Fritz Von Scholz - Second World War - SS-VT - Regiment Nordland

Regiment Nordland

As Commander of Der Führer's II./Battalion, von Scholz saw action in the Western campaign of 1940. During this time he was awarded the Iron Cross first and second class. He was also awarded the Wiederholungsspange 1939, due to having earned the Iron Cross 2nd class in World War I. After the campaign, von Scholz was ordered to take command of the Danish-Norwegian volunteer formation SS-Infanterie-Regiment Nordland, now forming in Klagenfurt in Austria. On 30 January 1941, von Scholz was promoted to SS-Standartenführer. It was decided that the regiment would form a part of a new volunteer division, based on the SS Division (mot) Das Reich Germania Regiment. The new division was to be called the SS-Division (mot) Wiking.

The division was not ready for the launch of Operation Barbarossa, and first saw combat as a part of Army Group South fighting for Tarnopol in Galicia in late June, 1941. Throughout the next months, von Scholz led the Nordland regiment in fighting along the Dnieper river, Dnepropetrovsk. In October 1941, von Scholz received a promotion to SS-Oberführer, and continued leading the Nordland, which finished the year in heavy fighting for Rostov-on-Don. In December, the division was ordered to abandon Rostov and fall back to the Mius River line. For his actions in commanding the Nordland, von Scholz was awarded the German Cross in Gold in November, a newly instated award for bravery which ranked between the Iron Cross first class and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Less than a month after receiving this award, von Scholz received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions near Rostov.

With the launch of Case Blue and Army Group South's advance towards Stalingrad, the Wiking was to once more capture Rostov and then to advance into the Caucasus. The division spent the year fighting its way into the Caucasus mountains. Despite heavy resistance, the Wiking managed to advance almost to the Turkish border and was involved in the southernmost advance of the Wehrmacht in the USSR. Von Scholz received a promotion to SS-Brigadeführer in December 1942 for his actions in leading the Nordland during this advance. On 10 January 1943, von Scholz was ordered back to Germany to take command of a volunteer division now under formation at Grafenwöhr.