The 218th Infantry Division (218.Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of the German Army that served in World War II.

The 218th Infantry served in the invasion of Poland as a reserve division for the 4th Army. Subsequently, it was moved to the west facing the Maginot line, which it attacked in May 1940 as part of the 7th Army. Following a period of occupation duty and also briefly a return to civilian life, its soldiers were sent to the Eastern Front in the winter of 1941. It remained on the Eastern Front until the end of the war, retreating with Army Group North back through the Baltic states, until the Army group was trapped in Courland, where the division surrendered to the Soviets on 8 May 1945.

Combat History

The 218th Infantry division saw its first action in the German invasion of Poland. On 1 September it was Army reserve for the 4th Army stationed in Pomerania in northern Germany. It crossed into Poland, into the corridor which had given Poland access to the Baltic sea, and towards the River Vistula and the border with East Prussia.

The division advanced behind the main fighting front and saw little fighting in the campaign.

France 1940

thumb|Soldiers from the 218th division on parade past [[Joseph Goebbels and Generaloberst Friedrich Fromm after the Battle of France.]]

In May 1940, the division was moved to the Western Front, assigned to the reserve of 7th Army.

On 15 June 1940 218 Infantry Division became one of 5 Infantry divisions committed by 7th Army in Operation Kleiner Bär, a crossing of the Rhine in the Colmar area. They were to cross the river and attack a portion of the Maginot line defended by 3 French fortress divisions. The 218th attack at Schoenau, led by Infantry Regiment 397, was held up by French fortifications which although damaged by the artillery preparation were not put out of action and forced the Regimental commander to suspend the river crossing in the face of mounting casualties.

left|thumb|German soldiers in the ruins of [[Kholm, Kholmsky District, Novgorod Oblast|Kholm]]

Whilst en route to Riga, for commitment with Army Group North, Generaloberst Busch, commander of the 16th Army ordered the forward elements of the division rushed into Kholm.

Detraining at Loknya, a small stop on the Dno Nevel railway line, but still 50 miles from Kholm, the first battalion to arrive, the I/386, was rushed by all available trucks to Kholm along with a convoy carrying food and ammunition. Oberstleutnant Johannes Manitius, the commander of Infantry Regiment 386, joined his unit in Kholm and another battalion from the Regiment managed slipped past advancing units of the Soviet 3rd Shock Army, before the Soviets threw a solid cordon around the town. The Germans had barely beaten the Soviets to Kholm, and positioned a mixed battlegroup (kampfgruppe) of around 4,500 soldiers under the leadership of Generalmajor Scherer, but the group had virtually no artillery or anti tank guns. By 28 January 1942, the Soviets had closed the ring around the city and drove additional forces from the 218th Division under the divisional commander, Generalmajor Ukermann, back down the road to Loknya, where the remainder of the division was still arriving.

During the Soviet Moonsund Landing Operation, the 23rd Infantry Division was backed by miscellaneous Kriegsmarine and army artillery troops. Its forces were made considerably stronger by the transfer of 12th Luftwaffe Division and 218th Infantry division. The 218th division started to land on the island of Saaremaa (Ösel) on 30 September 1944 and marched north. The Soviet forces were not far behind and landed on the northern shores 5 days later. After some sharp clashes General Schörner, commander of Army Group Courland, ordered a withdrawal to the more defensible Sõrve Peninsula (Sworbe Peninsula.)

Soviet forces, numerically superior to the Germans, kept up the pressure in October, forcing the Germans back, but a landing behind the German lines near Vintri failed to displace them.

The 218 remained in Courland for the final months of the war, finally surrendering to the Soviet Army near Tuckum.

Its home station was military district 3, around Berlin, and on formation its composition was,

  • 323rd Infantry Regiment (I, II, III battalions)
  • 386th Infantry Regiment (I, II, III battalions)
  • 397th Infantry Regiment (I, II, III battalions)
  • 218th Artillery Regiment (I, II, III IV battalions)
  • 218th Panzerjäger Battalion
  • 218th Reconnaissance Battalion
  • 218th Pioneer Battalion
  • 218th Signals Battalion
  • 218th Division Support Units

After the Polish campaign the division transferred 3 of its 4 artillery battalions. The staff and 2 battalions were used to upgrade the 14th Landwehr Division

into the 205th Infantry Division. The IV Artillery Regiment 218 went to provide the 76th Infantry Division with a heavy Artillery Battalion.

Its anti tank (Panzerjäger) battalion was transferred to the 162 infantry division.

In March 1941 each Infantry Regiment formed a 'Feldrekruten' battalion, and the artillery regiment was recreated.

At the start of the French campaign the division was normal except,

  • 218th Artillery Regiment (I, II, IV battalions, missing III)
  • 218th Panzerjäger Battalion (only 1 company

and was listed as follows,

  • 323rd grenadier Regiment (II, III battalions)
  • 386th grenadier Regiment (II, III battalions)
  • 397th grenadier Regiment (I, III battalions)
  • 218th Artillery Regiment (I, II, III IV battalions)
  • 218th Fusilier Battalion
  • 218th Division Support Units

After again suffering severe losses in the fighting on the Baltic Islands the 397 Regiment was disbanded in December 1944 leaving only 5 battalions of infantry.

Area of Operations

  • Poland: September 1939 - May 1940
  • France: May 1940 - May 1941
  • Denmark: May 1941 - December 1941
  • Eastern Front, Army Group North: December 1941 - May 1945
  • Kholm: December 1941
  • Courland: October 1944 - May 1945

Commanders

  • Generalleutnant Woldemar Freiherr von Grote 26.VIII.1939 – 1.I.1942
  • Generalleutnant Horst Freiherr von Uckermann 1.I.1942 –20.III.1942
  • Generalleutnant Victor Hans Karl Lang 20.III.1942 – 25.XII.1944
  • Generalmajor Ingo von Collani 25.XII.1944 – 1.V.1945
  • Generalleutnant Werner Ranck 1.V.1945 – 8.V.1945

See also

  • German order of battle for Operation Fall Weiss
  • List of German military units of World War II

References

Bibliography

  • Organisation of 3rd Wave infantry divisions 1939
  • Organisation of 3rd Wave infantry divisions 1940
  • Organisation of 3rd Wave infantry divisions 1941
  • 218 at Lexikon der Wehrmacht (German text)