WW2 German Wehrmacht 23rd Infantry Division – IRON CROSS 2nd CLASS AWARD DOCUMENT – SIGNED BY HEINZ HELLMICH – RARE!

Description

You are bidding on a SUPERB and RARE example of an WW2 German Wehrmacht 2nd Class Iron Cross Award Document! Awarded to Oberleutnant Carl Dahlke, a member of the 23rd Infantry Division, it is HAND SIGNED by General Heinz Hellmich!

Heinz Hellmich (9 June 1890 – 17 June 1944) was a German general (Generalleutnant) in the Wehrmacht during World War II and a posthumous recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. On 1 April 1942, Hellmich was appointed commander of the 141st Reserve Division. In 1943, he worked with a Soviet defector, Red Army general Andrey Vlasov, and other volunteers from the Soviet Union as “General of the Eastern Troops” (General der Osttruppen), a position he held until early January 1944. On 10 January 1944, Hellmich was moved to France and put in a command of the 243rd Infantry Division, a coastal defense division stationed in the Cotentin Peninsula. The division protected the western coast of the Cotentin Peninsula when Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, began on 6 June 1944. Hellmich was killed by 20-millimeter cannon shells during an Allied air attack on 17 June 1944.

The German 23rd Infantry Division (23. Infanterie-Division), later the 26th Panzer Division, was a military unit operational during World War II. It was organized along standard lines for a German infantry division. It was non-motorised and relied on horse-drawn wagons for its mobility. The unit carried the nickname Grenadierkopf. The 23rd Infantry participated in the invasion of Poland in 1939 as part of the reserve component of the 4th Army. The division was commanded by Walter Graf von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt and consisted of the 9th, 67th, and 68th infantry regiments.

Made of paper, this award document is in VERY NICE condition for it’s age! Though it has some marks and wear, it is still VERY solid, and all information is clearly legible! It is hand-signed by Hellmich, as Generalmajor and Divisional Commander of the 23rd Infantry Division.  Would make a PERFECT addition to any collection or display!