295th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

295th Infantry Division
Troop identification: The double horse head
active	February 10, 1940 to May 1945 (British captivity)
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Wehrmacht
Armed forces	army
Type	Infantry Division
structure	See outline
Installation site	Magdeburg and Bergen / Lower Saxony
Nickname	Doppelkopf Division, Horse Division
Second World War	War against the Soviet Union Battle of Stalingrad
Commanders
list of	Commanders

The 295th Infantry Division (295th ID) was a major military unit of the Wehrmacht and was used on the Eastern Front in the Battle of Stalingrad . It was unofficially known as the "Doppelkopf Division" or the "Horse Division".

Division history

Areas of application

• Germany: February to May 1940
• Western Front: Belgium and France May 1940 to June 1941
• Eastern Front: southern section June 1941 to August 1942
• Eastern Front: Stalingrad September 1942 to January 1943
• Norway March 1943 to May 1945

The division was set up on February 10, 1940 as a division of the 8th wave of deployment by the military district XI in the Magdeburg area, and later on the Bergen military training area . On November 15, 1940, the division gave a third of its units to the 321st Infantry Division . (Staff 517, III./516, III./517, III./518, III./AR 295). The 295th Infantry Division was one of three Lower Saxony divisions ( 71st and 216th Infantry Divisions).

The 295th division was a so-called "top division", that is, the division advanced furthest east from autumn 1941 to summer 1942. The division suffered the highest losses during this time with the 17th Army .

She was also a Stalingrad division of the 6th Army . The 295th Infantry Division was the first to break through on September 14, 1942 at 3:00 p.m. in the center of Stalingrad as far as the Volga. It was the only one of over 20 Stalingrad divisions that was reorganized in Germany, including in Goslar am Harz.

As a small combat group, it should return to combat duty as soon as possible after deployment. But deployed as a so-called "Bo" division (down-to-earth division) in Norway, it was then the only Stalingrad division that was not used again. The division had comparably very high losses, as well as a high proportion of medals awarded during the Stalingrad Battle.

The 295th Infantry Division fought in September 1942 a. a. on Mamayev Hill , from October 1942 mainly on the "tennis racket" and the chemical factory "Lazur". The last division commander of Stalingrad was the subject of heated discussions between Goebbels and Hitler at the Fuehrer's headquarters during the Kesselschlacht . The division was completely destroyed in Stalingrad in January 1943.

The 295th Infantry Division was reorganized by order of February 12, 1943, first as a combat group, then from March 31, 1943 as a local fortress division in Norway. The list was not completed until April 1945. The 295th Infantry Division was captured by the British in Norway.

Incorporation and subordination of the 295th ID during the Second World War

date	Army Corps	army	Army Group	Location
May 1940	reserve	OKH	-	Belgium
June 1940	IX	2.	A.
July 1940	XXXXIII	16.		Lille , France
August 1940 to April 1941	XXXII	9.		Rouen , France
May 1941	IV	17th		South Poland
June to July 1941			south	Przemyśl , Vinnitsa , Ukraine
August 1941	XXXXIX			Uman , Ukraine
September 1941	reserve			Dnepr , Ukraine
October 1941	IV			Poltava , Ukraine
November 1941 to January 1942	XXXXIV			Artemovsk , Donetsk , Ukraine
February to July 1942	IV			Artemovsk
August 1942	LI	6th	B.	Rossosh
September 1942	XIV			Stalingrad
October to November 1942	LI
December 1942 to February 1943			Don
April to July 1943	Re-establishment	BdE	-	-
August 1943	LXX	Norway		Norway
September 1943 to December 1944	XXXIII			Molde , Norway
January to April 1945		20th Mountain Army

War crimes

Zloczow massacre in July 1941

The Wehrmacht was involved in pogroms against the civilian population in Zloczow, Galicia, in July 1941, including members of the 295th ID.

