96th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
96th Infantry Division |
|
---|---|
active | September 21, 1939 to May 1945 |
Country | German Empire |
Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
Armed forces | army |
Branch of service | infantry |
Type | Infantry Division |
structure | structure |
Strength | 15,000 debit |
Installation site | Bergen / Lüneburg Heath |
Nickname | Watzmann |
Second World War | German-Soviet War |
The 96th Infantry Division (ID) was a major military unit of the Wehrmacht , which fought in theaters of war on the western and eastern fronts during the Second World War .
Division history
The 96th Infantry Division was set up on September 21, 1939 at the Bergen military training area near Celle as the 5th wave of the military district XI . Permanent personnel from military districts VI and II were also used to replenish the population. The field usability should originally be established in November 1939. From 1940 to 1941 the 96th Infantry Division was still largely inactive, from August 1940 to February 1941 it was even on leave.
From August 1941, the 96th ID took part in Operation Barbarossa . The division was involved in the battles for the Leningrad blockade as part of the 16th Army . In 1942 the total number of infantry battalions was reduced to six, with I.Btl./283, I.Btl./284 and III.Btl./287 being disbanded.
In early 1944, the 96th Infantry Division was withdrawn from northern Russia and deployed in western Ukraine . The 96th Infantry Division was enclosed by several Soviet rifle and tank divisions in the so-called “ Hube Kessel ” or “Wandering Kessel” near Kamenez-Podolski . After a successful outbreak, the decimated bandage had to be refreshed. The division spent the remainder of 1944 in the Beskids . During the final phase of World War II, the 96th Infantry Division was stationed in Hungary , Slovenia and Austria from January 1945 to May 1945 . In Lower Austria she was taken prisoner by the US, but was partially handed over to the Soviet Union.
date | Army Corps | army | Army Group | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
December 1939 | XXV | 7th Army | C. | Upper Rhine |
January to May 1940 | reserve | Bruchsal | ||
June 1940 | XXXXIII | 9th Army | B. | Eastern France |
July 1940 | 1st Army | C. | ||
August 1940 to February 1941 | Provision | - | - | WK XI |
March to April 1941 | XXXXII | 16th Army | A. | Northern France |
May to June 1941 | 15th Army | D. | ||
July 1941 | in transit | - | center | - |
August 1941 | reserve | 16th Army | North | Staraya Russa |
September 1941 | XXVIII | |||
October 1941 | XXXIX | |||
November 1941 | I. | |||
December 1941 to November 1942 | XXVIII | 18th Army | Volkhov | |
December 1942 to February 1943 | XXVI | |||
March 1943 to January 1944 | XXVIII | |||
February to March 1944 | LIX | 4th Panzer Army | south | Shepetovka |
April 1944 | XXXXVI | 1st Panzer Army | Northern Ukraine | Tarnopoly |
May 1944 | XXXXVIII | 4th Panzer Army | ||
June to July 1944 | 1st Panzer Army | Brody | ||
August 1944 | XXIV | Beskydy Mountains | ||
September 1944 | XI. SS | |||
October to December 1944 | 17th Army | A. | ||
January 1945 | in transit | - | south | Hungary |
February to March 1945 | I. Cavalry Corps | 6th Army | Hungary | |
April 1945 | XXXXIII | 8th Army | Pressburg , Vienna | |
May 1945 | Ostmark | Lower Danube |
structure
November 1939 | July 1944 |
---|---|
283rd Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 283 |
284th Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 284 |
287th Infantry Regiment | Grenadier Regiment 287 |
Artillery Regiment 196 | |
- | Division Fusilier Battalion 96 |
Division units 196 (instead of the reconnaissance department, only cycling squadron 196) |
Commanders
- General of the Infantry Erwin Vierow September 15, 1939 to August 5, 1940
- Lieutenant General Wolf Schede August 7, 1940 to April 10, 1942
- Lieutenant General Joachim von Schleinitz April 10 to October 6, 1942
- Lieutenant General Ferdinand Noeldechen October 9, 1942 to June 28, 1943
- Lieutenant General Richard Wirtz July 28 to November 30, 1943
- Major General von Blücher December 1, 1943 to January 1944
- Colonel Fischer January to August 1944
- Lieutenant General Werner Dürking September 1 to September 11, 1944
- Lieutenant General Richard Wirtz October 3 to November 10, 1944
- Major General Hermann Harrendorf December 1, 1944 to May 8, 1945
literature
- Hartwig Pohlman: History of the 96th Infantry Division 1939–1945 . Edited on behalf of the traditional association of the former 96th Infantry Division (Kameradenhilfswerk 96 e.V.). Podzun Verlag, Bad Nauheim 1959 (memory book).
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Sixth volume. The Land Forces 71–130 . Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1972, ISBN 3-7648-0872-1 , pp. 142-146.
Web links
- History of the 96th Infantry Division ( Memento of March 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in the Second World War 1939–1945. Sixth volume. The Land Forces 71–130 . Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1972, ISBN 3-7648-0872-1 , p. 142.
- ^ A b c d e Georg Tessin: Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in World War II 1939–1945. Sixth volume. The Land Forces 71–130 . Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1972, ISBN 3-7648-0872-1 , p. 143.
- ↑ Cf. Gerhart Hass: The German Historiography on the Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944) . In: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswwissenschaft 54, 2006, Issue 2, pp. 139–162, here p. 149.