216th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
|
216 Infantry Division |
|
|---|---|
| active | August 1939 to November 17, 1943 |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Type | Infantry division |
| structure | structure |
| Installation site | Hanover |
| Second World War | Battle of Dunkirk , Company Citadel |
| Commanders | |
| list of | Commanders |
The 216th Infantry Division was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht during World War II .
Division history
Areas of application:
- Siegfried Line : September 1939 to May 1940
- Netherlands , Belgium and France: May 1940 to January 1942
- Eastern Front , Central Section: January 1942 to November 1943
The 216 ID was set up as a division of the 3rd wave of deployment in August 1939 in Hanover in the military district XI (Hanover) . As early as September 1939 it was relocated to the Westwall in the Eifel to secure the border , from there to the Saar-Palatinate and in November 1939 to the Lower Rhine . In early 1940 there were several reclassifications and charges from battalions. In May 1940, the 216 ID was used as an army reserve of the 6th Army near Antwerp during the Fall Gelb . The association was between Furnes and Adiokerke during the Battle of Dunkirk . Then the division was parked as OKH reserve and marched towards Paris in the case of red . After the armistice , the 216th Infantry Division took over coastal protection at Cherbourg , Argentan and St. Lô .
In December 1941 she had to be moved to the Eastern Front by express transport to support Army Group Center . For this, the division was into three battle groups divided, one of which is "on course feasts " Sukhinichi should secure the other two were in Medy, Rzhev , Kirov and the runway between Yukhnov and Roslavl used. In July 1942, all three sub-units were again returned to the 216th ID, shortly after took place the marching orders after Zhizdra - Judinowo, where in the area between Bryansk and Orel to heavy fighting and high losses. In December 1942 the 216th ID had to be taken out of the HKL and completely refreshed at Spas-Demensk . A new deployment order was issued in January 1943 in the front arc of Rzhev, shortly before Operation Buffalo Movement in the spring of 1943. From February to June 1943, the 216th Infantry Division was in position near Smiewka south of Orel until it was thrown back by the Soviet offensive in July 1943 has been. They withdrew from Ponyri via Bryansk to Gomel and at the end of their fighting in retreat had only combat group strength. The last deployment took place during Operation Citadel , where the division lost around 1,000 soldiers. The losses could no longer be compensated, so that the OKH officially dissolved the 216th ID on November 17, 1943. From the remains of the 216 ID, the 272 ID was set up for the western front.
Few parts of division group 216 were subordinated to the 102nd Infantry Division , which should in vain stop the Soviet advance between the Pripet marshes and Narew .
people
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| August 26, 1939 to September 8, 1940 | Lieutenant General | Hermann Bottcher |
| September 8, 1940 to April 1, 1941 | Lieutenant General | Kurt Himer |
| April 1, 1941 to May 7, 1943 | General of the Infantry | Werner von Gilsa |
| May 7 to October 3, 1943 | General of the Infantry | Friedrich-August Schack |
| 3rd - 20th October 1943 | Lieutenant General | Egon von Neindorff |
| October 20, 1943 until unknown | Major general | Gustav Gihr |
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| 1939 to May 1940 | Lieutenant colonel | Rudolf Grass |
| June to November 1940 | Captain | Artur Weber |
| November 21, 1940 to September 12, 1942 | major | Martin Coßmann |
| September 12, 1942 to March 10, 1943 | Lieutenant colonel | Horst Nitschmann |
| March 10 to November 17, 1943 | Lieutenant colonel | Hubert Werner |
structure
| 1939 | 1942 |
| 348th Infantry Regiment | 348th Infantry Regiment |
| 396th Infantry Regiment | 396th Infantry Regiment |
| 398th Infantry Regiment | 398th Infantry Regiment |
| Artillery Regiment 216 | |
| Engineer Battalion 216 | |
| Anti-tank department 216 | Fast division 216 |
| Reconnaissance Department 216 | - |
| News Department 216 | |
| Supply troops 216 | |
literature
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945 . Volume 8: The Land Forces 201–280 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1979, ISBN 3-7648-1174-9 .
- Werner Haupt : The German Infantry Divisions 1921–1945 . 3 volumes, Dörfler Verlag, 2005, ISBN 978-3-89555-274-8 .
- Martin Jenner: The 216./272. Lower Saxony Infantry Division . Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Bad Nauheim 1964, ISBN 3-89555-333-6 .
Web links
- 200th through 370th German Infantry, Security, and Panzer Grenadier Divisions. Organizations and Histories 1939–1945 ( Memento from February 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 461 kB), Nafziger Collection, Combined Armed Research Library.
