23rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
23rd Infantry Division |
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" Fridericus Rex ", the monogram of the Prussian kings, was the troop identification of the 23rd Infantry Division from November 1942. |
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active | October 15, 1935 to May 8, 1945 (surrender) |
Country | German Empire |
Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
Armed forces | army |
Type | Infantry Division |
structure | see structure |
garrison | Potsdam |
Second World War |
Attack on Poland in 1939 Western campaign 1940 |
Commanders | |
list of | Commanders |
insignia | |
Division badge until October 1942, the grenadier head |
The 23rd Infantry Division was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht .
Division history
The 23rd Infantry Division was a reserve of the 4th Army in the northern section of the front during the attack on Poland . Together with the 3rd Panzer Division , they fought to occupy the Polish corridor between Pomerania and East Prussia . The division then marched through East Prussia to advance on the far eastern edge of the front towards Białystok .
In October the division was relocated to the western border of Germany in the Bitburg area. From here, on May 10, 1940, at the beginning of the western campaign, they crossed the German- Luxembourg border and advanced via Bastogne to the Meuse near Charleville . After the Maas had been overcome, the Aisne was reached at Rethel and crossed in the second phase of the western campaign . After fighting in the Champagne region , Maiche and Montbéliard on the Swiss border were reached and the demarcation line secured.
As early as September 1940, the division moved to East Prussia and remained there until the attack on the Soviet Union began . In June 1941 she was subordinate to the 4th Army in Army Group Center, with which she advanced towards Narew . Then she took part in the battle of the cauldrons near Białystok and Minsk and continued towards Beresina .
During the attack on Moscow , the division fought near Vyazma and Moshaisk . On December 1, 1941, the division was temporarily enclosed at Federowka and had to be fought free. A little later the division fought on the bow of Klin and had to repel an enemy intrusion by the Soviet 1st shock army in its sector. After the failed attack, the withdrawal dragged on until the end of February.
In June 1942 the division moved to Charleroi in Belgium . There it was disbanded and almost all of the units came to the newly formed 26th Panzer Division .
The newly established 23rd Infantry Division (see structure) was relocated to the Eastern Front to Army Group North in February 1943 and secured the Volkhov until April . The division stayed in the northern sector and fought on alternating sectors of the front. In January 1944, the retreat into the Baltic States and the fight in the panther position began . It remained active in the Baltic States until November 1944 and then moved to Thorn in West Prussia , where it was last refreshed. She spent the last months of the war in East Prussia before capitulating on May 8, 1945 in the Vistula lowlands.
structure
The 23rd Infantry Division was set up in 1935 as the second division in Wehrkreis III (Berlin) . In the course of the army expansion , the 9th Infantry Regiment came from the 3rd Infantry Division ( Frankfurt (Oder) ) to the newly established division. The other infantry regiments were formed from units of the Prussian state police. In August 1939 the associations were in the following locations:
- Infantry Regiment 9 ( Potsdam )
- 67th Infantry Regiment ( Berlin-Spandau )
- Infantry Regiment 68 ( Brandenburg (Havel) )
- Artillery Regiment 23 (Potsdam)
- Reconnaissance Department 23 ( Fürstenwalde )
- Anti-tank department 23 (Potsdam)
- Pioneer Battalion 23 (Berlin-Spandau)
- News Department 23 (Potsdam)
- Medical services 23: Medical company 1./23, medical company 2./23, ambulance train 1./23, ambulance train 2./23, field hospital 23 (field hospital 23 only until August 14, 1942, then as an army field hospital. 23 army troops)
On July 2, 1942, all units except for the 68th Infantry Regiment and the 23rd / 3rd Artillery Regiment were used to set up the 26th Panzer Division. The remaining units were relocated to Denmark and the 23rd Infantry Division was re-established through transfers from military districts III (Berlin), VI ( Münster ) and X ( Hamburg ).
