The 10. Infanterie-Division (motorisiert) was a motorized infantry formation of the German Wehrmacht during World War II, originating from the 10. Infanterie-Division established in October 1934 under the cover name Kommandant von Regensburg in Wehrkreis VII to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles, and officially redesignated in 1935 with garrisons in Regensburg and surrounding areas. It saw early action in the 1938 Anschluss of Austria, advancing through Passau and Schärding to secure bridgeheads and support armored thrusts toward Vienna, followed by participation in the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939; fully mobilized in August 1939, it joined the invasion of Poland as part of the XIII. Armeekorps under the 8. Armee, fighting through Sieradz toward Lodz, countering Polish attacks at the Bzura, and advancing on Warsaw before serving as occupation troops. In 1940 it participated in the Battle of France under the 12. Armee and XVII. Armeekorps, providing flank security along the Oise-Aisne Canal and pushing southeast through Verdun and the Maas toward Langres as occupation forces in France until September, after which it returned home for full motorization by May 1941, relinquishing Infanterie-Regiment 85 and other elements while gaining motorized regiments 20 and 41, Kradschützen-Bataillon 40, and supporting units. As the 10. Infanterie-Division (mot.) it entered Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 with Panzergruppe 2 of Heeresgruppe Mitte, advancing through the Bug and Pripjet regions toward Gomel, Kiev, and Bryansk, then fighting in the battles for Tula and Moscow in late 1941 under XXXXVII. Armeekorps, enduring the harsh winter defensive actions around Moshaisk and Juchnow. It continued operations in 1942-1943 on the central front, including around Demjansk and Orel with the 4. Armee and 2. Panzerarmee, before being redesignated the 10. Panzergrenadier-Division on 15 June 1943; the division suffered heavy losses and was largely destroyed in the Jassy-Kishinev Offensive in August 1944, partially rebuilt in Germany as a Kampfgruppe, saw further destruction in Poland in January 1945, and finally surrendered to Soviet forces in Czechoslovakia in May 1945 after limited reconstitution. Elements of the division were also implicated in atrocities against Polish civilians during the 1939 campaign.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Generalleutnant Hans Traut (1895-1974), born on 25 January 1895 in Saargemünd and deceased on 9 December 1974 in Darmstadt, was a German officer who rose through the ranks of the Wehrmacht during World War II, ultimately commanding several infantry formations on both the Western and Eastern Fronts after serving in the First World War and the Reichswehr. As Oberstleutnant and commander of I./Infanterie-Regiment 90 of the 20. Infanterie-Division (mot.), he earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 5 August 1940 for his bold thrust during the Westfeldzug in France, where on 16 June 1940 he advanced from Langres toward Vesoul to seize the vital railroad junction and block enemy retreat routes southward; despite threats from the north, he reinforced his battalion, fought through to secure the Pont-sur-Saône river crossing, and personally led a renewed nighttime assault up a heavily defended mountain slope under intense machine-gun fire to capture the heights overlooking Vesoul by dawn, sealing the town's fate. Promoted to Oberst and given command of Infanterie-Regiment 41 (mot.) within the 10. Infanterie-Division, he received the Eichenlaub on 23 January 1942 as the 67th recipient for his outstanding leadership during Operation Barbarossa, including the fierce fight for Shlobin and the Dnieper crossing on 6 July 1941, the prolonged defense of Propoisk from 19 to 25 July, repelling a Soviet battalion incursion near Novosybkov with improvised supply troops and a Flak Zug on 24 August, holding against attacks by elements of four Soviet divisions north of the Desna on 27 August, pushing back strong enemy forces at the Glukhov bridgehead in late September to capture 1,700 prisoners, the contested battle for Negino in October, the storming of Yefremov in November while subordinated to the 18. Panzer-Division, and a decisive counterattack at Gorlovo on 8 December that recaptured heights at Klekotki, freed 39 German prisoners, and reopened key supply routes. Later rising to Generalleutnant, Traut commanded the 263. Infanterie-Division and then the 78. Sturm Division, participating in Unternehmen Zitadelle and subsequent defensive battles before being captured by Soviet forces during the Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive in July 1944, after which he endured imprisonment as a war criminal until his release in 1955.
Generalleutnant August Schmidt (1892-1972) was born on 3 November 1892 in Fürth, Bavaria, and entered the Königlich Bayerische Armee on 31 July 1911 as Fahnenjunker, rising through the ranks of Fähnrich, Leutnant, Oberleutnant and Hauptmann during and after the First World War, in which he earned the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse and I. Klasse along with the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz; after temporary departure from service he rejoined as Major in 1933, was promoted Oberstleutnant in 1935 and Oberst in 1938, and on 1 May 1939 assumed command of Infanterie-Regiment 20 of the 10. Infanterie-Division. During the Polish campaign he led his regiment with marked initiative, breaking through a Polish bunker line east of the Warthe near Sieradz on 3–4 September 1939, repelling a Polish attempt to strike the open left flank of the army at Bielawy and Przymus on 10–11 September, independently deciding to seize Hill 117 near Kwjatek on 14 September, and directing the capture of Fort Mokotowski in Warsaw on 25 September, actions for which, as one of the earliest Heer recipients, he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 27 October 1939 while still Oberst and Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 20. After further service in the Westfeldzug and on the Eastern Front, where he was promoted Generalmajor on 1 October 1941, briefly commanded the 50. Infanterie-Division, and then from late April 1942 led the 10. Infanterie-Division (later redesignated 10. Panzergrenadier-Division), he was advanced to Generalleutnant on 1 January 1943. In the defensive battle around Kirovograd in January 1944 his division, together with remnants of other formations under his temporary command as Gruppe Schmidt, became encircled in the Lelekowka pocket; on the night of 9–10 January he spearheaded a successful breakout that extricated the force with surprisingly light losses, after which the unit was praised in the Wehrmachtbericht of 18 January for its unshakeable steadfastness in the southern sector of the Eastern Front. For this achievement, as Generalleutnant and Kommandeur of the 10. Panzergrenadier-Division, he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 23 January 1944 as its 371st recipient. His final rank remained Generalleutnant; after further commands including the LXXII. Armeekorps he was captured by Soviet forces in April 1945, released in 1955, and died in Munich on 17 January 1972.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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