General der Artillerie Walter Hartmann (1891-1977)

Walter Hartmann was a German general of artillery in the Wehrmacht during World War II who rose to prominence through his leadership in both world wars and his extraordinary resilience after suffering devastating injuries. Born on 23 July 1891 in Mülheim an der Ruhr in the Rhine Province, he entered military service in October 1910 as a Fahnenjunker with the 1st Royal Saxon Field Artillery Regiment No. 12. During World War I he served primarily on the Eastern Front with Saxon artillery units, later transferring to aerial observation roles where he acted as an observer and adjutant in flying formations. He earned several decorations for bravery, including the Iron Cross First and Second Class and the Knight's Cross of the Saxon Military Order of St. Henry. After the war he continued in the Reichswehr, holding various staff and command positions within artillery regiments based in Dresden.

In the interwar years Hartmann advanced steadily through the ranks while serving in artillery units and briefly acting as an instructor in China between 1932 and 1934. He commanded the 24th Artillery Regiment from 1937 onward, leading it through the invasion of Poland in 1939 and the campaign in the West in 1940. In November 1940 he was appointed Artillerie-Kommandeur 140, a role that placed him in charge of coordinating heavy fire support for corps-level operations. Promoted to Oberst, he brought his artillery expertise to the early stages of Operation Barbarossa in 1941, supporting the 100th Light Infantry Division in Army Group South as German forces pushed deep into Soviet territory.

The action that earned Hartmann the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross occurred on 15 July 1941 near the village of Koserowka during the assault on the heavily fortified Stalin Line. Soviet defenses featured dense bunkers, anti-tank obstacles, and intense machine-gun and artillery fire that threatened to stall the German infantry attack. Ignoring personal safety, Hartmann moved forward to the foremost lines under furious enemy fire and personally directed the artillery barrage with remarkable precision and flexibility. By adjusting fire in real time to suppress strongpoints and neutralize counterattacks, he enabled the 100th Light Infantry Division to achieve a swift breakthrough. Hours after this success, however, he was severely wounded in the same sector, resulting in the amputation of his left arm and left leg. Despite this life-changing injury, he was awarded the Knight's Cross on 10 August 1941 and later promoted to Generalmajor.

After a long period of recovery, Hartmann insisted on returning to active front-line duty in May 1942. He first commanded Division z.b.V. 407 and then the 390th Field Training Division before taking charge of the 87th Infantry Division in April 1943 in the central sector of the Eastern Front near Welish. In September 1943, as Soviet forces launched strong local offensives, he demonstrated exceptional personal courage despite his disabilities. On 19 September he led two platoons of Jäger Battalion 1 into a dangerous penetration at Beljanskaja to seal the gap through close combat. Days later, on 23 September, he assembled a small battle group of about twenty men from his divisional staff and personally led them in a counterattack against Soviet troops that had advanced fifteen kilometers behind German lines to threaten supply routes along the Janowitschi–Demidow road. The following day he resolved another critical situation near Tischanowo by committing reserves and directing localized counterthrusts. These determined actions helped stabilize the division's sector during a difficult defensive battle and earned him the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 30 November 1943.

In early 1944 Hartmann briefly led the I Army Corps before assuming command of the XXXXIX Mountain Corps in May 1944, overseeing the difficult evacuation of Crimea by sea to Romania. By September 1944 he had taken command of the VIII Army Corps, which faced the full weight of the Red Army's advances in Silesia and along the Oder River. During the heavy Soviet assaults of late January and early February 1945, his corps held a critical sector from Cosel to Oppeln and later toward Grotkau. Through skillful coordination of limited reserves, rapid counterattacks, and tenacious use of terrain and artillery, Hartmann prevented several dangerous penetrations from developing into a complete breakthrough, particularly in the fighting northeast of Ratibor and east of the Zobten. For his leadership in these desperate defensive battles he received the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves on 18 March 1945. In April 1945 he assumed command of the XXIV Panzer Corps and led it until the final days of the war.

Hartmann was taken prisoner by American forces on 8 May 1945 and was released from captivity on 20 June 1947. He spent his remaining years in Hameln, Lower Saxony, where he died on 11 March 1977 at the age of 85. Throughout his career he was noted not only for his tactical competence as an artillery officer but also for his remarkable determination to continue serving despite profound physical handicaps, qualities that made him one of the few severely disabled generals to hold high command positions on the Eastern Front until the end of hostilities.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hartmann  
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34591/Hartmann-Walter-General-der-Artillerie.htm  
https://web.archive.org/web/20091028010435fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/General/HARTMANN_WALTER.html
https://generals.dk/general/Hartmann/Walter/Germany.html  
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/H/HartmannWa.htm  
https://rk.balsi.de

Oberst Heinz-Georg Lemm (1919-1994)

Heinz-Georg Lemm was a German army officer who served with distinction in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War and later rose to the rank of Generalleutnant in the Bundeswehr of the Federal Republic of Germany. Born on 1 June 1919 in Schwerin, he entered military service in 1935 as a young recruit and progressed through the ranks amid the expanding conflicts of the era. Lemm spent much of his wartime career with the 12th Infantry Division, initially as part of an infantry regiment that was later reorganized into a fusilier unit. His leadership in both offensive and defensive operations on the Eastern and Western Fronts earned him recognition as one of the highly decorated junior officers in the German army, culminating in his promotion to Oberst by the final months of the war.

Lemm's early combat experiences included service with Infanterie-Regiment 27, where he demonstrated tactical skill and resilience in prolonged engagements against Soviet forces. By 1943 he had advanced to Hauptmann and assumed command of the first battalion of Füsilier-Regiment 27. In defensive actions near Staraya Russa, his unit was credited with destroying numerous enemy tanks while holding critical positions under heavy pressure. His performance in these battles led to the award of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in April 1943. Lemm was noted for his hands-on leadership style, often participating directly in close-quarters fighting, which also resulted in him receiving the Close Combat Clasp in Silver and the Tank Destruction Badge in Silver.

During the intense Soviet summer offensive of 1944 known as Operation Bagration, Lemm and his battalion played a key role in covering the withdrawal of the 12th Infantry Division near the Pronja bridgehead in the Mogilev sector. Over several days of rearguard actions, his men held off superior enemy forces, allowing the division to disengage with relatively fewer losses than many other units in the collapsing Army Group Centre. For this and related actions he received the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross in July 1944 while serving as a Major. By early 1945, now an Oberstleutnant commanding the entire Füsilier-Regiment 27 within the 12th Volksgrenadier Division, Lemm led operations on the Western Front, including the capture of Eschweiler and parts of Stolberg during fighting around Aachen, as well as breakthroughs in the Losheim Gap as part of the Ardennes Offensive. These efforts brought him the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves in March 1945.

Following the end of the war in Europe, Lemm faced the challenges of demobilization and the reconstruction of German society under occupation. Like many former Wehrmacht officers, he initially lived in the post-war environment before opportunities arose for renewed military service. In 1957 he joined the newly established Bundeswehr, bringing with him extensive infantry experience that proved valuable in the formation and training of West German forces integrated into NATO. His transition reflected the broader reintegration of professional soldiers into the democratic framework of the Federal Republic, where emphasis was placed on defensive capabilities and alliance cooperation rather than the expansive campaigns of the previous era.

In the Bundeswehr, Lemm advanced steadily through command positions. He served as commander of the 7th Panzergrenadier Brigade within the 3rd Panzer Division in Hamburg until 1963, after which he was promoted to Brigadegeneral. Further promotions followed, including to Generalmajor in 1970 when he took command of the 5th Panzer Division based in Diez. By 1974 he had reached the rank of Generalleutnant and was appointed Chief of the Troop Office, also known as the Army Office, a central staff position responsible for significant aspects of army organization, training, and personnel matters. His contributions in these roles were recognized with the Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the United States Legion of Merit in the degree of Officer.

Lemm retired from active duty on 30 September 1979 after more than two decades of service in the Bundeswehr. In his later years he maintained connections to military traditions, serving for a time as honorary president of the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients. He lived quietly in Ruppichteroth, North Rhine-Westphalia, until his death on 17 November 1994 at the age of 75. His career spanned the dramatic shifts of twentieth-century German military history, from the intense combat of the Eastern Front to the professional rebuilding of West German armed forces during the Cold War, illustrating a continuity of disciplined leadership across vastly different political and strategic contexts.

Source :
Lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de (detailed career entry).
En.wikipedia.org/wiki/heinz-georg_lemm.
Tracesofwar.com/persons/34590/lemm-heinz-georg-hein-lemm.htm.
Rk.balsi.de and related ritterkreuz databases.
Grokipedia.com/page/heinz_georg_lemm.
Forum.axishistory.com and wehrmacht-awards.com discussions.
Unithistories.com and archived geocities/orion47 materials.
Geni.com family records where available.

Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici (1886-1971)

Gotthard Heinrici (25 December 1886 – 10 December 1971) was a German general during World War II. Heinrici is considered as the premier defensive expert of the Wehrmacht. His final command was Army Group Vistula, formed from the remnants of Army Group A and Army Group Center to defend Berlin from the Soviet armies advancing from the Vistula River.

Heinrici was born in 1886 in East Prussia, the son of a minister of the (Protestant) Evangelical Church in Germany. He came from a long line of East Prussian theologians, including his uncle Georg Heinrici and his grandfather Carl August Heinrici, and remained a devout Lutheran throughout his life. Following graduation from secondary school in 1905, he broke from family tradition and joined the army on 8 March 1905 as a cadet in an infantry division. From 1905 to 1906, Heinrici attended a war school. During World War I, Heinrici fought in the German invasion of Belgium and earned the Iron Cross 2nd Class in September 1914. Heinrici's division was then transferred to the Eastern Front. There, he fought in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes and the Battle of Łódź, receiving the Iron Cross 1st Class in July 1915.

In May 1916, Heinrici took part in the Battle of Verdun. Beginning in September 1916, he served in General Staff positions with the XXIV Reserve Corps and the 115th Infantry Division. In March 1917, Heinrici was posted to the German General Staff. In September, he attended a General Staffs officer training course, and later served as a staff officer with VII Corps and the VIII Corps. In February 1918, Heinrici was posted to an infantry division, serving as a staff officer responsible for operations. In this position, he was awarded the Prussian Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords in August 1918.

Heinrici had two children, Hartmut and Gisela, with his wife Gertrude. He was a devout Protestant who regularly visited the church. His religious faith and refusal to join the Nazi party made him unpopular with the Nazi hierarchy and led to clashes with Hitler and Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, who scorned him. Because Heinrici's wife Gertrude had a Jewish parent, their children were labeled Mischlinge (partly Jewish) under Nazi racial law. However, Heinrici received a "German Blood Certificate" from Hitler himself, which validated their supposed "Aryan" status and protected them from discrimination.

During the Battle of France, Heinrici's command was part of General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb's Army Group C. He commanded the XII Army Corps which was part of the 1st Army. Heinrici's forces succeeded in breaking through the Maginot Line south of Saarbrücken on 14 June 1940.

In 1941, during Operation Barbarossa, Heinrici served in the 4th Army under Günther von Kluge as the commanding general of the XXXXIII Army Corps during the Battle of Białystok–Minsk, the Battle of Kiev and the Battle of Moscow. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in 1941. Late in January 1942, Heinrici was given command of the 4th Army. On 24 November 1943 he was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross for his leadership during the Battle of Orsha, during which the 4th Army taking defensive positions near the Orsha region in Belarus, temporarily halted the advance of the Western Front led by General Vasiliy Sokolovsky. During the 4th Army's retreat, it inflicted heavy losses on the advancing Red Army. These successes contributed greatly to Heinrici's reputation as a defensive specialist. Later in 1943 he refused to obey an order to destroy the city of Smolensk by fire before the German army's retreat, and he was temporarily dismissed from his post as commander.

In 1944, after the previous successes of the Red Army in Ukraine, Heinrici repeatedly argued for the retreat of Army Group Center and a concomitant shortening of the front line, Hitler rejected these plans at a staff meeting on 20 May 1944. On 4 June Heinrici was relieved of command of the 4th Army, which was later encircled east of Minsk and nearly destroyed during Operation Bagration.

In the summer of 1944, after eight months of forced retirement, Heinrici was sent to Hungary and placed in command of the 1st Panzer Army; as well as the Hungarian First Army which was attached to it. He was able to keep the 1st Panzer Army relatively intact as it retreated into Slovakia. Later in 1944 during the Battle of the Dukla Pass, the 1st Panzer Army prevented Soviet forces from linking up with Slovak rebel forces of the concurrent Slovak National Uprising. Heinrici was awarded the Swords to the Oak Leaves of his Knight's Cross on 3 March 1945.

On 20 March 1945, Adolf Hitler replaced Heinrich Himmler with Heinrici as Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Vistula on the Eastern Front. Indicating that he was ill, Himmler had abandoned his post on 13 March and retired to a sanatorium at Lychen. At this time, Army Group Vistula's front was less than 50 miles from Berlin.

Army Group Vistula consisted of two armies: the 3rd Panzer Army led by General Hasso von Manteuffel and the 9th Army led by General Theodor Busse. Heinrici was tasked with preventing a Soviet attack across the Oder River amid shortages of manpower and materiel. Only the terrain itself favoured Heinrici; he dug the 9th Army into three defensive lines atop Seelow Heights, overlooking the sandy, swampy banks of the Oder. Manteuffel's 3rd Panzer Army, which had fewer panzers than the 9th, was similarly positioned in the north to delay a possible flanking strike by Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky's 2nd Byelorussian Front.

On 16 April the Battle of the Oder-Neisse began. The Soviets attacked with about 1,500,000 men for what they called the "Berlin Offensive Operation". During the Battle of Berlin, Heinrici withdrew his troops westward and made no attempt to defend the city. By late April, Heinrici ordered the retreat of his army group across the Oder River. Hitler only became aware of the retreat of Army Group Vistula around 21 April, after a puzzling request by Heinrici, who sought permission to move his headquarters to a new site, which was further west than Berlin.

On 28 April Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht, was riding along the roads north of Berlin when he noticed that troops of the 7th Panzer Division and of the 25th Panzergrenadier Division were marching north, away from Berlin. These troops were part of General Hasso von Manteuffel's 3rd Panzer Army. As one of the two armies which made up Heinrici's Army Group Vistula, it was supposed to be on its way to Berlin. Instead, Heinrici was moving it northward in an attempt to halt the Soviet breakthrough at Neubrandenburg, contrary to orders of Keitel and his deputy, General Alfred Jodl. Keitel located Heinrici on a road near Neubrandenburg, accompanied by Manteuffel. The encounter resulted in a heated confrontation that led to Heinrici's dismissal by 29 April for disobeying orders.

Heinrici was replaced by General Kurt Student. General Kurt von Tippelskirch was named as Heinrici's interim replacement until Student could arrive and assume control of Army Group Vistula. Student was captured by the British before he could take command. The rapidly deteriorating situation that the Germans faced meant that Army Group Vistula's coordination of the armies under its nominal command during the last few days of the war was of little significance.

Heinrici was dismissed by Keitel for refusing to save Hitler. He was summoned to Berlin and would have complied had Captain Hellmuth Lang not persuaded him to "drive as slowly as you can" to Plön instead, informing him that he would be murdered in Berlin like Rommel (who had been Heinrici's adjutant, and later Lang's commander). Heinrici then gave himself up to British forces on 28 May.

After his capture, Heinrici was held at Island Farm, a British prisoner of war camp at Bridgend, South Wales, where he remained, except for a three-week transfer to a camp in the United States in October 1947, until his release on 19 May 1948. In the 1950s, he helped create the Operational History (German) Section of the United States Army Center of Military History, established in January 1946 to harness the operational knowledge and experience of German prisoners of war for the United States Army. He was also featured prominently in Cornelius Ryan's 1966 book, The Last Battle. Heinrici died in 1971 in Karlsruhe and was buried with full military honours at the Bergäcker cemetery in Freiburg im Breisgau.

Despite being married to a half-Jewish (Mischling) woman, Heinrici supported many Nazi nationalistic and fascistic policies including the Lebensraum concept of territorial expansion, but disagreed with many of their racial policies. He was shocked by the anti-Jewish pogroms of Kristallnacht, although this did not lead him to distance himself from the Nazi regime.

On the eve of Operation Barbarossa, Heinrici, on receiving the Commissar Order, justified it as easing pressure on the front lines through the exercise of "preventive terror" in the rear. Heinrici wrote home to his family that the Soviet soldier fought "very hard", he concluded that Soviet soldiers were "a much better soldier than the Frenchman. Extremely tough, devious and deceitful." He repeatedly ignored "scorched-earth" orders, such as the order to destroy the historically significant city of Smolensk.

As a military commander, historians have described him as the premier defensive expert of the Wehrmacht and a genius admired by his peers, although little-known today because he was, in the words of Samuel W. Mitcham, "as charismatic as a 20-pound sack of fertilizer".

In 2014, Heinrici's private letters and diaries were published in the book A German General on the Eastern Front: The Letters and Diaries of Gotthard Heinrici 1941-1942 edited by Johannes Hürter. In his writings, Heinrici revealed his growing doubts about Hitler's strategy and his mounting concern as the Wehrmacht was implicated in war crimes and the first actions of the Holocaust.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Heinrici
https://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/HEER/Generaloberst/HEINRICI_GOTTHARD.html
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/H/HeinriciG.htm
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34589/Heinrici-Gotthard.htm

General der Infanterie Friedrich Schulz (1897-1976)

Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Schulz, commonly known as Fritz Schulz, was a German general of infantry in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. Born on 15 October 1897 in Nettkow in the Province of Silesia within the Kingdom of Prussia, he rose through the ranks from a young volunteer in the First World War to one of the senior field commanders on the Eastern Front in the final desperate months of the conflict. Schulz demonstrated a combination of meticulous staff work and energetic frontline leadership that earned him rapid promotions and Germany's highest military decorations. He served continuously from 1914 until the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945, surviving the war to live quietly in West Germany until his death on 30 November 1976 in Freudenstadt, Baden-Württemberg.

