106th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

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106th Infantry Division

106th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) .svg
active November 12, 1940 to 1945
Country German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire
Armed forces Wehrmacht
Armed forces army
Branch of service infantry
Type Infantry Division
structure structure
Installation site Military training area madness
Nickname Rising Sun
Commanders
list of Commanders

The 106th Infantry Division (106th ID) was a major military unit of the German Wehrmacht during World War II .

Division history

Areas of application :

  • Germany : November 1940 to June 1941
  • Eastern Front , Central Section: June 1941 to April 1942
  • France : April 1942 to April 1943
  • Eastern Front, Southern Section: April 1943 to August 1944
  • Southern Germany : March to May 1945

The 106th Infantry Division was deployed on November 12, 1940 as part of the 12th wave of deployment on the Wahn military training area in Military District VI ( Westphalia and Rhineland ). One third of the personnel were from 6th Infantry Division , one third from 26th Infantry Division and two guard battalions from 205 Infantry Regiment. Originally intended as part of the 11th Army , the 106th Infantry Division mainly performed security tasks in Germany and did not take an active part in the war until the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941.

In the Association of Army Group Center, XXXXII. Corps and Panzer Group 2 , the division took part in the advance on Smolensk from July to October 1941 . On July 27, 1941, they advanced on Demidow north of Smolensk and then fought with Panzer Group 3 in the Battle of Vyazma . In the winter of 1941 the 106th Infantry Division took part in the Battle of Klin during the attack on Moscow. The Soviet cavalry attack on Mussino shortly before Moscow was suppressed with AR 107 artillery. On November 16, 1941, the division reached Typhoon Kuseeva during the enterprise and intercepted the Soviet counterattack at Solnechnogorsk on December 11, 1941 . Throughout December, the division fought in a front arc near Krasnaya Polyana and was involved in heavy fighting. In March 1942, the division was transferred to France to replenish the losses it had suffered.

In April 1943, the 106th Infantry Division returned to the Eastern Front and participated in the Kursk tank battle as part of the Kempf Army Detachment . Together with other associations, she crossed the Donetsk River and suffered 566 dead, 2,667 wounded and 44 missing during the entire enterprise. In August 1944 the 106th Infantry Division near Chișinău in what is now Moldova was completely destroyed; only a few soldiers were able to make their way to the German lines. It was officially dissolved with effect from October 9, 1944.

people

Division commanders of 106th ID:
period of service Rank Surname
November 28, 1940 to May 3, 1942 General of the Infantry Ernst Dehner
May 3 to November 1, 1942 Lieutenant General Alfons Hitter
November 1, 1942 to January 1, 1943 Lieutenant General Arthur Kullmer
January 1, 1943 to February 20, 1944 Lieutenant General Werner Forst
February 20 to August 13, 1944 Lieutenant General Siegfried von Rekowski
August 13 to September 1, 1944 Colonel Carl Ringenberg
General Staff Officers (Ia) of 106th ID:
period of service Rank Surname
December 10, 1940 to June 15, 1943 Lieutenant colonel Adalbert choice
June 15, 1943 to August 24, 1944 Lieutenant colonel Friedrich Doepner

Awards

A total of six members of the 106th Infantry Division were awarded the Knight's Cross.

structure

Changes in the structure of the 106th ID from 1940 to 1944

1940 1944
Grenadier Regiment 113
239th Infantry Regiment
240th Infantry Regiment Grenadier Regiment 240
241st Infantry Regiment
Division Fusilier Battalion 106
Artillery Regiment 107 Artillery Regiment 107
Engineer Battalion 106 Engineer Battalion 106
Panzerjäger Battalion 106 Panzerjäger detachment 106
News Division 106 News Division 106
Reconnaissance Battalion 106
Field Replacement Battalion 107
Supply troops Supply troops

Well-known members of the division

literature

  • Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in the Second World War 1939–1945, Volume 6: The land forces. No. 71-130. 2nd Edition. Osnabrück 1979. VI, 336 pages. ISBN 3-7648-1172-2 .