52nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

52nd Infantry Division
active	August 26, 1939 to November 1, 1943
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Wehrmacht
Armed forces	army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	Infantry Division
structure	structure
Installation site	Wins
Commanders
list of	Commanders

The 52nd Infantry Division (52nd ID) was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht in World War II .

Division history

The 52nd Infantry Division was set up on August 26, 1939 as part of the second  wave of deployment in Siegen in military district IX . Part of the staff and the permanent staff were subordinated to the 339th Infantry Division and were re-staffed. In 1939 the 52nd ID received border security tasks in the Saarpfalz and Trier area on the Westwall and then served as OKH reserve at Kusel .

At the beginning of the western campaign in 1940, the 52nd ID marched under the command of the 12th Army through Luxembourg and Belgium to northern France. In this context, the division was involved in fighting on the Aisne , Champagne and Dijon . To take part in the attack on the Soviet Union , the division was transferred to Poland and advanced via Vilnius to Minsk . The first skirmishes took place on the Drut and Beresina rivers . In the course of the eastern campaign , the 52nd Infantry Division took part in the Battle of Rogachev , and fought on the Desna , Bolwa , Sukhinichi and Kaluga . Near Wolkowskoje the river Protva the 52nd ID took turns participating in offensive and defensive operations. In the winter of 1941 she fought in Tarussa and in early 1942 had to withdraw to Juchnow via Detschino . She then worked in an anti- partisan operation near Roslavl , where she also shot civilians, including women and children. In the spring of 1943 she had to face increasing enemy pressure at the buffalo position in the Maloje-Beresnowo area near Newel , which culminated in heavy fighting. A major Soviet break-in took place in their area of ​​operation on the border between Army Group North and Army Group Center , so that from October 1943 onwards, after heavy losses, the 52nd Infantry Division was only one combat group that had to be completely disbanded on November 1, 1943.

The remaining units were distributed as follows:

• Division staff became the staff of the 52nd Field Training Division, later the 52nd Security Division
• Stab / Grenadier-Regiment 163 became Stab / Ski-Jäger-Regiment 1
• Staff / Grenadier Regiment 181 became the staff of Division Group 52
• II./Grenadier-Regiment 163 and II./Grenadier-Regiment 181 and the remnants of the artillery regiment joined the artillery regiment 195 as III./152
• Staff / Artillery Regiment 152 became Staff / Artillery Regiment 362
• III./Artillerie-Regiment 152 became III./Artillerie-Regiment 357
• IV./Artillerie-Regiment 152 became the staff of the light gun division 423

Shelters and operational areas

Subordination of the 52nd ID, September 1939 to October 1943

date	Army Corps	army	Army Group	Location
September to November 1939	XI	1st Army	C.	Saar Palatinate
December 1939	OKH reserve	-	-	Kusel
January 1940		-	-
February to May 1940	to disposal	16th Army	A.	trier
June 1940	III	12th Army		France
July 1940	to disposal		C.
August 1940	XXVII
September to October 1940		1st Army
November to December 1940			D.
January to June 1941
July 1941	LIII	-	center	Vilna
August 1941		2nd Army		Bobruisk
September 1941		-
October 1941	XXXXIII	2nd Army		Bryansk
November to December 1941	XIII	4th Army		Moscow
January 1942
February to March 1942	LVII			Juchnow
April 1942	XIII
May to June 1942	XII			Spas-Demensk
July 1942	LVI
August to October 1942	XXXXI	2nd Panzer Army		Orel
November to December 1942	LIII
January to March 1943	XXXX	9th Army		Newel
April to September 1943	XXVII	4th Army
October 1943				Orsha

Structure on June 22, 1941

• Infantry Regiment 163 with three battalions, from the 29th Infantry Division , parts in November 1940 to the newly established 339th Infantry Division
• Infantry Regiment 181 with three battalions, from the 9th Infantry Division , parts in November 1940 to the newly established 339th Infantry Division
• Infantry Regiment 205 with three battalions, from the 15th Infantry Division , parts in February 1940 to the newly established 299th Infantry Division and further parts in November 1940 to the newly established 339th Infantry Division
• Artillery Regiment 152
• Reconnaissance Department 152
• Panzerjäger detachment 152
• Engineer Battalion 152
• News Department 152
• Division Resupply Force 152

March 1942

Due to a lack of personnel, the third battalions of the infantry regiments are disbanded

April 1943

Grenadier Regiment 205, former Infantry Regiment 205, is disbanded and two battalions are assigned to the remaining regiments

Commanders

Division commanders of the 52nd ID

period of service	Rank	Surname
1-8 September 1939	Major general	Karl-Adolf Hollidt
September 8, 1939 to October 5, 1940	Major General / Lieutenant General	Hans-Jürgen von Arnim
October 5, 1940 to November 1, 1942	Major General / Lieutenant General	Lothar Rendulic
November 1, 1942 to November 1, 1943	Colonel / Major General / Lieutenant General	Rudolf Peschel

literature

• Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Fifth Volume: The Land Forces 31–70 . Verlag ES Mittler & Sohn, Frankfurt am Main [1965], pp. 176-179.
• Nigel Askey: Operation Barbarossa: the Complete Organizational and Statistical Analysis, and Military Simulation. Volume IIA . Lulu Publishing [2013], p. 678

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Claus Runiger: Excerpts from the war diary of Edward Runiger
2. ↑ ^{a b} Cf. Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Fifth Volume: The Land Forces 31–70 . Verlag ES Mittler & Sohn, Frankfurt am Main [1965], p. 176 f.
3. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham : German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II. Stackpole, 2007. ISBN 0-8117-3416-1 . P. 101.