Ritterkreuzträger of 3. Infanterie-Division / 3. Panzergrenadier-Division

The 3. Infanterie-Division was established in October 1934 under the cover designation Kommandant von Frankfurt in Frankfurt an der Oder within Wehrkreis III and received its official title on 15 October 1935. Mobilized on 1 August 1939, the division crossed into Poland as part of the 4. Armee under Heeresgruppe Nord, advancing through the Polish Corridor and participating in the encirclement battles that followed. In May 1940 it took part in the campaign in the West within the 12. Armee of Heeresgruppe A, crossing the Meuse and advancing deep into France before occupation duties near Le Creusot. Returned to Germany in October 1940, the formation was fully motorized and redesignated 3. Infanterie-Division (mot.), transferring Infanterie-Regiment 50 to the newly raised 111. Infanterie-Division. During Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 the division advanced with Heeresgruppe Nord toward Leningrad, fighting near Luga and south of Lake Ilmen, before transfer to Heeresgruppe Mitte for Operation Typhoon and the subsequent defensive battles around Moscow through the winter of 1941–42. In the summer of 1942 it moved south for Fall Blau, advancing across the Don toward Stalingrad, where it was encircled with the 6. Armee and destroyed by February 1943. Reconstituted on 1 March 1943 in southern France from remnants and the 386. Infanterie-Division (mot.), the unit was redesignated 3. Panzergrenadier-Division on 23 June 1943 under commanders including General der Panzertruppe Fritz-Hubert Gräser and later Generalleutnant Walter Denkert. Deployed to Italy, it participated in the disarmament of Italian forces after the armistice, opposed the Salerno landings, and fought at Anzio, along the Gustav Line, and in the defense of Rome before withdrawal northward. Transferred to the Western Front in August 1944, the division engaged in Lorraine, the Ardennes offensive, and the defense around Remagen, finally surrendering in the Ruhr Pocket in April 1945 after nearly continuous combat across multiple theaters.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Generalleutnant Helmuth Schlömer (1893-1995) was born on 20 May 1893 in Hausberge near Minden and joined the Königlich Preußische Armee on 9 March 1913 as a Fahnenjunker in the 8. Lothringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 159, serving as an officer throughout the First World War in roles including company commander, battalion adjutant and regimental adjutant before being retained in the Reichswehr after 1918. In the interwar years he held various troop and staff appointments and in 1935 served as an instructor at the Kriegsschule München; with the expansion of the Wehrmacht he took part in the invasion of Poland and the campaign in the West. As Oberst and Kommandeur of Schützen-Regiment 5 he distinguished himself during Operation Barbarossa, particularly in the final advance of Heeresgruppe Nord that aimed to sever the land connection to Leningrad, leading his regiment through heavily fortified and swampy terrain along the Ljuban–Ishora–Leningrad axis, for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 2 October 1941. Shortly thereafter he assumed command of Schützen-Brigade 7 and on 30 April 1942 was appointed Kommandeur of the 3. Infanterie-Division (mot.). As Generalmajor he directed the division in the southern sector of the Eastern Front during the 1942 summer offensive, achieving the successful crossing of the Tim on 28 June 1942, the stubborn defence of the Voronezh bridgehead from 7 to 13 July 1942, the hard-fought actions in the Don bend between 24 July and 10 August 1942, and the prolonged defence of the northern edge of the German salient at Stalingrad between the Don and the Volga. These achievements earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 23 December 1942 as the 161st recipient. Promoted to Generalleutnant, he took over the Generalkommando XIV. Panzerkorps inside the Stalingrad pocket on 15 January 1943 after General der Panzertruppe Hans-Valentin Hube was flown out, and on 29 January 1943 became the first corps commander to open surrender negotiations with the Red Army. Taken prisoner with the remnants of the 6. Armee, he later joined the Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland and the Bund Deutscher Offiziere, was released in 1949, and died on 18 August 1995 in Minden-Lübbecke at the age of 102!

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)