Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich was a unique German General and one of my favorites among all the armed forces involved in WWII. He was said to be of the highest integrity and "fearless and straight as an arrow". A professional adventurer and close friend of Adolf Hitler, he became the commander of the SS when it was formed. After "The night of the long knives" he became the SS Gruppenfuehrer of Leibstandarte.
Dietrich was from a lower middle class upbringing, and worked as a butcher before WWI. In WW1 he was in the artillery and then became one of the few Germans who were in the Panzerwaffe. Germany had only about ten panzers in the Great War so he was essentially one of the first in the Panzerwaffe. After the war he joined the Freikorps and then worked in many different occupations until he met Hitler.
Sepp Dietrich was a soldiers general who had had a good understanding of how the battles were going and was able to save his unit from many difficult situations. He led the 1.SS in the remarkable campaign in France and Leibstandarte became distinguished in the drive toward Dunkirk, earning Sepp the Knights Cross. On the Eatern front Dietrich became loved by the men of Leibstandarte for his compassionate attitude in the severe winter conditions, and horrific battle conditions. He learned every man in the units name. The 1.SS was very loyal to him because of his ability to lead men and remain calm and focused in times of dire emergency. Dietrich handling of the battles at Normandy while leading the 1.SS Panzerkorps is considered to be very good, and because of it he was promoted to lead the 6.SS Panzer-Armee in the Battle of the Bulge and almost achieved success.