Ritterkreuzträger with Leistungsabzeichen der Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth Proficiency Badge)

The Leistungsabzeichen der Hitlerjugend, or Hitler Youth Proficiency Badge, was instituted on 1 June 1934 by Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach to promote physical fitness, fieldcraft and ideological commitment among male members of the Hitlerjugend. It aimed to foster a martial spirit and readiness for duty, requiring recipients to attend at least eight Heimabende of political schooling in addition to practical tests. The award was graded by age: Eisen for fifteen-year-olds, Bronze for sixteen-year-olds and Silber for those of seventeen and older, with the conditions deliberately set so that any diligent Hitlerjunge could succeed. Tests covered three groups of skills: Leibesübungen such as running, jumping, swimming and gymnastics; Ziel- und Marschübungen including small-calibre shooting and route marching; and Geländesport involving map reading, camouflage, reporting and fieldcraft. For members of the Marine-Hitlerjugend, seafaring tasks replaced the land-based field exercises. Successful candidates recorded their results in a Leistungsbuch and received a numbered badge depicting a large Tiwaz rune overlaid with a swastika within a ring inscribed “Für Leistungen in der HJ” in runic-style lettering, worn on the left breast pocket. By the end of 1943 more than 103,000 bronze and 217,000 silver badges had been awarded, making it one of the most widely distributed Hitlerjugend decorations.

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HEER


Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel Georg Gransee (1917-1945) was born on June 29th, 1917 in Berkenbrück/Pommerania, Germany, and served as a non-commissioned officer in the Heer during the Second World War, rising through the ranks from Obergefreiter on April 16th, 1941 to Unteroffizier, then Feldwebel on July 12th, 1943, and finally Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel der Reserve in 1944. Assigned to the 5. Panzer-Division, he fought primarily on the Eastern Front as a tank crewman and later as Zugführer of the 7./Panzer-Regiment 31. Early in the campaign he earned the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on May 6th, 1941 and the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse on December 23rd, 1941, both as Obergefreiter, followed by the Medaille „Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42“, the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz, the Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht IV. Klasse and the Panzerkampfabzeichen in Silber. On September 19th, 1943, while serving as Feldwebel and Zugführer in the 7./Panzer-Regiment 31, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes in recognition of his outstanding personal bravery and determined leadership of his panzer platoon during the heavy defensive and counter-attack fighting on the Eastern Front in the summer of 1943. Gransee remained with his regiment until he was killed in action on January 23rd, 1945 near Wartenberg/Silesia, Germany. His remains were never recovered or lie in an unknown grave; his name is entered in the memorial book of the German War Cemetery Groß Nädlitz at Nadolice Wielkie.

Unteroffizier Heinrich Hendricks (1923-1943) was born on 4 April 1923 in Oppum near Krefeld, Germany, and served during the Second World War as an Unteroffizier in the 9./Panzer-Regiment 33 of the Heer. As a skilled tank crewman he distinguished himself through repeated successes against superior Soviet armoured forces on the Eastern Front. One notable action occurred when a Russian force of fifteen tanks attacked a German-held village defended solely by his own panzer; he destroyed five of the attackers, the final one at a range of only five metres. Two weeks later, while serving with Kampfgruppe Kohler (comprising four Panzers, two Sturmgeschütze and roughly eighty infantry) and providing security on the left flank, he encountered about twenty Soviet tanks in a depression and within three minutes destroyed six tanks, two Pak and one Pak-Flak gun. In the ensuing battle the Soviets lost twenty tanks and over a thousand men, allowing the Kampfgruppe to retake the recently lost village. By the end of October 1943 Hendricks had accounted for a total of thirty-eight enemy tanks destroyed. For these outstanding achievements as a tank gunner he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 March 1943. He continued to serve with his unit until he was killed in action on 25 November 1943 near Dnepropetrovsk in the USSR, at the age of only twenty.

Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2013/02/album-foto-tokoh-third-reich-peraih.html