“ Conditions are unpleasant in Zloczow. On the citadel lie 900 corpses of Ukrainians murdered by the Russians, which are currently being dug up with their hands by Jews and Russians. In the city and on the citadel, mass shootings and murders on the street of Jews and Russians, including women and children, are taking place by the Ukrainians . "

- Staff officer Ic of the 295th Infantry Division

The then Colonel Dr. Otto Korfes was entrusted with restoring order and sent his battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Patzwahl to Zloczow for consistent implementation, including the use of weapons if necessary. Some civilians were saved from being shot by the Waffen SS “Wiking” division . Since the intervention of Lieutenant Colonel Patzwahl was not determined enough, the SS continued their killings on July 4, 1941.

Belaya Tserkov massacre in August 1941

In August 1941 the 295th ID was probably directly or indirectly involved in the murder of civilians in the village of Belaya Tserkov ( Bila Tserkva ) near Kiev . During the massacre, u. a. 90 children killed. Lieutenant Colonel Helmuth Groscurth is said to have complained to General Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau about it in a vain report. The shootings were carried out by SS-Sonderkommando 4a ( Einsatzgruppe C ), in which 800 to 900 civilians were killed.

Battle for Stalingrad

During the major offensive on the inner city of Stalingrad on September 13, 1942, the 295th Infantry Division advanced together with the 71st Infantry Division on the city center. They got into a Soviet counter-offensive northwest of Mamayev Hill , which was however repulsed. The Lower Saxony divisions 295th and 71st formed a far-forward thrust wedge into the Stalingrad business district. The skirmishes around Mamayev Hill and the industrial complexes heralded the beginning of the Soviet sniper movement, which was particularly active in this section of the front.

Due to the unusually tough street fighting in downtown Stalingrad and on the slopes of the Mamayev, only 7 of the 9 infantry battalions (a total of 7 infantry battalions and one engineer battalion) were still operational on September 14th. 2 of them medium strength (500–700 men), 3 average (400–500) and 2 weak (300–400).

Northern combat segment of 295 ID on Mamayev Hill

Southern combat section of 295 ID between Krutaja and Dolgaja Balka

On September 15, 1942, she took the tactically significant hill above the workers' settlement "Red October" and met with IR 518 on Mamayev Hill on parts of the 10th NKVD division.

At times the fighting was concentrated around a tactically significant height, which was known as the " Douaumont Stalingrads ":

“ While the infantry has to bear the brunt of the battle in the northwest sector - the bayonet, the hand grenade and the small flamethrower have displaced the heavy weapons - the battle of the tanks continues in the northern section over a ridge called the 'Douaumont' of Stalingrad . From here German field artillery could fire into the streets of the city, and von Bock would gain an extremely valuable observation post. The importance of this position corresponds to the use of people and materials on both sides: Probably the worst losses occurred in the struggle for this position. The position runs through the middle of a small garden suburb, which rises relatively sharply. As on Sunday evening [20. September 1942] a few square meters of this suburb was recaptured by our troops, no less than 485 dead German officers and men were found. "

- Sowinform office on September 21, 1942

On September 16, 1942, IR 516 and 517 fought on the left wing of the division against a composite unit of the Red Army for access to the workers' settlement "Red October", while IR 518 fought with parts of the 39th Guards Rifle Regiment and the 112th Rifle Division was on duty to control Mamayev Hill. In the early morning hours the hill was stormed by 4 Soviet infantry battalions and in the afternoon it was recaptured by the 295th Infantry Division in a chaotic, completely confusing and very lossy battle. The Mamayev Hill is with 102 m ("height 102") the highest elevation in the city and gives a view of the city and Volga. Its occupation was synonymous with the best starting point for artillery attacks on the eastern Volga and the entrances to both the city center and the center of Stalingrad. At the same time a battalion from IR 518 was deployed together with parts of the 71st Infantry Division to defeat Soviet defensive positions in the Dolgaja and Krutaja Balkas.

Panzer grenadiers of the 24th Panzer Division were dispatched to the battle around Mamayev Hill on September 20, 1942 to relieve the heavily worn out infantrymen of the 295th Infantry Division; on the western slope they achieved partial success in taking the airfield and the pilot school. On the right flank, IR 518 asserted itself between Dolgaja Balka and the southern slope, IR 516 was in the trenches in the middle of the hilltop and IR 517 together with combat group Sälzer (24th PD) tried in vain to advance in the Bannaja Balka Start the workers' settlement "Red October". One day later, Red Army soldiers of the 95th SD stormed lost terrain on the eastern slope when the 284th SD under Colonel Batjuk landed on the western Volga and was able to save the critical situation for the 62nd Army. On September 22, 1942, the battle around the hill reached its climax, with IR 516 and 518 suffering heavy losses.

