32nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

32nd Infantry Division
Troop identification: lion on chain
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 Battle of Demyansk Defense battle near Newel Kurland boiler
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
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

See also : Structure of an infantry division of the Wehrmacht

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
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

1. ↑ 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.
2. ^ Major general in the armed forces before the annexation to the German Reich in 1938, indicted as a war criminal in Nuremberg in 1947