329th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
|
329th Infantry Division |
|
|---|---|
 Troop registration |
|
| active | December 1941 as Security Division 329 to May 8, 1945 (surrender) |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| structure | See outline |
| Installation site | Groß-Born |
| Nickname | Hammer Division |
| motto | "Hard and determined, believing and happy, brave and loyal" |
| Second World War |
War against the Soviet Union
|
| Awards | Mention in the Wehrmacht report (March 16, 1944, July 18, 1944 and September 21, 1944) |
| Commanders | |
| list of | Commanders |
The 329th Infantry Division was a major unit of the Army of the German Wehrmacht in World War II . Originally it was set up in the winter of 1941 as one of four security divisions to suppress possible uprisings in Germany ( Enterprise Walküre ) from replacement and training units.
On December 15, 1942, the association was renamed the 329th Infantry Division and chose a hammer overlaid by a bolt of lightning as the troop identification. Her nickname was accordingly also "hammer".
history
The division was set up in December 1941 on the Groß Born military training area from troop units in Military District VI (Münster) and was deployed on the Eastern Front from February 1942 . The 553 infantry regiment was branched off on the march and flown by air into the Cholm pocket to reinforce the German troops trapped there.
After arriving at the front in the area of the 16th Army, the remaining parts of the division went to Operation Brückenschlag , the relief attack by the Seydlitz group for the II and X Army Corps enclosed in the Demyansk pocket . The division was then deployed on various sections of the promontory. In November 1942, she was reunited with Grenadier Regiment 553. After the city, which had been declared a “Demyansk Fortress”, was evacuated in early 1943, it took part in the defensive battles south of Lake Ilmen in the Staraya Russa area. In November 1943 the division was relocated to the Newel area after Soviet troops broke through the German front here. Together with the 81st Infantry Division , it was supposed to restore the broken connection with Army Group Center . In February 1944, the withdrawal to the panther position in the Pustoschka area began .
The retreat fighting as a result of the Soviet operation Bagration led the division in the summer of 1944 via Sebesch , Ludza , Rēzekne , Ļaudona to the Ērg woi area , where it carried out one last successful counterattack against the advancing Soviet troops as part of the Doppelkopf operation. Via Jaunpils , the division finally moved to the Auce (Autz) - Saldus (Frauenburg) area in the Kurland basin , where it surrendered as one of the few major Wehrmacht units still capable of fighting on May 8, 1945 as part of the Kurland Army Group .
Insinuation
| date | corps | army | Army Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 1941 | OKH | ||
| January 42 | March transfer | North | |
| March 42 | X. | 16th Army | |
| July 42 | II. | ||
| March 43 | X. | ||
| April 43 | Scorn | ||
| June 43 | X. | ||
| December 43 | VIII. | ||
| April 44 | II. | ||
| July 44 | X. | ||
| August 44 | 18th Army | ||
| October 44 | XXXVIII. | Grasser | |
| November 44 | Kleffel | ||
| December 44 | 16th Army | ||
| February 45 | Courland |
Operational rooms
In detail, the division took part in the following operations as part of Army Group North (later Army Group Courland ):
| Period | comment | room |
|---|---|---|
| December 1941 | Provision | Groß-Born |
| February 1942 | Approach | Białystok , Grodno , Vilnius , Dünaburg , Pskow , Dno |
| February to November 1942 | only Inf. Rgt. 553 | Cholm |
| March 1942 | "Seydlitz shock group" staging area | Sataroje, Sapoloseje, Dreckowo, Luchino, Cherentsov, Zamoschze-Kalinow |
| March 21, 1942 | Attack "Shock Group von Seydlitz" | Oschedsna, Tschuchnowo, Vystawka, Artemjewo |
| March 25 to April 18, 1942 | Attack "Shock Group von Seydlitz" | Potschze-Potschje, Ssokolowo, Lowatj -Ufer |
