Ritterkreuzträger of Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 189

Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 189 was formed on 10 July 1941 at the Truppenübungsplatz Jüterbog with a Stab and three Batterien as an independent Heerestruppe equipped primarily with Sturmgeschütz III assault guns for close infantry support. Under its first Kommandeur Hauptmann Ernst Heß the unit was rapidly transported east and in early August 1941 marched some 950 kilometres to the Vitebsk sector of Heeresgruppe Mitte where it was subordinated to the XXXX. motorisiertes Korps and allocated battery by battery in support of the 110. Infanterie-Division. Between 19 and 26 August 1941 the Abteilung played a significant role in the capture of Velikiye Luki before taking part in the great double encirclement battles of Vyazma and Bryansk, the subsequent fighting around Kalinin and the bitter winter battles in the Rzhev salient. From late December 1942 the unit was permanently assigned to the 78. Sturm-Division and remained organically attached to it for the next year and a half, fighting around Orel in 1943 and later in the Orsha sector. By July 1943 its authorised strength stood at 31 Sturmgeschütz III although combat attrition frequently reduced operational numbers sharply. In June 1944 it was redesignated Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 189 without major organisational change and continued to serve with the 78. Sturm-Division under successive Kommandeure including Hauptmann Walter Dusche, Hauptmann Friedrich Domeyer and finally Hauptmann Wilhelm Kerstein. During the Soviet summer offensive Operation Bagration the Brigade and its parent division were virtually annihilated in the fighting around Orsha and the subsequent retreat across the Berezina. The surviving remnants were withdrawn at the end of July 1944, sent westward for reconstitution and on 8–9 August 1944 redesignated Panzerjäger-Abteilung 70 for service with the 4. Kavallerie-Brigade while the 3. Batterie was detached to help form another Sturmgeschütz unit.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RITTERKREUZTRÄGER


Major Wilhelm von Malachowski (1914-1980) was born on 6 June 1914 in Rostock and died on 28 October 1980 in Köln. He entered the Wehrmacht in 1935 with Infanterie-Regiment 27 before transferring to Artillerie-Regiment 48, where he was promoted to Leutnant on 20 April 1937. As Oberleutnant from 1 September 1939 he served as Zugführer in the 7. Batterie during the Polish and Western campaigns. On 1 August 1940 he volunteered for the Sturmartillerie and joined Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 189, becoming Batterie-Chef of the 2. Batterie on 1 August 1941. During the winter fighting of 1941/42 near Rzhev his Batterie supported the breakout of XXIII. Armee-Korps and on 23 January 1942 destroyed 18 enemy guns southeast of Bachmatowo; by then he had personally accounted for 35 enemy tanks since the start of Operation Barbarossa. For these achievements he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 January 1942 as Oberleutnant and Chef of 2./Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 189. Promoted to Hauptmann on 1 March 1942, he took command of the newly formed Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 228 at the end of 1942 and led it in the attempted relief of the 6. Armee at Stalingrad. On 14 January 1943, during battles for Novo-Palovski, Ignatviko and Masloff, he independently directed a small force of only seven Sturmgeschütze, two 2-cm anti-aircraft guns and fifty infantrymen, capturing the objectives after heavy fighting against Soviet tanks and advancing along the right flank to the edge of Masloff; his guns destroyed eighteen T-34 tanks and one KV-1, of which he personally knocked out four T-34s and the KV-1. This action earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz (206th award) on 6 March 1943 as Hauptmann and Kommandeur of Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 228, the same day he was promoted to Major. Severely wounded on 9 March 1943, he later served as an Ausbildungs-Offizier at the Sturmgeschütz-Schule in Burg, then at the Waffenschule des Ersatzheeres, and from 1 September 1944 in the Generalstab des Heeres.

Source :
https://www.balsi.de/Weltkrieg/Einheiten/Heer/Artillerie/Sturmartillerie/Abteilungen/189-StugAbt.htm
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Sturmgeschutzeinheiten/Sturmgeschutzabteilung189.htm