23rd Infantry Division August 1939 |
23rd Infantry Division August 1942 |
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Commanders
- Major General Ernst Busch - List - February 4, 1938
- Lieutenant General Walter Graf von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt - February 4, 1938 to June 1, 1940
- Lieutenant General Heinz Hellmich - June 1, 1940 to January 17, 1942
- Colonel Curt Badinski - January 17-31 , 1942 (assigned to lead)
- Major General Curt Badinski - February 1 to July 9, 1942
- Major General Friedrich von Schellwitz - November 15, 1942 to August 1943
- Lieutenant General Horst von Mellenthin - August to September 1, 1943
- Lieutenant General Paul Gurran - September 1, 1943 to February 22, 1944
- Lieutenant General Walter Chales de Beaulieu - February 22 to August 1, 1944
- Lieutenant General Hans Schirmer - August 1, 1944 to May 8, 1945
Well-known members of the division
Resistance fighters of July 20, 1944
- Philipp von Bismarck (1913–2006), great-great-nephew of the Reich Chancellor, CDU member of the Bundestag
- Hasso von Boehmer (1904–1945), officer, executed
- Axel von dem Bussche (1919–1993), officer
- Friedrich Karl Klausing (1920–1944), officer, executed
- Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin (1922–2013)
- Ferdinand Freiherr von Lüninck (1888–1944), officer and politician, executed
- Kurt von Plettenberg (1891–1945), executed
- Fritz-Dietlof Graf von der Schulenburg (1902–1944), officer and administrative officer, executed
- Joachim von Willisen (1900–1983), German forest scientist
Other people
- Artur Axmann (1913–1996), Reich Youth Leader from 1940 to 1945
- Wolf Graf Baudissin (1907–1993), Lieutenant General in the German Armed Forces , co-developer of the Inner Leadership concept , peace researcher
- Werner Finck (1902–1978), cabaret artist
- Heinrich Hitler (1920–1942), half-nephew of Adolf Hitler
- Ekkehard Maurer (1918–2002) was a German manager
- Max H. Rehbein (1918–2015), documentary filmmaker , film producer , journalist and publicist
- Eberhard Wagemann (1918–2010), was from 1974 to 1977 as major general in command of the command academy of the Bundeswehr
- Heinrich von Weizsäcker, brother of Richard von Weizsäcker, died on September 2, 1939 in the battle of the Tucheler Heide
- Richard von Weizsäcker (1920–2015), later Governing Mayor of Berlin , then Federal President
Knight's Cross bearer
Surname | Award | Award date | Rank | unit |
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Gilsa, Werner-Albrecht Freiherr von und zu | Knight's cross | May 6, 1940 | Colonel | Kdr. Inf.Rgt 9 |
Hannig, Felix | Knight's cross | 17 Sep 1941 | Major dR | Kdr. I./Inf.Rgt 9 |
Brandt, Hans-Otto | Knight's cross | Aug 21, 1941 | Lieutenant dR | Zugführer id 10./Inf.Rgt 67 |
Kalkhoff, Walter | Knight's cross | May 26, 1940 | Sergeant | Gruppenführer id 1./Inf.Rgt 67 |
Fliessbach, Peter | Knight's cross | December 20, 1941 | First lieutenant | Leader 4./Art.Rgt 23 |
Brentführer, Gerhard | Knight's cross | Oct. 4, 1944 | First Lieutenant dR | Chief 4./Gren.Rgt 9 |
Bussche-Streithorst, Axel Freiherr von dem | Knight's cross | March 7, 1944 | Captain | Kdr. I./Gren.Rgt 9 |
Henle, Hermann | Knight's cross | 19 Sep 1943 | Captain | Führer II./Werfer-Rgt 70 |
Jordan, Hermann | Knight's cross | Aug 16, 1943 | Captain | Leader III./Gren.Rgt 9 |
Schulze, Walter | Knight's cross | Apr 5, 1944 | sergeant | Zugführer id 6./Gren.Rgt 9 |
Büttner, Franz | Knight's cross | Dec 18, 1944 | Corporal | Gruppenführer id 7./Gren.Rgt 67 |
Losing, Werner | Knight's cross | Feb. 29, 1944 | Private | Soldier id 12./Gren.Rgt 67 |
Knight, Klaus | Knight's cross | Oct 28, 1944 | Captain | Führer II./Gren.Rgt 67 |
Tesch, Hermann | Knight's cross | June 9, 1944 | Lieutenant dR | Führer 11./Gren.Rgt 67 |
Horak, Erich | Knight's cross | Sep 24 1943 | Sergeant Major | Platoon leader at 6./Füs.Rgt 68 |
Mertens, Otto | Knight's cross | Apr 11, 1944 | Captain dR | Führer III./Füs.Rgt 68 |
Bostell, Wolfgang von | Knight's cross | Sep 2 1944 | lieutenant | Platoon leader I. Zug / Stug.Abt 1023 id Pz.Jäg.Abt 23 |
Rehbein, Max H. | Knight's cross | March 5, 1945 | Captain dR | Kdr. Pi.Btl 23 |
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 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Samuel W. Mitcham . German Order of Battle: 1st – 290th Infantry Divisions in World War II - Paderborn: Stackpole Books, 2007. - Vol. 1. - 400 p. - (Stackpole military history series). - ISBN 0-8117-3416-1 .
- ↑ Werner Finck; The good soldier Finck , Berlin, Munich 1975; P. 40.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , pp. 187ff.