716th Static Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

716th Infantry Division (Static)
716th Division prisoners during D-Day.
Active	1941–1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Heer
Type	Static Infantry
Role	Coastal Defence
Size	Division (~8,000 men)
Engagements	Invasion of Normandy
Commanders
Notable commanders	Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter

The 716th Static Infantry Division was a German Army static division during World War II.

History

The 716th Static Infantry Division was raised in May 1941 for occupation duties in France. After various deployments within France between 1941 - 1943 it was finally stationed along the Normandy coastline, defending the area between the mouth of the River Orne and the Carentan Estuary. It fought the Allied invasion in the Battle of Normandy and was effectively destroyed on D-Day. It was then reconstituted for use as coastal defense on the Mediterranean coast near Spain. After the secondary Allied invasion in southern France the 716th Division retreated toward Germany, and was destroyed again near Colmar in January 1945. It was reconstituted a second time as the 716th Volksgrenadier Division in April 1945, and surrendered to the Americans in May.

Commanders

• Generalleutnant Otto Matterstock (3 May 1941 - 1 Apr 1943)
• Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter (1 Apr 1943 - ? May 1944)
• Generalmajor Ludwig Krug (? May 1944 - 10 June 1944)
• Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter (10 June 1944 - 14 Aug 1944)
• Generalmajor Otto Schiel (14 Aug 1944 - 1 Sep 1944)
• Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter (1 Sep 1944 - 7 Sep 1944)
• Generalmajor Ernst von Bauer (7 Sep 1944 - 1 Oct 1944)
• Generalmajor Wolf Ewert (30 Dec 1944 - 18 Jan 1945)

Order of Battle (June 1944)

• Command
• 726th Grenadier Regiment (plus the 439th Ost Battalion)
• 736th Grenadier Regiment (plus the 642nd Ost Battalion)
• 1716th Artillery Battalion
• 716th Antitank Battalion
• 716th Engineer Battalion
• 716th Signals Battalion
• 716th Fusilier Battalion
• 441st Ost Battalion

See also

• Volksgrenadier
• Division (military), Military unit, List of German divisions in WWII
• Heer, Wehrmacht

References

• Pipes, Jason. "716.Infanterie-Division". Retrieved April 7, 2005.
• Wendel, Marcus (2004). "716. Infanterie-Division". Retrieved April 7, 2005.
• Wendel, Marcus (2004). "716. Volksgrenadier-Division". Retrieved April 7, 2005.
• Zetterling, Niklas (2005). "German Order of Battle in Normandy". Retrieved July 25, 2008
• "716. Infanterie-Division". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved April 7, 2005.