31st Infantry Division | |
---|---|
31. Infanteriedivision — 31. InfDiv — | |
Active | 1 October 1936 – 8 May 1945 |
Disbanded | 18 July 1944 (subsequently re-formed) |
Country | Nazi Germany |
Branch | Army |
Type | Infantry |
Size | Division |
Part of | 2nd Panzer Army, 9th Army, others |
Nickname(s) | Lion Division |
Engagements | World War II |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders |
The 31st Infantry Division (German : 31. Infanterie-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 division was initially re-formed on 21 July 1944 as the 31st Grenadier Division, but was soon re-designated as the 31st Volksgrenadier Division and returned to the front line in September 1944 as part of Army Group North. Army Group North was subsequently re-designated Army Group Courland in October 1944 when it was cut off from the rest of the German Army on the Courland Peninsula in northwestern Latvia. Army Group Courland remained encircled for the rest of the war, but several divisions, including the 31st Volksgrenadier Division were evacuated by sea to Germany in January 1945. The division joined the newly formed Army Group Vistula and fought in the Danzig area before being captured by the Red Army in May 1945. Twenty-three awards of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross were made to members serving with the division, along with two awards of the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. Two of its commanders were killed in action.
The division was created on 1 October 1936 recruited from the Braunschweig region of north-central Germany within Wehrkreis XI. [1] The division was established with three infantry regiments of three battalions each. [2] The divisional emblem was a standing lion. [1]
The division saw combat under the command of Generalleutnant (Major General) Rudolf Kaempfe during the invasion of Poland in 1939 as part of the Tenth Army's XVI Motorised Corps, [3] which included a role for the division in the drive on Warsaw. [4] After a reorganisation it then participated in heavy fighting during the invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940, [5] as part of XI Corps and the Sixth Army of Army Group B. [6]
In June 1941 it took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union as part of General der Panzertruppe (Lieutenant General) Heinz Guderian's Panzergruppe 2. of Army Group Centre. The 31st Division initially fought in battles for Białystok and Minsk. [5] During the battle for Smolensk which commenced on 17 July 1941, the division was part of Generaloberst (General) Maximilian von Weichs's 2nd Army, as part of the XII Corps. [7]
It was also involved in fighting at Bryansk, and was engaged in the failed attempt to encircle Tula southeast of Moscow (in late 1941). Other bitter fighting fell to the 31st Division in the winter of 1941/42. Generaloberst Walter Model's 9th Army, XLVI Panzer Corps, in the Kursk area in 1943 where it took part in rear-guard skirmishes in the Middle Dnieper area of Ukraine. It was almost completely annihilated to the east of Minsk in June/July 1944. Its commanding officer, Generalleutnant Willifrank Ochsner, was taken prisoner along with most of the remaining troops. [5]
The recovering wounded and new recruits were organized into a new 31st Division in Germany in the fall of 1944; initially designated the 31st Grenadier Division, it was later merged with the newly created 550th Grenadier Division to form the 31st Volksgrenadier Division. In September 1944 this division successfully participated in the early battles to defend the Courland Peninsula, (Latvia). In early 1945 the division was evacuated by sea to northern Germany where it fought its last campaigns with Army Group Vistula. [8] In late January 1945 it was part of the garrison defending the East Prussian city of Thorn on the Vistula from the Red Army. [9] After destroying the bridges over the river at Thorn, the division fought its way west and north in an attempt to breakout from Soviet encirclement. When it reached a crossing point about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Kulm in early February, the ice was melting and the Red Army was closing in. [10] In May 1945 it surrendered to Russian troops on the Hel Peninsula, a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in Northern Poland that separates the Bay of Puck from the Baltic Sea. Ochsner remained a Soviet prisoner until 1955. [5]
The division was mobilised on 28 August 1939. Its initial composition was: [2] [11]
