263rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
|
263rd Infantry Division |
|
|---|---|
| active | August 26, 1939 to May 1945 |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| structure | structure |
| Nickname | Grape division |
| Commanders | |
| list of | Commanders |
The 263rd Infantry Division (263rd ID) was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht in World War II . Areas of application were the German Reich (September 1939 to May 1940), France (May 1940 to May 1941), Eastern Front , Central Section (June 1941 to August 1943), Eastern Front, Northern Section (August 1943 to October 1944) and the Courland Basin (October 1944 to May 1945).
Division history
The 263rd Infantry Division was set up in Idar-Oberstein in Wehrkreis XII in August 1939 as a division of the 4th wave .
In 1940 she invaded France during the western campaign . After the fighting ended, they remained as an occupying force in Bordeaux .
The following troops were handed over to the 132nd Infantry Division on October 3, 1940 : Regimentsstab / IR 463, III. Btl./IR 463, III. Btl./IR 483, III. Btl./IR 485 and III. Department / AR 262. In June 1941 the 263rd Infantry Division was transferred to Operation Barbarossa on the Polish-Soviet border and assigned to Army Group Center . A rapid advance followed via Minsk and Borissov to the rivers Dnepr and Desna . In August 1941 major fighting broke out in the Yelnya front arc .
The 263rd Infantry Division was used as part of the Typhoon operation during the attack on Moscow and worked its way to the Nara River . Here the advance collapsed and after counter-attacks by the Red Army , the 263rd Infantry Division withdrew to the Juchnow area. Throughout 1942 the 263rd Infantry Division fought near Juchnow and Spas-Demensk ; towards the end of the year she was moved to Welisch . At the end of 1943, the division was placed under Army Group North and withdrew after Velikije Luki had given up . At the end of the war she was taken prisoner by the Soviets in the Kurland Basin.
structure
- 463rd Infantry Regiment
- 483rd Infantry Regiment
- 485th Infantry Regiment
- Artillery Regiment 263
- Panzerjäger detachment 263
- Reconnaissance Department 263
- Engineer Battalion 263
- News Department 263
- Supply troops
people
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| September 1, 1939 to October 1940 | Lieutenant General | Franz Karl |
| November 1940 to March 1942 | Lieutenant General | Ernst Haeckel |
| April 1942 to April 1943 | Lieutenant General | Hans Traut |
| April 1943 to May 1944 | Lieutenant General | Werner Richter |
| May to September 1944 | Major general | Rudolf Sieckenius |
| September 1944 to May 8, 1945 | Lieutenant General | Alfred Hemmann |
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| August 26, 1939 to September 20, 1940 | major | Hellmuth Laegeler |
| September 20, 1940 to September 1, 1941 | major | Sartorius |
| September 1, 1941 to January 30, 1945 | Lieutenant colonel | Herbert Sulzberger |
| January 30, 1945 - Surrender | major | Gerhard Hildebrand |
Well-known members of the division
- Hellmuth Laegeler (1902-1972), was from 1959 to 1962, as Major General of the Army of the Armed Forces , Commander of the Staff College
Awards
A total of 20 members of the 263rd Infantry Division were awarded the Knight's Cross and 69 with the German Cross in Gold.
Remarks
- ↑ with four departments.
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 . ; P. 269 f.
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.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cf. Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in the Second World War 1939–1945 . Volume 8: The Land Forces 201–280 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1979, ISBN 3-7648-1174-9 . ; P. 269 f.
