21st Air Force Field Division
|
21st Air Force Field Division |
|
|---|---|
| active | December 1942 as Luftwaffen-Feld-Division from the Luftwaffen-Division Meindl until May 8, 1945 (surrender) |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Branch of service | infantry |
| Type | Infantry Division |
| structure | structure |
| Location | Minzewo |
| Nickname | The Eagles |
| Second World War | German-Soviet War |
| Commanders | |
| list of | Commanders |
The 21st Air Force Field Division , from November 1, 1943 Field Division 21 (L) , was a major unit of the Wehrmacht in the German Reich .
history
The division was formed in December 1942 in the Minzewo area with Army Group North from the Meindl Air Force Division and taken over into the Army on November 1, 1943 as Field Division 21 (L). During this time she earned the plaque of honor of the 21st Air Force Field Division . The division was deployed in the area of Army Group North south of Lake Ilmen near Staraya Russa . In early 1944, the division was reclassified to a new type of infantry division. In the course of the retreat movements, the division reached Courland via Latvia and suffered heavy losses, among other things, the II. Division / Art.Reg.21 was destroyed in June 1944. In November the division was incorporated into the 329th Infantry Division, except for the Div. Staff and Div. Units . Until the end of the war, the staff and the remnants of the division took part in the battles in the Kurland basin as Kampfgruppe Barth .
Storage and operational areas
| date | corps | army | Army Group | Operational area |
| January 1943 | X | 16th Army | North | Staraya Russa |
| April 1943 | Scorn | |||
| June 1943 | VIII | |||
| March 1944 | VI. SS | 18th Army | Opochka | |
| April 1944 | XXXVIII. | Latvia | ||
| October 1944 | Courland | |||
| November 1944 | Kleffel | |||
| December 1944 | VI. SS | 16th Army | ||
| January 1945 | XVI. | |||
| February 1945 1 | XXXXIII. | |||
| March 1945 1 | XVI. | |||
1 : Stick only
Commanders
| date | Rank | Surname | |
| December 1942 | Lieutenant General | Richard Schimpf | |
| October 12, 1943 | Major general | Rudolf-Eduard Licht | |
| April 1, 1944 | Major general | Rudolf Goltzsch | |
| April 8, 1944 | Major general | Rudolf-Eduard Licht | |
| August 18, 1944 | Lieutenant General | Albert Henze | |
| February 16, 1945 | Major general | Otto Barth | |
structure
As of November 1943
- Air Force Jäger Regiment 41 (L)
- Air Force Jäger Regiment 42 (L)
- Air Force Jäger Regiment 43 (L)
- Luftwaffe Artillery Regiment 21 (L)
- Felders.Btl. 21 (L)
- Pz.Jg.Abt.21 (L)
- Radf.Kp.21 (L)
- Pioneer bag 21 (L)
- Message section 21 (L)
- Kdr.d.Div. Supply Tray 21 (L)
- Administrative troops
- Medical services 21 (L):
- Medical company 21 (L)
- Medical train (mot.) 21 (L)
- Field Post Office 921
As of January 1944
- Air Force Jäger Regiment 41 (L)
- Air Force Jäger Regiment 42 (L)
- Air Force Jäger Regiment 43 (L)
- Combat group shooter
- Div.Füs.Btl.21 (L)
- Luftwaffe Artillery Regiment 21 (L)
- Felders.Btl. 21 (L)
- Pz.Jg.Abt.21 (L)
- Pi.Btl.21 (L)
- Message section 21 (L)
- Kdr.d.Div. Supply door 21 (L)
- Administrative troops
- Medical services 21 (L):
- Medical company 21 (L)
- Sick Collection Company 21 (L)
- Field Hospital 21 (L)
- Ambulance vehicle company 21 (L)
- Troop Detox Train 21 (L)
- Field Post Office 921
As of December 1944
The remaining divisional units were called the Henze Group. These included:
- Pz.Jg.Abt.21 (L, Stab)
- Art.Reg.21 (L, rod)
- Message section 21 (L)
- Kdr.d.Div. Replenishment. 21 (L)
- Medical services 21 (L):
- 1st Medical Company 21 (L)
- 2nd Medical Company 21 (L)
from November 2, 1944 only Medical Company 21 (L) - Ambulance train 21 (L)
- Field Post Office 921
Status February 1945
The remnants of the division, now known as Gruppe Nord or Gruppe Barth, still owned
- Pz.Jg.Abt.21 (L, Stab)
- Art.Reg.21 (L, rod)
- Felders.Btl. 21 (L)
- Message section 21 (L)
- Kdr.d.Div. Supply Tray 21 (L)
- Administrative troops
- Medical services 21 (L):
- Medical company 21 (L)
- Ambulance train 21 (L)
- Field Post Office 921
Web links
- Michael Holm, “ Luftwaffen-Feld-Division 21, ” The Luftwaffe, 1933–45, April 25, 2006, accessed January 6, 2009.
- Jan Linzmaier, “ 21st Field Division (L) ”, Die deutsche Wehrmacht, May 1, 2008, accessed January 6, 2009.
literature
- Denzel, Egon: The Luftwaffe field divisions 1942–1945 and the special units of the Luftwaffe during the war 1939–1945 , Vowinckel-Verlag, Neckargemünd 1963.
- Franzen, Herbert: 329th Infantry Division: memories from the fighting 1942-1945 (self-published).
- Haupt, Werner: Demjansk - A bulwark in the east , Bad Nauheim 1963.
- Haupt, Werner: Army Group North , Bad Nauheim 1967.
- Haupt, Werner: Kurland 1944/45 - the forgotten Army Group , Friedberg 1979.
- Jagolski, Georg: The Air Force Field Divisions 1942–1945 , self-published, Cuxhaven 1993.
- Jagolski, Georg: Chronicle of the 21st Air Force Field Division 1942–1945 - self-published, Cuxhaven 1987 (extended edition 1992).
- Kurowski, Franz: Demjansk - The Kettle in the Ice , Wölfersheim-Berstadt 2001.
- Lodieu, Didier: La division Meindl .
- Muñoz, Antonio: Goering's Grenadiers: The Luftwaffe Field Divisions, 1942–1945 .
- Pape, Klaus: 329th Infantry Division: Cholm - Demjansk - Kurland , Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, ISBN 3-938845-10-4 .
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 4. The Land Forces 15–30 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1976, ISBN 3-7648-1083-1 , p. 169 .
- Federal archive war diary of the division inventory RL 34
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Holm, " Luftwaffen-Feld-Division 21, " The Luftwaffe, 1933–45, April 25, 2006, accessed January 6, 2009.
