272nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 272nd Infantry Division was a German infantry division during World War II . The division was set up on May 22, 1940 at the Groß Born training area in Pomerania . The formation of this division was planned in the event of a longer campaign in the west . Due to the rapid end of the western campaign through the conclusion of an armistice with France , the formation of the division was canceled before it was completed on July 22, 1940.
Installed again on November 17, 1943 in the Antwerp area in Belgium . The division was later stationed in various locations in France . Used in the fighting after the Allied landings in Normandy, the unit suffered heavy losses and was very much decimated in the Falaise pocket in August 1944.
Once again set up, partly from the few surviving soldiers of the old 272nd Infantry Division and new soldiers, the division was renamed the 272nd Volksgrenadier Division on September 17, 1944 at the Döberitz military training area near Berlin .
literature
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945 . Volume 6: The Land Forces 71–130 . Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1972, ISBN 3-7648-0872-1 , pp. 126-130.
- Samuel W. Mitcham (2007a). German Order of Battle. Volume Two: 291st - 999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII. PA; United States of America: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 .
- Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr. (2007b). Panzer Legions: A Guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of WWII and Their Commanders. Mechanicsburg, PA, United States: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3353-3 .
