The 44th Infantry Division was formed on 1 April 1938 in Vienna, about two weeks after the Anschluss of Austria. It first saw combat at the start of the war in the Invasion of Poland, and also took part in the Battle of France in 1940. After a 9-month period of coastal defence the division was transferred East. On 22 June 1941, the division took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union, attached to Army Group South. It remained in the east after the failure of "Operation Barbarossa", taking part in defensive actions for the winter against the Soviet Army offensives near Izum and Kharkov. Refurbished, the division participated in the German summer offensive, and was subsequently destroyed with the 6th Army at Stalingrad in January 1943.
The division was rebuilt as Reichsgrenadier-Division Hoch- und Deutschmeister in Belgium when Hitler ordered the Stalingrad divisions should be reconstructed. By the summer of 1943 it was back up to strength and sent to fight in Italy, where it was heavily engaged at Monte Cassino. It withdrew up the Italian peninsula during 1944 and briefly clashed with American forces attacking the Gothic line. Withdrawn to refit, it was instead sent to oppose the Soviet breakthrough in Hungary. The division joined the efforts to recapture Budapest with the 6th SS Panzer Army, and was subsequently nearly destroyed near Lake Balaton. The remnants of the division retreated into Austria, until the final days of the war, when it marched west and surrendered to the American forces near Linz.
Organization
The unit was established on 1 April 1938 shortly after the annexation of Austria from elements of the Austrian Army.
The organization followed the typical structure of a pre-war infantry division, with 3 infantry regiments of 3 battalions each, an artillery regiment of 3 battalions, and antitank, reconnaissance, pioneer, signals battalions and division services. The usual establishment called for around 15.000 men.
In January 1940 the Feldersatz Battalion was detached and became the 3rd battalion, 443rd infantry regiment, 164th infantry division, part of the 7th Wave of 14 divisions.Nafziger p89 The German Army continued to expand, in February 1940 the 10 divisions of the 8th wave were created. The 44th gave up 2nd battalion 143 Infantry Regiment which became 1st battalion 523rd Infantry Regiment, 297 Infantry Division. The battalion was replaced.
In September 1940, one third of the division was detached to form the 137th Infantry Division. The German Army formed new divisions by detaching one-third of two existing divisions, then raising the remaining parts from new recruits. In this manner only one-third of the two old and one newly created divisions were new recruits.
Like all the divisions lost in the Battle of Stalingrad, it was reformed using other formations and usually a cadre of specialists who had been evacuated by air before the 6th Army's surrender. On 17 February 1943, the division was reformed with the 887th and 888th Grenadier Regiments in Belgium. On 1 June 1943, the 134th Grenadier Regiment was added, and the division renamed Reichsgrenadier-Division Hoch- und Deutschmeister, along with the 80th Panzerjager, 46th Pioneer, 64th Signals, and 44th Divisional support units.
From August to November 1943, schwere Panzer-Kompanie/Tigergruppe Meyer, equipped with eight Tiger I tanks,Wolfgang Schneider, Tigers in Combat II, Schwere Panzer-Kompanie 'Meyer' and also George Forty, Tiger Tank Battalions in World War II, p. 77 was attached to the division for the disarmament of Italian formations in northern Italy. After a brief rest it was transferred to Hungary and fought the Red Army while retreating into Austria. It managed to avoid capture by the Red Army and surrendered to US forces at Hohenfurth on 10 May 1945.
Combat history
Poland In late August 1939 the 44th Infantry Division was transferred to Moravia, previously part of Czechoslovakia, assembled opposite the Polish border and attached to XVII Corps, a component of 14th Army.Dettmer, Jaus, Tolkmitt, Die 44. Infanterie Division, Einsatze 1939 – Polenfeildzug, pp. 18-33 Nine days later, in the early hours of 1 September 1939, after a short artillery preparation, infantry waded the Olsa River into Polish territory. Soon the first prisoners were taken and the first casualties suffered. The Second World War in Europe, which, for the 44th Infantry Division would last from its first day in September 1939, to its last in May 1945, had started.
The ethnic Germans, Volksdeutsche, in the border regions greeted the invading troops with some enthusiasm, with gifts of milk and fruit which were picked up by the soldiers along the roadside.Richard Hargreaves, Blitzkrieg Unleashed: The German Invasion of Poland, 1939, p. 135
The 14th Army pushed its forces rapidly towards Kraków and Tarnow against light resistance from the Polish 'Army of Kraków' By 6 September the division entered Kraków and captured undamaged bridges across the Weichsel.Dettmer, Jaus, Tolkmitt, Die 44. Infanterie Division The division continued its advance, crossing the San River and pushing into eastern Poland towards Lviv (Lemburg). The last Polish troops surrendered on 6 October 1939.
