The 95. Infanterie-Division was formed on 19 September 1939 as a division of the 5. Welle on the training grounds of Wildflecken and Hammelburg in Wehrkreis IX, initially equipped largely with captured Czechoslovak material and nicknamed the Teufeldivision. Its early service was spent on the Westwall from September 1939 to May 1940 before it took part in the campaign in France, where it contributed to the breakthrough of the Maginot Line near Merzig and subsequently performed occupation duties in northern France until early 1941. In July 1941 the division was transferred to the Eastern Front and participated in the Battle of Kiev, followed by fighting around Bryansk and Kursk in the autumn. Throughout 1942 it saw heavy combat at Kursk, Voronezh and Gshatsk before moving to the Rzhev salient. In 1943 it conducted prolonged defensive and withdrawal battles at Yelnya, Bryansk, Gomel and east of Bobruisk; during the winter of 1943/44 it was reorganised as a Division neuer Art 44. Early 1944 found it again engaged around Bobruisk and later Vitebsk, where it was largely destroyed during the Soviet Operation Bagration in June 1944 while serving with the 3. Panzer-Armee. Its remnants were withdrawn and formed into Korpsabteilung H (Divisionsgruppe 95). On 10 September 1944 a new 95. Infanterie-Division was reconstituted in East Prussia from this Korpsabteilung and assigned to the remnants of Heeresgruppe Mitte. It fought at Tauroggen and along the Memel before withdrawing into the Samland bridgehead, finally surrendering to Soviet forces in April and May 1945 at Pillau and on the Hel Peninsula. Among its principal units were Grenadier-Regimenter 278, 279 and 280, Artillerie-Regiment 195 and Pionier-Bataillon 195. Successive commanders included Generalleutnant Hans-Heinrich Sixt von Armin, General der Infanterie Edgar Röhricht, Generalmajor Gustav Gihr and Generalmajor Herbert Michaelis.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Oberstleutnant Dr.jur. Josef-Georg Mulzer (1915-2011) was born on 23 April 1915 in Munich and entered the Wehrmacht in 1934 as a Fahnenjunker with Pionier-Bataillon 7, where he was promoted to Leutnant in 1936. From autumn 1938 he served as Adjutant of Gebirgs-Pionier-Bataillon 83, taking part in the Polish and Norwegian campaigns. After further service he became Kommandeur of Gebirgs-Pionier-Bataillon 83 in November 1942 and was promoted to Major on 1 June 1943. In July 1943 he assumed command of Pionier-Bataillon 195 of the 95. Infanterie-Division. During the fighting for the Orel salient in mid-1943 he and his men eliminated numerous Soviet penetrations through energetic counterattacks, and on one occasion he recaptured a commanding height in an attack launched on his own initiative; for these actions he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 7 September 1943. Near the end of 1943 his battalion held a defensive sector west of Bobruisk. After a heavy Soviet artillery barrage and assault on a broad front, Mulzer used his last reserves, including staff personnel and drivers, to eject the attackers from his positions. When the Soviets broke through in the neighbouring sector and threatened to roll up the entire divisional front, he quickly assembled available men, launched a successful flank attack that inflicted heavy losses and forced the enemy to flee, then established a temporary defensive line that held until reinforcements arrived. For averting this major danger he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 10 January 1944 as the 367th recipient. After Generalstabsausbildung he became Kommandeur of Pionier-Sturm-Regiment 1 on the Western Front in September 1944, was severely wounded in October, and was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 December 1944 while in hospital. His other awards included the Eisernes Kreuz 2. and 1. Klasse, the Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber, the Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen, the Narvikschild and the Ostmedaille. He died in Würzburg on 21 January 2011.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/95th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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