31st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht): Difference between revisions
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The German '''31st Infantry Division''', formed in October of 1936, was made up of recruits from the Brunswick region (Braunschweig) of north-central Germany. The division’s emblem was a standing lion. The 31st Division saw combat in Poland in 1939, and then heavy fighting in Belgium and France in 1940. In June of 1941 it took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union as part of the 2nd Panzer Army in the central section. The 31st Division fought in battles for Bialystok, Minsk, Smolensk and Bryansk, and was engaged in the failed attempt to encircle Tula southeast of Moscow (late 1941). Other bitter fighting fell to the 31st Division in the winter of 1941/42. It was then joined to the 9th Army, 46th Panzerkorps, in the Kursk area in 1943 where it took part in rear-guard skirmishes in the Middle Dneiper area of the Ukraine. During the Fall of 1943 the 31st was involved in 28 major battles in which 35 of its 70 officers fell and the total strength of the unit fell from 1400 to 70. |
The German '''31st Infantry Division''', formed in October of 1936, was made up of recruits from the Brunswick region (Braunschweig) of north-central Germany. The division’s emblem was a standing lion. The 31st Division saw combat in Poland in 1939, and then heavy fighting in Belgium and France in 1940. In June of 1941 it took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union as part of the 2nd Panzer Army in the central section. The 31st Division fought in battles for Bialystok, Minsk, Smolensk and Bryansk, and was engaged in the failed attempt to encircle Tula southeast of Moscow (late 1941). Other bitter fighting fell to the 31st Division in the winter of 1941/42. It was then joined to the 9th Army, 46th Panzerkorps, in the Kursk area in 1943 where it took part in rear-guard skirmishes in the Middle Dneiper area of the Ukraine. During the Fall of 1943 the 31st was involved in 28 major battles in which 35 of its 70 officers fell and the total strength of the unit fell from 1400 to 70. Then in June/July of 1944 the 31st Infantry Division was almost completely anihillated to the East of Minsk. It’s commanding officer Lieutenant-General Wilhelm Ochsner* was taken prisoner along with most of the remaining troops. (*Ochsner had been promoted to Lieutenant General on June 1, 1944. He was a Soviet prisoner until 1955.) The returning 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 550th Grenadier Division to form the 31st Volksgrenadier Division. In September of 1944 this Division participated successfully in the early battles to defend the Courland Peninsula (Latvia). In early 1945 the 31st Grenadier was evacuated by sea to northern Germany where it fought its last campaigns with the Army Group Vistula. In May of 1945 it surrendured to the Russian troops on the Hela Peninsula (a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in Northern Poland that separates the Bay of Puck from the Baltic Sea). |
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German Order of Battle Volume Three: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Divisions in WWII, by Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., (Stackpole Military History Series), Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007. pages 76-77 |
German Order of Battle Volume Three: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Divisions in WWII, by Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., (Stackpole Military History Series), Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007. pages 76-77 |
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the unit fell from 1400 to 70..<ref>Mitcham Jr. 2007, p. 76.</ref> |
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He was a Soviet prisoner until 1955.)<ref>Mitcham Jr. 2007, p. 77.</ref> |
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== Notes == |
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{{Reflist|2}} |
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== References == |
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*Mitcham Jr., S.W. (2007). "German Order of Battle Volume Three", ''Stackpole Books'', 76, 77. |
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Revision as of 04:02, 15 September 2010
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The German 31st Infantry Division, formed in October of 1936, was made up of recruits from the Brunswick region (Braunschweig) of north-central Germany. The division’s emblem was a standing lion. The 31st Division saw combat in Poland in 1939, and then heavy fighting in Belgium and France in 1940. In June of 1941 it took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union as part of the 2nd Panzer Army in the central section. The 31st Division fought in battles for Bialystok, Minsk, Smolensk and Bryansk, and was engaged in the failed attempt to encircle Tula southeast of Moscow (late 1941). Other bitter fighting fell to the 31st Division in the winter of 1941/42. It was then joined to the 9th Army, 46th Panzerkorps, in the Kursk area in 1943 where it took part in rear-guard skirmishes in the Middle Dneiper area of the Ukraine. During the Fall of 1943 the 31st was involved in 28 major battles in which 35 of its 70 officers fell and the total strength of the unit fell from 1400 to 70. Then in June/July of 1944 the 31st Infantry Division was almost completely anihillated to the East of Minsk. It’s commanding officer Lieutenant-General Wilhelm Ochsner* was taken prisoner along with most of the remaining troops. (*Ochsner had been promoted to Lieutenant General on June 1, 1944. He was a Soviet prisoner until 1955.) The returning 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 550th Grenadier Division to form the 31st Volksgrenadier Division. In September of 1944 this Division participated successfully in the early battles to defend the Courland Peninsula (Latvia). In early 1945 the 31st Grenadier was evacuated by sea to northern Germany where it fought its last campaigns with the Army Group Vistula. In May of 1945 it surrendured to the Russian troops on the Hela Peninsula (a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in Northern Poland that separates the Bay of Puck from the Baltic Sea).
References
German Order of Battle Volume Three: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Divisions in WWII, by Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., (Stackpole Military History Series), Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2007. pages 76-77
the unit fell from 1400 to 70..[1] He was a Soviet prisoner until 1955.)[2]
Notes
References
- Mitcham Jr., S.W. (2007). "German Order of Battle Volume Three", Stackpole Books, 76, 77.
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Comment:
The Artillerie Regiment 31 of the German 31st Infantry Division (31. Infanterie-Division) is not to be confused with the SS Artillerie Regiment 31 which was part of the Batschka Division that was formed in Hungary in 1944 with German conscripts and previous troops of the Kama Division after the breakup of the Kama Division caused by the desertion of Bosnian Muslim troops.