]	—	—
Friedrich-Carl Cranz	Heer	19-HGeneralleutnant[24]	Commander of the 18. Infanterie-Division (motorized)[24][25]	29 June 1940[24]	—	—
Eduard Crasemann+	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant[24]	Commander of Artillerie-Regiment 33 (motorized)[24][25]	26 December 1941[24]	Awarded 683rd Oak Leaves 18 December 1944[24]
Peter-Erich Cremer	Kriegsmarine	14-MKapitänleutnant[24]	Commander of U-333[21][24]	5 June 1942[24]	—	—
Wilhelm Crinius+	Luftwaffe	09-LFeldwebel[24]	Pilot in the 3./Jagdgeschwader 53[21][24]	23 September 1942[24]	Awarded 127th Oak Leaves 23 September 1942[24]	—
Wilhelm Crisolli	Heer	16-HOberstleutnant[24]	Commander of Schützen-Regiment 8[21][24]	15 July 1941[24]	—	—
Arved Crüger	Luftwaffe	14-LHauptmann[24]	Staffelkapitän of the 5./Kampfgeschwader 30[21][Note 21]	14 June 1940[21][Note 21]	—	—
Ludwig Crüwell+	Heer	18-HGeneralmajor[24]	Commander of the 11. Panzer-Division[24][26]	14 May 1941[24]	Awarded 34th Oak Leaves 1 September 1941[24]
Heinz Crusius	Heer	13-HOberleutnant[24]	Chief of the 4./Infanterie-Regiment 453[24][26]	3 May 1942[24]	—	—
Kurt Cullmann	Heer	10-HOberfähnrich[27]	Deputy leader of the 2./Divisions-Füsilier-Bataillon 260[26][27]	9 June 1944*[27]	Killed in action 29 March 1944[26]	—
Kurt Cuno	Heer	17-HOberst[27]	Commander of Panzer-Regiment 39[26][27]	18 January 1942[27]	—	—
Leo Cygan	Heer	12-HLeutnant of the Reserves[27]	Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 1./Pionier-Bataillon 102[26][27]	5 January 1944[27]	—	—
Richard Czekay	Luftwaffe	14-LHauptmann[26][Note 22]	Staffelkapitän of the 3./Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 "Immelmann" and adjutant of the I./Schlachtgeschwader 2[26][Note 22]	30 December 1942[27]	—	—
Gerhard Czernik	Luftwaffe	13-LOberleutnant[27]	Staffelkapitän of the 6./Kampfgeschwader 2[26][27]	16 May 1941[27]	—	—
Wilhelm Czorny	Heer	03-HGefreiter[27]	Machine gun leader in the 2./Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Großdeutschland"[26][Note 23]	4 October 1944[27]	—	—

Citations

Bibliography

• "Das Bundesarchiv". Military Archive – Freiburg im Breisgau. Archived from the original on 29 December 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.