69th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
|
69th Infantry Division |
|
|---|---|
| active | 1939 to 1945 |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| structure | structure |
| Installation site | Muenster |
| Commanders | |
| list of | Commanders |
The 69th Infantry Division (ID) was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht during World War II .
Division history
Areas of application :
- Westwall in the Eifel Sept. 1939 to Febr. 1940 (then moved to the military district X, based in Hamburg )
- Norway in the Oslo area from April 1940 to November 1942
- Eastern Front in the area in front of Leningrad and on Volkhov Nov. 1942 to Oct. 1943
- Eastern Front in the Newel area, then in Livonia and Lithuania Nov. 1943 to Oct. 1944
- East Prussia in Memel, then in Northeast Pr. and Königsberg October 1944 to April 1945
The 69th ID was set up on August 26, 1939 as part of the 2nd wave of deployment in Military District VI (Münster) . The training was completed during the border security in the Eifel and finally after relocation to the military district X (Hamburg) until the end of March 1940. On April 9, 1940, the 69th Infantry Division belonged to the units that were to be occupied by the Navy in Norway of the country. During Operation Weser Exercise , parts of it took part in the air landing on Sola airfield near Stavanger . The 69th Infantry Division remained in southern Norway as an occupying force until November 1942. When it was transported by ship to Army Group North, the Grenadier Regiment 193 had to be left behind as an army force in Norway. From December 1942 the division was involved in heavy, eventful battles in the Leningrad / Volkhov area. After the Soviets broke into the Newel area, they were moved to the south wing of Army Group North, where attempts were unsuccessful in November and December to recapture Newel. From April 1944, the 69th Infantry Division was in place. in the middle section of the HGr. North near Ostrow in the so-called panther position, the holding of which was supposed to protect the Baltic areas. The disaster of HGr. In the middle of the annihilation battle from June 22, 1944, however, forced the division to move to the 3rd Panzer Army, where a new front, albeit thinly manned, could be held in western Lithuania until the beginning of October 1944. When this was breached, the 69th Infantry Division withdrew to the city of Memel, which remained in German hands until the end of January 1945. As early as December 1944, the division moved again, this time to the front in northeastern East Prussia near Germany's easternmost town Schirwindt. The large-scale Soviet attack on East Prussia on January 13, 1945 then pushed the division back to Königsberg in the most difficult and very loss-making battles, where it was included. Other units succeeded in re-establishing a connection between the city and the Samland, but the attack of the Soviet Army on Königsberg from April 6, 1945 could no longer be stopped. With the surrender of the remnants of the German units under General Lasch, the 69th Infantry Division ceased to exist on April 10, 1945 and went into Soviet captivity.
people
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| August 26, 1939 to September 29, 1941 | General of the artillery | Hermann Tittel |
| September 29, 1941 to February 1, 1944 | Lieutenant General | Bruno Ortner |
| February 1, 1944 to January 20, 1945 | Lieutenant General | Sigfried Rein |
| January 20 to February 9, 1945 | Colonel | Grim |
| February 9, 1945 to April 10, 1945 | Major general | Kaspar Völker |
| period of service | Rank | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| August 26, 1939 to June 16, 1940 | major | Werner Müller |
| June 16, 1940 to August 20, 1941 | major | Helmut Siemoneit |
| August 20, 1941 to September 1, 1943 | major | Erich Vorwerck |
| September 1, 1943 to November 10, 1944 | Lieutenant colonel | Eberhard Henrici |
| November 10, 1944 to 1945 | major | Horst Grüninger |
| February 26 to April 1945 | major | Job from Witzleben |
structure
| 1939 | 1942 | 1943-1945 |
|---|---|---|
| Infantry Regiment 159 | Grenadier Regiment 159 | |
| 193 Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 193 | 157th Grenadier Regiment |
| 236th Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 236 | |
| Reconnaissance Department 169 | Cycling Department 169 | Fusilier Battalion 69 |
| Artillery Regiment 169 | Artillery Regiment 169 | Artillery Regiment 169 |
| Engineer Battalion 169 | ||
| Anti-tank department 169 | Panzerjäger detachment 169 | |
| - | Field Replacement Battalion 169 | |
| News Department 169 | ||
| Supply units 169 | ||
literature
- 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 .
Remarks
- ↑ missing in action
- ↑ delivered to the army on November 3, 1942
- ↑ set up on September 22, 1943 as a replacement for GR 193
- ↑ with four departments
- ↑ submitted IV.Abteilung / Artillery Regiment 269 on 10 December 1942 by the 269th ID
- ^ IV./Artillerie-Regiment 269 on August 25, 1944 reintegrated
