11th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
|
11th Infantry Division |
|
|---|---|
  Troop identification: the red elk head |
|
| active | 1935 to May 8, 1945 (surrender) |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Branch of service | infantry |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| structure | See: Outline |
| garrison | Allenstein |
| Nickname | "The elk heads" |
| Second World War |
attack on Poland
|
| Commanders | |
| Please refer: | List of commanders |
| insignia | |
| Identification symbol | Elk head |
The 11th Infantry Division (11th ID) was a large unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht .
Division history
The 11th Infantry Division was set up in October 1934 under the code name Infanterieführer I as part of the arming of the Wehrmacht to initially 21 infantry divisions from parts of the 1st Division of the Reichswehr . After the introduction of general conscription in March 1935 and the unmasking of the associations, it formed the 1st Army Corps in Military District I ( Königsberg ) with the 1st and 21st Infantry Divisions . The division was stationed in East Prussia in the garrisons of Allenstein , Ortelsburg , Bischofsburg , Sensburg and Heilsberg . After not enough staff were available in the sparsely populated East Prussia and Warmia , the association was strengthened primarily by recruits from the Rhineland and Westphalia .
For the attack on Poland the 11th Infantry Division moved into the Neidenburg - Soldau area . On September 1, 1939 at 4.45 a.m. she crossed the border southeast of Neidenburg . On September 3, 1939, the breakthrough through the Polish defense lines towards Mlawa was achieved . In the days that followed, 11th Infantry Division advanced south of Warsaw .
Until the beginning of November 1939, the division remained in the occupied Polish territory for security purposes and then moved to the Remscheid area for regrouping and further training .
At the beginning of the western campaign on May 10, 1940, the division was ordered to Maastricht as Army Group Reserve, then advanced through Holland , Belgium and northern France via Lille to south of the Somme , from there to pursue the French troops evading along the Loire to south-western France . The division then took on security tasks on the Atlantic coast.
On March 3, 1941, the division moved again to East Prussia, from where it took part in the attack on the Soviet Union from June 22, 1941 under Army Group North . After taking Schaulen and Riga , the division forced the crossing over the Daugava and finally reached Novgorod on Lake Ilmen at the end of September, advancing across the old Russian border . The division went on defense north of Chudovo and then took part in the attack along the Volkhov . At the end of December 1941 the division was withdrawn to the area between Volkhov and Kusinka. In the summer of 1942 she took part in the defensive battle for the Kirishi bridgehead and in numerous defensive battles south of Lake Ladoga .
Until January 1944, the division fought on the containment ring around Leningrad and then took part in the retreat to Narva . From September 18, Estonia was evacuated and the division was relocated to Courland . Courland Battle took part. On May 7, 1945, two thirds of the division could still be shipped west in the port of Libau . The remnants of the division, essentially the GR 23 and AR 11, capitulated on May 8, 1945 and were taken prisoner by the Soviets .
Subordination and commitment
| Period | Army Corps | army | Army Group | place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1939 | I. | 3rd Army | North | East Prussia, Poland |
| December 1939 | reserve | B. | Lower Rhine | |
| January 1940 | 6th Army | Lower Rhine, Belgium, Lille | ||
| June 1940 | I. | 4th Army | Somme, Loire | |
| July 1940 | 7th Army | Atlantic coast | ||
| September 1940 | reserve | |||
| November 1940 | XXXI | D. | ||
| March 1941 | reserve | 18th Army | B. | East Prussia |
| April 1941 | I. | |||
| May 1941 | C. | |||
| June 1941 | North | East Prussia - Volkhov | ||
| September 1941 | 16th Army | Volkhov - Ladoga | ||
| December 1941 | 18th Army | |||
| May 1942 | XXVIII | |||
| February 1943 | XXVI | |||
| October 1943 | LIV | Leningrad | ||
| February 1944 | L. | Pleskau | ||
| March 1944 | XXVI | Narva Army Division | Narva | |
| June 1944 | XXXXIII | |||
| July 1944 | III. SS | Narva, Pernau, Riga | ||
| October 1944 | I. | 18th Army | Courland | |
| December 1944 | X | |||
| January 1945 | I. | |||
| February 1945 | II | Courland | ||
| March 1945 | L. |
Commanders
| Rank | Surname | date |
|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant General | Günther von Niebelschütz | October 1, 1934 |
| Lieutenant General | Max Bock | April 1, 1937 |
| Lieutenant General | Herbert von Böckmann | October 23, 1939 |
| Lieutenant General | Siegfried Thomaschki | January 28, 1942 |
| Lieutenant General | Karl Burdach | September 7, 1943 |
| Lieutenant General | Hellmuth Reymann | May 24, 1944 |
| Lieutenant General | Gerhard Feyerabend | November 18, 1944 |
structure
- Grenadier Regiment 2
- Grenadier Regiment 23
- Grenadier Regiment 44
- 11th Artillery Regiment
- Division units 11
- Infantry Regiment 23
see also: Structure of an infantry division of the Wehrmacht
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
literature
- Werner Buxa : Path and fate of the 11th Infantry Division. Comrades of the members of the former 11th Inf. Division. Edition Dörfler in Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2004, ISBN 3-89555-183-X .
- Georg Tessin: German associations and troops 1918–1939.
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 3: The Land Forces 6-14 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1974, ISBN 3-7648-0942-6 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ M. and U. Kamke “Coats of arms and badges in military units in Germany ... and abroad” , Der Elch - Alces alces, January 11, 2008, accessed January 10, 2009.
