Heinz Hellmich was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Generalleutnant during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Awarded with a posthumous Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...

 on 9 September 1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of the 243. Infanterie-Division.

Born in Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe

The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...

, Hellmuch joined the military service in 1908. On 22 March 1910, while serving in 136th Infantry Regiment, he became Leutnant. After World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 he served in various units and kept various commanding positions. His service was followed with the promotions: Oberstleutnant

Oberstleutnant

Oberstleutnant is a German Army and Air Force rank equal to Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst.There are two paygrade associated to the rank of Oberstleutnant...

 (1 February 1934), Oberst

Oberst

Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...

 (1 January 1936), Generalmajor (1 October 1939) and Generalleutnant (1 September 1941).

When World War II begun he was on a duty as a supply Officer in German 7th Army. From 25 October 1939 he managed supplies in the Army Group B

Army Group B

Army Group B was the name of three different German Army Groups that saw action during World War II.-Battle for France:The first was involved in the Western Campaign in 1940 in Belgium and the Netherlands which was to be aimed to conquer the Maas bridges after the German airborne actions in Rotterdam...

. As a commander of the 23rd Infantry Division

German 23rd Infantry Division

-23rd Infantry Division:The German 23rd Infantry Division was a military unit operational during World War II. It was organized along standard lines for a German infantry division. It was non-motorised and relied on horse drawn wagons for its mobility...

 (from 1 June 1940 to 17 January 1942) he took part in the French campaign

Battle of France

In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...

, invasion of the Soviet Union (operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

) and in the bloody battles for Bialystok-Minsk, Brest

Brest, Belarus

Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...

, Smolensk

Battle of Smolensk (1941)

The Battle of Smolensk was a largely successful encirclement operation by the German Army Group Centre's 2nd Panzer Group led by Heinz Guderian and the 3rd Panzer Group led by Hermann Hoth against parts of four Soviet Fronts during World War II...

, Vyazma

Vyazma

Vyazma is a town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk and Mozhaysk. Throughout its turbulent history, the city defended western approaches to the city of Moscow...

 and finally in the Battle of Moscow

Battle of Moscow

The Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated Hitler's attack on Moscow, capital of...

.
After several months, on 1 April 1942, he became a commander of 141st Reserve Division

German 141st Reserve Division

The 141st Reserve Division was a German infantry division during World War II .- History :...

. On 10 January 1944, he was moved to France and put in a command of 243rd Infantry Division

German 243rd Static Infantry Division

The 243rd Static Infantry Division was raised in July 1943. It was stationed in the Cotentin Peninsula when the Allies invaded in June 1944.Generalleutnant Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben, commander of the 709th Infantry Division reported that the commander of the 922nd Grenadier Regiment,...

, stationed in the Cotentin Peninsula. This coastal defense division protected the western coast of the Cotentin Peninsula when the Allied invasion begun on 6 June 1944.

Hellmich was killed while defending Cherbourg during the Allied invasion of Normandy

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

on 17 June 1944.