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The 34. Infanterie-Division was formed on 1 April 1936 in Koblenz within Wehrkreis XII as part of the expansion of the Heer and was mobilized in August 1939 as a 1. Welle division composed mainly of men from the Rhineland and Hesse. After mobilization it took up defensive positions along the Westwall south of Trier on both sides of Saarlautern, where it experienced minor skirmishes during the Saar Offensive before moving to the Eifel. During the Westfeldzug beginning on 10 May 1940 the division crossed the Our at Wormeldingen, occupied Luxembourg, provided flank protection before the Maginot Line near Longwy and Dudelange, then advanced across the Aisne at Guignicourt, pushed past Reims to the Marne and on to the Loire and Allier before performing occupation and coastal defence duties near Boulogne and along the Channel coast. In May 1941 it was transported to Poland and concentrated near Brest-Litovsk for Unternehmen Barbarossa; on 22 June it broke through the frontier fortifications south of Brest-Litovsk, advanced via the Beresina to the Dnieper south of Mogilev, crossed the Sozh and Desna, and by early September reached the Bryansk area before participating in the drive toward Moscow and the occupation of Bryansk. The division then endured continuous defensive fighting through the Soviet winter counter-offensive of 1941–42, withdrawing to positions along the Ugra near Yukhnov and holding the Roslavl–Yukhnov road until early 1943, after which it fought near Orel and Mtsensk. During the Soviet summer offensive of July 1943 it retreated from Mtsensk via Karachev to Bryansk, was transferred south to the Poltava sector, and in the autumn and winter of 1943–44 conducted further withdrawals across the Dnieper to the Cherkassy area and the Hnyly Tikych, suffering heavy losses near Uman and during the crossing of the Bug that left it reduced to Kampfgruppen. In May 1944 the remnants were rebuilt at the Truppenübungsplatz Neuhammer with personnel from the Schatten-Division Neuhammer; the reconstituted division was then sent in July 1944 to Armeeabteilung Zangen in Italy for coastal defence around Genoa. From mid-August 1944 it defended the Ligurian sector including the Col-de-Ferro, Grimaldi, Ventimiglia and San Remo areas against Allied advances in the Second Battle of the Alps, remaining under the Armee Ligurien and later the LXXV. Armeekorps until the bulk of the division surrendered to American forces west of Como in April 1945. Throughout its service the division was successively commanded by Generalleutnant Erich Lüdke, Generalleutnant Max von Viebahn, Generalleutnant Friedrich Bremer, Generalleutnant Hans Behlendorff, Generalleutnant Werner Sanne, Generalleutnant Friedrich Fürst, Generalleutnant Theodor Scherer, General der Infanterie Friedrich Hochbaum, Generalleutnant Theobald Lieb and finally Oberst Ferdinand Hippel, with its principal combat units comprising the Grenadier-Regiment 80, Grenadier-Regiment 107, Grenadier-Regiment 253, Artillerie-Regiment 34, Panzerjäger-Abteilung 34, Pionier-Bataillon 34 and Füsilier-Bataillon 34.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
General der Infanterie Walter Hoernlein (1893-1961) was born on 2 January 1893 in Blüthen near Karstädt in the Province of Brandenburg and received his early education at the Cadet Academy in Plön followed by the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Institute in Groß-Lichterfelde before being commissioned as Fähnrich into the 4. Westpreußisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 140 on 27 January 1912 and promoted to Leutnant in 1913. During the First World War he was severely wounded on 5 October 1914 and spent the remainder of the conflict as a French prisoner of war until his release in 1919, after which he continued service in the Reichswehr, rising through the ranks to Hauptmann, Major and Oberstleutnant while commanding battalions in Infanterie-Regiment 69. At the outbreak of the Second World War he led elements of that regiment in the Polish campaign and was appointed Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 80 of the 34. Infanterie-Division in November 1939, receiving promotion to Oberst in April 1940. On 22 June 1941, as Kommandeur of Infanterie-Regiment 80, he directed the breakthrough of Soviet border fortifications south of Brest-Litovsk and the subsequent rapid seizure of the intact bridge over the Muchawiec river near Huznie, an action of decisive importance that enabled the 3. Panzer-Division to cross and continue its advance that same evening, for which he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 30 July 1941. In August 1941 he assumed command of the Infanterie-Regiment „Großdeutschland“, which he led through the harsh winter fighting of 1941–42, and on 1 April 1942 he was promoted to Generalmajor and entrusted with the formation and command of the newly raised Infanterie-Division (mot.) Großdeutschland. Elevated to Generalleutnant on 1 January 1943, he guided the division through the battles around Kharkov and, during the bitter defensive combat west of Belgorod between 10 and 13 March 1943, directed operations in which the all-volunteer formation smashed the bulk of three enemy rifle divisions and two anti-tank brigades, destroying or capturing 29 tanks, 146 artillery pieces and 107 mortars, machine guns and anti-tank rifles while taking more than 400 prisoners, an achievement that earned him the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz (213rd award) on 15 March 1943. He continued to command the unit after its redesignation as Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland through the Battle of Kursk until January 1944, later served as Kommandierender General of the LXXXII. Armeekorps and the XXVII. Armeekorps, reached the rank of General der Infanterie in November 1944, and surrendered with his corps to American forces near Ludwigslust on 4 May 1945, remaining a prisoner until 1947 before dying in Köln-Merheim on 14 September 1961, remembered by his soldiers as “Papa”.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/34th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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