Karl-Heinz Dietrich

Karl-Heinz Dietrich
Birth date	13 June 1915(1915-06-13)
Place of birth	Magdeburg, Province of Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	22 March 1983 (aged 68)
Place of death	Bad Lauterberg, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Allegiance	National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	Hitler Youth Sturmabteilung Heer
Rank	Major of the Reserves
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Iron Cross Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Relations	∞ 5 September 1944 Ingeborg Dömken (b. 25 June 1922)
Other work	Jurist

Karl-Heinz Dietrich (15 January 1915 – 22 March 1983) was a German officer of the Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II.

Life

Karl-Heinz was born the son of school principal (Rektor) Karl Dietrich (b. 16 October 1888) and his wife Franziska, née Ether (b. 26 September 1888). Young Dietrich attended school until he transferred to a Gymnasium in Magdeburg (Domgymnasium) in 1925 until Abitur. As a young man, he was a member of the Hitler Youth and became a member of the SA as an adult.

RAD and Wehrmacht

In 1935, he completed his six months of compulsory service with the Reich Labour Service (RAD) and then, knowing of the new compulsory military service from 1935 (beginning with those born in 1914), volunteered for servive and joined the Schützen-Regiment 3 in Altengrabow (as of 1936 in Eberswalde) on 1 November 1935.

After completion, he was dismissed to the reserves and started legal studies, became a trainee court lawyer (Gerichtsreferendar) after the first state examination in law and then transferred to the University of Königsberg from 1 October 1938 to 30 July 1939. The summer holidays had barely begun and Leutnant der Reserve (2nd Lieutenant) Dietrich was activated by his regiment for WWII subordinated to the 3. Panzer-Division.

WWII

After the Poland Campaign, the Western Campaign and the Operation Barbarossa, the Schützen-Regiment 3 was renamed Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3 on 5 July 1942. Oberleutnant der Reserve (1st Lieutenant) Dietrich had been serving as a platoon leader and was appointed commander of the 5th Company in 1943 and promoted to Captain of the Reserves (Hauptmann der Reserve) with rank seniority from 1 June 1943. In 1944, he was appointed to commander of the 2nd Battalion and promoted to Major of the Reserves with rank seniority from 1 October 1944. At the end of 1944, he was wounded and hospitalized.

On 14 January 1945, still in military hospital (Lazarett), he was transferred to the school for officer candidates (Fahnenjunkerschule 2) of the Panzer troops in Groß-Glienicke. The school had been set up on 7 July 1944 in Groß-Glienicke near Potsdam from the Panzertruppe's Fahnenjunker course 2 in Ohrdruf. On 20 February 1945, Dietrich was released from hospital and received convalescent leave until 9 March 1945.

With students and staff of the school, he formed a combat group (Kampfgruppe), fighting their way towards southwest, reaching the area of the bombed-out Würzburg with the 1st Company Kampfgruppe requisitioning one wagon and four horses with harness in the village of Erlach near Ochsenfurt on 3 April 1945. The exact details are not known, but it can be assumed that the surviving men were taken prisoner by US troops in the same month.

Knight's Cross

Dietrich, commander of the II./Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3, received the Knight’s Cross for executing a daring counterattack on the 5 April 1944. On the previous day, the division’s two weak Panzergrenadier regiments had occupied positions around the village of Orhei, facing towards the north. The next day, the Russians attacked from the north and northwest with two battalions and 14 tanks. They forced the Germans to evacuate the village and even got a tank over the bridge beyond it, cutting off the German line of retreat, before it was destroyed by an immobilized Panther Panzer.

After another Russian tank had been knocked out by an anti-tank gun (Pak) the remaining 12 fled. Confused, the Russian infantry began to abandon their gains as well. It was at this point that Captain Dietrich decided to take advantage of the situation and he launched a counterattack with his bataillon, retaking the old defensive positions at Orhei and giving his division valuable breathing space. This action would later be known to the soldiers of the division as “The Miracle of Orhei”.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
  • 2nd Class in 1940
  • 1st Class in 1942
• Infantry Assault Badge (Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen) in Silver
• Close Combat Clasp in Bronze and Silver
  • Bronze in 1942
  • Silver in 1944
• Wound Badge (1939) in Black
• German Cross in Gold on 15 September 1943 as Captain d. R. and Commander of the 5th Company/Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3/3. Panzer-Division/XI. Armeekorps/8. Armee/Heeresgruppe Süd
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 26 June 1944 as Captain d. R. and Commander of the 2nd Battalion/Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3/3. Panzer-Division/XXXX. Panzerkorps/6. Armee/Heeresgruppe Südukraine