298th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
298th Infantry Division |
|
---|---|
active | February 1940 to August 1944 |
Country | German Empire |
Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
Armed forces | army |
Type | Infantry Division |
structure | See outline |
Installation site | Neuhammer military training area |
Second World War | War against the Soviet Union |
Commanders | |
list of | Commanders |
The Silesian 298th Infantry Division was a major military unit of the Wehrmacht . On the Eastern Front she suffered heavy losses on the Donbogen in January 1943 as part of the 8th Italian Army . The survivors were transferred to the 387th Infantry Division .
Division history
The division was formed on February 6, 1940 at the Neuhammer military training area as part of the 8th wave of formation . In June 1940 the 298th Infantry Division was transferred from Stadtkyll to the western front and fought in the Arnay / Burgundy and Dijon area , and later carried out security tasks at Chambéry . In July 1940 the division was transported to Poland as part of the 18th Army .
On June 22, 1941, she took part in Operation Barbarossa , the attack on the Soviet Union. South of Chełm , the 298th Infantry Division crossed the Bug and was involved in fighting on the Stalin line at the height of Lutsk - Rowno - Zwiahel until it reached the area around Nowograd-Volynski . She then took part in the Battle of Kiev , then fought the Soviet Army on the Dnepr and Desna rivers in order to return to Kiev and fight the enemy who had stayed behind.
From January to March 1942 the 298th ID was in the association of the XXXXIV. Army corps deployed south of Kharkov . In May 1942, the division under the command of the XI. Army Corps participated in the Second Battle of Kharkov . In addition, together with the Kleist Army Group , she had missions against encircled Red Army soldiers. The defensive battles in this region dragged on throughout June 1942 and caused heavy losses.
On October 15, 1942, all infantry regiments were renamed Grenadier regiments. After that the 298th Infantry Division fought together with mountain troops west of Rostov-on-Don under different deployment: I. Romanian Army Corps and XXXV. Italian Army Corps. The skirmishes intensified on the Don, Oskol and Sapalow . Finally, the Division was at Ticho - Shuranskaya encircled by the Red Army, was able to break out from there to at Chertkovo to fall back into a boiler. In January 1943, the 298th Infantry Division broke out near Kupyansk , only to get into a third pocket near Shevchenko, from which it was able to escape at Malinovka-Isjum. After heavy fighting, the division withdrew behind the Donets and marched on Kremenchug , where it set up defensive positions against the advancing Red Army. Due to the high losses, the 298th ID had to be completely dissolved on April 30, 1943.
The 242nd Infantry Division and the 387th Infantry Division were formed from the survivors , the old staff of the 298th Infantry Division was taken over by the 389th Infantry Division . The 387th ID was destroyed in August 1944 in the Battle of Jassy .
date | Army Corps | army | Army Group | place |
---|---|---|---|---|
June 1940 | reserve | 12th Army | A. | Aisne |
July to August 1940 | XVII | 18th Army | - | Poland |
September to December 1940 | 12th Army | B. | ||
January to April 1941 | 17th Army | |||
May 1941 | 6th Army | A. | ||
June to October 1941 | south | Hrubieszów , Kiev , Donetsk | ||
November / December 1941 | LII | 17th Army | Isjum | |
January 1942 | XXXXIV | |||
February to May 1942 | XI | Kleist group | Losovaya | |
June 1942 | XIV | - | Kharkov | |
July 1942 | ranger | Wietersheim group | Donbogen | |
August 1942 | Romanian I. Corps | 17th Army | A. | |
September 1942 | reserve | - | B. | Donsteppe |
October 1942 | 8th Italian Army | |||
November 1942 | Italian II Corps | Boguchar | ||
December 1942 | Italian XXXV. corps | |||
January 1943 | reserve | Chertkovo | ||
February 1943 (survivors) | reserve | Lanz | ||
March 1943 | 387 ID | - | - | - |
structure
- Infantry Regiment 525 (I. – III. Btl.)
- 526 Infantry Regiment (I. – III. Btl.)
- 527 Infantry Regiment (I. – III. Btl.)
- Artillery Regiment 298 (I.–IV. Btl.)
- Panzerjäger detachment 298
- Reconnaissance Battalion 298
- Engineer Battalion 298
- News Section 298
- Supply troops
Commanders
period of service | Rank | Surname |
---|---|---|
February 6, 1940 to January 1, 1942 | Lieutenant General | Walther Graessner |
January 1 to December 27, 1942 | Lieutenant General | Arnold Szelinski |
December 27, 1942 to March 20, 1943 | Major general | Herbert Michälis |
Awards
A total of six members of the 298th Infantry Division were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and one person was also awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. 19 soldiers received the German Cross in Gold.
Rank | Surname | unit | Award date |
---|---|---|---|
lieutenant | Edwin Ewald | Platoon leader 2.Kp./PiBtl. 298 | August 21, 1941 |
Sergeant major | Ernst Thiem | Platoon leader 1.Kp./ Aufklärungs-Abtlg. 298 | September 17, 1941 |
Lieutenant General | Walther Graessner | Division commander 298th ID | October 27, 1941 |
Colonel | Arnold Szelinski | Regimental commander IR 525 | November 18, 1941 |
Captain d. Res. | Heinrich pupil | Battalion Commander II. Btl./IR 525 | September 18, 1942 |
Colonel | Herbert Michaelis | Regimental commander GR 525 | December 27, 1942 |
Captain d. Res. | Heinrich pupil | Battalion Commander II. Btl./GR 525 | Oak leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (218th award) on April 2, 1943 |
Well-known members of the division
- Walther-Peer Fellgiebel (1918–2001), author and manager on the board of the Deutsche Zündwaren-Monopol-Gesellschaft
literature
- Comradeship of the 298th Infantry Division : 298th Infantry Division Glory and Fall 1940–1943 , self-published.
- Theo Tebart: The history of the 298th Infantry Division , self-published.
- 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
- ↑ Malynivka in Ukrainian spelling.
- ^ I. Btl. Dissolved on September 26, 1942.
- ↑ II. Btl. Dissolved on September 26, 1942.
- ↑ III. Btl. Disbanded on September 26, 1942.
- ↑ 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 , p. 300.
- ↑ Veit Scherzer: Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, p. 742.
- ↑ Veit Scherzer: Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, p. 344.
- ↑ Veit Scherzer: Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, p. 737.
- ↑ a b Veit Scherzer: Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, p. 687.
- ↑ Veit Scherzer: Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, p. 543.