The 1. Infanterie-Division of the Wehrmacht was one of the oldest and most storied infantry formations of Nazi Germany's army, tracing its roots to the Reichswehr era and embodying a distinctly Prussian military tradition. Formed in October 1934 under the cover name Artillerieführer I in Königsberg, East Prussia (with headquarters later moving between Insterburg and Königsberg), it was officially designated the 1st Infantry Division on 15 October 1935 and drew its personnel primarily from East Prussian recruits, organized around Infantry Regiments 1, 22, and 43, plus Artillery Regiment 1. Its insignia—a black-and-white quartered shield inspired by the Hohenzollern coat of arms—reflected this heritage. Under early commanders like Georg von Küchler, Walther Schroth, and Joachim von Kortzfleisch, the division participated in the 1939 occupation of the Memelland before spearheading the Invasion of Poland as part of the XXVI Army Corps and 3rd Army, where it fought in the Battle of Mława, crossed the Bug and Narew rivers, helped capture Ostrów Mazowiecka, and joined the Siege of Warsaw. In 1940, it saw limited action in the Battle of France with I Army Corps before returning to East Prussia. During Operation Barbarossa in 1941, attached to the 18th Army of Army Group North, it advanced toward Leningrad, engaging in heavy fighting around Pskov, Lake Peipus, and the Siege of Leningrad through 1943, with regiments later redesignated as Grenadier Regiments 1 and 43 and Fusilier Regiment 22. Transferred south in 1944, it broke out of the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket with the 1st Panzer Army before returning to defend its homeland in East Prussia, participating in Operation Doppelkopf and fierce defensive actions around Königsberg and the Samland peninsula. In February 1945, elements led a counteroffensive using a captured T-34 to reopen the route to Pillau for evacuations. Trapped in the Königsberg pocket, the division—under final commanders including Philipp Kleffel, Martin Grase, Ernst-Anton von Krosigk, Henning von Thadden, and Egon Overbeck—fought until the city's fall on 9 April 1945, with survivors retreating to Pillau; most surrendered to the Soviets, while some were evacuated by sea to British forces in Schleswig-Holstein by war's end on 8 May 1945. Renowned for its resilience on the Eastern Front, the division exemplified the Wehrmacht's blend of traditional Prussian discipline and the brutal attritional warfare of the Second World War.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Generalmajor Franz Scheidies (1890-1942) was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes along with its Eichenlaub for outstanding personal bravery and decisive leadership in major combat operations. After earlier service in the Prussian Army and police, he rejoined the military in 1935 and rose through the ranks; during the 1940 Western Campaign in France, as Oberstleutnant and Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 127 within the XII. Armee-Korps of the 1. Armee under Heeresgruppe C, he commanded the division’s Vorausabteilung in the pursuit battles from the Maginot Line to the Mosel river, where he was always at the forefront of the fiercest fighting and repeatedly guided his detachment through the most trying situations thanks to his personal courage, bold initiative, and clear orders, actions especially distinguished during the engagements at Languimberg on 17 June 1940, at Bého and Gélacourt on 18 June 1940, and the assault on Azerailles on 19 June 1940, when he was severely wounded while personally leading the foremost riflemen, for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 August 1940. After recovering from his wounds and promotion to Oberst, he took command of Infanterie-Regiment 22 of the 1. Infanterie-Division under the XXXVIII. Armee-Korps; on 9 September 1941 his regiment advanced as far as Kainelaisi during the breakthrough that made the 1. Infanterie-Division the first German unit to penetrate the outer defensive ring around Leningrad, enabling the corps to thrust to the Gulf of Finland and tighten the encirclement of the city, for which he was awarded the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941 as the 43rd recipient. He subsequently led Infanterie-Regiment 22 in heavy defensive battles near Ladoga during the winter of 1941/42 before being appointed commander of the 61. Infanterie-Division in late March 1942, a post he held until he was killed by a Soviet sniper near Gluschitza on 7 April 1942.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
No comments:
Post a Comment