Schulz entered military service on 19 September 1914 as a war volunteer and officer candidate with Infanterie-Regiment von der Goltz (7. Pommersches) Nr. 54. He transferred to (3. Posensches) Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 58, where he was commissioned as Leutnant in June 1916. During the First World War he fought on both the Western and Eastern fronts, suffering wounds that earned him the Wound Badge in Black. He received the Iron Cross Second Class in 1916 and First Class in 1918 for bravery under fire. After the armistice he participated in border defense duties in Silesia with Grenzschutz units and later joined the Reichswehr, serving with Infanterie-Regiment 8. His early career in the small professional army of the Weimar Republic included adjutant duties, general staff training, and various staff positions that prepared him for higher responsibilities.

In the years leading to the Second World War, Schulz advanced steadily through the ranks while holding key organizational and planning roles. He became Hauptmann in 1931, served as company commander in Infanterie-Regiment 30, and acted as first general staff officer of the 23. Infanterie-Division. By 1937 he had risen to Gruppenleiter for organization matters in the Wehrmachtführungsamt at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. Promoted to Major in 1936 and Oberstleutnant in 1939, he brought calm professionalism and thorough planning skills to increasingly demanding positions. When war broke out in 1939, his experience placed him in critical staff roles that shaped operations on multiple fronts.

Schulz first gained widespread recognition during the harsh winter battles of 1941-1942 on the central sector of the Eastern Front. As Oberst and chief of staff of the XXXXIII. Armeekorps, he coordinated defensive efforts near Kaluga southwest of Moscow against repeated Soviet winter offensives. Under conditions of extreme cold, frozen equipment, and severe supply shortages, the corps faced relentless attacks by superior Red Army forces attempting to shatter the German line. Schulz helped organize flexible withdrawals, timely counterattacks, and the stubborn defense of key strongpoints that prevented a decisive breakthrough. His clear operational planning and tireless coordination stabilized threatened sectors and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, actions that directly contributed to the award of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 March 1942.

Later in the war Schulz transitioned from staff duties to direct field command, facing some of the most intense fighting of the Eastern campaign. In late 1943, as Generalleutnant, he took acting command of the III. Panzerkorps during the critical battles around Cherkassy in Ukraine. Soviet forces launched powerful assaults aimed at encircling German units in the Dnieper bend area, creating muddy quagmires that hampered movement while artillery and tank attacks pounded German positions. Under Schulz's leadership the corps conducted skillful mobile defense, launching localized armored counterthrusts that disrupted Soviet advances and bought time for threatened formations. His energetic direction helped maintain cohesion amid logistical strain and overwhelming enemy pressure in the prelude to the larger Korsun-Cherkassy pocket, earning him the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 20 March 1944 as the 428th recipient.

In the final year of the war Schulz rose to army-level command during the Soviet winter offensives of 1945. As General der Infanterie and commander-in-chief of the 17. Armee from July 1944, he was responsible for defending the vital Upper Silesian industrial region with its coal mines and factories essential to the German war effort. Following a major Soviet breakthrough near Liegnitz in February 1945, massive Red Army tank and infantry columns threatened to overrun the area in a rapid advance. Schulz rapidly reorganized depleted divisions, established new defensive lines, and personally inspired his exhausted troops through visible leadership and decisive orders. His forces repelled repeated Soviet attacks with determined resistance and local counterattacks, inflicting heavy casualties and slowing the enemy momentum despite critical shortages of men, ammunition, and fuel. These actions preserved parts of the industrial heartland longer than expected and demonstrated outstanding defensive skill, leading to the award of the Swords to the Knight's Cross on 26 February 1945 as the 135th recipient.

In the chaotic last weeks of the war Schulz briefly commanded higher formations, including Heeresgruppe G and temporary oversight of operations in southern Germany and Italy under Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring. Captured by American forces in May 1945, he spent time as a prisoner of war before his release in 1948. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he avoided public controversy or further military involvement in the postwar era. Schulz lived a private life in West Germany, remembered primarily by military historians for his progression from capable staff officer to resilient army commander in the most demanding defensive battles of the Eastern Front. His decorations and career reflect the heavy burdens placed on German generals in the later stages of the conflict.

Source:
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer: Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945.  
Elite of the Third Reich by W.P. Fellgiebel and related Wehrmacht command studies.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Schulz  
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34588/Schulz-Karl-Friedrich-Fritz-Wilhelm.htm  
https://ww2gravestone.com/people/schulz-karl-friedrich-fritz-wilhelm/  
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/  
https://rk.balsi.de/  
https://www.geni.com/  
https://forum.axishistory.com/  
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/  
https://www.unithistories.com/  
Archived Geocities material via web.archive.org (orion47)  
https://grokipedia.com/  

Generalleutnant Dietrich von Müller (1891-1961)

Dietrich von Müller was a German general who served in both world wars and rose to the rank of Generalleutnant in the final months of the Second World War. Born on 16 September 1891 in Malchow in Mecklenburg, he volunteered for military service in 1910 and joined Jäger-Regiment 3. During the First World War he saw action on the Western Front, where he was wounded several times and commissioned as Leutnant in 1915. After the armistice he left the Reichswehr in 1920 but returned to active duty in 1939 as the commander of the second battalion of Infanterie-Regiment 5. His steady career in motorized and armored formations on the Eastern Front later earned him high decorations for leadership under extreme pressure. 

In the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, von Müller commanded Schützen-Regiment 5, a motorized infantry unit that operated in the harsh winter conditions of 1941-1942 near the Volkhov sector. On 16 February 1942 the Soviets launched a massive assault near Pogostje with strong infantry supported by more than forty tanks. The enemy armor ground forward through deep snow and frozen terrain, threatening to tear open the German lines and endanger the entire corps. Von Müller personally directed the defense from forward positions, coordinating anti-tank fire and close-quarters counterattacks. His grenadiers held their hastily prepared positions amid blinding blizzards and artillery barrages, using machine guns, grenades, and flanking maneuvers to destroy or disable numerous Soviet tanks. When penetrations occurred, he led rapid responses that sealed the gaps, turning a critical situation into a defensive success that stabilized the sector. For these actions he first received the German Cross in Gold on 21 February 1942 and then the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 3 May 1942 as Oberstleutnant and regimental commander.

The regiment was redesignated Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 in July 1942 and continued fighting with the 12. Panzer-Division under Heeresgruppe Mitte. In mid-July 1943, during the Soviet Oryol Offensive that followed the Battle of Kursk, the division was thrown into desperate counterattacks east of Bolkhov to close a dangerous penetration in the sector of the 208. Infanterie-Division. Von Müller, now Oberst, led his regiment in aggressive thrusts along the Asarowo-Kornilowo road on 14 July. Two days later, when the first battalion became encircled by superior Soviet forces, he personally assembled a small relief group consisting of two Panzer IV tanks and an armored car. The tiny spearhead roared through enemy positions under heavy fire, cannons blazing and machine guns sweeping Soviet infantry, creating enough chaos for the trapped battalion to fight its way back to the main German lines. Over the following days his troops repelled repeated assaults in bloody fighting across muddy fields and ruined villages, playing a decisive role in restoring the front despite being outnumbered. These actions earned him the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on 16 August 1943 as the 272nd recipient.

After a period of instructional duties at Panzer training schools and staff assignments, including a brief role with the staff of Generaloberst Heinz Guderian, von Müller returned to frontline command in 1944. In August 1944 he took charge of the 16. Panzer-Division, which had been heavily engaged in defensive battles in the southern sector of the Eastern Front. By early 1945 the division faced the overwhelming Soviet winter offensive launched from the Baranow bridgehead. Reduced in strength and short of fuel and ammunition, the formation was repeatedly encircled amid the chaos of rapid Soviet advances through Poland. Under von Müller's leadership the division first broke out from a pocket south of Kielce, fighting through snow-covered roads and Soviet blocking forces in running battles. Shortly afterward it was surrounded again east of Sulejow. Once more the panzergrenadiers and remaining tanks punched through enemy cordons in desperate mobile actions, joining the larger wandering pocket commanded by General Walther Nehring. The Kampfgruppe under von Müller spearheaded the fighting withdrawal, passing through Lissa and reaching the Oder River near Glogau on 27 January 1945. His calm direction and aggressive use of limited armored assets prevented the complete destruction of the division and contributed significantly to the corps' survival. For this resilient leadership during the January retreats he received the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves on 20 February 1945 as the 134th recipient, while serving as Generalmajor.

