Ritterkreuzträger of 97. Infanterie-Division / 97. Jäger-Division

The 97. Infanterie-Division, initially raised as the 97. leichte Infanterie-Division on 10 December 1940 in Wehrkreis VII around Bad Tölz from elements of the 7. Infanterie-Division and the 3. Infanterie-Division (mot.), was a light infantry formation of the Heer whose tactical emblem, the Spielhahnfeder, earned it the nickname Spielhahnjäger-Division. Under early commanders including Generalmajor Walter Weiß, Generalleutnant Sigismund von Förster and Generalmajor Maximilian Fretter-Pico, the division prepared for the Eastern Front and crossed into the Soviet Union with the 17. Armee of Heeresgruppe Süd in June 1941, advancing through Magierów, breaking the Stalin Line and participating in the Kesselschlacht bei Uman before reaching Artemowsk and contributing to the destruction of the Soviet bridgehead at Isjum during the Battle of Kharkov in May 1942. Redesignated 97. Jäger-Division on 6 July 1942 while serving under Generalleutnant Ernst Rupp, its principal combat units became Jäger-Regiment 204, Jäger-Regiment 207 and Artillerie-Regiment 81, supported by Aufklärungs-Abteilung 97, Pionier-Bataillon 97 and Panzerjäger-Abteilung 97. During the 1942 summer offensive the division crossed the Don and Manytsch, captured Armawir and the vital oilfields of Maikop, then pushed into the western Caucasus until halted in the Pschisch valley. After the Stalingrad disaster it withdrew fighting into the Kuban-Brückenkopf, enduring heavy defensive battles at Abinskaja, Krymskaja and Moldawanskoje before evacuating across the Kerch Strait to the Crimea and later holding sectors of the Wotan-Stellung near Melitopol and the Dnepr crossings. Continuing its long retreat through Ukraine, Moldavia and Romania, the division was redeployed in autumn 1944 to the Vistula-San line near Kielce and then to eastern Slovakia, where it fought costly defensive actions around Kaschau. In early 1945 it contested the Upper Silesian industrial region and Ratibor under Generalleutnant Friedrich-Carl Rabe von Pappenheim before falling back into the Protectorate. On 1 January 1945 it still mustered over 10 000 men; by May, under Generalmajor Robert Bader, remnants attempted to break westward toward American lines near Deutsch-Brod rather than surrender to the Red Army, but most columns were captured or dispersed. Highly decorated for its continuous front-line service, the division received more than 12 000 Eisernes Kreuz awards by late 1944 and produced 34 Ritterkreuzträger, eight of whom also earned the Eichenlaub, before its final dissolution in Soviet captivity.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Oberst Ernst Nobis (1901-1963) was born on 18 October 1901 in Graz, Austria, and entered the Österreichisches Bundesheer in 1928 with the Steirisches Alpenjägerregiment Feldmarschall Daun Nr. 9, later completing officer training and being commissioned Leutnant in 1933 before transfer into the Wehrmacht as Oberleutnant after the Anschluss. He served initially on the staff of Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 138 of the 3. Gebirgs-Division during the Polish campaign, earning the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse and promotion to Hauptmann, then took command of a battalion in Infanterie-Regiment 204 of the 97. Infanterie-Division on the Eastern Front. On 10 December 1941, when two Soviet regiments supported by tanks, Katyushas and aircraft broke into the German lines northeast of Troizkoje, Hauptmann Nobis independently assumed command of the hard-pressed I. Bataillon in addition to his own II. Bataillon and successfully prevented a breakthrough, for which he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 January 1942. Rapid preferential promotions followed to Major i. G. and then Oberstleutnant i. G.; in July 1942 he assumed command of the newly formed Jäger-Regiment 204 of the 97. Jäger-Division, leading Kampfgruppe Nobis during the advance into the Caucasus. On 4 December 1942, recognizing the danger of a strong Soviet battlegroup that had approached close to the German main line of resistance, Oberstleutnant Nobis assembled an ad-hoc force of roughly 400–500 men drawn from the 7. Kompanie z.b.V. 800, small elements of Jäger-Regiment 207, the 1./Pionier-Bataillon 97, his own regimental staff and parts of the Stabskompanie, then attacked and completely shattered the enemy formation under heavy fighting, thereby stopping a Soviet drive toward the Pschisch and preventing the rolling-up of the German defenses west of the river. For this decisive action he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 5 December 1942 as the 151st recipient, and was promoted to Oberst shortly afterward despite severe wounds sustained in the preceding battles. After further staff and attaché duties, including a brief posting as military attaché to Finland in 1944 and command of the Heeresschule für Stabsoffiziere at Güstrow in the final weeks of the war, Nobis spent time as a prisoner of war, later rejoined the rebuilt Austrian Bundesheer in 1956 as a civilian instructor and staff officer, rose to Hofrat, and died of a heart attack in Vienna on 7 March 1963 while still in service.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/97th_J%C3%A4ger_Division