32nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
32nd Infantry Division |
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Troop identification: lion on chain |
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active | October 1, 1936 to May 8, 1945 (surrender) |
Country | German Empire |
Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
Armed forces | army |
Type | Infantry Division |
structure | See: Outline |
Divisional headquarters | Koslin |
Second World War |
Invasion of Poland Western campaign war against the Soviet Union
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Commanders | |
list of | Commanders |
The 32nd Infantry Division was a major unit of the Army of the German Wehrmacht .
history
Deployment and attack on Poland
The division was set up on October 1, 1936 in Köslin in Wehrkreis II (Stettin) and mobilized on August 1, 1939. The forces moved in the Preussisch Friedland area . At the beginning of the attack on Poland , she crossed the border near Friedland on September 1st, advanced in the advance battles via Monkowarsk and Gruczno to the Vistula near Chełmno and further via Gollub-Drobin-Plonsk to the Narew , took part in the fighting near Praga and in the attack on the Modlin Fortress and its capture. Towards the end of the campaign, the division was in the north of Warsaw.
The 32nd Infantry Division remained in Poland as an occupying force for two months. At the end of 1939 the company was relocated to the Eifel.
Western campaign
From May 10, 1940, the division took part in the attack on France . After advancing through Luxembourg and Belgium , the division advanced into the Givet area, overcame the Maas and Somme , took part in the battles at Trelon, Cambrai, in the Lille area and the Battle of Abbeville . After chase battles, the division met the Seine and advanced as far as the Loire in the Nantes area, where the division was deployed as an occupation force and took part in the preparations for the " Sea Lion Operation ".
From September 1940 to April 1941 the division moved to West Prussia for training.
War against the Soviet Union
1941
From June 22, 1941, the division took part in the attack on the Soviet Union . As part of Army Group North , she passed Kovno to the south, where she took part in the advance battles near Mariampol, Sileniaj, Rumiske and Wilja near Zubiske. After fighting in pursuit, the division overcame the Daugava and advanced over the Sarjamka to Cholm. After attack battles with Molwotizy and Latkino the division reached the Weljesee and met with Valdai before.
1942
On January 9, 1942, the large-scale Soviet attack began with four armies on Lake Seliger and broke into the division section of the 123rd Infantry Division on the Landbrücken front with full force . Despite the support of the 32nd ID, the 123rd ID was destroyed. After the first defensive battles at Staraya Russa , the division was at the beginning of 1942 in the eastern edge of the Demyansk pocket .
1943
After the cauldron was cleared, the division returned to Staraya-Russa and took part in the defensive battles on the Redja and Porussja. In November 1943, the division was transported to Newel , where it took part in offensive and defensive battles on Lake Jasno and in the Ushta bridgehead and finally took up defensive positions in the Polotsk area.
1944
From January 1944 onwards, further evacuation movements began from Polotsk to Velikaya, to pant manufacturing and to the Sujewo-Utkino area. At the beginning of the summer offensive of the Soviet troops in July 1944, the division was part of the Army Group North near Ostrow. From there, further retreat fights followed over the Utroja, Kuchwa and Vjada sections, via Madona (Modohn) and Ērgļi to the Segewold position near Suntazi, and in October 1944 the withdrawal via Riga-Schlock on Tukkum .
In the 1st and 2nd battles of Courland , the division defended at Moscheiken and in the Rudbarzi area. Trench warfare on Lake Libau and defensive battles near Dadzi.
1945
Until January 1945, the division fought in various areas in Courland , including Vainode, south of Liepaja (Libau) and southwest of Saldus (Frauenburg).
Towards the end of January 1945 it was moved by sea to Libau . At the beginning of February the division was at Jastrow. A short time later they retreated northwards, across the German-Polish border to the anteroom of Gotenhafen. and from there on towards West Prussia and Pomerania in the Flatow area. This was followed by defensive battles at Linde, Grunau and in the Görsdorf area and retreat battles via Firchau-Lichtenhagen-Deutsch Briesen in the Danzig bridgehead. The division temporarily defended itself on the Öxthöfter Kämpe and in the Nickelswalde area, then marched over the Fresh Spit to Pillau and fought near Tenkitten and Lochstädt.
The remnants of the division fought their way to the Hela peninsula in small groups and formed there for the last time. On May 10, 1945, the soldiers marched in an orderly formation past Lieutenant General Hans Boeckh-Behrens, their last commander, into Soviet captivity.
