The DRL Sportabzeichen, officially known as the Deutsches Reichssportabzeichen or later the Deutsche Reichsauszeichnung für Leibesübungen, was a prestigious physical fitness decoration awarded in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1944 as the direct successor to the earlier DRA sports badge established in 1913 under the Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen. Following the Nazi seizure of power, the Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (DRL) was formed in 1934 as the centralized sports authority, replacing the DRA, and from 1935 the badge design featured the cut-out letters “DRL” within a vertical oval oak-leaf wreath tied at the base with a ribbon bow that incorporated a swastika. On 1 July 1937 it was elevated by official decree to the status of a state decoration under the name Deutsche Reichsauszeichnung für Leibesübungen and administered by the Reichssportamt in the name of the Reichssportführer. Awarded in three classes—bronze, silver and gold—it required candidates (men and women aged roughly 18–40) to pass a series of demanding tests covering swimming, running, jumping, throwing and speed or strength exercises within a defined period, thereby promoting the National Socialist ideal of physical readiness and military preparedness. The conditions were adjusted to include wehrsportliche (paramilitary) elements in keeping with the regime’s ideology. In December 1938 the DRL itself was renamed the Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (NSRL) and placed under direct NSDAP supervision, yet the badge continued to be issued until the final tests were held in 1944. The oval metal badge was worn on civilian and military uniforms alike and remains a recognizable artifact of the period’s organized sports culture.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEER
Generalleutnant Richard Koll (1897-1963) was born on 7 April 1897 in Koblenz and after training in the Kadettenkorps entered service in August 1914 as Fähnrich with the 4th Telegraph Battalion, receiving promotion to Leutnant that September and serving in signal units on both fronts during the First World War, for which he earned both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz. After the armistice he continued in the Reichswehr within the Kraftfahrtruppe, rising through motor-transport assignments before taking command of the II. Abteilung of Panzer-Regiment 11 in autumn 1937 and then of the entire Panzer-Regiment 11 on 1 January 1940. He led the regiment through the campaign in France and, after promotion to Oberst on 1 December 1940, into the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 as part of the 6. Panzer-Division. Operating within a Kampfgruppe under Generalleutnant Erhard Raus of Armeekorps XXXXI in 4. Panzergruppe of Heeresgruppe Nord, his regiment drove rapidly toward Leningrad and distinguished itself in the early battles, including the heavy fighting around Raseiniai. For these achievements as Kommandeur of Panzer-Regiment 11 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 15 July 1941. Koll remained on the Eastern Front until mid-1942, taking part in the Siege of Leningrad, the Battle of Moscow and the Rzhev-Vyazma operations, after which he moved to staff duties as Chief of Motor Vehicle Repair Matters. Briefly entrusted with the leadership of the 1. Panzer-Division from 1 January to 19 February 1944 during the Korsun-Schewtschenkowsker Operation, he later became Chef des Wehrmachtkraftfahrwesens and was promoted Generalleutnant on 30 January 1945. Captured by British forces on 9 May 1945, he was released in February 1946 and lived thereafter in Berlin, where he died on 13 May 1963.
Oberstleutnant Werner Ziegler (1916-2001) was born on 30 April 1916 in Hausach in the Black Forest and entered the Wehrmacht in 1936 by joining Infanterie-Regiment 20, receiving promotion to Leutnant in 1939 before becoming Adjutant of the I. Bataillon of Infanterie-Regiment 186 on 3 October 1939. After taking part in the Westfeldzug he assumed command of the 2. Kompanie of Infanterie-Regiment 186 on 1 October 1940 and led it through the Balkanfeldzug and into the opening stages of the campaign against the Soviet Union. On 14 August 1941, during the fighting between the Dniester and the Bug, Leutnant Ziegler and his Kompanie seized the heavily defended town of Petrovskoye on the western bank of the Bug in a swift assault and cleared the surrounding area in bitter house-to-house combat, capturing more than three hundred prisoners; for this action he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 31 December 1941 as Führer of the 2./Infanterie-Regiment 186 of the 73. Infanterie-Division. After the hard positional battles on the Mius in the winter of 1941/42 he again distinguished himself in the Kuban region, and on 6 September 1942 his decisive leadership in the urban fighting during the capture of Noworossisk earned him the Eichenlaub on 8 September 1942 as Oberleutnant and Führer of the same company. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to Hauptmann and took command of the I. Bataillon, advancing to Major on 1 May 1943 near Noworossisk before serving on the staff of the V. Armeekorps and later the 19. Panzerdivision. Returning as Führer of Grenadier-Regiment 186 on 6 March 1944, he was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 June 1944 and became its Kommandeur; during the final battle for Sevastopol his regiment held its positions on Windmill Hill against a major Soviet assault on 7 May 1944 even after being surrounded, maintaining the defence until relieved the following morning by Kampfgruppen Marienfeld and Faulhaber, for which outstanding stand he received the Schwerter on 23 October 1944 as Major and Führer of Grenadier-Regiment 186. Severely wounded, he later served again on the staff of the V. Armeekorps, was taken prisoner at the war’s end and released in 1946. In 1956 he joined the Bundeswehr, eventually commanding the Panzergrenadierbrigade 19 and retiring as Oberst in 1968; he died on 15 April 2001 in Oftersheim.
Oberleutnant Horst Hain (1920-1994) was born on 22 February 1920 in Landeshut in Silesia and served throughout the Second World War in the Heer, rising from the ranks to become an experienced panzer reconnaissance officer. He received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on 15 June 1940 and was wounded that same month, earning the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz. Later he was awarded the Panzerkampfabzeichen, the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse on 22 May 1942, and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 5 April 1943 while serving as Oberfeldwebel in the 4./Kradschützen-Bataillon 23. He also received the Ärmelband Kreta, the Nahkampfspange in Bronze, and successive grades of the Verwundetenabzeichen up to Gold after further wounds in 1944. By early 1945 he had been promoted to Oberleutnant and appointed Chef of the 3./Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 23 of the 23. Panzer-Division. In recognition of his repeated combat successes and leadership of this company during the final months of the war on the Eastern Front he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 28 March 1945. Shortly before the award he had already earned the higher grades of the Panzerkampfabzeichen for 25 and 50 engagements. After the war he lived in Bavaria and died in Munich on 26 May 1994 at the age of seventy-four.
Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/06/album-foto-tokoh-third-reich-peraih-drl.html
No comments:
Post a Comment