Scharnhorst Infantry Division

The Scharnhorst Infantry Division , also known as the Scharnhorst Volksgrenadier Division , was a German infantry division during World War II .

Division history

The division was formed on March 30, 1945 in the course of the 35th wave of formation from parts of the Potsdam Infantry Division , the 340th Infantry Division , which was smashed in the Hunsrück , and the 167th Infantry Division , which was also destroyed , but mainly from officer and non-commissioned officers' schools (e.g. B. the Pioneer School Dessau and the junior leaders' schools) as well as replacement units formed, set up in the Dessau-Roßlau area in the type of an infantry division 45 for the military district XI . A large part of the staff were thus young, unfamiliar officer cadets and RAD -Men. The division was named after Gerhard von Scharnhorst .

It was used on April 12, 1945 at Barby against Allied troops. From April 23, 1945 the division was the XX. Army Corps assigned to the 12th Army . On April 26, the last attack operation in World War II took place near Beelitz with the formation:

on the left flank: Ulrich von Hutten Infantry Division
in the center: Scharnhorst Infantry Division
on the right flank: Infantry Division "Theodor Körner"

The unit attacked the village of Linthe . Reesdorf could be taken. But Beelitz could not be taken. Overall, there was a short-term gain in space against the surprised Soviet troops. About 3,000 wounded German soldiers from the Beelitz sanctuaries were released from Soviet captivity. Subsequently, the remaining formations of the 9th Army , which had fought in the Halbe pocket, are accepted. On May 2, 1945, the division went into US captivity near Tangermünde .

Commanders

Colonel in the General Staff Heinrich Borgmann : from the establishment to the beginning of April 1945
Major General / Lieutenant General Heinrich Götz : from the beginning of April 1945 until dissolution

structure

Grenadier Regiment Scharnhorst 1st
Grenadier Regiment Scharnhorst 2 (formed from members of the Luftwaffe )
Grenadier Regiment Scharnhorst 3rd
Artillery Regiment Scharnhorst (from parts of Volks-Artillerie-Korps 412)
Fusilier Battalion Scharnhorst (from the destroyed Infantry Division Potsdam)
Panzerjäger battalion Scharnhorst with Jagdpanzer 38 (t) , but also with a company with Panjewagen and horses
Scharnhorst Pioneer Battalion
News Battalion Scharnhorst

Well-known members of the division

Sigo Lehming : as a sergeant candidate with the formation in the division and from April 1945 in the Grenadier Regiment Scharnhorst 3

literature

Günther W. Gellermann : Wenck's army, Hitler's last hope . Bernard & Graefe, 1990, ISBN 978-3-7637-5870-8 , p. 38 ff.
Samuel W. Mitcham (2007). German Order of Battle. Volume Two: 291st - 999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII. PA; United States of America: Stackpole Books. P. 229, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 .
Heinz Ulrich: The infantry division "Scharnhorst". Ziethen Verlag, Oschersleben 2011, ISBN 978-3-86289-016-3 .

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Matthias Helle: Post-war years in the province: the Brandenburg district of Zauch-Belzig 1945 to 1952 . Lukas Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86732-111-2 , pp. 25 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).
^ ^A ^b Matthias Helle: Post-war years in the province: the Brandenburg district of Zauch-Belzig 1945 to 1952 . Lukas Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86732-111-2 , pp. 24 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).
↑ Werner Filmer, Heribert Schwan: Hans-Dietrich Genscher . Moewig near Ullstein, 1993, ISBN 978-3-8118-2815-5 , p. 66 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).
^ Matthias Helle: Post-war years in the province: the Brandenburg district of Zauch-Belzig 1945 to 1952 . Lukas Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86732-111-2 , pp. 27 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).
↑ Werner Filmer, Heribert Schwan: Hans-Dietrich Genscher . Moewig near Ullstein, 1993, ISBN 978-3-8118-2815-5 , p. 69 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).

[:0-1] A ^b Matthias Helle: Post-war years in the province: the Brandenburg district of Zauch-Belzig 1945 to 1952 . Lukas Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86732-111-2 , pp. 25 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).

[:1-2] A ^b Matthias Helle: Post-war years in the province: the Brandenburg district of Zauch-Belzig 1945 to 1952 . Lukas Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86732-111-2 , pp. 24 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).

[3] Werner Filmer, Heribert Schwan: Hans-Dietrich Genscher . Moewig near Ullstein, 1993, ISBN 978-3-8118-2815-5 , p. 66 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).

[4] Matthias Helle: Post-war years in the province: the Brandenburg district of Zauch-Belzig 1945 to 1952 . Lukas Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86732-111-2 , pp. 27 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).

[5] Werner Filmer, Heribert Schwan: Hans-Dietrich Genscher . Moewig near Ullstein, 1993, ISBN 978-3-8118-2815-5 , p. 69 ( google.de [accessed on January 27, 2019]).