Brief history
On 31 October 1944, the 176th Infantry Division was formed out of the 176th Division and was a “training and replacement” formation. It had a strength of about 7,000 men, most of whom were in a poor shape. The division was nicknamed the "kranken division" (sick division), because it was mostly made up of men deemed unfit for military service, such as the physically handicapped and men with severe allergies. One battalion consisted of men with serious hearing maladies, two comprised Luftwaffe personnel, (but with ample infantry training), while many others were convalescents and semi-invalids.U.S. Army, Order of Battle of the German Army, Washington, 1945, p. 193 In November and December 1944, the Division was part of the XII SS Corps,Commanders
The 176th Division was under the command of ''General-Major'' Christian-Johannes Landau (1897 - 1952). Landau was a World War I veteran and “artilleryman”, he took command of the division on 1 January 1945. He was awarded the Knight's Cross on 9 May 1945, two days after the official surrender of Germany . Landau held a master's degree in agriculture. He was taken into captivity on 9 May 1945 and released in 1947. He died in 1952 in Freiburg, Brunswig at the age of 55.Organisation
The division had been formed in October 1944, it included three Grenadier Regiments (the 1218th, 1219th, and 1220th). It totalled six Grenadier battalions, one Fusilier battalion and one '' Panzerjäger'' (Anti-Tank) battalion. The 1178th Artillery Regiment consisted of four battalions. From captured documents, dating from October 1944, it is believed that the 176th Division operated in so-called Battle Groups ("Notes
Sources
* U.S. Army, Order of Battle of the German Army, Washington, 1945 * Nutter, Thomas E. ''Mythos revisited – American Historians on German Fighting Power in WWII'' "Chapter 10 – Closing in with the enemy"External links