15th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
|
15th Infantry Division |
|
|---|---|
 Troop registration |
|
| active | October 1, 1934 to May 8, 1945 |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Branch of service | infantry |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| structure | structure |
| garrison |
Würzburg (until 1936) Frankfurt am Main (from 1936) |
| Second World War |
German-Soviet War in the West |
| Commanders | |
| list of | Commanders |
The 15th Infantry Division was a large unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht .
history
The division was set up on October 1, 1934 in the course of the increase in the Reichswehr under the camouflage designation Artillerieführer V in Wehrkreis V in Würzburg . The infantry regiments were formed from the 13th (Württemberg) infantry regiment of the former 5th division , the artillery regiment from parts of the former 5th (Hess.-Württ.) Artillery regiment . On October 15, 1935, when it was exposed, it was renamed the 15th Infantry Division . At the same time, the newly formed Infantry Regiment 55 came to the division. In October 1936 the divisional staff moved to Frankfurt am Main in the military district IX. In addition to the 55th Infantry Regiment, the Division was now subordinated to the 81st and 88th Infantry Regiments. In October 1937, the newly established 106th Infantry Regiment came to the division.
The division was mobilized on August 25, 1939 as a division of the 1st wave of deployment and then used to secure the western border on the Saar . Here she took part in fighting during the French Saar offensive . In February 1940 taxes were paid for the formation of the 299th Infantry Division . In the western campaign from May 1940, the division deployed in the Association of Army Group A advanced via Luxembourg and Belgium to France and crossed the Aisne at the beginning of June . Chase battles followed over the Vesle , Marne and Aube to Nevers on the Loire . Until 1941 the division was stationed as part of the occupation forces in the Dijon area. Further deliveries were made in November 1940 for the establishment of the 113th Infantry Division .
In July 1941 it was transferred to the Eastern Front and placed under Army Group Center . The division was used here for the first time in the fighting for Mogilew . She was then involved in the heavy attack and defensive battles in the Jelnja front arc and later in the Vyazma Kettle Battle . This was followed by the advance on the Nara and defensive battles on the Shanja during the Battle of Moscow . At the beginning of 1942 the division was involved in the Battle of Rzhev . After suffering great losses in the Vyazma area , she had to be relocated to France for refreshment in order to make a less strenuous contribution to securing the coast of the Loire and Gironde estuaries.
In February 1943 the division was transferred back to the Eastern Front and intervened in the defensive battles on the Donets , including the battles near Dnepropetrovsk and Krivoy Rog . In August 1944, the division was practically destroyed during Operation Jassy-Kishinew as part of the Army Group South Ukraine near Huși . In October 1944 it was reorganized as the Winkler Combat Group, stayed in Hungary for a while until it surrendered to the Red Army near Prague in May 1945 .
