Awards:
Iron Cross 2nd Class: April 20, 1943
Iron Cross 1st Class: July 30, 1944
Panzerkampfabzeichen (Bronze): October 20, 1944.
Close Combat Clasp (Bronze): November 9, 1944.
German Cross in Gold: December 18, 1944.
Knights Cross of the I.C.: March 5, 1945.
He had joined the Danish army in 1937 where he was
trained to be an NCO. After a short break from the
army he returned and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant,
in May of 1939. On April 9th, 1940 Denmark was
invaded by Nazi Germany as part of operation
Weserubung. Short skirmisches took place along the
southern borders of Denmark. Lying in wait for the
german armoured vehicles was also 3 light AT-guns.
After shooting up three uncomming panzers 1 crew was
eliminated and the others surrendered to the
overwhelming german forces. The leaders of the 2
other AT-guns both volunteered to the Waffen-SS, one
of the men being Hellmers. He volunteered to the
Waffen-SS in 1941 and was involved in the
"Frikorps Danmark" fighting in the Demjansk
pocket along side the 3rd
SS-Div."Totenkopf". Then occured some
unrest in the "Frikorps Danmark", because
of none-national-socialists leaders having to face
the hardcore nazis from the Danish naziparty. The
commander (Kryssing) and Hellmers, along with others
not being part of the hardcore nazis, were tranferred
to other units. Hellmers was transferred to the
"Totenkopf" Division, (SS-Infanterie
regiment 9 (The later "Thule"). He fought
with unit also in Kracow, Russia, where he was
awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and the woundbadge
in black.
From October 1943 to March 1944 he was
cadet at the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz and was part
of the 3 team of Germanic officers to be trained.
After this succesfull education he was transferred
onces again to the 23rd SS-Div. "Nederland"
(Dutch), 6 company under 49th SS-Regiment "De
Ruyter". He commanded the his unit in the
violent defensive battles in Estonia around the
strongpoint of Narwa. Nederland being part of the III
Germanic SS-Corps fought along side many other
European volunteers.The defensives battles that
followed in the Baltic and ended at Kurland was the
reason for Hellmers Knights Cross accomedation.
Hellmers was ordered to cover retreating troops and
in this proces he along with a few men where cought
up behind enemy lines. They where chased about the
countryside for ten days before they could escape
through lines held by strong russians armour. For
this achievement he was awarded the German Cross in
Gold. Back with his unit he was again involved in
hard fighting that earned him the
Panzerkampfabzeichen (Bronze) and the Close Combat
Clasp (Bronze). His Knight Cross was awarded after an
Counterattack in Kurland. Hellmers troops were dug in
and around the City of Kaleti. Here his unit managed
to resist strong attacks from large formations of
russian infantry and armour. Hellmers, armed with an
Mp, was leading the counterattacks personally and led
his men to a desicive victory which halted the
Russian offensive. Hellmers had with his personal
leadership and men avoided a major disaster to the
hard pressed German frontline in the hole area.
He was awarded his Knights Cross
on March 5, 1945, as SS-Obersturmbannführer
and commander of the 6th company in the
SS-Freiw.Pz.Gren.Rgt. 49 "De Ruyter". A
nationalist and not a nazi he was able to stay
relatively out of the media after the war. He lived a
withdrawn life in Denmark until his death in
1999..
By Pz_Kugelblitz
.
