June 21, 1944 France, Normandy - General of the parachute force Eugen Meindl at the award ceremony Note: General of the parachute force Eugen Meindl (1892 - 1951). On April 1, 1944, he was promoted to general of the parachute troop. For his leadership in the Falaise basin, he received the oak leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (564th award). Until the end of the war, he still fought with the remains of his large association on the western front in the Netherlands and in Germany near Wesel. Meindl was captured by the United States from May 25, 1945, from which he was released on September 29, 1947.