Thiele received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his command of "Lützow" and his leadership of "Kampfgruppe V" (5th battle group) during the occupation of Oslo. Thiele had taken command of the battle group after the sinking of "Blücher". He was appointed commander of the "Kampfgruppe II" (2nd battle group) in the Baltic Sea on 28 July 1944 and commander of "Kampfgruppe" "Thiele" on 23 March 1945. With the heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen", "Admiral Hipper", "Admiral Scheer" and "Lützow", and the ships of the line and and the light cruisers "Emden", "Köln", "Leipzig" and "Nürnberg" he participated from sea in the land battles for Courland and in Samland.