255th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
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255th Infantry Division |
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|---|---|
 Algiz rune as an emblem |
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| active | August 26, 1939 to November 1943 |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
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| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| structure | See outline |
| Nickname | Steffl Division |
| Commanders | |
| list of | Commanders |
The 255th Infantry Division (255th ID) was a major military unit of the Wehrmacht .
Division history
The 255th Infantry Division was set up in August 1939 as a division of the 4th wave of deployment in Wehrkreis IV (Dresden) . The first task of the 255th Infantry Division was to occupy the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia . As a reserve of the 6th Army , the 255th Infantry Division fought during the western campaign from May 1940 on the Meuse , on the Albert Canal as far as Leuven in Belgian Flanders . Further battles took place around Brussels , on the Ysern Canal and near Dunkirk . The 255th Infantry Division experienced the Battle of France as a reserve of Army Group B on the Loire . Then came further assignments in Nantes and Bordeaux . In October 1940, 25% of the division had to be assigned to 134th Infantry Division . This was followed by the transfer to the General Government of Poland and the preparation of the Barbarossa company on the Polish-Soviet border in March 1941.
The attack on the Soviet Union began with the crossing of the Bug in June 1941. From Brest-Litovsk and Wlodawa the march route followed together with Army Group Center via Mokrany , Bobruisk and Rogachev in Belarus . Fierce fighting developed around Smolensk in 1941, which ended with the capture of the city. For the Taifun company and the large-scale attack on Moscow in the winter of 1941/1942, the 255th Infantry Division moved from Wolokolamsk to Klin . The Soviet counter-offensive and the extreme drop in temperature inflicted such heavy losses on the 255th Infantry Division that it had to be removed from the front in December 1941. They withdrew from Medyn , Moshaisk , Juchnow to the Gschatsk region . In 1942 the 255th Infantry Division spent defensive tasks in association with the 3rd and 4th Panzer Army near Gschatsk.
In February / April 1943, the 255th Infantry Division was subordinated to Army Group South near the Ukrainian city of Kharkov . After the failure of the Citadel and the defeat at Kursk , the 255th Infantry Division was deployed with the 4th Panzer Army at Belgorod . In August 1943, after heavy losses on the Eastern Front, it was reinforced by parts of the disbanded 332nd Infantry Division. There followed retreat fights at Bol Pisarewka, Graiworon and Akhtyrka on the Dnepr . In November 1943 it had to be disbanded after heavy losses on the Eastern Front. The remnants formed the division group 255, which was subordinated to the corps department B.
people
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| September 1, 1939 to January 12, 1942 | General of the Infantry | Wilhelm Wetzel |
| January 12, 1942 to October 1943 | Lieutenant General | Walter Poppe |
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| September 1 to October 1939 | major | Ulrich Bürker |
| October 1939 to August 10, 1940 | major | Hans Elchlepp |
| August 10, 1940 to March 1, 1942 | major | Georg Metzke |
| unknown until August 1943 | Captain | Fritz Blasius |
structure
- 455th Infantry Regiment
- 465th Infantry Regiment
- 475th Infantry Regiment
- Artillery Regiment 255
- Tank destroyer division (motorized) 255
- Reconnaissance Department 255
- Engineer Battalion 255
- News Department 255
- Resupply Troops 255
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, 3 volumes, Podzun-Verlag.
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.
Notes and individual references
- ↑ the village of Pisarewka Jakowa after http://www.grhs.org/vr/vc-other.htm
- ↑ with four departments.
