Description
Heer Soldbuch to Ludwig Malter
Issued in 1941
Malter served in many Communications units:
Korps Nachrichten Abteilung 459 – LIX. Armeekorps (59.)
The most interesting of all these units is:
Nachrichten Abteilung – Ulrich von Hütten
Already on April 12, 1945 the formation of the division was finished. The division had a strength of around 5,000 men.
During the night of April 15, 1945, the division moved to the Mulde and was deployed in the Mulde section between Dessau and Bitterfeld. The division’s main battle line ran from south of the blown-up Autobahn bridge of Reichsautobahn 9 (Leipzig-Dessau) across the Mulde between Kleutsch and Möst. The division’s supply units and reserves took up positions east of the Mulde in the area of Kleckewitz, Alt-Jeßnitz, Roßdorf and Mulkdenstein. The first skirmishes with American troops took place near Sandersdorf and Thurland. The division managed to stop the American spearheads who wanted to advance on Bitterfeld. Heavy fighting developed around Thurland during the night of April 16, with most of the village being destroyed. There was further fighting around the towns of Raguhn and Siebenhausen.
The heavy fighting lasted until April 20, 1945, on April 21, 1945 the Americans took Bitterfeld. The Infantry Division Ulrich von Hutten was transferred to the Eastern Front with the 12th Army and marched to Wittenberg. There it formed a bridgehead to the north-east and north, which was intended to secure the Elbe line between Wittenberg and Coswig. The division’s task was to secure the town of Wittenberg and the villages north of the town. On the morning of April 25, the division’s regiments that had arrived east and south-east of Wittenberg were engaged in combat with Russian units. The division managed to block the Russian attack on Wittenberg.
The division then took part in the 12th Army’s relief attack on Berlin. On the left flank of the XX. Army Corps pushed the division through the villages south of Brück into the Lehnin forest, where heavy forest fighting broke out. The division then marched towards the Autobahn triangle south of Ferch. By April 28, 1945, the heads of the division advanced as far as Ferch, by the evening of April 29 the Bliesendorf – Ferch line had been reached and the town of Hutten had been taken. Here the German advance came to a halt and the division turned to defense. After absorbing the remnants of the 9th Army from the Halbe pocket, the division and the remnants of the 12th Army began to withdraw to the Elbe.
By May 8, 1945, the last remnants of the division had been taken prisoner across the Elbe near Tangermünde.
Awards
- Eastern Front Medal
- Westwall Medal
- War Merit Cross with Swords
This Soldbuch is featured in a new book on the Battle of Berlin 1945, release due Summer 2022. Ask for more information.
Summary
A very rare unit to find anything to, given there were only 5000 members!
