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.
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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.
General der Infanterie Martin Grase (1891-1963) was born on 3 May 1891 in Schlochau, West Prussia, and entered military service on 24 March 1909 from the Kadettenkorps as Fähnrich in the Grenadier-Regiment „König Friedrich der Große“ (3. Ostpreußisches) Nr. 4 of the Prussian Army. After attending the Kriegsschule Anklam he was promoted to Leutnant in 1910. During the First World War he served on the Eastern Front as Zugführer and later Führer of the MG-Kompanie, taking part in the battles of Stallupönen, Gumbinnen, Tannenberg, the Masurian Lakes and the Winter Battle of Masuria; wounded in 1915, he later served with Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 374 and rose to Adjutant of the 16. Landwehr-Division by October 1918, receiving both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz. After the war he continued in the Reichswehr, advancing through staff and command posts, including Chef of companies in Infanterie-Regiment 2 and later Kommandeur of the III. Bataillon of Infanterie-Regiment 30; he was promoted to Major in 1933, Oberstleutnant in 1935 and Oberst in 1938. At the outbreak of the Second World War he served as Adjutant with AOK 3 during the Invasion of Poland, then took command of Infanterie-Regiment 1 in March 1940, leading it in the Battle of France and later in Operation Barbarossa with Heeresgruppe Nord. As Oberst and Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 1 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 18 October 1941 for holding the key position at Kingisepp with his Kampfgruppe from 17 August 1941, thereby maintaining contact between the 18. Armee and Panzer-Gruppe 4 from 18 to 24 August and enabling the continued advance toward Leningrad. Promoted to Generalmajor and given command of the 1. Infanterie-Division in January 1942, then to Generalleutnant in January 1943, he received the Eichenlaub on 23 May 1943 as Kommandeur of the 1. Infanterie-Division for outstanding leadership in defensive combat during the Second Battle of Lake Ladoga, successfully holding the bridgehead over the Luga at Porietschje against relentless Soviet attacks and defeating major offensives aimed at Kingisepp and Luzk; his division alone retained its original positions. Later he commanded the I. Armeekorps and XXVI. Armeekorps as General der Infanterie, served briefly as Militärbefehlshaber Belgien-Nordfrankreich, and ended the war in other staff roles before captivity until 1947. He died on 3 August 1963 in Freiburg.
Oberst Dr.med.dent. Walter Lange (1898-1982) was born on 14 July 1898 in Berlin as the son of hospital inspector Georg Lange and his wife Wilhelmine. He volunteered for the Prussian Army on 21 November 1916, serving first with the 4. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß and then with Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 422 on the Western Front during the First World War, where he earned the Iron Cross Second and First Class. After the war he served briefly with Freikorps Petsch before joining the Reichswehr, rising to Oberleutnant by 1928. He left the army on 31 December 1929 to study dentistry, graduating as Dr. med. dent. from the University of Königsberg in 1934 and practicing as a dentist. In 1936 he rejoined as a Landwehr reservist and was promoted to Hauptmann der Landwehr in 1938. Recalled at the outbreak of the Second World War, he participated in the Polish campaign with Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment 162 before transferring to Infanterie-Regiment 43. He commanded battalions during the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, was wounded, and received the German Cross in Gold. From November 1942 he commanded Grenadier-Regiment 43 of the 1. Infanterie-Division in the heavy fighting around Lake Ladoga. Between 12 and 22 January 1943 his regiment repelled attacks by thirteen Soviet rifle regiments, two ski battalions and two tank units south of the lake; on 22 January, when two Soviet battalions broke through a 500-metre sector toward the Sinjawino heights, Lange personally led a counterattack with only sixty men, destroyed the penetration in close combat and restored the line. For this he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 10 February 1943 as Oberstleutnant der Landwehr. Promoted to Oberst, he continued to lead the regiment during the August 1943 Soviet attempts to collapse the front near the Sinjawino heights; the stubborn defence by Grenadier-Regiment 43 around Poretschje thwarted the enemy attacks from the rear, earning him the Eichenlaub (300th award) on 13 September 1943. Later transferred to the Führerreserve and then given command of Grenadier-Regiment 917 in France, he was captured by French forces on 30 July 1944. Lange died on 30 October 1982 in Osnabrück.
Generalleutnant Theodor Tolsdorff (1909-1978), born on 3 November 1909 at Estate Lehnarten in East Prussia, joined the Infanterie-Regiment 1 of the Reichswehr in Insterburg as a Schütze in 1934 and rose rapidly through the ranks of the Wehrmacht Heer. Promoted to Leutnant in 1936 and Oberleutnant in 1938, he commanded the 14. (Panzerjäger-)Kompanie of Infanterie-Regiment 22 in the 1. Infanterie-Division during the invasions of Poland and France. On the Eastern Front, as Oberleutnant and acting commander of II./Infanterie-Regiment 22, he earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 4 December 1941 by leading a counterattack with hastily assembled reserves against a Soviet breakthrough from the Vyborgsskaja bridgehead, regaining the line despite being wounded three times. As Major and Kommandeur of I. Bataillon, Füsilier-Regiment 22, he received the Eichenlaub on 15 September 1943 for holding his sector for fourteen days and restoring neighboring positions during the Third Battle of Lake Ladoga through personal frontline leadership. In July 1944, as Oberstleutnant commanding Grenadier-Regiment 1067 and Kampfgruppe Tolsdorff, he broke through to the encircled garrison of Vilnius, rescued a field hospital with three thousand wounded, defended the city against overwhelming Soviet and Polish forces, and facilitated the breakout, earning the Schwerter on 18 July 1944 and the nickname Löwe von Wilna while being promoted to Oberst. Appointed Kommandeur of the 340. Volksgrenadier-Division, he led it in the Ardennes offensive, seizing and holding a vital river crossing, then conducted an orderly retreat through the Eifel, for which he received the Brillanten on 18 March 1945 as Generalmajor and was promoted to Generalleutnant, one of the youngest in the Heer, later commanding the LXXXII. Armeekorps. Wounded fourteen times in total, Tolsdorff surrendered in May 1945, was released in 1947, and died in Dortmund on 25 May 1978.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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