Promoted to Generalleutnant on 20 April 1945, von Müller continued to lead remnants of his division in the final chaotic weeks of the war. On 19 April 1945, near Hoštice castle in the Kroměříž District of Moravia, he was captured by Czech partisans of the 1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade and handed over to the Red Army. He spent the next decade in Soviet captivity before being released in 1955. After returning to West Germany he lived quietly in Hamburg, where he died on 3 January 1961 at the age of 69.

Throughout his career Dietrich von Müller exemplified the qualities of a professional armored commander on the Eastern Front: personal courage in relief actions, tactical skill in fluid defensive battles, and the ability to inspire exhausted troops during repeated encirclements. His decorations reflected not only individual bravery but also the successful execution of missions that delayed Soviet advances at critical moments, often against overwhelming odds in the brutal conditions of winter warfare and summer offensives. Though the 16. Panzer-Division under his command suffered heavy losses in the final campaigns, its repeated breakouts allowed many soldiers to reach safer lines along the Oder and continue the defense of the Reich in its closing days. Von Müller's service spanned more than three decades of German military history, from the trenches of the First World War to the mobile operations and desperate retreats of the Second.


Source:

Alman, Karl. Ritterkreuzträger des Westwalles.
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945.
Müller-Hillebrand, Burkhart. Das Heer 1933–1945.
Scherzer, Veit. Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945.
[https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/M/MuellerDietrichv.htm](https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/M/MuellerDietrichv.htm)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_von_Müller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_von_Müller)
[https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/12204/Müller-von-Dietrich.htm](https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/12204/Müller-von-Dietrich.htm)
[https://rk.balsi.de/](https://rk.balsi.de/)
[https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html](https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html)
[https://forum.axishistory.com/](https://forum.axishistory.com/)
[https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/](https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/)
[https://www.geni.com/](https://www.geni.com/)

Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953)

Karl Rudolph Gerd von Rundstedt was born December 12th 1875 in Aschesleben in the Harz mountains near Magdeburg. He came from a military family dating back to the 12th century. When Gerd was born, his father served in a Prussian regiment of Hussars in the rank of Lieutenant. His mother was the daughter of a real estate owner.

At the age of 12, he went to cadet school in Oranienstein. He already spoke English as his mother had employed an English nanny to take care of her children. Later, Von Rundstedt would even take the exam for French interpreter. At the age of 16, he was admitted to the Haupt Kadettenanstalt (central Prussian school for Cadets) in Gross Lichterfelde near Berlin, successfully graduating in 1892 to be admitted to the rank of candidate officer.

In 1892, Von Rundstedt joined the 83. Infanterieregiment Von Wittlicht (Kurrhessische No. 3) in Kassel for a period of six months before taking his exam for the rank of Fähnrich at the Kriegsschule in Hannover. In 1902, he married Louise von Götz, the daughter of a retired officer. In that same year, he passed the entrance examination to the Kriegsakademie whereupon the young couple moved to Berlin.

In 1906 Von Rundstedt was posted to the Generalstab on probation and after having passed the final, very difficult exam, he was promoted to Hauptmann on the Generalstab in March 1909. He was posted to the staff of headquarters of the IX. Armeekorps and in 1912 he went to work as company commander in the 171. Infanterieregiment in Colmar in Alsace-Lorraine.

At the outbreak of the First World War, 39-year-old Von Rundstedt was immediately given a posting on the operational staff of the 22. Reserve division. He owed his promotion to Major in November 1914 to the outbreak of the war by the way. During the battle on the River Marne, the 22. Reserve division was deployed on the right flank of the front. The division commander was killed in action whereupon Von Rundstedt was given command of the unit. At the beginning of the trench warfare, Von Rundstedt left the division and was posted to the staff of the German military government in Belgium. Afterwards he served in a division in Poland, in the military government in Warsaw, in an army corps in the Carpathians, an army corps on the Baltic coast and finally in 1918 as Chief of Staff of XV. Armeekorps on the western front. After the war, Von Rundstedt was posted to the new, starkly reduced German army, the Reichswehr.

After he had been promoted to Oberst in 1923, he was transferred from the 3. Kavalleriedivision to headquarters of Wehrkreis II as Chief of Staff. Two years on, he received a new command, this time of 18. Infanterieregiment (in 1938 he was named honorary member and he has always worn the uniform of the unit afterwards). In 1926, he returned to a staff position, this time as Chief of Staff of Obergruppenkommando II in Kassel. After his promotion to Generalmajor he was given command of the 2. Kavalleriedivision in Breslau. In 1929, he was promoted to Generalleutnant and in January of that year he became overall commander of Wehrkreis III in Berlin. In October that year he was appointed General der Infanterie and commander of Obergruppenkommando I, likewise in Berlin.

When Adolf Hitler came to power, Von Rundstedt was involved in the secret German rearmament. In March 1938, Hitler grabbed his chance to tighten his grip on the Wehrmacht. The two most prominent military men of Germany, Werner von Blomberg and Günther von Fritsch were ousted and also all those who sympathized with them. Von Rundstedt was not among them. He angrily submitted his resignation but his request was rejected. Hitler (Bio Hitler) probably did not want to lose his highest ranking general after seven of them on the list right beneath Von Rundstedt had been fired, including Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb (B) and Ewald von Kleist. Von Rundstedt was duly promoted to Generaloberst.

In October 1938, Generaloberst Von Rundstedt, commander of an Army Group, was involved in the invasion of the Sudetenland. When he became convinced that Hitler was preparing for war, he strongly argued that Germany was from being adequately equipped for war in the near future. As a result Hitler ordered Von Rundstedt to step down. Owing to a shortage of experienced commanders, Von Rundstedt was recalled. When the war started in September 1939, Von Rundstedt, in command of Heeresgruppe Süd (Army group south) participated in the attack on the main body of the Polish armed forces (Case White). He managed to prevent the Poles from retreating beyond the River Weichsel. For his achievements, Von Rundstedt was awarded the Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross).

Von Rundstedt was commander of Heeresgruppe A during the German attack on France and the Low Countries in May 1940 (Case Yellow). Along with the bulk of the armored forces, he advanced through the Ardennes, crossing the River Meuse and striking towards the Channel coast. A large part of the Allied armies was encircled near Dunkirk in the process. Total victory failed to materialize however as the armies were evacuated from Dunkirk. Von Rundstedt proposed, and Hitler ordered the Germans should not attempt to capture Dunkirk and so they missed the opportunity to deal with the British Expeditionary Force once and for all.

After the fall of France, Von Rundstedt was appointed feldmarschall by Hitler on July 19th , 1940. Preparations for Operation Seelöwe (Sea Lion), the invasion of Great Britain, got under way. This invasion never took place though because the Luftwaffe failed to win air superiority over the British Isles in the Battle of Britain. Hereafter, Hitler decided to leave Great Britain alone and commenced planning for a campaign against the Soviet Union. Heeresgruppe A was transferred to the General Government (that part of Poland occupied by the Germans) in order to prepare for the imminent attack on the Soviet Union.

In April 1941, Generalfeldmarschall Von Rundstedt was named commander of Heeresgruppe Süd; in fact, Heeresgruppe A was renamed Heeresgruppe Süd. When Operation Barbarossa was launched on June 22nd, 1941, Von Rundstedt’s Heeresgruppe initially struck deep into enemy territory. The advance stagnated though and he needed help from 2. Panzergruppe commanded by Generaloberst Heinz Guderian (Bio Guderian) in order to encircle his most important strategic target Kiev. (Battle of Kiev) After the encircled Soviets had surrendered, Heeresgruppe Süd struck towards Rostov on the River Don. Against Soviet counter-attacks, under command of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko (Bio Timoshenko), Von Rundstedt was forced to pull back dozens of miles. Hitler was furious so Von Rundstedt offered his resignation. Hitler accepted his request and replaced Von Rundstedt by Generalfeldmarschall Walter von Reichenau (Bio Von Reichenau) who only did what Von Rundstedt had ordered previously and was fired for: retreat to a defensive line on the River Mius.

In March 1942, Von Rundstedt was called back into service once more and appointed Oberbefehlshaber West (supreme commander), succeeding Generalfeldmarschall Erwin von Witzleben. He was to prepare the western front for the expected Allied invasion. In that capacity he supervised the construction of the Atlantikwall, an immense network of bunkers and fortifications stretching all the way from Spain to Norway. Later on he was assisted by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Bio Rommel). In 1942, the first invasion took place at Dieppe. The Germans however managed to defeat the predominantly Canadian invasion force in this downright suicide operation. In violation of the rules of land warfare, Von Rundstedt handed the Allied prisoners-of-war over to the Gestapo.