The territory in eastern Poland, as had already been agreed between Hitler and Stalin, in a secret annex to the German Soviet Non Aggression Pact, would fall under the Soviet sphere of interest,William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany so the 44th Division was withdrawn across the demarcation line and deployed along the River San. The 44th Infantry Division had lost 121 killed, 270 wounded and 44 missing; it took 300 officers and 25,000 men as prisoners and marched 540 km, in the campaign against Poland a daily average of 29 km.The-German-Infantry-Handbook-1939-1945 & Die 44. Infanterie Division After the end of the Polish campaign, the division returned to its home station until it was moved to central Germany as OKH reserve, and finally shifted west for the start of the Campaign against France.
France 1940 In May 1940, at the start of the German attack on France, the 44th Infantry Division was in OKH reserve near Hameln. Assigned to 6th Army on 15 May, it moved forward behind the main spearheads, and eventually on 29 May was inserted into a defensive sector on the Somme near Péronne, protecting the southern flank of the German breakthrough. Here it remained as the Allied armies fell back to Dunkirk and evacuated.
Realigning their forces to the south, the German High Command instigated plan red (Fall Rot), the attack into France. As part of 6th Army, the 44th Infantry Division would attack south out of its bridgehead across the Somme and strike the French forces manning the Weygand line. Striking in the early morning hours of 5 June, the infantry attack swept forward, infiltrating between the French fortified villages, but faltered as the open ground offered little in the way of concealment from enemy observation. By the afternoon, their forces were suffering from accurate French artillery bombardments, mortar and machine gun fire, directed from the French positions. One battalion, the I/134, overextended itself trying to outflank the village of Foucaucourt and became cut off, and Captain Hartmann, the commanding officer surrendered along with 216 men.
The robust defence of 5 June by the French 19th Division and the 7th North African division forced Generalleutnant Schubert, the 44th Division commander, to withdraw his attacking units in the evening. In Schubert's discussion with the XXXX Corps commander, General Stumme, additional artillery support was organised for the following day and it was agreed that the fortified villages would have to be stormed and taken before the division could continue its advance.
On the second day of attack, the 132 Infantry Regiment managed to take the village of Chuignolles and the surrounding area, and for which the battalion commander of III / 132, Oberstleutnant Karl Eibl was awarded the Knights Cross.Gordon Williamson, Knight's Cross, Oak-Leaves and Swords Recipients 1941-45, p. 16 But French resistance remained fierce, beating back the division's further assaults. The situation was about to change in the attackers' favour. On its left flank, the French line had been penetrated by tanks of 3rd and 4th Panzer divisions. The French 7th Army was left with no alternative but to withdraw, which they did by the morning of 7 June. The division now pushed forwards, occasionally clashing with enemy forces, but noting increasing signs of French disintegration.
Deciding that Paris could not be defended, the French government declared it an open city and withdrew their forces behind the Seine. By 14 June the 44th Division was already approaching the river. Once across the Seine the division's advance accelerated, pushing south until it arrived in the vicinity of Orléans by the declaration of the French surrender. The 44th Infantry Division suffered 1,730 casualties in battle of France.See Quoted origin of reference: Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen des Militärgeschichtlichen Forschungsamtes, 2002 This was followed by coastal protection duties in La Rochelle area until the end of March 1941.
Invasion of the Soviet Union
Barbarossa The division was part of the initial attack forces in Operation Barbarossa as part of Army Group South. On 22 June 1941, the division crossed the river Bug in rubber boats and ferries and created a 5-mile bridgehead.Kamenir, Bloody Triangle p. 80 Overcoming resistance at the border the division marched eastward behind the more rapid mobile units of 1st Panzer Group. The division took part in the Battle of Brody, engaging the Soviet 34th Tank division, part of the Soviet 8th Mechanized Corps, in the flank.David M Glantz, The Initial Period of War, p. 282 Over the next 3 days the division helped hem in the Soviet armour, the 131st Regiment's heavy infantry gun company knocking out at least 1 52 ton KV II,Dettmer, Jaus, Tolkmitt, Die 44. Infanterie Division p. 60 until the remnants of the encircled Soviet forces fought their way out to the east. After the Soviet Army counter-attacks receded, and the mechanised Corps withdrew where they could to regroup, their tank forces seriously diminished. However, the action had delayed 1st Panzer Group units and the 44th, 111th and 299th divisions would be stalled for several days greatly hampering the follow-up of infantry behind III Panzer Corps advance.The Halder War Diary, p. 437
III Panzer Corps had meanwhile struck out towards Kiev driving a 40 km wide wedge between the Soviet 6th and 5th Armies. Mikhail Kirponos, commander of the Southwestern Front, ordered both armies to counterattack and close the gap. The 5th Army in the north had the protection of the Pripet marshes to its rear and still had 3 Mechanised Corps under command. Using these it moved southward cutting the supply road behind the panzer spearheads. The 44th Infantry was ordered to help clear the road and on 14 July it clashed with 9th Mechanized Corps on the Zhitomir road. The Soviet Army units, which had inflicted considerable damage on the GermansTsAMO records of the 9th Mechanised Corps were forced gradually back towards the north-east.
Kiev