Storage and operational areas
date | corps | army | Army Group | Operational area |
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September 1939 | II. | 4th Army | North | Pomerania , Poland |
December 1939 | reserve | B. | Eifel , Rhine | |
January 1940 | II. | Eifel, Belgium, France | ||
August 1940 | 6th Army | France, Nantes | ||
September 1940 | C. | |||
October 1940 | I. | 18th Army | B. | East Prussia |
April 1941 | II. | |||
May 1941 | 16th Army | C. | ||
June 1941 | North | Dünaburg | ||
January 1942 | Demyansk | |||
March 1943 | X. | |||
April 1943 | Scorn | Staraya Russa | ||
June 1943 | VIII. | |||
December 1943 | I. | Newel, Polotsk | ||
March 1944 | reserve | |||
April 1944 | XXVIII. | 18th Army | Pleskau, Ostrow | |
May 1944 | reserve | |||
June 1944 | XXXVIII. | |||
August 1944 | L. | Walk, Riga | ||
October 1944 | XXXVIII. | Grasser | ||
November 1944 | II. | 18th Army | Courland | |
January 1945 | I. | |||
February 1945 | XVIII | 2nd Army | Vistula | West Prussia , Hela |
April 1945 | XXIII | East Prussia |
structure
1939
- 4th Infantry Regiment
- 94th Infantry Regiment
- 96th Infantry Regiment
- Reconnaissance Department 32
- Artillery Regiment 32
- I.-III. Department
- I./Artillery Regiment 68
- Observation Department 32 (1)
- Engineer Battalion 32
- Anti-tank department 32
- News Department 32
- Field Replacement Battalion 32
- Infantry Division Supply Leader 32
In January 1940, Field Replacement Battalion 32 was transferred to the 162nd Infantry Division as III / Infantry Regiment 314 . In February 1940 the II./IR 94 followed, which came to the 292nd Infantry Division as I./IR 509 . In October 1940 ⅓ of the division, including the staff IR 4, III./IR 4, III./IR 94, III./IR 96, was transferred to the 122nd Infantry Division and replaced by new formations.
1942
- Grenadier Regiment 4
- Grenadier Regiment 94
- Grenadier Regiment 96
- Cycling Department 32
- Artillery Regiment 32
- I.-III. Department
- I./Artillery Regiment 68
- Engineer Battalion 32
- Panzerjäger detachment 32
- News Department 32
- Field Replacement Battalion 32
- Infantry Division Supply Leader 32
In 1942, after heavy losses, the battalions III./IR 4, III./IR 94, II./IR 96 were disbanded, reducing the division's combat strength to 6 infantry battalions.
1943-1945
In September 1943 the division was restructured into a new type of division. Reconnaissance Division 32 became Division Fusilier Battalion (AA) 32.
- Grenadier Regiment 4
- Grenadier Regiment 94
- Grenadier Regiment 96
- Fusilier Battalion 32 (2)
- Artillery Regiment 32
- I.-III. Department
- I./Artillery Regiment 68
- Engineer Battalion 32
- Panzerjäger detachment 32
- News Department 32
- Field Replacement Battalion 32
- Commander of Infantry Division Supply Forces 32, from September 1, 1944 Supply Regiment 32
Commanders
date | Rank | Surname |
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October 1, 1936 | Lieutenant General | Nikolaus von Falkenhorst |
July 19, 1939 | Lieutenant General | Franz Boehme |
October 1, 1939 | Major general | Eccard von Gablenz (in charge of the tour) |
December 1, 1939 | Lieutenant General | Franz Boehme |
June 15, 1940 | Lieutenant General | Wilhelm Bohnstedt |
March 1, 1942 | Major general | Karl Hernekamp (in charge of the tour) |
June 1, 1942 | Lieutenant General | Wilhelm Wegener |
June 27, 1943 | Major general | Alfred Thielmann (in charge of the tour) |
September 12, 1943 | Lieutenant General | Hans Boeckh-Behrens |
February 1, 1944 | Colonel | Franz Schlieper (in charge of the tour) |
June 1, 1944 | Lieutenant General | Hans Boeckh-Behrens |
August 13, 1944 | Colonel | Georg Koßmala (in charge of the tour) |
August 1944 | Lieutenant General | Hans Boeckh-Behrens |
Well-known members of the division
- Erich Rübensam (1922–2016), was an agricultural scientist , politician ( SED ) and President of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the GDR (AdL)
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 . P. 14 f.
Remarks
- ↑ Here Otto Ernst Remer served as first lieutenant and company commander. In 1944, Remer played an important role in the suppression of the attempted coup of July 20, 1944, as commander of the Greater Germany Guard Battalion . After the war, the Remer founded the neo-Nazi “ Socialist Reich Party ” (SRP), which was banned in 1952.
- ^ Major general in the armed forces before the annexation to the German Reich in 1938, indicted as a war criminal in Nuremberg in 1947