| April to June 1942 | Position room | Tyurikovo - Varetschtye - Korchevka - Ilowez - Ssokolowo - Boot Forest - Velikoj - Sselo - Gorushka |
| June / July to November 1942 | Position room | SW Strelizy |
| September 1942 | "Company Höcker" (only IR 551 and 552) | South. Ssuchan swamp |
| Late September 1942 | "Company Michael" (only I./IR 551 and 10./AR 329) | South. Front section at Redja- Lowatj |
| Mid-October 1942 | "Company Puszta" | Larinka high ground near Strelizy |
| From November 12, 1942 | laying | Koloma, Ignatizy, Demyansk , Mamayevchina |
| From November 18, 1942 to February 1943 | Position room | Velye Lake - Dunayevshchina - Issakovo - Sukhaya - Votishi - Kirillovshchina |
| From February 14, 1943 | Evacuation of the Demyansk bridgehead | Resistance lines I - VIII |
| Late February to May 1943 | Position room | Lowatj southeast Gluchaja Goruschka, Porussja bei Kriwawitzy, Karkatschewo, Ljachnowo, Redja bei Wjaski, Werewkino, Koslowo |
| from May 10, 1943 | Refresher room | Western of the Ilmen lake |
| from May 24, 1943 | Position room | Staraya Russa (excl.) - Schimsk |
| from November 1943 | Bolt position | Newel , narrow between Ruddo and Uschtscho lakes |
| from November 21, 1943 | Position room | Road Pustoschka - Nevel from the west of Belonsova - northwestern edge of Ruddo Lake - northern tip of Uschtscho Lake |
| March 1944 | "Pant manufacture" | Velikaya -Mündung - Bystroje Lake - Forest east Kotowa - eastern edge Worssina - l km east Norkino - Frolovo - Star. Pustoschka - middle of Lake Dolossy - Dolossy - Novosselje - Nesterowo - 1 km east of Rasgulina |
| July 1944 | "Production" | Retreat on both sides of Pustoschka |
| July 1944 | "Latvian position" | south of Sebesch via Malkowo, train station Sawarnja to the east, then running to the north via Lewnowo and Borki |
| July 1944 | Lagarinka-Sebesch - Nasarowo - Rubanowo - eastward Jeremkono - Grumady - south Kyskowo | |
| Sebesch , Ludza , Rēzekne , Ļaudona up to the Ērgļi area | ||
| July 1944 | "Rosittenstellung" | Ļaudona |
| August 1944 | Position room | east and south of Bērzaune |
| August 1944 | Position room | Relocation via Odziena via Irši in the Sausieja area west of Ērgļi, bridgehead on the Ogre |
| August 1944 | Position room | Sausieja area west of Ērgļi, bridgehead on the Ogre |
| September 1944 | retreat | "Swan castle position" - "Turning position" - "Segewold position" - "Tukk conversion" |
| October 1944 | refreshing | Auce |
| November 1944 | Position room | "Brunhildenstellung" |
| November 1944 | Collection room | Brocēni area, northeast of Frauenburg |
| November 1944 | Position room | north-east of Ezere - south-east of Kursīši |
| February 1945 | Position room | Front extension beyond Jegles north of Dangas up to the level of Pampaampi |
| until May 8, 1945 | Position room | Planki - Kini - Ratinieky Kesteri - north of Striki |
structure
The division carried out numerous reclassifications and expansions in the course of its deployment. Among other things, after heavy losses in September 1944, the Grenadier Regiment 553 was dissolved and instead parts of the 21st Air Force Field Division were incorporated as "Air Force Regiment Group 21". Already in autumn 1943 it had been regrouped to a “Division of the New Type 44”. Essentially, the following units formed the core of the division from 1942 to 1945:
- Infantry / Grenadier Regiment 551
- Infantry / Grenadier Regiment 552
- Infantry / Grenadier Regiment 553, replaced by Air Force Regiment Group 21 in 1944
- Anti-tank department 329
- Rapid Division / Fusilier Battalion 329
- Reconnaissance Division 329
- Assault Gun Company 329 (summer 1944)
- Artillery Regiment 329
- Engineer Battalion 329
- News Department 329
Supply troops
- Field Replacement Battalion 329
- Supply reg. 329
Commanders
| Rank | Surname | date |
|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant General | Helmuth Castorf | December 30, 1941 |
| Colonel | Bruno Hippler | March 7, 1942 |
| Colonel | Johannes Mayer | March 22, 1942 |
