205th Infantry Division (Germany)

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The 205th Infantry Division (German: 205. Infanterie-Division) was a German division during the Second World War.

Initially formed as the 14th Militia Division (German: 14. Landwehr-Division), the division was mobilized a few days before the invasion of Poland in 1939, and remained on garrison duty in Germany throughout that campaign. It was the only Landwehr unit mobilized during 1939-1945 (others that were mobilized were reorganized as 3rd-Wave-style divisions), though the 97th Landwehr Division had been mobilized for the 1938 Anschluss.

It was renamed the 205th Infantry Division on January 1, 1940 and sent to France near the end of the western campaign. It was demobilized in July, but mobilized again in early 1941, and served as a garrison against potential any Allied invasion until early 1942. It was then sent to the Russian Front, where it served with Army Group Center in the "little Stalingrad" at Velikiye Luki over the winter of 1942-1943. The division was transferred to Army Group North in late 1943 and eventually trapped in the Courland Pocket, where it surrendered to the Soviets in 1945.

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