On September 26, 1942, 2 battalions on average (400–500), 4 weak (300–400) and 1 (less than 300) were completely exhausted, exhausted and no longer operational. In the days of the Stalingrad Battle between September 14 and 26, 1942, 1,000 soldiers of 71st and 295th Infantry Division, 3,000 wounded and 100 missing were killed. The 295th Infantry Division was relieved from the 100th Jäger Division on Mamayev Hill, reinforced by parts of the 24th Infantry Division and placed on the right flank of the 389th Infantry Division in the Stalingrad industrial complex. Paulus decided on September 27, 1942 that the enormous losses did not justify taking the entire city center, since the 71st, 94th and 295th Infantry Division no longer had the strength for the final attack. By reinforcing the 295th ID, 389th ID, 100th JD and 24th PD, the forces for the offensive on the industrial facilities were bundled. IR 516, 517 and 518 together with IR 194 of 71st Infantry Division were assigned the attack section between Mamayev Hill and the Dolgaja Balka. The focus of the 295th Infantry Division, reinforced with assault guns , was the capture of the heavily fortified railway loop "Tennisschläger" with the meat combine and the chemical factory "Lazur", which had been expanded to a fortress by the 95th and 284th SD. On one of the bloodiest days of the battle of Stalingrad on September 27th, the violent attempt of the 295th Infantry Division to reach the Volga via the Dolgaja and Krutaja Balka and to split the 62nd Army into two parts was made by the extremely bitter resistance the Siberian riflemen of the 284th SD prevented with all their might. Despite joining forces with the Croatian IR 369, IR 516 did not succeed in completely conquering the meat combine.

“ In the street fights, the infantrymen and pioneers disappear completely in the rubble, because whoever shows up is at risk. Any carelessness is punished with a fatal shot by the enemy lurking in camouflaged hiding places. A war correspondent compares Stalingrad to the French battlefields of the world war. He writes: 'Like then, the unleashed forces of the material rush across a deserted battlefield, and like then they crouch together again, crouched in funnels or shelters. A handful of men in steel helmets, men in battered and tattered uniforms, with burning eyes, who have not slept in days. For weeks they have been attacking, defending and counter-attacking in the city. They endured raids by enemy artillery and grenade launchers by day, and bomber storms by night. They are burned out by the fires of this hell, and in the dark grounds of their faces the timeless features of the warrior from the world war dawn. ' "

- The city as a battlefield, Frankfurter Zeitung, autumn 1942

On September 30, 1942, IR 516 and IR 369 made another unsuccessful attempt to penetrate the defensive positions of the 95th and 284th SD and to take both the hilltop and the northeastern slopes of the Mamajew, further south the attack by IR 517 and IR 518 remained in cooperation with IR 194 (71st ID) in the defenses of the 284th SD in the Dolgii and Krutoi Balka. A 300-man combat group from IR 517 infiltrated the Krutoi Gorge on the night of September 30th to October 1st, 1942 and succeeded in the rear of the 34th Guards Rifle Regiment, but was beaten off after an intense firefight. In the period from September 26 to 30, 1942, the losses of 16,174 men (3,767 killed, 10,217 wounded and 878 missing) were recorded on the Stalingrad front. The combat strength of the 295th Infantry Division from September 25th to October 5th deteriorated in relation to 4 weak and 3 completely worn out infantry battalions.

During the major attack on the workers' settlements, which began on October 3, 1942, the 295th Infantry Division was given the order together with the 100th JD the right flank of the LI. To secure the army corps and to increase the pressure on the workers' settlement “Red October” by moving on the Mamayev Kurgan and from the south via the “tennis racket”. While the north side of the hill was temporarily conquered, there was no significant progress on the hardened fronts either in the “tennis racket” or in the two Balkans.

