PUBLIC SCHOOLBOY TO PANZER COMMANDER

If there is any doubt as to the general usefulness of public schoolboys in battle, confirmation from an unlikely source - the son of the German Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Joachim von Ribbentrop. In certain timelines, Joachim von Ribbentrop's ambassadorial appointment in England started on 30th October 1936 and finished on 4th February 1938, when he was recalled to Berlin to replace von Neurath as the Third Reich's Foreign Minister. In our VBCW timeline, of course, von Ribbentrop's appointment as ambassador continued throughout 1938.....

But that's as may be. What is certain is the von Ribbentrop brought his sixteen year old son, Rudolf, with him to London, and (after he was rejected by Eton) enrolled him at Westminster School. Rudolf spent a year at Westminster before returning to Germany for his further education [note 1] :

Rudolf von Ribbentrop, 1936. Leaving Eaton Square and
heading towards Westminster School

Upon the outbreak of war in 1939, Rudolf joined the SS Infantry Regiment Deutschland as a private soldier, serving during the Western Campaign in 1940 (where he was wounded) and being awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class:

Rudolf von Ribbentrop with Iron Cross and SS collar flashes.
Probably the only "Westminster old boy" to serve in the SS.

After some recuperation, officer training and time fighting on the Finnish Front (where he was wounded again), by February 1943, Rudolf was serving as a Hauptsturmfuhrer with the newly formed Panzerregiment of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ("LSSAH") at the Third Battle of Kharkov, as a result of which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross:

A long way from Eaton Square - Rudolf von Ribbentrop in a Panzer IV, Kharkov 1943

On 1st August 1943, Rudolf was transferred as a company commander to the newly formed 12th SS Division Hitlerjugend, and fought with them during the Battle of Normandy, the escape through the Falaise Gap, and the Battle of the Bulge:

Rudolf von Ribbentrop in Normandy 1944. Clearly under significant strain.

Rudolf surrendered with the Division to the Americans at the end of the war, on 8th May 1945. Post war, he built a career as a wine merchant and banker and latterly published a book about his father, "My Father Joachim von Ribbentrop : Hitler's Foreign Minister, Experiences and Memories". He died on 20th May 2019.

Notes

(1). Peter Ustinov was a contemporary of Rudolf von Ribbentrop at Westminster, and perhaps contributed to Rudolf's departure to Germany after having "sold a story" about him to the London Evening Standard. He wrote in his 1977 memoir, "Dear Me" that Rudolf arrived at school each morning "dressed like the rest of us but with the Nazi Party youth badge - swastika, eagle and all - prominently and incongruously displayed in his lapel." The photographs suggest that he was indeed wearing something on his left lapel....

Another shot of Rudolf von R in Eaton Square, 1936.

(2). For a highly detailed review of Rudolf's WW2 career, see HERE

(3). For the 12th SS Division Hitlerjugend, see HERE

(4). Rudolf's book in English translation (Pen & Swords Books) :