Ritterkreuzträger of 21. Infanterie-Division

The 21. Infanterie-Division was a prominent military formation of the German Wehrmacht that actively participated in numerous major campaigns throughout the Second World War, originating on October 1, 1934, in Elbing under initial cover designations such as Wehrgauleitung Elbing and Kommandant von Elbing before officially adopting its numerical identity. During its formative and operational existence, the division was placed under the command of several notable high-ranking officers, including Generalleutnant Albert Wodrig, Generalleutnant Kuno-Hans von Both, Generalleutnant Otto Sponheimer, Generalleutnant Wilhelm Bohnstedt, Generalleutnant Gerhard Matzky, Oberst Hubertus Lamey, Generalmajor Franz Sensfuß, Generalleutnant Hermann Foertsch, Generalmajor Heinrich Götz, Oberst Hengersdorff, Oberst Eberhard Scharenberg, Oberst Friedrich Beyse, and Generalmajor Karl Koetz, who guided the unit through its extensive wartime service. Structurally, the division comprised essential organic components that included the 3. Infanterie-Regiment, 24. Infanterie-Regiment, 45. Infanterie-Regiment, alongside the 21. Artillerie-Regiment, the I./Artillerie-Regiment 57, the 21. Aufklärungs-Abteilung, the 21. Panzerjäger-Abteilung, the 21. Pionier-Bataillon, the 21. Nachrichten-Abteilung, and logistical support elements designated under the 1. Inf.Div.Nachschubführer. Throughout its operational history, the 21. Infanterie-Division saw extensive combat deployment, beginning with the invasion of Poland in 1939, continuing through the Western Campaign in France during 1940, and subsequently transitioning to the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1945 where it engaged in fierce, protracted warfare against Soviet forces. As the war progressed and the military situation on the Eastern Front deteriorated for Germany, elements of the division fought defensively across various sectors until the final months of the conflict, when remaining remnants of the division were transported over the Frisches Haff to Pillau and Samland, where the unit was eventually dispersed in heavy combat against the Red Army, while other surviving elements managed to escape along the Frische Nehrung to Hela and were evacuated by sea to Schleswig-Holstein before the unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945.

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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER


Oberst Herbert Schwender (1912-1944) was born on 22 December 1912 in Berlin-Halensee and entered military service in 1930 with the 3. Infanterie-Regiment of the Reichswehr, later transferring to serve with Infanterie-Regiment 24 of the 21. Infanterie-Division, where he rose to company commander by 1938 and then to commander of the III. Bataillon from June 1941. He took part in the Invasion of Poland, the Battle of France, Operation Barbarossa and the prolonged fighting around Leningrad and Lake Ladoga, receiving the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse on 6 October 1939, the Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse on 26 June 1940, the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 27 November 1941 as Hauptmann, the Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen, the Ostmedaille and the Nahkampfspange in Bronze and later Silver. Promoted to Major, he assumed command of Grenadier-Regiment 3 and distinguished himself during the Second Battle of Lake Ladoga, when the regiment held the critical Ssinjawino heights against 122 Soviet attacks of company strength or larger between late January and mid-March 1943; in the sector of his regiment alone 81 enemy tanks were destroyed between 27 January and 4 February, and further strong assaults were repulsed on 22 February, actions that earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 11 March 1943. Advanced to Oberst and given command of Grenadier-Regiment 45, Schwender again demonstrated outstanding leadership in the defensive battles between Leningrad and the Volkhov in early 1944, playing a decisive part in blocking Soviet breakthrough attempts toward Tschudskoj Bor and thereby securing the 442nd Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 6 April 1944; he was also mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on 4 February 1944. His last rank was Oberst. Schwender was killed in action on 22 September 1944 near Valga (Valka) in Estonia during the Baltic Offensive while leading his regiment in close combat.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)