On D-Day, June 6th, 1944, the Allies landed in Normandy. Von Rundstedt had no free hand to act concerning the redeployment of troops. Hitler was of the opinion that the D-Day landings were no more than a diversionary maneuver for an even more massive landing in the Pas de Calais. Partly due to these irregularities - within the O.K.W. for instance he had no say over the armored reserves, making it extremely difficult to launch a coordinated counter attack in time - the Germans failed to push the Allies back into the sea. The result was that Hitler ordered Von Rundstedt on July 1st , 1944 to retire once more. Nonetheless, he was awarded the Eichenlaub (Oak Leaves) to his Knight’s Cross (Ritterkreuz).

The day after the failed assassination attempt on Hitler in the Wolfsschanze on July 20th, Von Rundstedt was appointed chairman of a Court of Honor (Ehrengericht). During this trial, officers of the Wehrmacht who were suspected of complicity in the murder attempt were discharged.

On September 1st , Gerd von Rundstedt was recalled by Hitler to become Oberbefehlshaber West (supreme commander). Formally, Von Rundstedt was responsible for the failure of the Allied Operation Market Garden. In October he let Hitler know, through Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel, it would be better to end the war. Hitler fired him on the spot but quickly revoked his decision. After having been appointed ObW again, Von Rundstedt assisted in the planning for the offensive in the Ardennes as he was formally in command. The real tactical work during the operation itself was done by Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model (Bio Model), just like during the defensive battles of Market Garden. On February 18th, 1945, Hitler awarded him the Schwerter (Swords) to his Ritterkreuz for his distinguished services.

On March 11th , 1945, Von Rundstedt was stripped of his function for the last time, due to the successful crossing of the undamaged railway bridge across the Rhine at Remagen by American troops. Moreover, there were arguments with the O.K.W. about the tactic to be applied. After his discharge, Von Rundstedt sat watching idly until the end of the war.

In May 1945, near Bad Tölz, the field marshal was taken prisoner by the Americans and handed over to Great Britain. He spent more than three years in prison and appeared before the military tribunal in Nuremberg as a witness, making an impression by his dignified attitude. Although he had been involved in most military campaigns on the highest level, the British never seemed to have considered bringing any charge against him.

Gerd von Rundstedt returned to west Germany in 1951. He passed away on February 24th, 1953 in Hannover.

Source :
Messenger, Charles. *The Last Prussian: A Biography of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, 1875–1953*. London: Brassey's, 1991.
Liddell Hart, B.H. *The German Generals Talk*. New York: William Morrow, 1948.
Mitcham, Samuel W. *Hitler's Field Marshals and Their Battles*. New York: Stein and Day, 1989.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerd_von_Rundstedt
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/12464/Rundstedt-Gerd-von.htm
https://grokipedia.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.geni.com/

Generalmajor Max Sachsenheimer (1909-1973)

Max Sachsenheimer was born on 5 December 1909 in Mühlbach, located in the Grand Duchy of Baden. He entered military service in the Reichswehr during the Weimar Republic era, joining the 14th Infantry Regiment in 1928. His early years in the military were marked by the steady advancement typical of the interwar period, during which he developed the leadership skills that would define his later career. By the time the Second World War commenced in 1939, Sachsenheimer had been commissioned as an officer and was serving with the 75th Infantry Regiment, a unit with which he would remain closely associated throughout many of the conflict's most intense campaigns.

During the early stages of the war, Sachsenheimer participated in the invasion of France in 1940, where his unit was involved in the breakthrough of the Maginot Line and the subsequent pursuit of Allied forces across the French countryside. His performance during these operations earned him initial recognition, but it was on the Eastern Front that he established a reputation for tactical proficiency and personal bravery. Following the launch of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, he led his troops through the grueling advances toward Moscow, enduring the extreme weather conditions and the increasing resistance of the Soviet Red Army. His ability to maintain unit cohesion under duress became a hallmark of his command style.

The summer of 1942 saw Sachsenheimer and his regiment deployed to the southern sector of the Eastern Front as part of the drive toward the Caucasus. He was heavily involved in the fighting around the Don River and the subsequent defensive actions as the strategic situation for the German forces began to deteriorate. For his leadership during the heavy defensive battles in the winter of 1942 and 1943, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. This period represented a transition in his career from offensive maneuvering to the high-stakes management of tactical withdrawals and the establishment of defensive perimeters against numerically superior Soviet forces.

As the conflict progressed into 1944, Sachsenheimer continued to serve in various frontline roles, eventually rising to the command of the 17th Infantry Division. He was tasked with holding vital positions during the Soviet summer offensive, known as Operation Bagration, which shattered the German center. His leadership during the retreat through Poland was recognized with the addition of the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. He was known among his men for his presence at the front lines, often personally overseeing the placement of heavy weapons and the coordination of counterattacks to prevent the encirclement of his division.

In the final months of the war, Sachsenheimer was promoted to the rank of Generalmajor and continued to lead his exhausted division in the defense of the German heartland. He was awarded the Swords to his Knight's Cross in early 1945, making him one of the highly decorated commanders of the German infantry. Despite the collapse of the organized resistance, he attempted to maintain the discipline of his remaining troops while retreating toward the Western Allies to avoid Soviet captivity. He eventually surrendered to American forces in May 1945, shortly after the unconditional surrender of the German high command.

Following his release from captivity in 1947, Sachsenheimer returned to civilian life in West Germany. Like many former high-ranking officers, he spent his later years engaged in veteran affairs and contributed to the documentation of his unit's history. He maintained a relatively quiet life in the post-war era, focusing on his family and his community in the Black Forest region. Max-Hellmuth Sachsenheimer passed away on 13 February 1973 in Freiburg im Breisgau. His military career remains a subject of study for those interested in the tactical execution of mid-level infantry command and the complexities of leadership during the protracted retreat on the Eastern Front.

Source:
Berger, Florian. Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Selbstverlag Florian Berger, 1999.
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945. Podzun-Pallas, 2000.
Scherzer, Veit. Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945. Scherzers Militär-Verlag, 2007.
Thomas, Franz. Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z. Biblio-Verlag, 1998.
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/S/SachsenheimerM.htm]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Sachsenheimer
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/16839/Sachsenheimer-Maximilian-Heinrich-Max.htm
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://www.geni.com/people/Max-Sachsenheimer/6000000030025427844
https://forum.axishistory.com/

Generalmajor Erich Walther (1903-1948)

Friedrich Erich Walther was a German paratrooper officer and generalmajor of the Luftwaffe during World War II who rose to prominence as a commander of elite airborne units. Born on 5 August 1903 in Gorden in the district of Liebenwerda in the Prussian province of Saxony, he began his service in the police forces of the Weimar Republic before transferring to the newly formed Luftwaffe in 1935, where he helped pioneer Germany's paratrooper arm. Over the course of the war Walther led battalions, regiments, and eventually a division in campaigns ranging from Scandinavia and the Low Countries to the Mediterranean, Italy, and the final desperate defenses on the Eastern Front. He earned high decorations for repeated displays of aggressive leadership and stubborn defensive skill, culminating in the rare award of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Captured by Soviet forces at the end of hostilities, he died in captivity on 26 December 1948 at the age of forty-five.

Walther joined the Berlin police as an aspirant in April 1924 and advanced steadily through the ranks of the security apparatus. By the early 1930s he served in elite special-purpose police detachments under commanders such as Wecke, eventually becoming part of the Landespolizei Gruppe General Göring. These units formed the nucleus of what would evolve into the Luftwaffe's Regiment General Göring. In October 1935 he transferred directly into the Luftwaffe as a hauptmann and took command of companies within the regiment's parachute and rifle battalions. Between 1938 and 1939 he held successive leadership roles in the newly established 1st Paratrooper Regiment, gaining practical experience in airborne tactics that placed him among the first generation of German Fallschirmjäger officers.

When war broke out in 1939 Walther was already commanding the first battalion of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1. In April 1940, during the Norwegian campaign, he led a reinforced company in rapid thrusts toward the inland towns of Hamar and Elverum. His paratroopers seized key road junctions and disrupted Norwegian mobilization efforts, sowing confusion among enemy reserves and easing the advance of German ground columns. Weeks later, in the airborne assault on the Netherlands, his battalion dropped onto and captured the vital bridges at Dordrecht. For hours the paratroopers held the crossings against repeated Dutch counterattacks, fighting from houses and improvised positions until armored relief arrived from the 9th Panzer Division. These actions earned Walther both classes of the Iron Cross within days and the Knight's Cross on 24 May 1940.

The following year Walther participated in the costly airborne invasion of Crete in May 1941, earning the Crete cuff title for his role in the fighting. From September 1941 his battalion saw heavy action on the Eastern Front near Leningrad, where the paratroopers were employed as elite infantry in grueling defensive and counterattack operations amid the harsh Russian winter. By early 1942 he had received the German Cross in Gold. In 1943 Walther was given command of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 4. That summer, after the Allied landings in Sicily, he formed a kampfgruppe that defended the Simeto River bridges for three days against waves of British infantry and tanks. Despite being outnumbered and under constant artillery and air attack, his men held the line in close-quarters combat along the riverbanks, buying critical time for the German withdrawal to the Italian mainland and securing Walther the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross on 2 March 1944.