In January 1940 the divisional replacement battalion became part of the 181st Infantry Division, and II battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment (I/12) became part of the 295th Infantry Division and a new battalion was raised to replace it. In October 1940 roughly a third of the division was used as the core of the 131st Infantry Division, but the donated units were replaced. In 1942, II/12, II/17 and III/82 were disbanded and from this point onwards the infantry regiments of the division consisted of only two battalions each. In May 1944, the divisional fusilier battalion was formed from the divisional reconnaissance battalion, and the division absorbed the 566th Grenadier Regiment of the 52nd Field Recruit Division which was being broken up. At this point the division comprised the following major units: [2]
In June 1944, the division was destroyed while serving with Army Group Centre, and it was officially disbanded on 18 July 1944. [2]
On 21 July 1944, the 31st Grenadier Division was formed using a combination of the remnants of the 31st Infantry Division and a re-designation of the 550th (Sperr) Division of the 29th Wave. The major units of the division comprised: [2]
On 9 September 1944, the 31st Grenadier Division was re-formed as the 31st Volksgrenadier Division, and some minor re-organisation was affected. The re-organisation was completed in Danzig on 17 January 1945. [2]
The following officers commanded the division: [1]
The 218th Infantry Division (218.Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of the German Army that served in World War II.
The 212th Infantry Division was a German infantry division that fought in World War II. It was destroyed in Lithuania, and reconstituted as the 578th Volksgrenadier Division before being renamed the 212th Volksgrenadier Division.
The 3rd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Army that fought in World War II. The division was established under the cover name Wehrgauleitung Frankfurt in 1934 by expanding the 3rd Division of the Reichswehr. It was redesignated Kommandant von Frankfurt shortly afterward, and took on its bona fide name when the formation of the Wehrmacht was announced in October 1935. In March 1939 the division took part in the invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia.
The German 5th Infantry Division was formed in October 1934 and mobilized on 25 August 1939. The division's troops were garrisoned in Konstanz, Ulm, and Freiburg. When formed, the division consisted of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd battalions of the 14th, 56th, and 75th Infantry Regiments, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions of the 5th Artillery Regiment, the 1st battalion of the 41st Artillery Regiment, and assorted 5th Division support units.
The 6th Infantry Division was a unit of the German Army during World War II.
The 28th Jäger Division was a German military unit during World War II.
The 79th Infantry Division(79. Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht during World War II.
The 83rd Infantry Division,, was a German reserve and security formation during World War II.
The 246th InfantryDivision was a division of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. Towards the end of the war, it was redeployed under the name 246th Volksgrenadier Division.
The 14th Panzer Division was an armoured division in the German Army during World War II. It was created in 1940 by the conversion of the 4th Infantry Division.
117th Jäger Division was a German infantry division of World War II. The division was formed in April 1943 by the reorganization and redesignation of the 717th Infantry Division. The 717th Division had been formed in April 1941. It was transferred to Yugoslavia in May 1941, to conduct anti-Četnik and anti partisan and Internal security operations.
The 45th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Towards the end of the war, the division was reassembled into a second iteration, the 45th Volksgrenadier Division
The 11th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the Wehrmacht that was initially founded as a cover formation during the Reichswehr era. It was active from 1934 to 1945.
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 708th Infantry Division was a German Army infantry division in World War II.
The 50th Infantry Division was a German army division in World War II. It was formed on 26 August 1939 from the Grenzkommandantur Küstrin.
The 81st Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Army during World War II. It was active from 1939 until 1945 and served primarily on the Eastern Front.
The 256th Infantry Division was a German infantry division in World War II. They formed in August 1939 as part of the 4. Welle (wave). The division was destroyed at Vitebsk in June 1944 during Operation Bagration. The remnants of the division formed Divisions-Gruppe 256 which was assigned to Korpsabteilung H.
The 15th Panzer Division was an armoured division in the German Army, the Wehrmacht, during World War II, established in 1940.
The 183rd Infantry Division was a German infantry division in World War II.