As part of Operation Hubertus , the 295th Infantry Division was supposed to undertake a final, precisely prepared advance by raiding troops against the Soviet defensive positions on Mamayev Hill and in the chemical factory "Lazur" in the railway loop "Tennis Racket", which the Red Army held stubbornly. This attack was intended to bind the Soviet flank in the south and distract from the actual main attack on the “Red October” steelworks and the “Barricades” gun factory. The condition of the 71st Infantry Division, 94th Infantry Division and 295th Infantry Division was already in a critical state on November 9, 1942, ranging from weak to completely worn out and barely able to carry out the planned attack on November 11th.

On November 16, 1942, Major General Dr. Otto Korfes from the previous division commander General of the Artillery Rolf Wuthmann .

structure

• Infantry Regiment 516, (renamed Grenadier Regiment 516 from October 15, 1942), was formed from IR 118 Kaiserslautern , IR 87 Wiesbaden and IR 193 Hamm
  • I.-III. Btl.
• Infantry Regiment 517, (renamed Grenadier Regiment 517 from October 15, 1942), formed from IR 74 Hameln and IR 12 Quedlinburg
  • I.-III. Btl.
• Infantry Regiment 518 (renamed Grenadier Regiment 518 from October 15, 1942), was formed from IR 211 (71st ID) Magdeburg and IR 487 Bergen
  • I.-III. Btl.
• Artillery Regiment 295, formed from AR 19 Celle , AR 31 Halberstadt and AR 36 Kaiserslautern
• Panzerjäger detachment 295
• Pioneer Battalion 295, Magdeburg
• Infantry Division Intelligence Division 295
• Infantry Division Supply Leader 295

Division headquarters of 295th ID on February 10, 1940

function	Rank	Surname
Division commander	Major general	Herbert Geitner
Chief of Staff (Ia)	major	Hans-Georg von Schaewen
Adjutant (IIa)	major	Gerhard Bechly
Quartermaster (Ib)	-	Martin Boriss
Enemy u. Defense (Ic)	Captain	Dr. Helmuth Oehler
Division doctor (IVb)	Senior Field Physician	Dr. Erich Reimer
Adjutant d. Div.-doctor	Senior physician	Richard Kayser
Division Veterinary (IVc)	Chief Veterinary Officer	Dr. Hans-Hugo Warnatsch
Commandant headquarters	Rittmeister	Oskar Milberg
1st orderly officer (O1)	First lieutenant	Paul Dupont
2nd orderly officer (O2)	Rittmeister	Karl Bartels
3rd orderly officer (O3)	lieutenant	Guy Dulier
Ammunition and device	First lieutenant	Werner Molter

people

Commanders of the 295th ID

Entry into service	Rank	Surname
February 1940	Major General / Lieutenant General	Herbert Geitner
December 1941	Colonel / Major General	Karl Gümbel
May 1942	Major general	Rolf Wuthmann
November 1942	Colonel / Major General	Otto Korfes
April 1943	Major General / Lieutenant General	Rudolf Dinter
1944	Lieutenant General	Karl-Ludwig Rhein
January 1945	Lieutenant General	Sigfrid Macholz

Staff officers (Ia) of 295 ID

Rank	Surname	period of service
Lieutenant colonel	Hans-Georg Schaewen	February 8 to July 10, 1940
Lieutenant colonel	Horst von Zitzewitz	July 10, 1940 to April 1941
Lieutenant colonel	Helmuth Groscurth	April to November 1941
major	Franz Engerisser	November 25, 1941 to May 1, 1942
Lieutenant colonel	Gerhard Dissel	? until January 31, 1943 fell into Soviet captivity
Colonel	Karl Zipper	April 1943 to February 25, 1945
major	Ernst-Günther Steuer	February 25, 1945 until the surrender

Awards

A total of 49 members of the 295th ID were awarded the German Cross in Gold and 14 with the Knight's Cross.

