206th Infantry Division (Germany)
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The German 206th Infantry Division (German designation 206. Infanterie-Division, nickname Pique As, 'Ace of spades', after the divisional emblem), was a military unit that served during World War II. Like most German infantry units it had no motorization, and relied on leg and horse mobility.
[edit] History
The 206th Infantry Division was raised on 17 August 1939 in Insterburg, East Prussia. It served during the Invasion of Poland in 1939 as a reserve division for Army Group North.
The 206th participated in Operation Typhoon as part of the XXIII Corps under the Ninth Army. At this time, the division was under the command of Lieutenant General Hugo Höfl. The division is known to have used Marder Is from January 1943 to December 1943.
In mid-1944, the division, now under the command of Lieutenant General Alfons Hitter, was one of those defending the Vitebsk salient as part of 3rd Panzer Army's LIII Corps. The Soviet offensive, Operation Bagration, which commenced on 22 June, saw the entire corps encircled within a matter of days, after Soviet breakthroughs around the city. While the Oberkommando des Heeres, after realising the situation was hopeless, reluctantly authorised a breakout operation by the other three divisions involved, the 206th was ordered to stay in Vitebsk and fight to the last man.
By 26 June Soviet forces had fought their way into the city, and General Gollwitzer, LIII Corps' commander, ordered the 206th to withdraw in defiance of the OKH orders. It was too late, however, and the division was almost entirely killed or taken prisoner. Its commander, Lt-Gen Hitter, went on to join the NKFD in Soviet captivity.
[edit] Component units
- 301st, 312th, and 413th Infantry Regiments
