44th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

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44th Infantry Division

Troop registration number of the 44th Infantry Division

Troop identification: stylized shield
active April 1, 1938 to May 8, 1945 (surrender)
Country German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire
Armed forces Wehrmacht
Armed forces army
Type Infantry Division
structure See: Outline
Installation site Vienna
Second World War attack on Poland

Western campaign
against the Soviet Union

Battle of Stalingrad

Italian campaign

Commanders
list of List of commanders

The 44th Infantry Division was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht . Later she was given the honorary name of the 44th Reichsgrenadier Division "Hoch- und Deutschmeister" in the tradition of the Kuk Infantry Regiment Hoch- und Deutschmeister No. 4 .

Lineup

The division was set up on April 1, 1938 shortly after Austria was annexed to the German Reich from divisions 1-3 of the Austrian Armed Forces in the newly formed military district XVII (Vienna) . The proportion of officers and non-commissioned officers from the "Old Reich" was around 20 percent. The reclassification was interrupted by the Sudeten crisis when the division - still with Austrian structure and weapons - was relocated to South Moravia. On 15./16. March 1939 the association was involved in the so-called smashing of the rest of the Czech Republic.

Poland

During the attack on Poland , the division attacked from Silesia in an easterly direction and reached the Lemberg area in 18 days of marching and fighting . After being used to secure the border with the Soviet Union, it was relocated to the area between Harz and Weser as an army reserve on November 14, 1939 .

France

From May 13th, the division followed the Kleist tank group in long marches on the Somme sector, where from June 6th the Weygand line was broken and the Oise crossed by fighting. Until the armistice agreement on June 22, the division reached the Poitiers area in pursuit marches .

This was followed by coastal protection at La Rochelle , where practice was also carried out for the Sea Lion Company until October . At the end of March 1941 the division was relocated to Poland in the General Government.

War against the Soviet Union

The 44th ID was assigned to the 6th Army in Army Group South and fought in the southern section of the operations room . After conquering the Bug Line and marching in pursuit, Soviet tank attacks were repulsed on July 1 near Dubno and the army's northern flank was then secured. At the beginning of August the division was scheduled to attack Kiev , but could not take the city in the first attack. Instead, the Kesselschlacht developed eastward to Kiev , where the 44th Infantry Division split the Kessel until September 30th and prevented attempts by Soviet troops to break out. The further advance into the area north of Kharkov was already hampered by the autumn mud period. At the beginning of December, heavy defensive battles followed south of Kharkov, where the division held the city of Balakleja in tough winter battles and thus limited the Soviet breakthrough on both sides of Isjum . The resulting 100 km deep front bulge was cleared in the spring of 1942 in a cauldron battle . The 44th ID was used here north of Kharkov to repel Marshal Tymoshenko's offensive . From June 10th the 44th Infantry Division started an attack to the east. After the Battle of Volchansk , the Donbogen was reached in strenuous pursuit marches , where the division was involved in the Kesselschlacht near Kalatsch until August 11th . By November 1942, the 44th Infantry Division had secured the Don northwest of Stalingrad , where the Red Army kept bridgeheads. From November 19, 1942, the Red Army broke through the positions of the western Romanian neighboring units and was able to include the entire 6th Army. According to orders, the 44th Infantry Division withdrew eastward across the Don into the Stalingrad pocket. In the middle of the steppe, in freezing cold, insufficient food and a lack of ammunition, she defended the western front of the cauldron against all attempts to break through until January. During the Soviet offensive on January 10, 1943, the remnants of the division were overrun and fought their way back to the western outskirts. On 28/29 January the survivors of the division were taken prisoner of war , from which no more than 100 men returned.

Reorganization in 1943

Flag of the Grenadier Regiment 134

As early as January 26, 1943, the OKH decided that the 44th ID should be the first of the divisions that had been broken up in Stalingrad to be re-established due to its achievements. A new division was put together in occupied Belgium from remnants from the Tschir front, vacationers, recovered and the grenadier regiments 887 and 888. Despite being given the honorary name " Hoch- und Deutschmeister " on June 1, 1943, the structure corresponded to a horse-drawn infantry division. The fall of Mussolini on July 25 of 1943 the loading of the Division of Innsbruck result.

Italy

As a result of developments after the Allies landed in Sicily and Mussolini's fall, the division moved into South Tyrol from August 1, 1943 via the Brenner Pass . On September 8, the armistice between Italy and the Western Allies became known. For this " axis case " the disarmament and internment of the Italian army was planned. On September 9, well over 50,000 Italian soldiers were captured in the area of ​​the 44th Division. Thereafter, until November 1943, it was relocated to the Laibach / Trieste area to fight partisans . From November 21, 1943, the division was then loaded to central Italy and used there against the Western Allies. In front of the town of Cassino , the "Reinhard Line" was defended against heavy attacks for two months. From January 28 to May 18, the already weakened combat troops were decimated again in the battles for Cassino . This was followed by a retreat with hesitant resistance that led to the area north of Florence . From mid-October 1944, the division was withdrawn from the front, refreshed and relocated to Hungary.

Hungary / Austria

The planned attack on a Soviet bridgehead at the Drau confluence with the Danube did not materialize. Instead, the individually arriving sub-units were pushed back onto a line between Lake Balaton and the middle Drava. This section could then be held until February 1945. On February 17, they were transferred to a counterattack in the Komárom area . From March 7, the division took part in the “Spring Awakening” offensive. When the offensive had stalled, the Vienna operation of the 3rd Ukrainian Front began on March 18 . During the heavy defensive battles, the division had to break out of a pocket with heavy losses and withdrew along Lake Balaton. At the end of March she reached the imperial border and set up a defensive position there. On April 20, the train was transported to Lower Austria, but no major battles took place there. After the unconditional surrender , many of the soldiers were able to withdraw to the west and thus avoid being captured by the Soviets.

structure

  • 131st Infantry Regiment
  • 132nd Infantry Regiment
  • 134th Infantry Regiment
  • Artillery Regiment 96
  • Field Replacement Battalion 44
  • Anti-tank department 46
  • Engineer Battalion 80
  • News Department 64
  • Infantry Division Supply Leader 44

Commanders and division leaders

44th Infantry Division :

44th Reichsgrenadier Division "Hoch- und Deutschmeister" :

Well-known members of the division

Awards

28 soldiers in the division were awarded the Knight's Cross, and Karl Eibl the oak leaves.

War crimes

On September 17, 1943 soldiers shot Division in Villafranca di Verona 10 Italian soldiers summarily . The Italians had allegedly fired at a German column in civilian clothes, with neither dead nor wounded on the German side.

See also

literature

  • Friedrich Dettmer, Otto Jaus, Helmut Tolkmitt: The 44th Infantry Division. Reichs-Grenadier-Division Hoch- und Deutschmeister 1938–1945. Edition Dörfler in Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2004, ISBN 3-89555-177-5 .
  • Janusz Piekałkiewicz : Stalingrad anatomy of a battle . Heyne, Munich 1993, ISBN 978-3-453-01401-5 .
  • 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. 116 f.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerhard Schreiber : The Italian military internees in the German sphere of influence, 1943 to 1945. Betrayed – despised – forgotten. Verlag Oldenbourg, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-486-55391-7 , p. 116.
  2. ^ Gerhard Schreiber: German war crimes in Italy. Perpetrator, victim, law enforcement. Beck, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-406-39268-7 , p. 62.