In September 1944, while still leading his regiment, Walther was assigned to command a battle group during the Allied Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. His forces successfully contested the airborne landings around Nijmegen and Arnhem, conducting determined counterattacks that helped blunt the British and American advance and contributed to the operation's ultimate failure. By late 1944 he had assumed leadership of the 2nd Parachute Panzer-Grenadier Division Hermann Göring. In the opening phases of the Soviet East Prussian Offensive he directed his division in a series of fierce delaying actions along the Gumbinnen-Ebenrode axis, launching counterthrusts through snow-covered terrain to check armored spearheads. On 13 January 1945 the division faced the full weight of renewed Soviet assaults; for days Walther shifted depleted battalions to plug breaches, ordered night counterattacks, and maintained cohesion under relentless artillery fire. These stands prevented an immediate collapse of the sector and allowed partial evacuation of German troops and civilians, actions that brought him the Swords on 1 February 1945 and promotion to generalmajor four days earlier.

Walther continued to lead the division until the final capitulation. On 8 May 1945 he surrendered to Red Army forces in East Prussia. Transferred to Soviet captivity, he was interned in NKVD Special Camp No. 2 at the former Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar. There, amid the harsh conditions of postwar internment, he died on 26 December 1948. Little is known of Walther's private life; records indicate no details about his parents, siblings, spouse, or children, and his religion is undocumented. His career exemplified the aggressive spirit and tactical adaptability of the Fallschirmjäger in both offensive airborne operations and the attritional defensive battles that defined the war's later years.

Source:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/  
https://en.wikipedia.org/  
https://www.tracesofwar.com/  
https://grokipedia.com/  
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300  
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html  
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html  
https://forum.axishistory.com/  
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/  
https://www.geni.com/  
https://aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=units  
https://www.ww2.dk/lwoffz.html  
https://www.geocities.ws/orion47.geo/WEHRMACHT/LUFTWAFFE/Generalmajor/WALTHER_ERICH.html  
Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Elite of the Third Reich. Helion & Company Limited, Solihull, 2003.  
Patzwall, Klaus D. & Scherzer, Veit. Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945. Band II. Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001.  
Thomas, Franz & Wegmann, Günter. Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945. Biblio-Verlag, 1998.  
Thomas, Franz & Wegmann, Günter. Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939-1945. Biblio-Verlag, 1986.  
Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD). VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002.  
Kwasny, A. & Kwasny, G. Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945 (CD). Deutsches Wehrkundearchiv, Lage-Waddenhausen, 2001.

Hauptmann Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert (1919-2007)

Ernst-Wilhelm Reinert was born 2 February 1919 in Cologne-Lindenthal, at the time in the Rhine Province of the Free State of Prussia. He was the son of an executive secretary with the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Reich Railway). After attending school in Leverkusen-Schlebusch, he completed his vocational education as a metalworker. With the beginning of his vocational education, Reinert learned to fly glider aircraft with the National Socialist Flyers Corps (NSFK), completing his A, B and C-license for glider aircraft.

Following the compulsory Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service), Reinert volunteered for military service of Nazi Germany with the Luftwaffe in early 1938. Eight days after joining, he was discharged on medical grounds which required an operation. In January 1939, he was admitted to the Reichsschule für Motorflug (motor powered flight school of the Reich) at Bielefeld where he attained his A/2 license. On 14 April 1939, Reinert was called back into the Luftwaffe and received three months of recruit training. He was then trained as a fighter pilot at various flight and fighter pilot schools.

World War II in Europe had begun on Friday, 1 September 1939, when German forces invaded Poland. On 1 December 1940, Reinert was promoted to Unteroffizier (corporal). At the time he was based in Bordeaux, France with a supplementary training unit of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG 77—77th Fighter Wing). This unit was tasked with patrolling the Atlantic coast.

On 14 June 1941, Reinert was transferred to II. Gruppe (2nd group) of JG 77 where he was assigned to 4. Staffel (4th squadron). With this unit, he participated in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. JG 77, augmented by I.(J)./Lehrgeschwader 2 (LG 2—2nd Demonstration Wing), primary role in Operation Barbarossa was to support the German advance as part of Army Group South. During this campaign, Reinert was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse) on 31 July 1941. A week later, at 13:42 on 8 August 1941, he was credited with his first aerial victory, a Polikarpov I-16 fighter. On 28 September 1941, he received the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe for Fighter Pilots in Gold, at the time he was credited with 16 aerial victories. One day later, he received the Iron Cross 1st Class.

II. Gruppe, which was scheduled for replenishment and conversion to the Bf 109 F-4 in Germany, flew its last mission of 1941 following the Battle of Rostov on 2 December northeast of Rostov. The next day, the unit began relocating to Germany, first to Schweidnitz, present-day Świdnica, and then to Vienna-Aspern. On 7 February 1942, Reinert was awarded the Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe for 24 victories. Shortly after this, Reinert was transferred west in support of Operation Donnerkeil. The objective of this operation was to give the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen fighter protection in the breakout from Brest to Germany. The Channel Dash operation (11–13 February 1942) by the Kriegsmarine was codenamed Operation Cerberus by the Germans. In support of this, the Luftwaffe, formulated an air superiority plan dubbed Operation Donnerkeil for the protection of the three German capital ships. Following this assignment, Reinert was transferred back to II. Gruppe still based at Vienna-Aspern. On 11 March 1942, II. Gruppe began transferring back to the Eastern Front, first stop was Proskurov, present-day Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. On 15 March, they reached Bukarest before they reached Sarabus, present-day Hwardijske, located 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north of Simferopol on the Crimean peninsula on 17 March 1942. At the time, 4. Staffel was commanded by Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) Heinrich Setz while II. Gruppe was led by Hauptmann Anton Mader.

On 19 March, Reinert claimed three Soviet aircraft including two Petlyakov Pe-2s. On 3 May, Reinert claimed two Polikarpov I-153 fighters belonging to 9 IAP/VVS-ChF (Black Sea Fleet). By June Reinert had become one of leading aces in JG 77 with Anton Hackl and Setz. Reinert was promoted to Feldwebel (staff sergeant) on 1 May 1942 and after 44 aerial victories, he received the German Cross in Gold on 18 May 1942.

On 9 June, Reinert claimed three victories for his 49th to 51st. On this day, JG 77 was involved in dogfights over the besieged city of Sevastopol. Reinert engaged the 3rd OAG (Special Aviation Group) ChF and 6 GIAP ChF. He claimed a Polikarpov I-16 for his 49th victory. On 1 July 1942, after 53 aerial victories, Reinert received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross which was presented to him by II. Gruppe's commander Mader. Reinert shot down 26 Soviet aircraft in July 1942. On 14 July 1942, the day Reinert claimed three Bell P-39 Airacobras shot down, he crashed his Bf 109 F-4 during the landing at Kastornoje. The aircraft was 70% destroyed and he sustained minor injuries. On 26 July, he was again wounded in a flying accident. His Bf 109 F-4 had technical problems, the engine caught fire. This forced Reinert to bail out over friendly territory and resulted in a broken arm. A period in hospital followed. Reinert returned to the front in September. On 16 September, 4./JG 77 bounced a formation of Ilyushin Il-2 ground-attack aircraft south-east of Voronezh and Reinert claimed two shot down.

On 3 October 1942, Reinert passed the century mark with four claims. He was the 27th Luftwaffe pilot to achieve the century mark. That day, the Rotte, a pair of aircraft, Reinert and his wingman Unteroffizier Rudolf Flindt had been ordered to fly from Stary Oskol to Kursk with the plan to intercept the daily Soviet reconnaissance aircraft. During the takeoff, the German airfield came under attack by a flight of Soviet Il-2 ground-attack aircraft escorted by Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 and Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 fighter aircraft. Reinert shot down two Il-2s before his 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon jammed. This forced him to continue the fight with only his two MG 131 machine guns operationally. Reinert managed to shoot down two further aircraft, two MiG-3s claimed at 14:17 and 14:20. In this encounter, Flindt was credited with two aerial victories. At the time, Reinert was also credited with the destruction of 14 aircraft on the ground in addition to the 103 aerial victories. On 6 October, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Reinert, together with Alfred Druschel, Johannes Steinhoff, Günther Rall and Max Stotz received the Oak Leaves from Adolf Hitler personally on 4 November 1942. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. Reinert was only the second Feldwebel in the Luftwaffe to receive the award, after Gerhard Köppen.

