The 3. Gebirgs-Division, formed on 1 April 1938 in Graz from elements of the former Austrian Army's 5th and 7th Divisions following the Anschluss, was an elite mountain warfare formation of the German Wehrmacht specializing in high-altitude and arctic operations. Composed primarily of Austrian Gebirgsjäger troops trained for rugged terrain, the division first saw action during the 1939 Invasion of Poland as part of Army Group South before shifting to the West Wall. In 1940 it distinguished itself in Norway, particularly in the fierce fighting around Narvik under extreme conditions, and later participated in Operation Barbarossa with attempts to seize Murmansk in the Arctic sector. Transferred to the southern Eastern Front, it fought in defensive battles, including efforts to relieve Stalingrad, and endured grueling retreats through Ukraine, Hungary, and Slovakia amid the collapsing German lines. Throughout its campaigns, numerous soldiers of the 3. Gebirgs-Division earned high decorations such as the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes with Eichenlaub and Schwerter for their bravery in mountain combat, until the unit's remnants surrendered in southern Silesia in May 1945.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
General der Gebirgstruppe Hans Kreysing (1890-1969) was born on 17 August 1890 in Göttingen and entered the Preußische Armee in 1909 as a Fahnenjunker in the Hannoversches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 10, with which he served throughout the First World War on multiple fronts including Verdun where he was severely wounded, rising to Hauptmann and receiving the Eisernes Kreuz both classes as well as the Ritterkreuz des Königlichen Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern. After the war he remained in the Reichswehr, advancing through battalion and regimental commands to become Oberst and Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 16 of the 22. Infanterie-Division by the outbreak of the Second World War. During the campaign in the West in May 1940 he led his regiment with bold and successful leadership, recognizing an impending flank threat early and preventing the advance of an enemy division through swift countermeasures during the airborne operations around Waalhaven in the Netherlands, for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 29 May 1940 as Oberst. Promoted to Generalmajor on 1 July 1940 he took command of the 3. Gebirgs-Division on 23 October 1940, leading it in Norway, Lapland and later on the Eastern Front. In the critical fighting around Millerovo in early 1943 his division stood firm against three Soviet corps, tying them down and thereby relieving the army sector while he himself broke through an encirclement to relieve another threatened strongpoint, earning him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 20 January 1943 as Generalleutnant, the 183rd recipient. In November 1943 he was promoted to General der Gebirgstruppe and appointed Kommandierender General of the XVII. Armeekorps, under whose command he conducted determined defensive operations that prevented Soviet breakthroughs in the Nikopol and Zaporozhye bridgeheads from November 1943 to February 1944, for which he was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht and awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub on 13 April 1944 as the 63rd recipient. He later assumed command of the 8. Armee in Hungary and the Carpathians until the end of the war, after which he marched west and entered British captivity until 1948. In later life he engaged in voluntary work with the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz and died in Oldenburg on 14 April 1969.
Oberst der Reserve Albert Graf von der Goltz (1893-1944) was an aristocratic German officer whose distinguished military path culminated in frontline command during World War II. Entering military service in 1913 as Fahnenjunker in 1. Brandenburgische Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 2, he earned the Eisernes Kreuz 1914 II. und I. Klasse before returning as Hauptmann der Reserve in 9. Infanterie-Regiment. Advancing steadily to Major der Reserve and later Oberstleutnant der Reserve, he achieved renown for exceptional tactical determination on the Eastern Front. On 7 May 1942, as commander of I. Bataillon / Infanterie-Regiment 415 within 123. Infanterie-Division, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for resolute leadership, stabilizing critical defensive sectors and repelling ferocious Soviet assaults around Lake Ilmen and the Demyansk Pocket. By autumn 1943, leading mountain troops under 3. Gebirgs-Division, his initiative proved pivotal during the grueling defensive battles southeast of Zaporizhzhia. Facing overwhelming enemy formations, his tenacious direction of Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 144 and Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 138 successfully held ruptured frontlines, earning him mention in the Wehrmachtbericht on 3 October 1943 and the 316th Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 November 1943. Promoted to Oberst der Reserve on 1 December 1943, his accolades also included the Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz II. und I. Klasse, the Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42, and the Verwundetenabzeichen in Gold. While commanding Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 138 during the heavy withdrawal near Novy Bug on 14 March 1944, he suffered severe wounds resulting in the loss of his right arm, succumbing two days later in a Lazarett at Odessa.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
