50th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
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50th Infantry Division |
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|---|---|
 |
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| active | August 26, 1939 to May 8, 1945 |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Branch of service | infantry |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| structure | structure |
| Installation site | Küstrin |
| Nickname | bow and arrow |
| Commanders | |
| list of | Commanders |
The 50th Infantry Division was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht during World War II .
Division history
Areas of application :
- Poland: September 1939 to May 1940
- France: May 1940 to June 1941
- Eastern Front , Southern Section: June 1941 to May 1944
- Eastern Front, Central Section: June 1944 to May 1945
On August 26, 1939, the 50th ID was formed by the Küstrin border command . It was originally intended as part of the 2nd wave of deployment , but was reorganized on November 15, 1939 as part of the 1st wave of deployment . In the early stages of World War II, the division fought in Poland , France and Greece .
As part of the 11th Army , the 50th ID fought on the southern section of the Eastern Front. From June 1941 she took part in the war against the Soviet Union , as part of the LIV. Army corps they marched with the Romanian III. Corps advance through Bessarabia near Tiraspol to the Dniester by July 20 . The Crimean peninsula threatened the right flank of the German eastern front, as it was possible for the Red Army to permanently supply the southern front with new reserves via the Black Sea . After the advance over Nikolayev to the Dnieper near Kherson , a southern bridgehead was created as a prerequisite for the following operations in the Crimea. The 50th Infantry Division, along with the 46th Infantry Division and 73rd Infantry Division, was deployed on the seven-kilometer-wide isthmus of Perekop . In October 1941, the Soviet 51st Army defended the entrance to the peninsula with deep-level defense systems, which claimed numerous casualties. After major territorial gains by German units, the Soviet defense concentrated in November 1941 on Sevastopol , Feodosia and Kerch . The LIV. Army Corps with 50 ID and 132 ID were to advance south directly to Sevastopol and capture the heavily fortified city in a surprise attack. The resistance of the Red Army increased massively in the numerous forts and bunkers in the north of the city. The first battle for Sevastopol began in December 1941 and was not decided until June 1942. During the second campaign in the Crimea (June 1942) the 50th ID. also significantly involved in the conquest of Sevastopol . After taking the port city, 50 ID marched. crossed the Kerch into the Kuban region and participated in the fighting of the 17th Army in the western Caucasus .
After a year-long positional war in the Kuban bridgehead , the 50th Infantry Division returned to the Crimea in October 1943 and was destroyed in Sevastopol in May 1944. The division in East Prussia was reorganized from survivors of the Crimean Battle and new recruits . The remnants of the 50th Infantry Division fought in the Kesselschlacht von Heiligenbeil until they were finally captured by the Soviets in Pillau .
After the war, Major General a. D. Günther Meinhold and other former soldiers founded the traditional community of the 50th Infantry Division in Göttingen , and he was elected honorary chairman; she took care of the fate of the surviving soldiers as well as the bereaved of the fallen and wrote the division history. A division memorial was also erected in Göttingen.
people
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| September 1, 1939 to October 25, 1940 | Lieutenant General | Konrad Sorsche |
| October 25, 1940 to January 23, 1942 | Lieutenant General | Karl-Adolf Hollidt |
| January 31 to March 1, 1942 | Lieutenant General | August Schmidt |
| March 1, 1942 to June 26, 1943 | Lieutenant General | Friedrich Schmidt |
| June 26, 1943 to April 30, 1944 | Lieutenant General | Friedrich Sixt |
| April 30 to May 9, 1944 | Lieutenant General | Paul Betz |
| May 9 to June 5, 1944 | Major general | Alexander von Pfuhlstein |
| June 5, 1944 to April 18, 1945 | Major general | Georg house |
| 18.-28. April 1945 | Major general | Kurt Domansky |
| April 28 to May 1945 | Colonel | Ribbert |
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| August 26 to November 5, 1939 | Lieutenant colonel | Karl Jank |
| November 5, 1939 to November 1, 1940 | major | pole |
| November 1, 1940 to January 1942 | major | Karl Marten |
| January 6 to March 4, 1942 | Lieutenant colonel | Helmuth Strempel |
| March 4, 1942 to June 5, 1944 | Lieutenant colonel | Conrad Stephanus |
| June 5 to October 5, 1944 | Lieutenant colonel | Günther Braun |
| October 5, 1944 to May 1945 | major | Horst Rätsch |
Awards
A total of 27 knight's crosses and 110 German crosses in gold were awarded to the members of the 50th ID .
structure
| 1939 | 1942 | 1943-1945 |
|---|---|---|
| 121st Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 121 | |
| 122nd Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 122 | |
| 123rd Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 123 | |
| Artillery Regiment 150 | ||
| Engineer Battalion 71 | ||
| Anti-tank department 150 | Panzerjäger detachment 150 | |
| News Department 71 | ||
| Supply units 354 | Supply units 150 | |
| - | Reconnaissance Department 150 | Fusilier Battalion 150 |
| - | Field Replacement Battalion 150 | |
In 1939 the artillery regiment 150 consisted of the light artillery divisions 742, 743 and 748. From 1942 this became the artillery divisions I to IV.
literature
-
Percy Ernst Schramm (ed.): War diary of the high command of the Wehrmacht. Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Defense, Frankfurt am Main 1965.
- Volume I: 1940/41 edited by Hans-Adolf Jacobsen .
- Volume II: 1942 edited by Andreas Hillgruber , Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965.
- Karl-Heinz Golla: The Fall of Greece in 1941 . ES Mittler & Sohn, Hamburg a. a. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8132-0882-5 .
- 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. 162 f.
- Peter Bamm : The invisible flag . Droemersche Verlagsanstalt, Munich 1952.
- Günther Meinhold u. a .: The 50th Infantry Division 1939–1945. Self-published by the traditional association 50th Inf.Div., Augsburg 1965.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Literary from the point of view of a military doctor: Peter Bamm: The invisible flag . Droemersche Verlagsanstalt, Munich 1952.
- ^ Günther Meinhold: The 50th Infantry Division 1939 - 1945 . Self-published by the traditional association 50th Inf.Div., Augsburg 1965.