In early 1941, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW—Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) had sent an expeditionary force to North Africa to support the Royal Italian Army fighting in the North African Campaign. As intensity of combat increased, the OKW committed additional military forces to the Mediterranean theatre. First elements of JG 77 had already been committed to this theatre in February 1942. The Axis defeat at the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October—4 November 1942) and the 8 November 1942 Operation Torch landings had pushed the Axis out of Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Libya into Tunisia. On 10 November 1942, Reinert's II. Gruppe was also withdrawn from the Eastern Front and began relocating to North Africa. On 5 December 1942, the Gruppenstab (headquarters unit), 4. and 6. Staffel arrived at Zazur, 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) west of Tripoli, Libya. During the relocation, II. Gruppe stopped at Munich for two weeks. There, Reinert got in trouble with the authorities and was briefly confined to quarters for not properly saluting an elderly senior officer.

Reinert was thrust into aerial combat in this final phase of the North African Campaign—the Battle of Tunisia. On 2 January 1943 Reinert claimed two P-40s from No. 250 Squadron RAF while escorting Tactical Reconnaissance Hurricanes from 40 Squadron SAAF. His wingman Unteroffizier Weidlich claimed the other. Pilot Officer S. Holland, Flight Sergeant Graham and Sergeant J. H . Baron were the casualties—they were reported as prisoner of war, safe but wounded in action and killed in action respectively. Five days later on 7 January, II./JG 77 engaged and shot down three Spitfires while the RAF claimed two Bf 109s destroyed and damaged. Two of the No. 92 Squadron RAF pilots can be identified—Flight Sergeant Broomhall was killed and Sergeant Patterson parachuted to safety. On 11 January Reinert claimed four victories over Spitfires and a single P-40. In this battle Franz Hrdlicka also claimed a Spitfire. Reinert misidentified his first three opponents who were all P-40s from the 64th and 65th Fighter Squadrons of the US 57th Fighter Group. On 17 January B-17 Flying Fortress' from the US 97th Bombardment Group and escorted by P-38 Lightnings from the US 1st Fighter Group crossed into Tunisia from airfields in Algeria. JG 77 and Italian fighters intercepted. Reinert shot down the P-38 flown by Lieutenant Burton Weil. On 20 January 1943 Reinert shot down a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk piloted by Lieutenant Richard Kimball of the 65th Fighter Squadron who was taken prisoner of war. Reinert claimed again on 6 February. He attacked a formation of No. 112 Squadron RAF P-40s and claimed two as they attacked artillery and motor transport near Ras Agadir. Sergeant R. Le Cours was shot down and another P-40 was badly damaged. On 23 February Reinert claimed two Spitfires. The first was probably Sergeant S. G. T. Twine of No. 152 Squadron RAF.

The Axis won a series of offensive successes at Sidi Bou Zid and the Kasserine Pass in February 1943. A confident Erwin Rommel ordered the 5th Panzer Army under Hans-Jürgen von Arnim to begin operation Ochsenkopf on 26 February. The Royal Air Force (RAF) Desert Air Force responded by attacking all known German and Italian airfields in the region to deny the Axis air support for the offensive. JG 77 were involved in large-scale air battles and claimed 26 P-40s for nine losses and two pilots killed. Heinrich Bär claimed five and Reinert was credited with four in one mission. Their opponents were from the 7 SAAF Wing. The South African unit records confirm 14 losses. JG 77 claimed 13 of them. The following day II./JG 77 bounced 12 P-40s attacking German airfields and Reinert claimed two for his 123rd and 124th victories. A further three fell to other pilots. On 7 March JG 77 engaged Spitfires over the Mareth Line. Heinz-Edgar Berres, Bär and two other pilots shot down a Spitfire. In the afternoon, Reinert claimed a brace of Spitfires west of Medenine. The latter was probably over a No. 145 Squadron RAF pilot.

On 1 March B-26 Marauders and P-38 Lightnings attacked the bridge at La Hencha. Reinert claimed one Marauder and two of the escorting P-38s. Three B-26s were lost. In the morning of the 13 March Reinert claimed two P-39s. In actual fact they were P-40s from the 57th Fighter Group which lost four. The American unit involved in the air battles was the US 57th Fighter Group escorted by Spitfires from 244 Wing RAF. Among the losses were Major Robert F. Worley, commanding the 314th Fighter Squadron was shot down but evaded capture and reached American lines. Major Archie Knight, the 57th Fighter Group operations officer, was also shot down. He also evaded capture by swimming undercover of darkness and reaching British lines. Lieutenant William E. Jenks and Robert Douglas of the 314th Fighter Squadron were also shot down: the latter was captured and the former was killed. In the afternoon Geschwaderkommodore (wing commander) Joachim Müncheberg led I./JG 77 over Gabes. On this sortie, Reinert claimed four victories, after Müncheberg ordered them to attack some low-flying United States Army Air Force (USAAF) P-39 Airacobras while returning to base. Eight of the P-39s were claimed shot down in 12 minutes. The claims were Reinert's 132nd–135th. The 81st Fighter Group confirmed the loss of seven P-39s, despite the escort of the 31st Fighter Group's Spitfires. The P-39s were from the 91st and 93rd Squadrons. The Spitfires were from 307 and 308 Squadron. Nine American fighters were lost in total: Lieutenants Murray, Turkington, Smith, Leech, McCreight and Lewis from the 93rd and Lyons from the 91st. Another pilot was captured. Only Murray returned alive from the group.

On 26 March Reinert accounted for Sergeant J. H. D. Herberte. Herberte had been flying with Spitfire Vs and IXs of No. 145 Squadron RAF when they were attacked by II./JG 77. It appears this was the only loss. The Germans lost one pilot killed also. Three days later, on 29 March 1943, Reinert claimed two USAAF P-40s and his wingman Unteroffizier Funke claimed another. II./JG 51's Oberleutnant Rammelt claimed his 20th victory. JG 77 lost three pilots over the airfield when P-40s attacked low-flying Bf 109s—Rudolf Fischer, Ewald Bleul and Gunter Schimmelpfennig were killed. Reinert's victims were from the US 79th Fighter Group. Captain Kenneth D. Boggs was killed, Lieutenant Harlan E. Highfield was captured and the third pilot escaped to Allied lines. On 30 March Siegfried Freytag led I./JG 77 against USAAF bombing raids. The Bf 109s engaged the US 52nd Fighter Group, which was escorting 18 A-20 Havoc bombers from the 47th Bombardment Group en route to attacking La Fauconnerie. Reinert claimed two bombers before the P-40s claimed two German fighters. Reinert became an officer when he was promoted to Leutnant (second lieutenant) on 1 April 1943.

On 1 April Reinert became an "ace in a day". In the morning he claimed three Spitfires from the US 31st Fighter Group, specifically the 308th and 309th Fighter Squadrons. Lieutenant O'Brien, Juhnke and Strole were killed. Three Bf 109s were damaged. A further two claims were made against the US 52nd Fighter Group. Lieutenant Edwin Boughton was killed. Other Spitfires may have force-landed but American records generally list only those that caused the death of a pilot. On 4 April, JG 77 engaged in a day of heavy air combat with the new commanding officer Johannes Steinhoff and lost three pilots. Steinhoff and Reinert claimed one and three respectively: Steinhoff's claim was against a Spitfire in the afternoon. Reinert's opponents were P-40s from the US 33rd Fighter Group. Fredrick W. Mayo Jr, James H. Raddin and Alfred J. Schmidt were captured on this date. Mayo and Schmidt were shot down by Reinert. The next day Operation Flax began an intensive aerial offensive against Axis transport aircraft and airfields. On 16 April Reinert's 4 Staffel with 2 and 3./JG 77 formed a 15-strong fighter escort for 13 Italian Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 transports. No. 145 Squadron RAF led by Wing Commander Ian Gleed intercepted the mixed Axis force over Cap Bon. The Germans failed to protect the Italians and seven transports were shot down along with Bf 109 (Werknummer 16 485), "White 9" and its pilot Leutnant Rüdiger. JG 77 claimed four Spitfires—one for Bär and Berres. Reinert also claimed a victory, recorded as a P-51 Mustang. Gleed, who was killed in action that day along with his wingman, flew a clipped-wing Spitfire LF. Vb coded IR-G and Reinert mistook the unusual Spitfire for a Mustang.

Three days later, on 19 April, Reinert claimed another P-51. Once more, this was probably misidentified as a clipped-wing Spitfire. The identity of this victory was either Lieutenant Maurice Langberg who was killed or Second Lieutenant Edwin C. Smithers who was captured. The pilots belonged to the 2nd and 4th Fighter Squadrons of the 52nd Fighter Group which claimed four German fighters. It may have also been Warrant Officer Williams of No. 608 Squadron RAF. The victory was Reinert's 150th of the war. By the 25 April 1943 the Axis front was collapsing. On this day Reinert led an attack on USAAF P-39s from the 350th Fighter Group. Reinert claimed one and the Americans lost five. Captain Howes and Lieutenant O'Connor were killed. In the afternoon he claimed the Spitfire J17616 flown by Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Warrant Officer Bruce Edward Anderson, with 145 Squadron. Anderson died of wounds.

