Bartels, Hans-Werner

Date of birth:: January 28th, 1910 (Salzwedel/Saxony-Anhalt, Germany)
Date of death:: December 2nd, 1991 (Leer/Lower Saxony, Germany)
Nationality:: German

Biography

Promotions:
1939: Gefreiter
1941: Feldwebel
1941: Leutnant d.R.
1942: Oberleutnant d.R.
1943: Hauptmann d.R.
1944: Major d.R.

Hans-Werner Bartels began his military service in 1939, where he joined the 3rd / Infantry Replacement Battalion 154.
In 1940 he was transferred to the I.R. 399 offset.
On July 10, 1941 he was promoted to lieutenant d.R. and was wounded in 1942.
Recovered from 1943, he took command of the 5th Company. In November 1943 Bartels took over the command of the 1st battalion of his regiment.
As such, Bartels prevented an enemy breakthrough on November 21 and 22, 1943 in the section of the 9th Air Force Field Division by holding a break-in point and continued to create the conditions for a counterattack.
During these battles the battalion was nicknamed "The Lion Battalion", which clearly shows the steadfastness of the battalion. Wounded in these fights, Bartels was awarded the Knight's Cross on January 26, 1944.
1944, after the failure of the commander of the G.R. 399, Bartels took over the leadership of the combat group. Wounded during the outbreak, Bartels and his soldiers overran enemy artillery and flak positions. For these successes, Hans-Werner Bartels was submitted to the oak leaves on September 16, 1944, but only received a certificate of recognition from the Mayor of the Army for his act near Wilna on October 25, 1944.
In 1944 he was appointed commander of the 1st Battalion, where he was seriously wounded by a shot in the head on February 14, 1945.
Seriously wounded again on March 16, 1945, Bartels comes to
Medical company (mot.) 2/240 and then to the reserve hospital in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

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Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:: June 26th, 1942

Deutsches Kreuz in Gold

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Oberleutnant der Reserve (1st Lieutenant of Reserves)
Unit:: 5. Kompanie, II. Bataillon, Grenadier-Regiment 399, 170. Infanterie-Division, Heer
Awarded on:: February 27th, 1943

Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Hauptmann der Reserve (Captain of Reserves)
Unit:: Führer, I. Bataillon, Grenadier-Regiment 399, 170. Infanterie-Division, Heer
Awarded on:: January 26th, 1944

On the 21./22.11.1943 Hauptmann Bartels and his Bataillon were able to prevent a breakthrough in the sector of the 9. Luftwaffe-Feld-Division by containing a Soviet penetration and laying the groundwork for a friendly counterattack. Later, during the Soviet offensive on the 14./15.01.1944, Bartels and his Bataillon came under attack by two rifle regiments and a tank regiment. In the fighting which followed a total of 11 Soviet tanks were destroyed, and Kampfgruppe Bartels would earn the nickname “The Lion Battalion”. Bartels himself would receive the Knight’s Cross for distinguishing himself in this manner during the fighting around the Oranienbaum pocket.