Description
An original typed German Cross in Silver Vorschlag – this was a process of nomination and display of evidence in order to get the award.
The officer put forward is : Hauptmann Otto Krause – Unit is the Korpsabt C
With the unit it seems Krause had mustered civilian labour in order to make straw shoes for 4500 Soldiers, and more Winter kit, as well as potatoes and even the material needed to make the small stoves in the bunkers work. Krause also fought off Partisans in order to get the supplies to where they were needed.
Corps Department C was set up on November 2, 1943 in Army Group South by Military District XIII with replacement by Budweis as a new type of division. The remnants of the 183rd, 217th and parts of the 339th Infantry Division were used for this purpose. The staff was the former staff of the 183rd Infantry Division. The subordinate regiments and battalions retained their original names. It was placed under the 4th Panzer Army in Army Group South and deployed on the Eastern Front in the Kiev and Zhitomir areas. From January 1944, Corps Department C fought in the Hube Pocket, was trapped there and was able to free itself by March 1944. In April 1944 she joined Army Group Northern Ukraine in the area around Brody with the 4th Panzer Army. From July 1944, Corps Department C was with the 1st Panzer Army. From July 18, 1944, Corps Department C was trapped in the Brody Pocket and subsequently destroyed. On July 27, 1944, Corps Department C was to be renamed the newly formed 183rd Infantry Division. However, since Corps Department C was destroyed in the Brody Pocket, it was not renamed. The 183rd Infantry Division was therefore only formed again on September 15, 1944 with the 32nd formation wave.
Signed by General Major Wolfgang Lange – Knights Cross Winner who later was captured by US Troops.
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/35926/Lange-Wolfgang.htm
