31st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
31st Infantry Division |
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![]() Troop registration, the Brunswick lion |
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active | October 1, 1936 to May 8, 1945 |
Country |
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Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
Armed forces | army |
Type | Infantry Division |
structure | structure |
garrison | Braunschweig |
Nickname | Lion Division |
Second World War |
Invasion of Poland Western campaign war against the Soviet Union |
management | |
list of | Commanders |
list of | First General Staff Officer |
The 31st Infantry Division , the 31st Grenadier Division from July 21, 1944 and the 31st Volksgrenadier Division from October 9, 1944 , was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht .
history
The division was set up in Braunschweig on October 1, 1936 and mobilized in August 1939 as part of the 1st wave . The name "Löwendivision" goes back to the Braunschweig lion .
1941
The 31st Division was transferred to Dęblin on the Vistula in April 1941 and was the XII. Army Corps subordinated. At the end of May, the 31st Infantry Division under the new commander General Kurt Kalmukoff moved to Brest-Litovsk for Operation Barbarossa . On June 24, the division at Pratulin in the section of Panzer Group 2 was completely brought over the Bug and took part in the battle at Białystok and Minsk after the advance north of Slonim on the Zelvianka section . On July 13, the Berezina was crossed at Perevoz and on July 16, the Dnieper section was crossed at Stary Bychow. On August 18, the Southeast-section was achieved and southwest in the space of Roslavl a line of defense between Pochep respect and Letoshniki. At the beginning of October 1941 the division became the LIII during the advance to Desna . Assigned to Army Corps . During the battle of encirclement of Bryansk exceeded the Division on October 13 near the Krylowka Bolva River and reached on October 27, the Oka section at Belew. In the winter of 1941/42, the division in the area of XXXXIII. Army Corps participated in the southern section of the Battle of Moscow . During the Battle of Tula , the Russian counter-offensive took place on December 4th, which forced the 31st Division to retreat to Juchnow after an unsuccessful counterattack via Zubowo .
1942/43
In July 1943 on the northern front arc of Kursk in the section of XXXXVI. When the Panzer Corps was deployed, the engineer battalion cleared 31 minefields for a tank attack by the Manteuffel group .
1944
The 31st Division, pushed back in the area east of Mogilew in the spring of 1944 , exchanged its section on the right wing of the 4th Army and at the interface with the 9th Army, with the 260th Infantry Division , where it was deployed in confusing forest positions. The command post was in Judino. In addition to the expansion of the main battle line , shock troops were still successfully deployed.
After the start of Operation Bagration , the division was part of the XII. Army corps overrun by the attack of the Soviet 49th Army near Tschaussy and almost completely destroyed in the pocket east of Minsk by early July 1944 . Lieutenant General Wilhelm Ochsner was captured.
On July 21, 1944, the 31st Grenadier Division was reorganized by the 550th Grenadier Division, which was being set up, and the remnants of the 31st Infantry Division . On October 9, 1944, the division was reclassified to the 31st Volksgrenadier Division .
people
Commanders
period of service | Rank | Surname |
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October 1, 1936 to April 1, 1937 | Lieutenant General | Herbert Fischer |
April 1, 1937 to April 30, 1941 | Lieutenant General | Rudolf Kaempfe |
May 22 to August 13, 1941 | Lieutenant General | Kurt Kalmukoff |
August 15, 1941 to January 21, 1942 | Lieutenant General | Gerhard Berthold |
January 21 to February 28, 1942 | General of the Infantry | Friedrich Hoßbach |
February 28 to April 14, 1942 | Lieutenant General | Gerhard Berthold |
April 16, 1942 to April 1, 1943 | Lieutenant General | Kurt Pflieger |
April 1 to May 16, 1943 | Lieutenant General | Hermann Flörke |
May 16 to August 2, 1943 | General of the Infantry | Friedrich Hoßbach |
August 2, 1943 to June 1944 | Lieutenant General | Wilhelm Ochsner |
First general staff officer
period of service | Rank | Surname |
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1939 to February 1940 | Lieutenant colonel | Hartwig Pohlmann |
February 1940 to March 14, 1942 | major | Fritz Ulrich |
March 14, 1942 to July 18, 1943 | major | Josef Selmayr |
July 1943 to March 1944 | Lieutenant colonel | Konrad Freiherr von Wangenheim |
March to August 1944 | major | Doda Freiherr zu Inn and Knyphausen |
August 1944 to 1945 | major | Heinz Hoffmann |
structure
1939 | 1942 | 1943-1944 |
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12th Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 12 | |
17th Infantry Regiment | 17th Grenadier Regiment | |
82nd Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 82 | |
31st Artillery Regiment | ||
Engineer Battalion 31 | ||
Anti-tank department 31 | Panzerjäger detachment 31 | |
Reconnaissance Department 31 | Cycling Department 31 | Fusilier Battalion 31 |
Observation Department 31 | - | |
Field Replacement Battalion 31 | ||
News Department 31 | ||
Infantry Division Supply Leader 31 |
Awards
A total of 25 members of the division were awarded the Knight's Cross and 118 with the German Cross in Gold.
literature
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945 . 2nd Edition. tape 5 . The Land Forces 31-70 . Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1977, ISBN 3-7648-1107-2 .
- Martin Heinzelmann: The tracks of the lion. About the secret crimes of the 31st Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. Cuvillier publishing house. Göttingen 2009. ISBN 978-3-86955-027-5 .
- Rolf Hinze: Lion Division: 31st Infantry and Grenadier Division, 31st People's Grenadier Division . Hinze, Meerbusch 1997, ISBN 3-928322-08-7 .
- Friedrich Hoßbach: Infantry in the Eastern Campaign 1941/1942. Giebel & Oehlschlägel Verlag, 1951
Remarks
- ^ From October 1, 1934 to October 15, 1935 Halberstadt Infantry Regiment .
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^ From October 1, 1934 to October 15, 1935 Braunschweig Infantry Regiment.
The III. Battalion (Jäger-Bataillon) of the IR 17 carried the name "Goslar Jäger" in the tradition of the 10th Hanoverian Jäger Battalion in Goslar . Originally, the Braunschweig Infantry Regiment No. 92 and the Braunschweigische Hussar Regiment No. 17 had a skull and crossbones emblem , which was transferred to the Regimental Staff, 1st and 2nd Battalion of IR 17. - ↑ The Artillery Regiment 31 consisted of the I. – III. Division and the I / Artillery Regiment 67.
- ↑ In December 1939 withdrawn from the army.