Infantry Division Potsdam
The Potsdam Infantry Division was a short-lived unit of the Wehrmacht in the final stages of World War II .
history
In March 1945 the formation of the infantry division on the military training area Döberitz in military district III was ordered. This consisted of the remains of the 85th Infantry Division , which had previously been worn out in heavy fighting in France and on the Lower Rhine . The formation took place in April as part of the last wave of formation , the division name was changed on April 8th to Infantry Division Potsdam . Colonel d. Acted as division commander . R. Erich Lorenz.
As part of the 12th Army , the division was then used as a non-closed and complete task force in the Harz region . A fighting area between Quedlinburg and Werningerode was supposed to be defended against the advancing allies . The Grenadier Regiment Potsdam 2 and the Pioneer Battalion were not even deployed in the west, but with the Ulrich von Hutten infantry division in East Germany . However, due to the superior enemy forces, the division was largely crushed. In mid-April most of the troops were trapped in the Harz Mountains, and on April 20, 1945 the division was finally disbanded. Parts of the division then surrendered to the 8th US Armored Division , while some soldiers from the Fusilier Battalion were still used to set up the Scharnhorst Infantry Division .
structure
- Grenadier - Regiment Potsdam 1 (GR 1053 Lieutenant Colonel Pohl) (from the Grenadier Regiment 1053 of the 85th Infantry Division)
- Grenadier-Regiment Potsdam 2 (GR 1054 Colonel Fritz Grassau) (from Grenadier-Regiment 1054 of the 85th Infantry Division)
- Grenadier Regiment Potsdam 3 (GR 1064 Major Schwieger)
- Artillery Regiment Potsdam (Major Graß)
- Fusilier - Bataillon Potsdam (Major Mittermaier)
- Panzerjäger - Potsdam Department ( Captain Dittbern)
- News department Potsdam
- Pioneer Battalion Potsdam
- Field Replacement Battalion
- Supply Regiment Potsdam
literature
- Samuel W. Mitcham (2007). German Order of Battle. Volume Two: 291st - 999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII. PA; United States of America: Stackpole Books. P. 226, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 .
- Heinz Ulrich: The "Potsdam" infantry division - its deployment and deployment in April 1945 in the East Harz, on the Elbe and in the Köthen area in 2012.
Individual evidence
- ^ Günther W. Gellermann: The Army Wenck, Bernard and Graefe, Bonn 2007, p. 244.