General der Gebirgstruppe Hans Kreysing (1890-1969) was born on 17 August 1890 in Göttingen and entered the Preußische Armee in 1909 as a Fahnenjunker in the Hannoversches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 10, with which he served throughout the First World War on multiple fronts including Verdun where he was severely wounded, rising to Hauptmann and receiving the Eisernes Kreuz both classes as well as the Ritterkreuz des Königlichen Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern. After the war he remained in the Reichswehr, advancing through battalion and regimental commands to become Oberst and Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 16 of the 22. Infanterie-Division by the outbreak of the Second World War. During the campaign in the West in May 1940 he led his regiment with bold and successful leadership, recognizing an impending flank threat early and preventing the advance of an enemy division through swift countermeasures during the airborne operations around Waalhaven in the Netherlands, for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 29 May 1940 as Oberst. Promoted to Generalmajor on 1 July 1940 he took command of the 3. Gebirgs-Division on 23 October 1940, leading it in Norway, Lapland and later on the Eastern Front. In the critical fighting around Millerovo in early 1943 his division stood firm against three Soviet corps, tying them down and thereby relieving the army sector while he himself broke through an encirclement to relieve another threatened strongpoint, earning him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 20 January 1943 as Generalleutnant, the 183rd recipient. In November 1943 he was promoted to General der Gebirgstruppe and appointed Kommandierender General of the XVII. Armeekorps, under whose command he conducted determined defensive operations that prevented Soviet breakthroughs in the Nikopol and Zaporozhye bridgeheads from November 1943 to February 1944, for which he was mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht and awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub on 13 April 1944 as the 63rd recipient. He later assumed command of the 8. Armee in Hungary and the Carpathians until the end of the war, after which he marched west and entered British captivity until 1948. In later life he engaged in voluntary work with the Deutsches Rotes Kreuz and died in Oldenburg on 14 April 1969.
Oberst der Reserve Albert Graf von der Goltz (1893-1944) was an aristocratic German officer whose distinguished military path culminated in frontline command during World War II. Entering military service in 1913 as Fahnenjunker in 1. Brandenburgische Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 2, he earned the Eisernes Kreuz 1914 II. und I. Klasse before returning as Hauptmann der Reserve in 9. Infanterie-Regiment. Advancing steadily to Major der Reserve and later Oberstleutnant der Reserve, he achieved renown for exceptional tactical determination on the Eastern Front. On 7 May 1942, as commander of I. Bataillon / Infanterie-Regiment 415 within 123. Infanterie-Division, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for resolute leadership, stabilizing critical defensive sectors and repelling ferocious Soviet assaults around Lake Ilmen and the Demyansk Pocket. By autumn 1943, leading mountain troops under 3. Gebirgs-Division, his initiative proved pivotal during the grueling defensive battles southeast of Zaporizhzhia. Facing overwhelming enemy formations, his tenacious direction of Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 144 and Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 138 successfully held ruptured frontlines, earning him mention in the Wehrmachtbericht on 3 October 1943 and the 316th Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 November 1943. Promoted to Oberst der Reserve on 1 December 1943, his accolades also included the Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz II. und I. Klasse, the Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42, and the Verwundetenabzeichen in Gold. While commanding Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 138 during the heavy withdrawal near Novy Bug on 14 March 1944, he suffered severe wounds resulting in the loss of his right arm, succumbing two days later in a Lazarett at Odessa.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
Generaloberst Eduard Dietl (1890-1944) was born on 21 July 1890 in Bad Aibling in Bavaria and entered the Bayerische Armee on 1 October 1909 as Fahnenjunker in the 5. Infanterie-Regiment, serving on the Western Front during the First World War where he was twice wounded and awarded both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz. After the war he joined the Freikorps of Franz Ritter von Epp and remained in the Reichswehr, rising through the ranks of the Gebirgstruppe to become Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the 3. Gebirgs-Division by the outbreak of the Second World War. In the invasion of Norway his division was landed at Narvik by destroyers on 9 April 1940, and despite the subsequent sinking of the entire supporting naval force and being heavily outnumbered by Norwegian, British, French and Polish troops, Dietl skilfully defended the town for weeks under the most severe conditions by improvising with sailors as infantry and using limited supplies from the wrecked ships. For his leadership of the Kampfgruppe in these desperate battles he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 9 May 1940 as Generalleutnant and Kommandeur of the 3. Gebirgs-Division. After the final Allied withdrawal and the German victory at Narvik he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 19 July 1940 as the first recipient in the Wehrmacht, simultaneously promoted to General der Infanterie (later General der Gebirgstruppe) and appointed Kommandierender General of the Gebirgs-Korps Norwegen. He later commanded German forces in northern Finland and Norway, rising to Generaloberst and Oberbefehlshaber of the 20. Gebirgs-Armee on the Arctic front. On 23 June 1944 while flying to a conference his Ju 52 crashed near Rettenegg in Styria, killing him and several other generals. Posthumously he was awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub on 1 July 1944 as the 72nd recipient for his outstanding leadership of the 20. Gebirgs-Armee, and the Gebirgsjäger-Brigade 139 was named in his honour.
Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=106376
https://www.tracesofwar.com/search.asp?q=3+gebirgs+division
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