58th Infantry Division (Germany)
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The 58th Infantry Division was a unit of the German Army (Wehrmacht) during World War II. It was formed in 1939, took part in the Battle of France in 1940, and then Operation Barbarossa in 1941. The 58th was then constantly engaged on the Eastern Front until the end of the war in 1945.
[edit] Formation
The 58th Infantry formed in Wehrkreis X, as part of the general expansion of the Wehrmacht upon the declaration of war. Composed of reservists, including initially many World War I veterans and a small active cadre supplied by regular Divisions, it was speedily despatched to the French border on a defensive mission. Meanwhile it was training younger troops, who had been called up at the outbreak of war, in its home area around Lüneburg in Northern Germany.