Bearer of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Rank	Surname	unit	Award date
Colonel	Karl Gümbel	Regimental commander IR 516	October 30, 1941
major	Günther Nentwig	Department commander I. Btl./AR 295	January 21, 1942
Lieutenant colonel	Alexander Möckel	Regimental commander IR 517	0February 6, 1942
Sergeant Major	Wilhelm Reinhardt	Platoon leader 5th Company / IR 518	February 22, 1942
Captain	Alwin Düskow	Department commander II. Btl./AR 295	March 21, 1942
Captain	Wilhelm Herb	Department commander I. Btl./IR 517	September 10, 1942
Captain	Ernst Werner	Department Commander III. Btl./IR 516	September 19, 1942
major	Richard Henze	Department commander II. Btl./IR 518	0October 2, 1942
Sergeant Major	Hermann Fleischer	Platoon leader I. Btl./IR 517, 2nd company	October 29, 1942
major	Hans Bohnenkamp	Department Commander III. Btl / AR 295	January 22, 1943
Major general	Otto Korfes	Division commander 295th ID	January 22, 1943
major	Friedrich Warnecke	Department Commander III. Btl./IR 517	January 22, 1943
Lieutenant colonel	Richard Claassen	Regimental commander IR 517	January 29, 1943
Captain	Kurt Schäfer	Department commander IR 516	January 29, 1943

Bearer of the German Cross in Gold

Rank	Surname	unit	Award date
sergeant	Wilhelm Wollmar	2nd company / IR 518	October 27, 1942
Constable	Eduard Winter	2nd battery / AR 295	October 27, 1942
First lieutenant	Rolf Wiegräfe	GR 517	January 30, 1943
First lieutenant	Ernst Werner	III.Btl./IR 516	January 23, 1942
Staff Sergeant	Adolf Weiss	Staff III.Btl./IR 518	March 25, 1942
major	Friedrich Warnecke	III.Btl./IR 518	0February 2, 1942
Sergeant Major	Otto Treu	9th Company / IR 517	September 26, 1942
First lieutenant	Fritz Tacke	Pi.Btl. 295	September 26, 1942
First lieutenant	Otto Spoerhase	3rd company / Pi.Btl. 295	0December 8, 1942
Lieutenant colonel	Emil Schubach	II.Btl./IR 516	December 11, 1941
First lieutenant	Kurt Behrens	1st company / IR 518	October 27, 1942
major	Ernst Benicke	Pi.Btl. 295	January 25, 1943
First lieutenant	Theodor Blase	Pi.Btl. 295	September 26, 1942
Sergeant Major	Karl Brandis	1st company / IR 518	November 24, 1942
First lieutenant	Werner Budde	GR 517	January 30, 1943
Captain	Max Busch	II.Btl./IR 517	May 30, 1942
First lieutenant	Walter Cratz	2nd Company / IR 517	November 12, 1942
First lieutenant	Hans Daake	I. Btl./IR 518	0November 5, 1942
Captain	Arnulf Datz	GR 517	January 30, 1943
First lieutenant	Heinz-Otto Fabian	5th Company / GR 516	0December 8, 1942
First lieutenant	Heinrich Federhenn	III. Btl./IR 516	0November 6, 1942
Sergeant Major	Franz Firfas	2nd Company / IR 517	May 30, 1942
Sergeant major	Gustav Fricke	8. Battery / AR 295	January 25, 1943
Lieutenant General	Herbert Geitner	295 ID	December 10, 1941
lieutenant	Alfons Grimm	14th Company / IR 518	November 12, 1942
Captain	Fritz Gröpler	4. Battery / AR 295	May 18, 1942
sergeant	Erich Hempel	3rd Company / IR 518	November 24, 1942
First lieutenant	Wilhelm Herb	I. Btl./IR 517	May 30, 1942
Sergeant Major	Josef Herbert	Staff III. Btl./IR 516	March 25, 1942
sergeant	Wilhelm Herdzin	3rd company / Pi.Btl. 295	0October 9, 1942
Colonel	Fritz Herrmann	GR 516	January 29, 1943
First lieutenant	Karsten Hermann	14th Company / IR 517	November 12, 1942
lieutenant	Willy guy	4th Company / IR 518	November 24, 1942
lieutenant	Heinz Klase	6th Company / IR 517	March 25, 1942
Captain	Ernst Koehlitz	IR 517	January 30, 1943
Colonel	Otto Korfes	IR 518	January 11, 1942
Captain	Walter Lux	II. Btl./IR 517	September 26, 1942
First lieutenant	Horst Marschhausen	7th Company / IR 518	March 25, 1942
First lieutenant	Kurt Meisel	5th Company / IR 518	0October 9, 1942
lieutenant	Heinrich Mergen	9th Company / IR 517	November 12, 1942
Sergeant Major	Willi Mollenhauer	3rd Company / IR 518	0March 3, 1942
Colonel	Günther Nentwig	AR 295	January 25, 1943
major	Eitel Friedrich Patzwahl	Staff I. Btl./IR 518	0February 2, 1942
Sergeant Major	August Peter	8th Company / IR 518	0November 6, 1942
Staff Sergeant	Richard Podszus	5th Company / IR 517	0March 7, 1942
sergeant	Paul Rose	6th Company / GR 517	July 20, 1943
lieutenant	Erich a shame	8th Company / GR 516	January 10, 1943
lieutenant	Wilhelm Schiffels	7th Company / IR 516	April 11, 1942
sergeant	Albert Schlichthörl	2nd company / GR 517	January 10, 1943

