The 163rd Infantry Division () was a

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

infantry division A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Formed in November 1939, it was engaged in the

invasion of Norway Invasion of Norway may refer to: *1033 invasion by Tryggvi the Pretender *1567 Swedish invasion during the Northern Seven Years' War *1658 Swedish invasion during the Second Northern War *1716 Swedish invasion during the Great Northern War *1808 S ...

the following year. It fought alongside the Finnish Army during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

against the Soviet Union. During this time, the division's transit through neutral Sweden caused the Midsummer Crisis of 1941. The division spent most of the war in Finland, before being returned to Germany. It was destroyed in March 1945 in

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

by the

First Polish Army First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, subordinated to the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (, ''Pervyy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian"), known without a numeral as the Belorussian Front between October 1943 and February 1944, was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, bein ...

History

The 163rd Infantry Division was raised in November 1939. In April 1940 it was employed in the

, landing at

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

, and

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

. It was troops from this division that were present on the heavy cruiser Blücher when it was sunk in the

Battle of Drøbak Sound The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in Drøbak Sound, the northernmost part of the outer Oslofjord in southern Norway, on 9 April 1940. It marked the end of the "Phoney War" and the beginning of World War II in Western Front of World War II, ...

in the early hours of the invasion of Norway. Thereafter it remained on occupation duty in Norway until June 1941, when it was subordinated to the Finnish army to support operations along the

River Svir The Svir (; ; Karelian and Finnish: ) is a river in Podporozhsky, Lodeynopolsky, and Volkhovsky districts in the north-east of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It flows westwards from Lake Onega to Lake Ladoga, thus connecting the two largest l ...

during

. In the early stages of Operation Barbarossa and the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

the 163rd Division was to be transferred from Norway to Finland, and Sweden decided to allow safe transit of the division by railway through Swedish territory. The decision was in conflict with the Swedish neutrality-policy causing a political crisis (the " Midsummer Crisis" of 1941), and it raised many challenging questions about Sweden's neutrality during World War II. Today this remains a highly debated subject in Sweden and in the Nordic countries. The division was transferred 25 June to 12 July. In Swedish literature the division is better known as "Division Engelbrecht", after its commander at the time. The transport took the route Charlottenberg-Laxå-Hallsberg-Krylbo-Ånge-Vännäs-Boden-Haparanda. In February 1942 it joined the

German XXXVI Mountain Corps __NOTOC__The XXXVI Corps was a German military formation in World War II. It was formed in October 1939 and took part in the invasion of France. In August 1940 the corps was moved to southern Norway and from there to northern Finland. It took pa ...

near

Kandalaksha Kandalaksha () is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandalaksha Gulf on the White Sea, north of the Arctic Circle. Population: 40,564 ( 2002 Census); Etymology According to the most common ...

, and remained there until the Germans withdrew from Finland back into Norway in autumn 1944. In early 1945 it was transferred back to Germany, standing in reserve for a time at Berlin, then destroyed by the Soviets in

in March.

Organization

Structure of the division: * Headquarters ** 307th Infantry Regiment ** 310th Infantry Regiment ** 324th Infantry Regiment ** 234th Artillery Regiment ** 234th Reconnaissance Battalion ** 234th Tank Destroyer Battalion ** 234th Engineer Battalion ** 234th Signal Battalion ** 234th Field Replacement Battalion ** 234th Divisional Supply Group

Commanding officers

*General der Artillerie

Erwin Engelbrecht Erwin Engelbrecht (12 November 1891 in ''Wildpark'' Potsdam – 8 April 1964 in Munich) was a German military officer. Career In January 1939 Engelbrecht was promoted to General, in September 1942 to General of the Artillery. During 1939-1942 ...

, 25 October 1939 – 15 June 1942 *General der Infanterie

Anton Dostler Anton Dostler (10 May 1891 – 1 December 1945) was a German army officer who fought in both World Wars. During World War II, he commanded several units as a General of the Infantry, primarily in Italy. After the Axis defeat, Dostler was executed ...

, 15 June 1942 – 28 December 1942 *Generalleutnant

Karl Rübel __NOTOC__ Karl Rübel (16 August 1895 – 8 March 1945) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Rübel was killed on 8 March 1945 near Schivelbein, Pomerania, during th ...

, 29 December 1942 – 8 March 1945

References

External links

* Pipes, Jason.
163.Infanterie-Division
. Retrieved April 9, 2005. * Wendel, Marcus (2004).
163. Infanterie-Division
. Retrieved April 9, 2005. *

. German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved April 9, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:163rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) German units in the Arctic Continuation War Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II 1939 establishments in Germany Sweden in World War II

History

Organization

Commanding officers

See also

References

External links