The 339th Infantry Division was a

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military unit which fought during

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 ...

History

The 339th Infantry Division was created in December 1940 as an infantry division of the 14th

Aufstellungswelle In the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II, infantry divisions were raised as part of a designated ''Aufstellungswelle'' (deployment wave) or ''Welle'' (wave), sometimes translated as "draft". The ''Aufstellungswelle'' system was adopt ...

in military district IX in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

. In May 1941 it was moved to the border with the Soviet Union. After

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 ...

, the 339th ID was deployed in August 1941 in the rear area of

Army Group Center Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the So ...

near

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and

Bobruisk Babruysk (, ) or Bobruysk (, ; , ) is a city in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Babruysk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is situated on the Berezina River. Babruysk o ...

in Belarus. From January 1942 to January 1943, the 339th ID fought in the

Battles of Rzhev The Battles of Rzhev () were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between 8 January 1942 and 31 March 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place in the northeast of Smolensk Oblast and the south of Tve ...

with the

2nd Panzer Army The 2nd Panzer Army () was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941. Organisation Panzer Group Guderian () was formed on 5 June 1940 and named after its commander, general Heinz Gude ...

around

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. In Summer 1943, the Division fought in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...

, still as part of the 2nd Panzer Army, under the LV Army Corps. In October 1943, the Division became part of the

4th Panzer Army The 4th Panzer Army (), operating as Panzer Group 4 () from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, was a German panzer formation during World War II. As a key armoured component of the Wehrmacht, the army took part in the crucial ...

under

Army Group South Army Group South () was the name of one of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland, Army Group South was led by Ge ...

. On 2 November 1943, after suffering heavy losses in the

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 on the Eastern Front of World War II. Being one of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost four million troops at one point and stretched over a front. Ov ...

, the remnants of the 339th ID formed ''Divisions-Gruppe 339'' and was combined with the remains of other divisions to form Korps-Abteilung C. The 339th ID itself was disbanded.

Commanders

* Generalleutnant Georg Hewelke (15 December 1940 - January 1942) - died of a heart attack * Generalleutnant Kurt Pflugradt (January - 8 December 1942) * Generalmajor Martin Ronicke (8 December 1942 - 1 October 1943) * Generalmajor Wolfgang Lange (1 October 1943 – 15 November 1943)

Sources

Axis History
* Georg Tessin: Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945. Band 9. Die Landstreitkräfte 281 – 370. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1974, ISBN 3-7648-1174-9. {{DEFAULTSORT:339th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1943 Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II