The 36th Infantry Division was a German

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

formation of

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 formed in

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

on 1 October 1936. During World War II it was mobilized in August 1939, as part of the first wave. It was later reorganized and re-designated the 36th Infantry Division (mot) in November 1940. It was then de-motorized, reorganized and re-designated the 36th Infantry Division on 1 May 1943. The division was destroyed at Bobruysk in June 1944 during the Soviet

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

. It was reformed on 3 August 1944 as the 36th Grenadier Division and renamed the 36th Volksgrenadier Division in October 1944.

Operational history

The division was formed in October 1936 with men from

, and consisted largely of Bavarian Palatinates.

France

During the German invasion of France the 36th Infantry Division was part of Army Group A's 16th Army, where it served with VII Corps. Crossing into France through the

Chiers The Chiers (; , ) is a river in Luxembourg, Belgium and France. It is a right tributary of the Meuse. The total length of the Chiers is approximately , of which in France. The source of the Chiers is near Differdange, in Luxembourg. The Chiers ...

, the corps' objective was a commune by the name of La Ferté. The 70th Infantry Regiment was transferred to the 111th Infantry Division during this stay.

Eastern Front

The division took part in

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 ...

as part of

XXXXI Panzer Corps XXXXI Panzer Corps (also written as: XLI Panzer Corps) was a Panzer (armoured) corps in the German German Army (Wehrmacht), Army during World War II. Operational history The corps was originally formed, as the XXXXI Corps, on 5 February 1940 in ...

, itself attached to

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

. In late October the division helped establish a bridgehead near Kalinin, which it did so while under heavy Soviet fire. In December 1941, the division had reached just west of

Klin KLIN (1400 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. It is licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, and is owned by NRG Media. The studios are in Broadcast House at 44th Street and East O Street ( U.S. Route 34). KLIN i ...

when it came under fire from the Soviets' 365th Rifle Division. The Soviet division was forced to retreat after German forces began flanking them from the east. During the winter the division took heavy casualties. In Summer 1942 the division fought at

Rzhev Rzhev ( rus, Ржев, p=ˈrʐɛf) is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Staritsa and from Tver, on the highway and railway connecting Moscow and Riga. It is the uppermost town situated on the Volga River. Population: Hist ...

and Baranovo, taking heavy casualties. The division was de-motorized in May 1943, though retained more motorized vehicles than other Infantry Divisions. In July 1943, during 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 ...

, the division was part of the XXXXVII Panzer Corps, a reserve unit for the 9th Army just south of

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...

. With Soviet forces slowing down

Walter Model Otto Moritz Walter Model (; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German during World War II. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare. H ...

's advance, the division was put on active duty on 6 July. On the 12th, Field Marshal

Günther von Kluge Günther Adolf Ferdinand von Kluge (30 October 1882 – 19 August 1944) was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) during World War II who held commands on both the Eastern and Western Fronts, until his suicide in connection with ...

ordered the division to retreat from Oryol to rejoin the 9th Army as the Soviets began to storm into the city outskirts. Changing his mind, he sent it back north with the 12 Panzer Divisions arrived in their full nearly four hours later. In the summer of 1944, as the Red Army launched

, the division was at only the size of two regiments. The addition of a third regimental-sized battlegroup made up of remnants of other units did not help to build morale.Walter S. Dunn, Jr., ''Soviet Blitzkrieg'', Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008, p. 188 It was here that the division's commanding officer, Generalmajor Conrady, was captured. The division was largely destroyed.

Return to France

Replenished and reformed as the 36th Volksgrenadier Division, and containing the remnants of the 268th Infantry Division, the unit was sent westwards in September 1944 to counter Allied advance into France; Luxembourg and the

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

, though remained in reserve until 10 September, when it was given to the 1st Army at the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

. With the army pulling back to the Franco-German border, by November the division had worn itself out in the two months of fighting. The division was part of the January 1945

Operation Nordwind Operation Northwind () was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. Northwind was launched to support the German Ardennes offensive campaign in the Battle of the Bulge, which by late December 1944 had decisively ...

, where it served as part of the XIII SS Infantry Corps under ''

Obergruppenführer (, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...

-SS''

Max Simon Max Simon (6 January 1899 – 1 February 1961) was a German SS commander and war criminal during World War II. Simon was one of the first members of the SS in the early 1930s. He rose through the ranks of the SS, and became a corps commander dur ...

. By now the division was reduced to the size of a single regiment, though its morale remained stable. On 28 March, the division formed part of the 7th Army's left wing as LXXXII Corps, which was now resisting American General George S. Patton's 3rd Army in central Germany.

Commanders

*''

Colonel General Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Georg Lindemann Georg Lindemann (8 March 1884 – 25 September 1963) was a German general during World War II. He commanded a division in Poland and France, a corps in the Balkans and Russia, 18th Army outside Leningrad, and later Army Group North. His cousi ...

(1 September 1939 – 25 October 1940) *''Lieutenant General'' Otto-Ernst Ottenbacher (25 October 1940 – 15 October 1941) *''

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the Infantry''

Hans Gollnick __NOTOC__ Hans Gollnick (22 May 1892 – 15 February 1970) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. At the beginning of World War II, Gollnick ...

(15 October 1941 – 1 August 1943) *''

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

'' Rudolf Stegmann (1 August 1943 – 10 August 1943) *'' Major General'' Gottfried Fröhlich (10 August 1943 – 20 September 1943) *''Lieutenant General'' Rudolf Stegmann (20 September 1943 – 1 January 1944) *'' Major General'' Horst Kadgien (1 January 1944 – 17 January 1944) *''Lieutenant General''

Egon von Neindorff Egon von Neindorff (12 September 1892 – 15 April 1944) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. World War II On 1 July 1942 Neindorff took comman ...

(17 January 1944 – 19 January 1944) *''Major General''

Alexander Conrady __NOTOC__ Alexander Conrady (16 July 1903 – 21 December 1983) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 36th Infantry Division. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Conr ...

(19 January 1944 – 1 July 1944) *''Major General'' August Wellm (1 August 1944 – 9 October 1944)

36th Volksgrenadier Division

*''Major General'' August Wellm (October 1944 - March 1945) *''Major General'' Helmut Kleikamp (March - May 1945)

Area of operations

*West wall (September 1939 – May 1940) *

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(May 1940 – June 1941) *Eastern front, northern sector (June 1941 – July 1942) *Eastern front, central sector (July 1942 – June 1943) *Eastern front (June 1943 – July 1944) *France (August 1944 – January 1945) *Southern Germany (January 1945 – May 1945)

Order of battle

;1939 *70th Infantry Regiment *87th Infantry Regiment *118th Infantry Regiment *36th Reconnaissance detachment *36th Artillery Regiment *Beobachtungs-Abteilung 36 (3) *36th Pioneer Battalion *36th Anti-tank detachment *36th Signal Battalion *36th Field-replacement Battalion *Divisional supply unit ;1940 *87th Infantry Regiment (mot) *118th Infantry Regiment (mot) ;1943 *87th Grenadier Regiment *118th Grenadier Regiment * Division group 268 *36th Reconnaissance detachment *268th Artillery Regiment *36th Pioneer Battalion *36th Anti-tank Battalion *36th Signal Battalion *36th Field-replacement Battalion *Divisional supply unit ;1944 *87th Grenadier Regiment *118th Grenadier Regiment *165th Grenadier Regiment *268th Artillerie-Regiment *36th Fusileer Company *36th FLaK Company *1036th Assault-gun detachment *36th Messaging Company *36th Pioneer Company *36th Supply Regiment

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:36th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) 0*036 Military units and formations established in 1936 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945