1st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
1st Infantry Division |
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active | October 1, 1934 to May 1945 |
Country |
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Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
Armed forces | army |
Branch of service | infantry |
Type | Infantry Division |
structure | structure |
Installation site | Koenigsberg |
Nickname | "Frederick the Great", "East Prussia" |
Second World War | Leningrad blockade |
Commanders | |
list of | Commanders |
The 1st Infantry Division was a major military unit of the Wehrmacht . It was the direct successor to the 1st Division of the Reichswehr formed on January 1, 1921 .
Division history
Areas of application :
- Poland : September 1939 to May 1940
- France : May 1940 to June 1941
- Eastern Front , Northern Section: June 1941 to October 1943
- Eastern Front, Southern Section: October 1943 to April 1944
- Eastern Front, Central Section: May to August 1944
- East Prussia : August 1944 to May 1945
The 1st Infantry Division (1st ID) was set up on October 1, 1934 under the code name Artillerieführer I in Königsberg / East Prussia . It carried this designation until October 15, 1935. The infantry regiments were formed from the 1st (Prussian) Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division of the Reichswehr . The 1st ID was mobilized in August 1939 as part of the 1st wave of deployment .
At the beginning of the Russian campaign, 1st ID was subordinate to Army Group North and fought until August 1941 near Staraya Russa , on the Ischora near Leningrad and the Ropscha bunker line. In the winter of 1943/44 she was handed over to Army Group South in Ukraine, where she was deployed in the area around Vinnitsa . As part of the 1st Panzer Army , she got into the Kamenez-Podolski pocket , where she suffered heavy losses. After a refresher, it was used by the 3rd Panzer Army in the summer of 1944 at the interface between the Central and North Army Groups.
After the division had been pushed back north of Schirwindt over the border to Schloßberg in mid-October 1944 , it defended there until mid-January 1945. After heavy losses in the subsequent defense of Koenigsberg, the Samland peninsula and Fischhausen - Pillau , the survivors of the division became May 1945 evacuated from Hela to Denmark . At the end of the war, they were taken prisoner by the British in Schleswig-Holstein .
structure
1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 |
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1st Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 1 | |||||
22nd Infantry Regiment | Fusilier Regiment 22nd | |||||
43rd Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 43 | |||||
Artillery Regiment 1 | ||||||
Engineer Battalion 1 | ||||||
Anti-tank division 1 | Panzerjäger Division 1 | |||||
Reconnaissance Department 1 | Cycling department 1 | Reconnaissance Department 1 | Fusilier Battalion 1 | |||
Observation Department 1 | - | |||||
Field Replacement Battalion 1 | - | Field Replacement Battalion 1 | - | Field Replacement Battalion 1 | ||
News Department 1 | ||||||
Supply leader 1 | Commander of the supply forces 1 | Supply Regiment 1 |
people
period of service | Rank | Surname |
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October 1, 1934 to April 1, 1935 | Major general | Georg von Küchler |
April 1, 1935 to February 4, 1938 | Lieutenant General | Walter Schroth |
February 4, 1938 to April 14, 1940 | Lieutenant General | Joachim von Kortzfleisch |
April 15, 1940 to July 12, 1941 | Lieutenant General | Philipp Kleffel |
July 12 to September 4, 1941 | Major general | Friedrich Altrichter m.st.Fb |
September 4, 1941 to January 16, 1942 | Lieutenant General | Philipp Kleffel |
January 16, 1942 to June 30, 1943 | Lieutenant General | Martin Grase |
July 1, 1943 to May 10, 1944 | Lieutenant General | Ernst-Anton von Krosigk |
May 10 to June 8, 1944 | Major general | Hans-Joachim Baurmeister |
June 8 to October 1, 1944 | Lieutenant General | Ernst-Anton von Krosigk |
October 1, 1944 to February 27, 1945 | Lieutenant General | Hans Schittnig |
February 27 to April 16 (26) 1945 | Lieutenant General | Henning von Thadden |
April 16 (26) until the end of the war | Colonel | Egon Overbeck |
period of service | Rank | Surname |
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1939 to 1940 | Lieutenant colonel | Johannes Steffler |
August 1, 1940 to November 15, 1942 | major | Peter Pantenius |
December 10, 1942 to December 10, 1943 | Lieutenant colonel | Werner Richter |
December 10, 1943 to April 10, 1945 | Lieutenant colonel | Hilmar Frank |
April 10-20, 1945 | major | Egon Overbeck |
Awards
A total of 46 members of the division were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and 150 the German Cross in gold.
Well-known members of the division
- Kurt Hähling (1897–1983) was a member of the Dresden District Assembly for the NDPD from 1953 to 1963 and deputy chairman of his party
- Wilhelm Prince of Prussia (1906–1940) served as first lieutenant in 1st Infantry Division and died on May 26, 1940 in Nivelles , France because of his wounding
- Ludwig Stubbendorff (1906–1941), was an Olympic champion in equestrian sport
- Theodor Tolsdorff (1909–1978) served as an officer in the 1st ID. In 1945 he was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds as Lieutenant General
- Karl Wohlgemuth (1917–1983), was from 1976 to 1982 as a general of the Austrian Armed Forces in command of the II Corps in Salzburg
literature
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 2. The Land Forces 1–5 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1973, ISBN 3-7648-0871-3 .
- Werner Haupt : Assault to Riga: June 1941 The 43rd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division in the battle for the Latvian capital. Erich Pabel Verlag . 1992.
- Werner Richter: The 1st East Prussian Infantry Division. Self-published, Munich 1975.
- Rudolf von Tycowicz: The Infantry Regiment 1 - A memory book. Self-published, Wiesbaden 1966
Web links
- 1th through 199th German Infantry, Security, and Panzer Grenadier Divisions. Organizations and Histories 1939–1945 Nafziger Collection, Combined Armed Research Library.
Remarks
- ^ Königsberg Infantry Regiment until October 15, 1935.
- ^ Gumbinnen Infantry Regiment until October 15, 1935.
- ↑ The Artillery Regiment 1 consisted of the I. – III. (light) division and the I./Artillerie-Regiment 37 (as a heavy division).
- ↑ released from the Army Group in December 1939.
- ↑ entrusted with deputy management due to Kleffel's illness