Stabsarzt Rolf Kölle - 267. Infanterie-Division
Doktor Rolf Kölle, a veteran of the Great War and 1914 Iron Cross Second Class recipient, was a staff physician with Voraus-Abteilung 267 during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa. His unit acted as a “breakthrough” party to exploit openings in enemy lines and was part of 267. Infanterie-Division, subordinate to 4. Armee (Army Group Center). Voraus-Abteilung 267 saw its first actions during its drive through Soviet border defenses in the vicinity of Brest-Litowsk. As his unit crossed enemy lines and beyond, Kölle distinguished himself in taking care of the wounded. He was recommended for the Iron Cross and received the 1939 Spange to the Iron Cross Second Class in recognition of his Iron Cross earned in World War I. His award, dated July 5, 1941, was approved by the commander of 267. Infanterie-Division, Generalmajor Friedrich-Karl von Wachter.
By late September 1941, the Germans had achieved great successes in conquering Soviet territory as it inflicted massive casualties and netted hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war. The Wehrmacht, however, was still shy of its goal of defeating the Red Army and conquering Moscow by year end. Equipment and personnel losses mounted and the might of the advancing armies began to weaken. A final push, primarily by Army Croup Center, was planned for October 2, 1941. Operation Typhoon, as it was codenamed, was to bring the Germans final victory in Russia.
The Wehrmacht’s new offensive saw enormous territorial gains combined with masses of Red Army prisoners. The most significant was the surrounding of more than a half million Soviet troops in the vicinity of Vyazma, where roughly 45 divisions were destroyed while attempting to defend the Smolensk–to-Moscow highway. The envelopment was driven by 3. Panzergruppe and 4. Panzergruppe, as the faster moving panzer units surrounded the Soviets to the east of Vyazma. The slower units of 9. Armee and 4. Armee brought up the year and trapped the Soviets from the west. 267. Infanterie-Division, which was subordinate to 4. Armee, engaged in closing the Vyazma trap from the southeast and fought to hold the trap closed in an effort to restrict Soviet elements from breaking out. On October 17, a week after the trap was closed, the Vyazma pocket surrendered. The elimination of the Soviets at Vyazma and the coinciding trap of Red Army troops at Bryansk to the south would go down among the most successful entrapments of enemy troops in history. The size of the pockets, however, along with Soviet attempts to breakout and survive, required the commitment of almost 30 divisions - troops that could have been used to continue the advance on Moscow. These delays, the changes in Russian weather, and the growing exhaustion of the Wehrmacht’s armies, would all play an enormous role in the fighting in the coming weeks. By December, the Germans were stopped before Moscow. With fresh reserves, the Soviets launched a massive counteroffensive that would keep the Germans from the Soviet capital once and for all.
As the Germans saw the Soviets collapse during the early stages of Operation Typhoon, they continued to suffer significant casualties in the face of such massive struggles between armies. Kölle unremittingly served the wounded in his capacity as a doctor with 267. Infanterie-Division. On October 15, 1941, as the Vyazma pocket was in its dying throes, Kölle was again awarded for bravery. He was honored with the Iron Cross First Class as a frontline doctor with Sanitäts-Kompanie 267. His ultimate fate is unknown.
By late September 1941, the Germans had achieved great successes in conquering Soviet territory as it inflicted massive casualties and netted hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war. The Wehrmacht, however, was still shy of its goal of defeating the Red Army and conquering Moscow by year end. Equipment and personnel losses mounted and the might of the advancing armies began to weaken. A final push, primarily by Army Croup Center, was planned for October 2, 1941. Operation Typhoon, as it was codenamed, was to bring the Germans final victory in Russia.
The Wehrmacht’s new offensive saw enormous territorial gains combined with masses of Red Army prisoners. The most significant was the surrounding of more than a half million Soviet troops in the vicinity of Vyazma, where roughly 45 divisions were destroyed while attempting to defend the Smolensk–to-Moscow highway. The envelopment was driven by 3. Panzergruppe and 4. Panzergruppe, as the faster moving panzer units surrounded the Soviets to the east of Vyazma. The slower units of 9. Armee and 4. Armee brought up the year and trapped the Soviets from the west. 267. Infanterie-Division, which was subordinate to 4. Armee, engaged in closing the Vyazma trap from the southeast and fought to hold the trap closed in an effort to restrict Soviet elements from breaking out. On October 17, a week after the trap was closed, the Vyazma pocket surrendered. The elimination of the Soviets at Vyazma and the coinciding trap of Red Army troops at Bryansk to the south would go down among the most successful entrapments of enemy troops in history. The size of the pockets, however, along with Soviet attempts to breakout and survive, required the commitment of almost 30 divisions - troops that could have been used to continue the advance on Moscow. These delays, the changes in Russian weather, and the growing exhaustion of the Wehrmacht’s armies, would all play an enormous role in the fighting in the coming weeks. By December, the Germans were stopped before Moscow. With fresh reserves, the Soviets launched a massive counteroffensive that would keep the Germans from the Soviet capital once and for all.
As the Germans saw the Soviets collapse during the early stages of Operation Typhoon, they continued to suffer significant casualties in the face of such massive struggles between armies. Kölle unremittingly served the wounded in his capacity as a doctor with 267. Infanterie-Division. On October 15, 1941, as the Vyazma pocket was in its dying throes, Kölle was again awarded for bravery. He was honored with the Iron Cross First Class as a frontline doctor with Sanitäts-Kompanie 267. His ultimate fate is unknown.