On 6 May Axis forces held a narrow strip of territory on the coast near Tunis. The acute fuel shortages forced German fighters to operate in pairs. JG 77 lost two pilots killed. At 10:55 Reinert claimed his 153rd victory over a Spitfire. Only III./JG 77 claimed a further victory. On 8 May JG 77 decided to evacuate its headquarters from Korobus airfield. Reinert took off in a Bf 109 sitting on the lap of Leutnant Zeno Bäumel and carrying 4 Staffel's chief mechanic Oberfeldwebel Walter inside the fuselage. On the flight to Sicily Reinert spotted and attacked a Grumman F4F Wildcat "Martlet" which crashed into the sea.

On 8 May 1943, JG 77 evacuated from Tunisia to various airfields in Sicily while I. Gruppe was sent to Munich. The original intent was to give the Geschwader a period of rest. On 11 May, II. Gruppe moved from Trapani to the Italian mainland at Foggia for replenishment. After a month of rest, on 19 June 1943, the Gruppe relocated back to Trapani. In June and early July the USAAF and British and Commonwealth Air Forces, after initial resistance, attained air superiority. At this time the Mediterranean Air Command had 146 American and 121 British and Commonwealth squadrons available and in range of Sicily. The Axis had 838 operational aircraft including 434 Sicily-based fighter and fighter bomber–aircraft.

By 15 June 1943, some 19 main airfields with 12 minor airstrips were available. Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder ordered all-out attacks to destroy Axis aviation in and over Sicily. On 10 July 1943 Operation Husky began and by 18 July only 25 German fighters remained. Allied air power had completely bombed-out the Axis air forces. JG 77, which formed part of the ad hoc Jagdgruppe Vibo Valentia, lost the last of its fighters when 80 German and Italian aircraft were destroyed in one attack on 16 July, eliminating the fighter group. By 20 July I. and II./JG 77 had been pulled out of Sicily to Calabria, on the mainland, where Reinert continued to fly combat sorties over Sicily.

Reinert claimed his first aerial victory in Sicily on 7 August. Two P-40s shot down at 11:45 and 11:54 respectively, took his total of aerial victories to 156. On 13 August 1943, a flight of six Bf 109s from I. Gruppe and nine Bf 109s from II. Gruppe took off at 09:45 on an escort mission for five Dornier Do 217 from Kampfgeschwader 100 which were on an anti-shipping mission. On this mission, the flight encountered 25 to 30 P-40s north coast of Sicily. Reinert shot down three P-40's and his Bf 109 G-6 was hit in the radiator forcing him to ditch in the sea north of Milazzo. Reinert nearly drowned and was shot at by Italian soldiers before he returned to his unit on 14 August. The campaign ended with the Axis withdrawal on 17 August. Reinert claimed two P-40s the following day.

On 7 September 1943, I. Gruppe lost the Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 3./JG 77 Oberleutnant Gerhard Strasen who was wounded in combat. In consequence, Reinert was transferred from II. Gruppe to I. Gruppe, replacing Strasen as Staffelführer, acting squadron leader. Reinert served in this position until 1 December 1943, when he was officially appointed as Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 77.

Reinert was then appointed Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1./JG 77. In December he shot down a Supermarine Spitfire over Monte Cassino for his 165th claim. Early in 1944 Reinert was ill with malaria.

In April 1944, Reinert was posted to Jagdgeschwader 27 (JG 27—27th Fighter Wing), at first flying with 1. Staffel from an airfield at Fels am Wagram in Defence of the Reich. At 13:39 on 24 April, he claimed the final destruction of an already damaged Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. That day, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) with a force of 754 heavy bombers, escorted by 867 fighter aircraft, targeted German aircraft manufacturing and airfields in Southern Germany. On 13 May 1944, Reinert was appointed Staffelkapitän of 12. Staffel of JG 27. Command had been transferred from Oberleutnant Franz Stigler who took command of 8. Staffel of JG 27. On 1 August 1944, Reinert was promoted to Oberleutnant.

JG 27 was transferred in June to the invasion front, flying over Caen and claiming a P-47 Thunderbolt on 27 June. Two further victories over Normandy followed, although Reinert was injured on 17 June and 5 July. Reinert's 12./JG 27 was redesignated as 14 Staffel in August and was withdrawn to Germany for refitting.

On 1 January 1945, JG 27 participated in Operation Bodenplatte, a Luftwaffe mass attack against Allied airfields in the Benelux area. The operation resulted in hundreds of aircraft losses on both sides and was an operational failure of the Luftwaffe. JG 27, augmented by VI. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 54, was ordered to attack the airfield at Brussels-Melsbroek. IV. Gruppe of JG 27, led by Hauptmann Heinz Dudeck, took off from Achmer shortly before 08:30. During the attack, IV./JG 27 made five strafing attacks on Brussels-Melsbroek, claiming multiple aircraft destroyed. IV./JG 27 did not suffer any casualties over the target area. However, on the return flight to Achmer, three aircraft were shot down, including Dudeck who was taken prisoner of war. On 5 January 1945, Reinert succeeded Dudeck as Gruppenkommandeur (group commander) of VI. Gruppe.

In Reinert's first month of command, VI. Gruppe saw little action in January 1945, largely due to the relatively bad weather conditions in Germany. On 23 January, one Bf 109 was lost in combat with P-51s near Lengerich, otherwise no claims nor losses were recorded. Reinert, together with Erich Hartmann, Werner Schröer, Günther Rall and others, was posted to a group commanders training course at Königsberg, present-day Chojna in western Poland. On 1 February 1945, he received a telegram announcing that he had been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. The presentation was made by the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring at the Ministry of Aviation in Berlin on 23 February 1945. At the same time, Reinert was promoted to Hauptmann, the promotion backdated to 1 January 1945.

In March 1945, the increasing Allied air superiority forced JG 27 to abandon its bases at Achmer and Rheine. On 18 March, it was decided to relocate JG 27 further east, to airfields in the vicinity of Lippstadt. On 21 March and prior to its relocation, VI. Gruppe was annihilated at Achmer by an attack of 180 Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers of the USAAF Eighth Air Force which destroyed 37 of the 38 remaining Bf 109 on the ground. On 31 March, it was decided to disband VI. Gruppe. It was not possible to replenish the unit with new aircraft. The majority of its personnel were assigned to various Fallschirmjäger and infantry units destined to fight in the Battle of Berlin.

On 23 March 1945, Reinert had been transferred to I. Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 7 (JG 7—7th Fighter Wing) for conversion training to the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. The Gruppe was commanded by Major Wolfgang Späte and at the time based at Brandenburg-Briest. Reinert did not fly any combat missions on the Me 262. Before the end of World War II in Europe, the unit relocated multiple times, from Berlin to Prague, to Lagerlechfeld, to Munich–Holzkirchen, Plattling and to Mühldorf. There, on 8 May 1945, he was taken prisoner of war by US forces.

In September 1945, Reinert was released from US captivity and pursued a career in business as an industrial sales representative. On 1 April 1956, he reentered military service in the Bundeswehr as an Hauptmann in the West German Air Force. Following various training courses, he was appointed Staffelkapitän of the 2. Staffel of Jagdbombergeschwader 31 "Boelcke" (JaBoG 31—Fighter-Bomber Wing 31), and at the time under the command of Oberstleutnant Gerhard Barkhorn. The unit was initially equipped with the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and based at the Nörvenich Air Base. On 19 January 1959, JaBoG 31 became the first German Air Force wing to be assigned to NATO. On 1 March 1959, Reinert was promoted to Major.

For the next four years, Reinert commanded the flying elements of Jagdbombergeschwader 35 (JaBoG 35—Fighter-Bomber Wing 35), at the time under the command of Oberstleutnant Karl Henze. JaBoG 35 existed from 1959 to 1966 and was then reformed as Leichtes Kampfgeschwader 41 (LeKG 41—Light-Bomber Wing 41). Reinert then served as staff officer with the 3rd Luftwaffe Division and as chief of the air-ground firing range at the Sylt Air Base near Westerland. On 1 March 1971, he was promoted to Oberstleutnant. His final posting was to the Air Force Forces Command at Köln-Wahn where he served as a staff officer. Reinert retired from military service on 30 September 1972.

Reinert then became a certified healing practitioner in Bad Pyrmont. Until his deteriorating health prohibited otherwise, he continued to fly civil aircraft as hobby. He died on 5 September 2007 in Bad Pyrmont.

Reinert was credited with 174 enemy aircraft shot down in 715 combat missions, of which 103 were claimed over the Eastern Front, with 51 in the Mediterranean theatre and 20 over the Western Front. On 60 ground attack missions, he was also credited with the destruction of 16 aircraft, 10 tanks and 6 locomotives.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst-Wilhelm_Reinert
http://militaryauction.org/s/wwii-knights-cross
Source:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://grokipedia.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.geni.com/
https://aircrewremembered.com/KrackerDatabase/?q=units
https://www.ww2.dk/lwoffz.html
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Personenregister/R/ReinertEW.htm