39th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

39th Infantry Division

39. Infanterie-Division Vehicle Insignia
Active 10 July 1942 – November 1943
Country  Nazi Germany
Branch Army
Type Infantry
Size Division
Garrison/HQ Elsenborn
Engagements

World War II

Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Hugo Hoefl
Ludwig Löweneck
Paul Mahlmann

The 39th Infantry Division (German: 39. Infanterie-Division) was a German Army infantry division in World War II. Formed in July 1942, it existed for a little over 15 months. Reduced to battle group size by October 1943 in fighting during the Battle of the Dnieper on the Eastern Front, it was disbanded in November 1943. Its surviving troops were absorbed by other German army formations.

History

The 39th Infantry Division was formed in Germany in July 1942, largely from Polish and other non-German personnel. Its foundation commander was Generalleutnant (equivalent in rank to major general) Hugo Hoefl. The division spent time serving garrison duty in the Netherlands before being transferred to the Eastern Front in March 1943.[1]

Now under the command of Generalleutnant Ludwig Löweneck, the division was engaged in various actions against the Red Army. Involvement in the Battle of the Dnieper caused heavy losses and the division was little more than battle group size by October 1943. The division was disestablished in November, with the surviving infantry forming a divisional group that was absorbed by 106th Infantry Division. The headquarters staff, under Generalmajor (brigadier general) Paul Mahlmann as Löweneck had been killed in May 1943 in a vehicle accident, was integrated into the 41st Fortress Division, which garrisoned the Peloponnese in Greece.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Mitcham, pp. 85 – 86

References

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