The 290. Infanterie-Division was established on 6 February 1940 in Munsterlager as part of the 8. Welle under Wehrkreis X, drawing recruits primarily from Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, and northern Lower Saxony. Commanded initially by Generalleutnant Max Dennerlein and later by Generalleutnant Freiherr Theodor von Wrede, the division was assigned to reserve duties during the initial phases of the western campaign before participating in the breakthrough across the Somme and pursuing retreating French forces toward the Loire. In the spring of 1941, the division transferred to East Prussia in preparation for Unternehmen Barbarossa, where it served under I. Armeekorps within Heeresgruppe Nord. Advancing through the Baltic states toward Leningrad, the formation engaged in brutal combat south of Lake Ilmen. Between February and April 1942, the division was completely trapped inside the Demyansk Pocket alongside five other divisions, suffering catastrophic casualties while enduring freezing conditions and relentless Soviet assaults, heavily reliant on the Luftwaffe air bridge until the corridor was opened. Following the evacuation of the pocket in early 1943, the division fought in defense of Lake Ladoga, Nevel, and Staraya Russa, where its infantry regiments, including Infanterie-Regiment 501, 502, and Artillerie-Regiment 290, were repeatedly reconstituted due to attrition. During the massive Soviet summer offensives of 1944, the division retreated through Latvia, participating in intense defensive battles along the Daugava River and in the Dvina area. In October 1944, the unit was pushed into the Courland Peninsula, where it remained trapped in the Kurland-Kessel under Heeresgruppe Kurland until the end of hostilities. Led in its final stages by Generalmajor Hans-Joachim Baurmeister, the division defended its sector against six major Soviet offensives before capitulating to the Red Army on 8 May 1945, with surviving soldiers taken into Soviet captivity.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Oberstleutnant im Generalstab Willy Johannmeyer (1915-1970) was born on 27 July 1915 in Iserlohn and entered the Wehrmacht in 1936 as Fahnenjunker with Infanterie-Regiment 64, receiving promotion to Leutnant in 1938. In 1939 he became Führer of the Nachrichtenzug in Infanterie-Regiment 503 of the 290. Infanterie-Division. On 1 April 1940 he took command of the 2. Kompanie, which he led through the Western Campaign, and in April 1941 assumed leadership of the 14. Kompanie for operations in Russia. Outstanding performance brought him command of the II. Bataillon on 1 April 1942. The Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes was awarded to him on 16 May 1942 as Oberleutnant and Führer of the II./Infanterie-Regiment 503 for decisive actions around Lake Ilmen: on 3 May he led his battalion and attached elements in a counterattack that seized half of Nikolskoje; when Soviet forces threw them back he rallied all available troops, drove the enemy behind the Objessna river to the edges of Nikolskoje and Derewnja, and thereby restored the front line, safeguarding the II. Armee-Korps and the vital Demyansk supply road. Promotion to Hauptmann followed on 1 June 1942. Later, as Kommandeur of the II./Grenadier-Regiment 503, he earned the 329th Eichenlaub on 18 November 1943 for further bold leadership near Newel: on 11 November, when Soviet forces assaulted along the road to Dolissy and threatened positions before the Dollissy river, he alerted his battalion (then divisional reserve), drove his own car into the midst of the attacking enemy to hold them long enough for his men to arrive, then personally led a four-hour counterattack that re-established the original defensive line and prevented a breakthrough. He was promoted to Major on 1 December 1943, later rose to Oberstleutnant im Generalstab, and in 1945 served as the last Heeresadjutant to Adolf Hitler. His other decorations included the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse (10 June 1940) and I. Klasse (29 June 1940). After the war he worked in industry and died on 14 April 1970 in Kelkheim.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/290th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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