literature

• David M. Glantz: Armageddon in Stalingrad: September – November 1942 . University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2009, ISBN 978-0-7006-1664-0 ( The Stalingrad Trilogy , Vol. 2).
• Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 9. The Land Forces 281-370 . Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1974, ISBN 3-7648-1174-9 .

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

From David M. Glantz: Armageddon in Stalingrad: September – November 1942 . University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2009, ISBN 978-0-7006-1664-0 ( The Stalingrad Trilogy , Vol. 2):

1. ↑ p. 109.
2. ↑ pp. 116-117.
3. ↑ pp. 135, 137.
4. ↑ p. 124.
5. ↑ pp. 139-140, 147.
6. ↑ pp. 192-193, 198-201.
7. ↑ pp. 210-212, 233-235, 238, 242, 254-255, 264.
8. ↑ pp. 284-285.
9. ↑ p. 302.
10. ↑ pp. 304-305, 322-323.
11. ↑ pp. 615-616, 618.
12. ↑ p. 626.

Further evidence:

1. ↑ ^{a b} 295. ID / Ic, activity report July 3, 1941: BA / MA RH 26-295 / 16 in page no longer available , search in web archives: report (PDF; 67 kB) on weitermachen.de
2. ↑ report on spiegel.de
3. ↑ Groscurth's report of August 21, 1941 for the Chief of the General Staff of Army Group South, General von Sodenstern, on the events in Belaya Zerkow on August 20, 1941 on fluchschrift.net
4. ↑ Guido Knopp: Stalingrad. The drama. Goldmann, Munich 2006, pp. 53-55.
5. ↑ Saul Friedländer: Describing the Holocaust. Wallstein Verlag, 2007 pp. 54–57.
6. ^ Janusz Piekałkiewicz : Stalingrad. Anatomy of a battle. Heyne, Munich 1993, p. 302.
7. ↑ Is this about the September fights around the Mamayev Kurgan or the neighboring height 126.3 also called 'Aleksandrowka Hill' or, as mentioned by Colonel Groscurth on October 4, 1942, possibly hill 97.7?
8. ^ Janusz Piekałkiewicz: Stalingrad. Anatomy of a battle. Heyne, Munich 1993, pp. 198-199.
9. ↑ Ursula Richter-Nentwig; Telling is remembering; My father and I; Memories, letters from the field; Volume 86. Formag GmbH Publishing, Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. Work for Peace, self-published, 2013, p. 127.
10. ↑ Ukrainian loess gorges, erosion channels.
11. ↑ 200 casualties: 46 dead, 7 wounded officers and 164 men, 4 soldiers missing in action; Jason Mark: Death of the Leaping Horseman. Pp. 202-203. in: David M. Glantz: Armageddon in Stalingrad: September – November 1942 (The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 2). University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2009, p. 753.
12. ^ Janusz Piekałkiewicz: Stalingrad. Anatomy of a battle. Heyne, Munich 1993, pp. 246-248.
13. ↑ Info on hamelner-geschichte.de.