The 363rd Infantry Division () was an infantry division of the '' Heer'', the ground forces of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, 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 ...

. It was active from December 1943 to August 1944.

History

The 363rd Infantry Division was formed on 28 December 1943 (in response to a directive on 15 December) as an infantry division of the 21st wave of deployment. Assembled in the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

, its core personnel was mainly drawn from former members of the 339th Infantry Division. It initially consisted of the Grenadier Regiments 957, 958 and 959, each with two battalions for a total of six infantry battalions in the division, as well as the Division Fusilier Battalion 363 and the Artillery Regiment 363, the latter with three detachments, as well as various divisional support units. The division was sent on 4 March 1944, still during its assembly, to Schieratz training camp in German-occupied Poland before being rerouted to German-occupied Denmark. After the beginning of the Western Allied Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944, the 363rd Infantry Division was rushed to France, where it was destroyed in the Falaise pocket. Throughout the division's tenure of service, the divisional commander was August Dettling. The division was partially reassembled through the creation of the 363rd Volksgrenadier Division (formerly 566th Volksgrenadier Division) on 17 September 1944.

References

{{Numbered infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944