344th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

The 344th Infantry Division was a German infantry division during World War II . The division was set up on September 25, 1942 in France and remained stationed here. The division was broken up in the summer of 1944 during the fighting in Normandy .

In September 1944 a new 344th Infantry Division was set up and initially fought in the Aachen area . In the spring of 1945 she came to the Eastern Front . Parts of the division defended during the Upper Silesian Operation on the Oder between Krappitz and Cosel. After the 1st Ukrainian Front broke through south of Cottbus in mid-April , its tank armies turned north on Berlin . The 5th Army Corps of the 4th Panzer Army was enclosed between the Neisse and the Spreewald in the Halbe pocket. Hitler demanded from the Jolasse group that the 344th Infantry Division near Drebkau , the remnants of the Führer-Accompanying Division (Major General Remer ) and the remnants of the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" should attack north near Spremberg , all the more so to fall into the flank of the advancing 1st Ukrainian Front. All German units were surrounded by the Soviet troops in the Kausche pocket and taken prisoner.

literature

• Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr. (2007a). German Order of Battle. Volume Two: 291st - 999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII. PA; United States of America: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 .
• Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr. (2007b). Panzer Legions: A Guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of WWII and Their Commanders. Mechanicsburg, PA, United States: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3353-3 .
• Tessin, Georg (1974). Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Ninth volume. The land forces 281-370. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück. ISBN 3-7648-0872-1 .