Natzmer, von, Oldwig Otto

Date of birth:: June 29th, 1904 (Liegnitz/Silesia, Germany)
Date of death:: April 1st, 1980 (Dissen/Lowersaxony, Germany)
Nationality:: German

Biography

On 1 April 1925 he entered as Officer Candidate the Reichswehr and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on 1 December 1928 while assigned to the 4th Squadron, 9th (Prussian) Rider-Regiment garrisoned in Furstenwalde.
On 1 March 1936 he was promoted to Captain (Rittmeister) and attended the War Academy in Berlin.
On 26 August 1938 he entered the Army’s General Staff and was promoted to Major. On 1 April 1941 he was assigned as the operations officer (General Staff Officer 1a) to the 161st Infantry Division employed on the Eastern Front.
After July 1941, he was transferred to the XXXIX Motorized Army Corps and continued to serve as an operations officer.
He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 1 April 1942 and was assigned as the Operations Officer of the 26th Panzer Division followed shortly by an assignment as the operations officer to the Großdeutschland Infantry Division.
On 2 April 1943 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold and was promoted to Colonel on 1 May 1943.
He was promoted again on 1 July 1943 to Major General and shortly afterwards on 4 September 1943 was presented with the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.
In July of 1944 he was assigned as the Chief of the General Staff to Army Group
North and in February 1945, Chief of the General Staff to Army Group Center under the command of GFM Schorner.
He was promoted to Lieutenant General on 15 March 1945 and was captured by US Forces in May of that year.
After December, he was confined as a Prisoner of War in Enclosure No. 8 and served as a member of the historical division.
As a former General Staff Officer, LTG Natzwer served in General Franz Halder’s "Control Group" of the Operational History (German) Section of the US Army from June 1948 to May 1949.

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Deutsches Kreuz in Gold

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Oberstleutnant im Generalstab
Unit:: Stab / Infanterie-Division "Großdeutschland"
Awarded on:: April 2nd, 1943

Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Oberst im Generalstab (Colonel to the General Staff)
Unit:: Ia Panzergrenadier-Division "Großdeutschland"
Awarded on:: September 4th, 1943

During the fighting around Achtyrka in August 1943, the GD Division leadership assembled an armoured Kampfgruppe under the command of Oberst Natzmer. It consisted of the I./Pz.Art.Rgt. GD, the SPW-Btl./Pz.Gren.Rgt. GD, the I./Pz.Rgt. GD, the III.(Tiger)/Pz.Rgt. GD and the bulk of the Pz.Aufkl.Abt. GD. The Kampfgruppe had the mission of capturing the enemy occupied villages of Grun, Belsk and Kusemin in order to cut off and eliminate those Soviet forces on the west bank of the Worskla.

On the morning of the 15.08.1943 the Kampfgruppe set out southwards in pursuance of this aim. In a rapid advance it managed to reach its assigned objectives, with the Tigers being of major help in destroying the Soviet heavy self-propelled guns. After a key Soviet position had been unhinged, the Soviet forces in the area fled in droves. By the evening of the 16.08.1943 Kampfgruppe von Natzmer could report the operation as a success. This bought valuable time for the Pz.Gren.Div. GD to form a new frontline around Achtyrka against the overwhelming Soviet forces. For his efforts during this battle Natzmer would receive the Knight’s Cross.