Ritterkreuzträger of 46. Infanterie-Division

The 46. Infanterie-Division was formed on 24 November 1938 in Karlsbad in the Sudetenland as a first-wave unit of the peacetime army and was mobilized in August 1939 under Generalleutnant Paul von Hase, drawing primarily on ethnic German recruits from the region. It took part in the invasion of Poland in September 1939, advancing through southern sectors including the areas of Tschenstochau, Radom and the approaches to Warsaw, before moving west and participating in the Battle of France in 1940 as part of XXXVIII. Armeekorps after initially serving in OKH reserve. Following occupation duties in France, elements moved through Yugoslavia and Romania; in July 1941 the division joined Operation Barbarossa under Heeresgruppe Süd and the 11. Armee, crossing the Pruth, Dnjestr and Bug rivers and advancing through southern Ukraine to the Dnepr before breaking through the Perekop isthmus into the Crimea in late September. It fought in the siege of Sevastopol, defended the Kerch Peninsula during the Soviet landings of December 1941–January 1942 (an unauthorized withdrawal ordered by Generalleutnant Kurt Himer and Generalleutnant Hans Graf von Sponeck later leading to temporary stripping of the division’s battle honors), and participated in the reconquest of Kerch in May 1942. Transferred to the Caucasus in autumn 1942, it advanced into the western Caucasus mountains before being forced into a long series of defensive and withdrawal battles through Ukraine in 1943–1944, suffering heavy losses near Isjum, Dnjepropetrowsk, Kriwoi Rog and during the retreat across the Bug and Pruth. By autumn 1944 the remnants had reached Hungary, where they conducted defensive fighting in the Puszta, at Szolnok, in the Mátra mountains and along the Ipel before holding positions in the Margarethe-Stellung. Redesignated the 46. Volksgrenadier-Division in March 1945, the depleted formation continued the retreat through Moravia and surrendered to Soviet forces near Deutsch-Brod in May 1945.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Generalmajor Ludwig Kirschner (1904-1945) was born on 12 June 1904 in Bayreuth and began his career on 1 May 1925 as an officer candidate in the Bayerische Landespolizei, becoming Polizei-Leutnant in 1928 and Polizei-Oberleutnant in 1934 before transferring to the Wehrmacht as Oberleutnant in 1935 and later serving with Infanterie-Regiment 110 of the 33. Infanterie-Division. Promoted to Hauptmann in 1936, he commanded a company of Infanterie-Regiment 104 during the western campaign of 1940, then took over I. Bataillon of the newly formed Infanterie-Regiment 436 of the 132. Infanterie-Division, rising to Major on 1 August 1941 and leading it into the Russian campaign. On 15 January 1942 his battalion spearheaded the attack on Feodosia; two days later, acting on his own initiative despite severed contact with the regiment and strong enemy forces on both flanks, he broke through Soviet positions with only 150 men, reached the coastal road north of Saarygol and completed the German encirclement of the town, an action for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 18 January 1942. In May 1942 he assumed command of Infanterie-Regiment 72 of the 46. Infanterie-Division, was promoted to Oberstleutnant in November, and after further distinguished fighting in the Caucasus mountains following the failed advance on Tuapse was awarded the Eichenlaub (135th award) on 28 October 1942. Advanced to Oberst in May 1943, he later commanded the Bataillonsführerschule in Antwerpen and, from 1 November 1944, the newly raised 320. Volksgrenadier-Division, which he led through heavy fighting near Krakau and in the Carpathians as part of the 17. Armee during the Westkarpatische Operation and the Weichsel-Oder-Operation; promoted to Generalmajor on 30 January 1945, he was killed in action on 11 February 1945 near Saybusch on the defensive line along the river Soła.



Oberstleutnant Konrad Hupfer (1911-1944) was born on 21 October 1911 in Altdorf near Nürnberg and entered the Reichswehr in 1930, receiving promotion to Leutnant in Infanterie-Regiment 63 in 1935 before transferring as Oberleutnant to Infanterie-Regiment 72 at the end of 1938, where he served as Chef of the 10. Kompanie. He took part in the Polish campaign, earning the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse on 20 September 1939, and in the Western campaign, where he received the Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse on 8 June 1940. Promoted to Hauptmann on 1 April 1941, he led the 14. Kompanie of Infanterie-Regiment 72 during the early phase of the war against the Soviet Union. On 13 August 1941 he commanded a Vorausabteilung advancing on Trichaty with the mission of seizing the Bug River crossing; despite determined Soviet resistance he forced an entry into the town after roughly half a day’s fighting and captured some 500 prisoners, 30 guns, a thousand horses and substantial other material, an action that brought him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 September 1941. He later distinguished himself during the breakthrough of the Perekop isthmus and, toward the end of 1941, assumed command of the I. Bataillon of the same regiment. The unit fought in the reconquest of the Crimea and the siege of Sevastopol, for which Hupfer was awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 14 June 1942. In the western Caucasus in autumn 1942, as Kommandeur of I./Infanterie-Regiment 72, he led his battalion in a successful assault on a hill strongly fortified with field works and bunkers, clearing twenty Soviet positions and securing the key height that proved decisive for subsequent operations; this achievement earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 28 October 1942 as the 136th recipient. Promoted to Major on 1 January 1943, he briefly commanded Infanterie-Regiment 72 before taking over Grenadier-Regiment 21. Hupfer was killed in action on 10 April 1944 near Czernowitz on the Eastern Front and was posthumously advanced to Oberstleutnant.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/46th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)