The 126. Infanterie-Division was formed on 18 October 1940 at the Truppenübungsplatz Sennelager near Paderborn in Wehrkreis VI as a Rhineland-Westphalian formation drawn from elements of the 11. Infanterie-Division, the 253. Infanterie-Division and the non-motorized parts of the 16. Infanterie-Division (mot.). Its initial organization comprised Infanterie-Regiment 422, Infanterie-Regiment 424, Infanterie-Regiment 426 and Artillerie-Regiment 126 together with the usual divisional support units. After training it was transferred to East Prussia and crossed the Soviet frontier south of the Memel on 22 June 1941 as part of Army Group North. Advancing rapidly through the Baltic states it reached the western shore of Lake Ilmen by late July, took part in the capture of Novgorod and later contributed to the seizure of Schlüsselburg and the heights of Sinyavino during the approach to Leningrad. From late 1941 it held defensive positions along the Volkhov River, enduring the severe fighting of the Lyuban offensive and the subsequent battles around Staraya Russa. In the summer of 1942 the division was committed to the defense of the Demyansk salient, remaining there until the pocket was evacuated in February 1943. After reorganization into a Type 44 division with Grenadier-Regimenter 422, 424 and 426 plus Füsilier-Bataillon 126, it returned to the Leningrad front and later absorbed remnants of the 9. Luftwaffen-Feld-Division in February 1944. Heavy casualties marked the withdrawal through the Baltic states in 1944; by October the division was trapped in the Courland Pocket, where it continued to fight in successive defensive battles until the final surrender on 8 May 1945 near Preekuln–Vartava south of Libau, by which time it had been reduced to roughly seventy officers and three thousand men. Commanders included General der Infanterie Paul Laux, Generalleutnant Harry Hoppe, Generalleutnant Gotthard Fischer and Generalmajor Kurt Hähling.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Oberstleutnant Josef Bremm (1914-1998) was born on 3 May 1914 in Mannebach in the Vulkaneifel region as the son of a Volksschule teacher, completed his Abitur, entered the Wehrmacht on 1 November 1935 with Infanterie-Regiment 7, rose through the ranks from Gefreiter and Unteroffizier to Feldwebel der Reserve and Leutnant der Reserve by 1938, and after brief discharge was reactivated in 1939 as Zugführer and later Adjutant in Infanterie-Regiment 453 of the 253. Infanterie-Division, earning the Eisernes Kreuz II. and I. Klasse during the 1940 campaigns in the West. Transferred eastward, he became Chef of the 5./Infanterie-Regiment 426 of the 126. Infanterie-Division and on the morning of 22 December 1941, with his depleted Kompanie, repelled a strong Soviet assault on the Orelje barracks bridgehead before launching an immediate counterthrust that broke into the enemy ranks, where he personally killed a commissar with machine-pistol and hand grenades, partially destroying an opposing Bataillon and shattering the rest, an action that brought him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 18 February 1942 as Leutnant der Reserve. Continuing to distinguish himself southeast of Lake Ilmen, at the end of September 1942 he led an assault troop that penetrated and rolled up an enemy blocking position, enabling his Regiment to reach its objective, and days later shielded the Division’s flank against heavy attacks despite being wounded for the fourth time, remaining in command until the assaults were broken; for these deeds he received the 165th Eichenlaub on 23 December 1942 as Oberleutnant der Reserve and Chef of the 5./Grenadier-Regiment 426. Promoted successively to Hauptmann, Major and finally Oberstleutnant, he later commanded the Füsilier-Bataillon of the 712. Infanterie-Division and from August 1944 Grenadier-Regiment 990, fighting in Normandy, the Ardennes and the final defense of Germany. In April 1945, at the head of the remnant Kampfgruppe formed from Grenadier-Regiment 990 and supported by Tiger II tanks near Kassel, he conducted repeated counterattacks against an American armored spearhead of the U.S. Third Army, actions for which he was nominated for the Schwerter; the Association of Knight’s Cross Recipients records the 159th Schwerter as awarded on 9 May 1945 according to the Dönitz decree, though the presentation was never officially completed before the 11. Armee’s surrender. Taken prisoner by American forces at war’s end, Bremm later worked as a salesperson for agricultural machines, married Agnes Steffens, and died childless on 21 October 1998 in Monreal, remembered as the highest-decorated soldier of the Eifel region.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
Oberst Hermann Seitz (1902-1942) was born on 19 April 1902 in Beilngries, Bavaria, and entered military service in 1919 with Schützen-Regiment 43, receiving promotion to Leutnant in 1924. By 1934 he had advanced to Rittmeister and served as Chef of the 2./Aufklärungs-Abteilung 7, later becoming Major and Kommandeur of Aufklärungs-Abteilung 20 in 1939. He took part in the Polish and French campaigns, earning the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse on 25 September 1939 and the Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse on 2 July 1941. During the early fighting in the Soviet Union he commanded Aufklärungs-Abteilung 20 and received the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 11 December 1941. In the heavy defensive battles on the Volkhov front from December 1941 into January 1942 he played a decisive role in the weeks-long defense of the town of Kopzy beginning on 17 January 1942, where his active leadership, personal bravery and iron will enabled the German forces to hold the position against fierce Soviet attacks and thereby maintain operational freedom in the sector. For this achievement he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 12 April 1942 as Oberstleutnant und Kommandeur of Aufklärungs-Abteilung 20 (motorisiert). Promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 March 1942, he assumed command of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 63 of the 17. Panzer-Division in April 1942. In August 1942 north of Orel his regiment contributed decisively to the annihilation of strong elements of three Soviet divisions, and in the subsequent defensive fighting Seitz’s men successfully repulsed twenty large-scale enemy attacks over the course of three days within his sector. These actions brought him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 31 October 1942 as the 140th recipient. Seitz was killed in action on 20 December 1942 near Werch Kimsky in the Stalingrad area and was posthumously promoted to Oberst.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/126th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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