2. Panzer Division at Spas-Demensk 17-18 Aug. 1943

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JBL107
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2. Panzer Division at Spas-Demensk 17-18 Aug. 1943

#1

Post by JBL107 » 04 Jan 2023, 22:35

I'd be grateful for any information on the 2. Pz. Div. in action near Spas-Demensk on 16-18 Aug. 1943 in connection with the opening of the Soviet offensive on Smolensk. I hope specifically to find more on the combat of Rgt. Gruppe Schmidhuber, which included I./Pz.Gren.Rgt. 304 (gp.) and II./Gren. Rgt. 462, which was detached from 262. I.D. In particular, I'm researching the two posthumous awards of the Knight's Cross to Oblt. Karl Renoldner, CO 6./Gren.Rgt. 462 and Hptm. Ludwig Weißmüller, CO II./Gren.Rgt. 462.

Thanks for any help.

John

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Westphalia1812
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Re: 2. Panzer Division at Spas-Demensk 17-18 Aug. 1943

#2

Post by Westphalia1812 » 05 Jan 2023, 13:30

JBL107 wrote:
04 Jan 2023, 22:35
I'd be grateful for any information on the 2. Pz. Div. in action near Spas-Demensk on 16-18 Aug. 1943 in connection with the opening of the Soviet offensive on Smolensk. I hope specifically to find more on the combat of Rgt. Gruppe Schmidhuber, which included I./Pz.Gren.Rgt. 304 (gp.) and II./Gren. Rgt. 462, which was detached from 262. I.D. In particular, I'm researching the two posthumous awards of the Knight's Cross to Oblt. Karl Renoldner, CO 6./Gren.Rgt. 462 and Hptm. Ludwig Weißmüller, CO II./Gren.Rgt. 462.

Thanks for any help.

John
T315 R95 and R96 contain the Ib KTB and the Ic Tätigkeitsbericht for that time. Maybe you find something there: http://wwiidigitalarchives.org/t315-german-divisions
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JBL107
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Posts: 22
Joined: 12 Aug 2015, 21:26
Location: USA

Re: 2. Panzer Division at Spas-Demensk 17-18 Aug. 1943

#3

Post by JBL107 » 07 Jan 2023, 02:55

Thanks. Unfortunately those particular rolls for the most part dealt only with logistics during that period instead of operations.

In earning the Knight's Cross, Renoldner on 16 Aug. organized and led a counterattack on Soviet forces, including tanks, that had panicked and overrun the company on his left, whose CO had been killed. After close-in fighting, Renoldner's group defeated the enemy forces and restored the line. Renoldner reorganized that company as well and put its defenses back into shape. That night (16-17 Aug.), the Soviets launched a night attack which again got through. Renoldner counterattacked and completely destroyed the attackers in close combat. He fell at the head of his men. On the 17th, Weißmüller wrote up the recommendation for the posthumous Knight's Cross for Renoldner. Ironically, Weißmüller himself was KIA on 18 Aug. and, like Renoldner, was awarded a posthumous Knight's Cross.

Oberst Gerhard Schmidhuber's endorsement stated that "Oberleutnant Renoldner has through his personal dashing action succeeded in ensuring that the decisive position of the Regiment near Liadzo could be held despite very heavy enemy attacks. There were no reserves whatsoever available behind the weakly occupied forward lines, a penetration of the enemy at this point would probably have forced the evacuation of the important location of Liadzo."

It would be interesting to see the recommendation for Hptm. Weißmüller's Knight Cross as well.

Remarkably, Renoldner's father Alois had been a Gendarmerie major in Linz. With the Anschluss, Alois was removed from his job and arrested by the Gestapo. He was imprisoned at Dachau, released in Feb. 1939, and had to report regularly to the Gestapo. At the end of the war, Alois was restored to his post and promoted to Oberst in the Austrian Gendarmerie.

Thanks again.

John

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