Rare Pictures of Ritterkreuzträger (Unusual Photograph)

RARE CEREMONY

Martin Bieber (left) in some kind of weird ceremony involving men of his unit. Generalmajor Martin Bieber, born on 10 November 1900 in Tabarz, Thüringen, and who died on 19 October 1974 in Düsseldorf, was a German officer in the Wehrmacht who rose through the ranks during World War II to command various infantry formations and ultimately attained the rank of Generalmajor. As Oberst and commander of Grenadier-Regiment 184 of the 86. Infanterie-Division within XXXXI. Panzerkorps of 9. Armee under Heeresgruppe Mitte, he earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 28 July 1943 for his decisive actions during the opening phases of Operation Citadel near Orel. On the first day of the offensive, 5 July 1943, after the division ordered a halt following the breach of the first two enemy defensive lines, Bieber independently launched a surprise thrust around 16:00 with five Ferdinand tank destroyers and about 25 mounted infantrymen drawn from multiple companies, despite intense artillery and Katyusha rocket fire, seizing the dominating Hill 256.5 in the enemy's third defensive line northeast of l. Maja. Ignoring subsequent orders to transition to defense, he reinforced the position, personally organized its defense against strong Soviet counterattacks, and held the hill until nightfall, thereby creating the prerequisites for the division's successful continuation of the attack on the following day; he was later wounded on 9 July while directing companies from the foremost line. Later, as Oberst and Führer of Divisionsgruppe 86 within Korps-Abteilung E of 2. Armee under Heeresgruppe Mitte, he received the Eichenlaub (566th award) on 2 September 1944 for leading the successful breakout of his battle group from the encirclement at Brest-Litovsk in July 1944 amid the Soviet summer offensive. Bieber commanded units including the 62. Volksgrenadier-Division and 271. Volksgrenadier-Division, surrendered to Soviet forces in May 1945, and was held in captivity until October 1955.



The tenth million bread of the division! At left is Generalleutnant Maximilian Felzmann (Kommandeur 251. Infanterie-Division). The 251. Infanterie-Division, a German Heer formation raised in August 1939 as part of the 4. Welle in Wehrkreis IX from Hessian and Thuringian personnel and consisting of Infanterie-Regiment 451, 459, and 471 along with Artillerie-Regiment 251, spent the period from June to November 1943 on the central sector of the Eastern Front under Heeresgruppe Mitte, primarily fighting in the Orel-Kursk area before its eventual dissolution. Under the command of Generalleutnant Maximilian Felzmann from March 1943 (with a brief interim by Eugen König in early April), the division was assigned to XX. Armeekorps of 9. Armee in mid-1943 and participated in defensive preparations connected to Operation Citadel, holding positions in the northern shoulder of the Kursk salient near Orel and supporting flank security during the German offensive launched on 5 July and the subsequent Soviet Operation Kutuzov starting 12 July. Following the cancellation of Citadel, it engaged in heavy defensive battles around Orel, conducting a fighting withdrawal southwestward toward Sevsk west of Kursk as part of the German retreat from the Orel salient, suffering significant attrition from continuous Soviet attacks, artillery barrages, and armored assaults while maintaining cohesion under extreme pressure. By September 1943, as part of LVI. Armeekorps under 2. Armee, it continued its retrograde movement toward the Desna River and the Gomel area on the Dnieper line, where repeated Soviet breakthroughs and envelopment attempts reduced the division to Kampfgruppe strength of roughly 5,000 men by late September; on 25 September, from positions approximately 120 km south of Gomel, it successfully prevented a major Soviet penetration despite its depleted state, an action later highlighted in the Wehrmachtbericht. These cumulative losses and exhaustion led to the formal dissolution of the 251. Infanterie-Division on 2 November 1943, with its staff forming the core of Korps-Abteilung E, Division Group 251 incorporating remnants such as I./451 and I./459, while other elements contributed to new Jäger formations, marking the end of its first iteration after four years of continuous combat.

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CLEANING SHOES

Hauptmann Wilhelm Walther (face to the camera, Führer I.Bataillon / Lehr-Regiment "Brandenburg" z.b.V. 800). This picture was taken from the personal photo album of Wilhelm Walther, with original caption as follow: "Deutsche Landser an der Ägäis, 1941. Die griechischen Schuhputzer hatten rasch bemerkt, dass der deutsche Soldat die Reinlichkeit liebt. Hier haben sie auf der Universitäts = Strasse von Athen, einen Ritterkreuzträger Walther „in der Arbeit” (German troops in the Aegean, 1941. The Greek shoe shiners quickly noticed that the German soldier loves cleanliness. Here you have a Knight’s Cross bearer Walther "in the works" on University Street of Athens).

Walther Lucht cleaning his shoes outside his bunkhouse in a POW camp, 24 November 1945. Ritterkreuzträger Walther Lucht (26 February 1882 – 18 March 1949), a General der Artillerie of the Wehrmacht, spent the final years of his life as a prisoner of war following Germany’s defeat in the Second World War. After serving as commander of LXVI. Armeekorps and later briefly leading the 11. Armee during the desperate final campaigns of 1945, Lucht surrendered to American forces in May 1945. As one of Germany’s senior generals and a holder of both the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes and Eichenlaub, he was placed in Allied captivity during the occupation period. Unlike many German officers captured by the Soviet Union, Lucht remained in Western Allied hands, where conditions were generally less severe and where he was subjected primarily to interrogation and administrative detention rather than long-term punitive imprisonment. During his captivity he witnessed the collapse of the military system to which he had devoted more than four decades of service, beginning in the Imperial German Army and continuing through the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht. Released from American captivity in 1948, he returned to civilian life in post-war Germany, but his freedom was short-lived. On 18 March 1949, less than a year after his release, Lucht was killed in a motor vehicle accident near Heilbronn.

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PUSHING CARS

Generalmajor Hasso von Manteuffel (foreground, Kommandeur 7. Panzer-Division) in an attempt to push a stuck-up Kübelwagen out of the mud. Eastern Front, end of 1943. In the autumn previously, the battered division withdrew to the Dnieper position, crossing the river at Kremenchug. The division then fought in the defensive Battle of Kiev and the German counterattack at Zhitomir. During these battles, the division was twice cited for distinguished conduct. After this, the division fought in a series of heavy defensive battles during the long retreat across the Ukraine. On 20 November 1943, 7th Panzer Division possessed 47 tanks, of which only 16 were operational! Other pictures from this occasion can be seen HERE.

Source :
"Brandenburger: Wartime Photographs of Wilhelm Walther" by Anthony Rogers
Denis Daum photo collection
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Walther_Lucht_cleaning_his_shoes_outside_his_bunkhouse_in_POW_camp_(cropped).jpg