| Lieutenant General | Paul Winter | August 9, 1943 |
| Lieutenant General | Johannes Mayer | September 1943 |
| Major general | Werner Schulze | July 16, 1944 |
| Lieutenant General | Konrad Menkel | October 20, 1944 |
| Major general | Werner Schulze | January 1, 1945 |
| Lieutenant General | Konrad Menkel | May 1945 |
Bearer of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
| Surname | Award | date | Service position | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayer, Johannes | Knight's cross | September 13, 1941 | Colonel, Kdr. IR501 | |
| Oak leaves (453.) | April 12, 1944 | Lieutenant General, Kdr. 329. ID | ||
| Swords (89.) | August 23, 1944 | Lieutenant General, Kdr. 329. ID | ||
| Schulze, Werner | Knight's cross | March 16, 1942 | Major dR, Btl. Kdr. IR 510 | |
| Oak leaves (557.) | August 23, 1944 | Colonel dR, Kdr.GR 551 | ||
| Klein, Hermann | Knight's cross | April 25, 1944 | First Lieutenant dR, Rgt.Adj. GR 551 | |
| Oak leaves (567.) | August 23, 1944 | Captain dR | missing since August 18, 1944 | |
| Söchting, Fritz | Knight's cross | April 16, 1943 | Private, 3rd / Fast Dept. 329 | |
| Rinke, Karl-Eberhard | Knight's cross | April 28, 1943 | Oberleutnant, Kp.Chef GR 552 | |
| Schulz-Lepel, Karl-Heinz | Knight's cross | September 13, 1943 | Oberleutnant, Kp.Chef GR 552 | |
| Drees, Karl-Heinz | Knight's cross | February 25, 1944 | Private, 14. (Pz.Jäg.) / GR 552 | |
| Doering, Ernst | Knight's cross | March 16, 1944 | Rittmeister, Kdr. Füs. Btl. 329 | |
| Müller, Günter | Knight's cross | August 19, 1944 | Captain, Btl.Kdr. GR 551 | killed on August 23, 1944 near Tukums / Latvia |
| Granitza, Bruno | Knight's cross | September 21, 1944 | Captain, battery chief AR 329 | Shot by Soviet troops on May 8, 1945 during the surrender near Saldus-Goldingen / Latvia |
| Beutner, Manfred | Knight's cross | September 30, 1944 | Major and leader of a combat group | |
| Janz, Siegfried | Knight's cross | November 5, 1944 | Lance corporal and group leader 1./Jg.Rgt. 42 (L) | |
| Toilets, Otto | Knight's cross | December 9, 1944 | Captain, Kdr.Füs.Btl. 329 | in the area of the 21st Air Force Field Division |
| Podrassa, Reinhold | Knight's cross | January 31, 1945 | NCO, platoon leader 3./GR 551 | |
| Wiese, Hubert | Knight's cross | May 5, 1945 | Colonel, Kdr.GR 552 |
Commemoration
The division's "memorial", designed as a memorial in 1961, is located in the Lauheide forest cemetery near Handorf between Münster and Telgte . The facility received more attention in January 2019 when around 50 neo-Nazis used it for "hero's commemoration". In response, the city of Münster filed a criminal complaint and announced that it would also examine the "honorary graves " of Nazi-polluted people such as Fritz Schmidt and Gerhard Glokke that were in the cemetery .
literature
- Bönninghausen, C., Freiherr von: Kampf und Ende Rheinisch-Westfälischer Infantry Divisions 1941–1945, Coesfeld undated (self-published).
- Franzen, Herbert: 329th Infantry Division: memories from the fighting 1942-1945 (self-published).
- Haupt, Werner: Demjansk - A bulwark in the east, Bad Nauheim 1963.
- Haupt, Werner: Army Group North, Bad Nauheim 1967.
- Haupt, Werner: Kurland 1944/45 - the forgotten Army Group, Friedberg 1979.
- Haupt, Werner: Leningrad, Volkhov, Courland, 1976.
- Kurowski, Franz: Demjansk - The Kettle in the Ice, Wölfersheim-Berstadt 2001.
- Pape, Klaus: 329th Infantry Division: Cholm - Demjansk - Kurland, Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, ISBN 3-938845-10-4 .
- 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
- 329th Infantry Division Kurland-Kessel 1944/1945 , accessed December 21, 2008
- 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
- ^ Klaus Pape, 329th Infantry Division: Cholm - Demjansk - Kurland, Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, ISBN 3-938845-10-4 .
- ^ Martin Kalitschke: Nazi deployment in Lauheide. Westfälische Nachrichten, January 31, 2019, accessed on February 3, 2019 .
