The 71. Infanterie-Division, known as the "Kleeblatt-Division" or "Glückhafte Division" for its four-leaf clover emblem and successful capture of fortifications at Verdun, was raised on 26 August 1939 as a 2. Welle formation by the Infanterie-Kommandeur 19 in Hildesheim within Wehrkreis XI, drawing mainly from recruits of the 1910–1920 classes from Lower Saxony areas including Hannover, Hildesheim, Braunschweig and the western Harz, with an initial strength of around 15,000 men organized into Infanterie-Regiment 191, Infanterie-Regiment 194, Infanterie-Regiment 211, Artillerie-Regiment 171 and supporting units. Under its first commander Generalmajor Wolfgang Ziegler and later Generalleutnant Karl Weisenberger, the division secured the Westwall near Pirmasens from September 1939 before advancing through Luxembourg and Belgium in the 1940 Westfeldzug, breaching Maginot Line positions at Height 311, capturing Villy, Panzerwerk 505 at La Ferté, and key Verdun forts including Fort Vaux and Fort Douaumont under Hauptmann Corduan, then pursuing enemy forces to Nancy. After serving as Lehrtruppe at Königsbrück, it joined Operation Barbarossa in June 1941 under General der Infanterie Alexander von Hartmann, breaking Soviet border defences near Niemstow and Niemirow, advancing through Ukraine, and contributing to the Battle of Kiev by taking villages such as Ksawerowka, Marjarowka and Gelenowka while holding sectors along the Irpen River. Returning to the Eastern Front in April 1942 after a rest in France, it participated in the spring battles around Kharkov, defending near Izium on the Donets, then advanced via the Oskol, Belovodsk, Morozovskaya and Tschir to cross the Don in August, capturing Karpovka and Rossoshka en route to Stalingrad. As part of the LI. Armeekorps of the 6. Armee, the division under von Hartmann pushed into the city’s western and northwestern suburbs from September 1942, seizing Gumrak station and fighting bitterly for heights near Gorodishche, the hospital and the Tsaritza against Soviet rifle divisions, only to be completely destroyed in the Stalingrad Kessel by January–February 1943. Reformed on 17 February 1943 in Denmark from Grenadier-Regiment 883 and reinforced Grenadier-Regiment 885, it transferred to Italy via Slovenia in autumn 1943 for coastal defence and anti-partisan duties near Trieste and Fiume, then engaged in the Battle of Monte Cassino from January to May 1944 where Infanterie-Regiment 211 under Oberst Barnbeck defended the town and station against New Zealand forces while other elements faced the Anzio beachhead, suffering catastrophic losses in the May fighting around Castelforte and the Monti Aurunci. The remnants conducted delaying actions through the Abruzzi and on the Gothic Line near the Metauro River against Canadian forces, later moving to Hungary and Austria in late 1944 under Generalleutnant Wilhelm Raapke and finally Generalmajor Eberhard von Schuckmann, surrendering to British troops near St. Veit in Carinthia in May 1945.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
General der Infanterie Hans-Karl von Scheele (1892-1955) was born on 23 May 1892 in Magdeburg and entered the Prussian Army as a Fahnenjunker in mid-March 1911, becoming Leutnant in the Garde-Grenadier-Regiment 3 in 1912. During the First World War he served with distinction, earning both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz, the Ritterkreuz of the Königlicher Hausorden von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern, the Ritterkreuz II. Klasse of the Orden vom Zähringer Löwen mit Schwertern and the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz after being wounded. Retained in the Reichswehr after 1918, he advanced steadily through staff and command posts, reaching Oberst by March 1938 and serving as course commander at the Kriegsschule Hannover. At the outbreak of the Second World War he took command of Infanterie-Regiment 191 of the 71. Infanterie-Division. In the Westfeldzug of 1940, as Oberst and regimental commander, he led a bold thrust from the Rhine-Marne Canal that swiftly captured the city of Nancy together with its undamaged bridge, enabling further German forces to advance into the rear of enemy positions south of Toul; for this achievement he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 4 July 1940. He subsequently led the regiment into the Ostfeldzug, was promoted Generalmajor in October 1941 and assumed command of the 208. Infanterie-Division from December 1941 until early 1943. In February 1943 he became Kommandierender General of the improvised Korps Scheele. As Generalleutnant he directed the corps through the critical defensive battles of Army Group South in early 1943, successfully holding the front between the Don and the Donez; notable actions included the defensive victory on the Shisdra Front near Pusanowka and Krestjanskaja Gora on 2 March, the rapid elimination of an enemy breakthrough near Bukan by counter-attack on 3 March, and the destruction of sixty enemy tanks in a single day before Aschkowo on 7 March. These successes earned him the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz (217th award) on 2 April 1943. Later promoted General der Infanterie, he commanded the LII. Armeekorps, the Feldjäger-Kommando III and, from November 1944 until the end of the war, served as the last Präsident of the Reichskriegsgericht. He died in Bad Homburg on 8 October 1955.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/71st_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
No comments:
Post a Comment