The 18th Volksgrenadier Division (18th VGD) was a volksgrenadier

Volksgrenadier

Volksgrenadier was the name given to a type of German Army division formed in the Autumn of 1944 after the double loss of Army Group Center to the Soviets in Operation Bagration and the Fifth Panzer Army to the Allies in Normandy. The name itself was intended to build morale, appealing at once to...

 division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945.

The division was formed in Denmark in September 1944, by redesignating the 571st Volksgrenadier Division and elements of the 18th Luftwaffe Field Division, under the command of Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn

Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn

Günther Hoffmann-Schönborn was an Officer in the German Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves during World War II...

. It contained the 293rd, 294th and 295th Grenadier Regiments, Panzerjäger-Bataillon 1818, Pionier-Bataillon 1818, Füsilier-Bataillon 1818, and the 1818th Artillery Regiment.

The division fought in the Ardennes

Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...

, inflicting on the 106th US Infantry Division the worst defeat suffered by U.S. forces in the ETO

European Theater of Operations

The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...

, when over 8,000 US soldiers surrendered to the volksgrenadiers. On December 21, the 18th VGD captured St. Vith, winning a great victory. As the offensive steam came to an end in the Ardennes, the division went on the defensive, and there they would stay. Eventually retreating through Germany until the end of the war, when it surrendered. On February 5, 1945 General Walter Botsch took over command of the division. On March 6, 1945 when Botsch was ordered to take command of the LIIIrd Army Corps, the 18th VGD division was absorbed into the 26th VGD led by Heinz Kokott

Heinz Kokott

Heinz Kokott was a highly decorated Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership...

, Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...

s brother-in-law.

Knights Cross Holders

• Wilhelm Drueke December 30, 1944
• Gunther Rennhack December 30, 1944
• Friedrich Hadenfeldt March 17, 1945