Storage and operational areas
| date | corps | army | Army Group | Operational area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September / October 1939 | XII. | 1st Army | C. | Saar Palatinate |
| December 1939 | to disposal | 16th Army | A. | |
| January to May 1940 | Trier , Luxembourg , Belgium | |||
| June 1940 | VI. | 2nd Army | France | |
| July to August 1940 | XXVII. | 12th Army | C. | |
| September to October 1940 | 1st Army | |||
| November 1940 to June 1941 | D. | |||
| July 1941 | XXXV. | available OKH | center | Minsk , Mogilev |
| August 1941 | XXXXVI. | Panzer Group 2 | Smolensk | |
| September 1941 | IX. | 4th Army | Yelnya | |
| October 1941 | XX. | Vyasma | ||
| November to December 1941 | XII. | Moscow | ||
| January 1942 | XX. | Juchnow | ||
| February 1942 | 4th Panzer Army | Gschatsk , Rzhev | ||
| March 1942 | VII. | |||
| April 1942 | V. | |||
| May 1942 | to disposal | 7th Army | D. | France |
| June 1942 to February 1943 | LXXX. | 1st Army | ||
| March 1943 | LVII. | 4th Panzer Army | south | Kharkov |
| April to September 1943 | 1st Panzer Army | Donets , Isjum | ||
| October to November 1943 | XXX. | Krivoy Rog | ||
| December 1943 | LVII. | |||
| January 1944 | XXX. | 6th Army | ||
| February 1944 | LVII. | |||
| March 1944 | XXIX. | A. | Uman | |
| April to August 1944 | XXX. | Southern ukraine | Kishinev | |
| October 1944 | II. Hungarian AK | 8th Army | south | Northern Hungary |
| November 1944 | to disposal | |||
| December 1944 | XXIX. | |||
| January to March 1945 | Slovakia , Tatra Mountains | |||
| April 1945 | 1st Panzer Army | center | Sillein | |
| May 1945 | XXIV. | Moravia |
structure
| 1939 | 1942 | 1943-1945 |
|---|---|---|
| 81st Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 81 | |
| 88th Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 88 | |
| 106th Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 106 | |
| Reconnaissance Department 15 | Cycling department 15 | Fusilier Battalion 15th |
| Artillery Regiment 15th | ||
| Observation Department 15 | - | |
| Anti-tank department 15 | Panzerjäger detachment 15 | |
| Engineer Battalion 15th | ||
| News Department 15 | ||
| Field Replacement Battalion 15 | ||
| Supply units 15 | ||
The Artillery Regiment 15 was divided into Divisions I to III, and Division I / AR 51 was also subordinate to it.
people
Commanders
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| October 15, 1935 to March 31, 1936 | Lieutenant General | Friedrich Wilhelm Brandt |
| April 1, 1936 to April 1, 1939 | Lieutenant General | Emil Leeb |
| April 1 to October 6, 1939 | Lieutenant General | Walter Behschnitt |
| October 6, 1939 to August 12, 1940 | Lieutenant General | Friedrich-Wilhelm von Chappuis |
| August 12, 1940 to January 8, 1942 | Lieutenant General | Ernst-Eberhard Hell |
| 8-11 January 1942 | Colonel | Alfred Schreiber |
| 11-23 January 1942 | Major general | Bronislaw Pawel |
| January 23 to February 3, 1942 | Major general | Alfred Schreiber |
| February 3 to June 18, 1942 | Major general | Bronislaw Pawel |
| June 18, 1942 to November 20, 1943 | Lieutenant General | Erich Buschenhagen |
| November 20, 1943 to August 1944 | Major general | Rudolf Sperl |
| August 14 to September 5, 1944 | Major general | Ottomar Babel |
| October 17, 1944 to May 8, 1945 | Major general | Hanns Laengenfelder |
General Staff officers
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| October 15, 1935 to April 1, 1937 | Lieutenant colonel | Anton Dostler |
| April 1, 1937 to 1939 | - | unknown |
| 1939 to February 1940 | Lieutenant colonel | Hans Otfried von Linstow |
| February 1940 to January 15, 1941 | major | Werner Ranck |
| January 15, 1941 to January 14, 1942 | Lieutenant colonel | Karl-Richard Koßmann |
| January 14, 1942 to March 30, 1944 | Lieutenant colonel | Wilhelm Willemer |
| March 30 to August 24, 1944 | Lieutenant colonel | Harald Helms |
| 5th - 15th October 1944 | Lieutenant colonel | Wilfried von Sobbe |
| October 15, 1944 to 1945 | Lieutenant colonel | Fritz Borrmann |
Award winners
A total of 30 members of the 15th Infantry Division were awarded the Knight's Cross and 56 the German Cross in gold.
- Major General Hanns Laengenfelder: On April 30, 1945, the division commander was awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross .
literature
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 4. The Land Forces 15–30 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1976, ISBN 3-7648-1083-1 .
Web links
Notes and individual references
- ↑ missing in action
- ↑ Walther-Peer Fellgiebel: The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 . Podzun-Pallas, Friedburg 2000, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 , pp. 85 .
