18th Artillery Division | |
---|---|
18. Artillerie-Division | |
Active | October 1943 - July 1944 |
Country | Nazi Germany |
Branch | German Army |
Type | Artillery |
Role | Fire support |
Size | Division |
Part of | XXXVIII. Armeekorps |
Engagements | World War II |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Generalleutnant Karl Thoholte |
The 18th Artillery Division (German : 18. Artillerie-Division) was a German artillery division formed during World War II in 1943. Being the first independent mobile artillery force it never raised to its planned strength. The division fought at the Eastern Front, suffered heavy losses and was disbanded in 1944.
The 18th Artillery Division was formed by combining the staff and some of the remaining corps troops from the 18th Panzer Division, being disbanded on October 1, with other stray units. This division was the first unit planned as an independent and mobile artillery force; and the planned strength for the division was never achieved. A special element of this division was that it had its own (heavy) infantry element, the Schützen-Abteilung 88 (tmot) (also known as Art.-Kampf-Btln. 88 and Art.-Alarm-Abteilung 18). Having the mission of defending the artillery in all dangerous situations this battalion, thoroughly trained in rear guard actions, saved the division from total destruction no less than three times.
The division was part of the XXXVIII Army Corps in the 1st Panzer Army. It was in action until late March 1944, when it was encircled in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket. With the defeat of the Army Group North Ukraine in April 1944, the division’s combat path came to an end. [2] Though it managed to break through it was depleted and lost all of its heavy equipment. It was listed as an integral unit for the last time in April 1944 as Kampfgruppe 18. Art.Div.; and was disbanded in practice in April 1944. [3] Until November 4, 1944, it was engaged in mostly infantry battles; and due to heavy casualties the division nearly ceased to exist. It was formally disbanded on July 27, 1944. The remaining officers and men from staff and corps troops were used to form the Panzerkorps Großdeutschland and the artillery regiments were reformed into several independent artillery brigades.
The 1st Panzer-Division was an armoured division in the German Army during World War II.
The German 206th Infantry Division, was a military unit that served during World War II. Like most German infantry units it had no motorization, and relied on leg and horse mobility.
The Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. Hermann Göring was a German Luftwaffe armoured division. The HG saw action in France, North Africa, Sicily, Italy and on the Eastern Front during World War II. The division began as a battalion-sized police unit in 1933. Over time it grew into a regiment, brigade, division, and finally was combined with the Parachute-Panzergrenadier Division 2 Hermann Göring on 1 May 1944 to form a Panzer corps under the name Reichsmarschall. It surrendered to the Soviet Army near Dresden on 8 May 1945.
The 334th Infantry Division was a German Army infantry division in World War II. Originally formed in November 1942, it surrendered to the Allies at the conclusion of the Tunisian Campaign in May 1943. The division was reconstituted on 3 June 1943 in France within the 1st Army, with the staff of the 80th Infantry Division as well as remnants of the old division and replacement units. It spent the remainder of the war serving on the Italian Front.
The Panzerkorps Großdeutschland was a German panzer corps in the Wehrmacht which saw action on the Eastern Front in 1944/1945 during World War II.
III Army Corps was a corps level formation of the German Army during World War II.
The Battle of the Kamenets–Podolsky pocket was part of the larger Soviet Proskurov–Chernovtsy offensive, whose main goal was to envelop the Wehrmacht's 1st Panzer Army of Army Group South. The envelopment occurred in late March 1944 on the Eastern Front during the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive. It was the biggest and most important operation of the Dnieper–Carpathian offensive.
This is the complete order of battle of Allied and German forces involved during Operation Market Garden.
The 28th Jäger Division was a German military unit during World War II.
The 21st Infantry Division was a German military unit which fought during World War II.
The 216th Infantry Division was a German Army division that was created during the Second World War; it was active from 1939–1943. It served on the Western Front in 1940 and later took part in the Eastern Front campaign, being involved in the disastrous Battle of Kursk.
The Axis order of battle at Stalingrad is a list of the significant land units that fought in the Battle of Stalingrad on the side of the Axis Powers between September 1942 and February 1943.
The 15th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Army during the interwar period and World War II, active from 1934 to 1945.
The 179th Reserve Panzer Division of the German army in World War II was formed in July 1943. The division was stationed in France from July 1943 to May 1944 when it was disbanded and absorbed by the 116th Panzer Division.
The 389th Infantry Division was a German division of the Wehrmacht in the Second World War, which fought for example in the Battle of Stalingrad. It was formed on 27 January 1942 in Milowitz.
The 31st Infantry Division was a German infantry division of the Army during World War II. It participated in the invasion of Poland in 1939 then the invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940. As part of Panzergruppe 2. of Army Group Centre, it was involved in the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. After hard fighting throughout 1941 and 1942 it joined the 9th Army and fought in the Battle of Kursk in July and August 1943. Along with the rest of the 9th Army, the division conducted a fighting withdrawal for the remainder of 1943, during which it sustained heavy casualties. In the early stages of the Soviet Operation Bagration of June to August 1944, the 31st Infantry Division was destroyed, a fate which subsequently befell most of Army Group Centre. The division was officially disbanded on 18 July 1944.
The 81st Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Army during World War II.
The 88th Infantry Division was a major fighting formation of the German Army (Wehrmacht). It was created in December 1939, and first saw combat in the Battle of France, and was then posted to security duties. From December 1941, the division was shifted to the southern sector of the Eastern Front, where it fought until February 1944 when it was encircled near Cherkassy and virtually destroyed.
The 258th Infantry Division was an infantry unit of the German Army in World War II.
The 339th Infantry Division was a German military unit which fought during World War II.