83rd Infantry Division (Germany)
Encyclopedia
The 83rd Infantry Division, , was a German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 military unit that fought in several notable actions during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Formation

The division was formed December 1, 1939, at Bergen
Bergen, Lower Saxony
Bergen is a town in the north of Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Administratively it acts as a municipal borough divided into 12 subordinate parishes based on the town and its surrounding villages: Becklingen, Belsen, Bergen, Bleckmar, Diesten, Dohnsen, Eversen,...

, and consisted of reservists from the north of Germany (Wehrkreis II, X, XI and XX).

It had the following organisation:
  • Infanterie-Regiment 251
  • Infanterie-Regiment 257
  • Infanterie-Regiment 277
  • Artillerie-Regiment 183
  • Radfahrschwadron 183 (bicycle troops)
  • Panzerabwehr-Abteilung 183
  • Pionier-Battalion 183
  • Nachrichten-Abteilung 183
  • Infanterie-Divisions-Nachschubführer 183

1940-1; France

The division took part in the Nazi German invasion of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...

 in 1940 and spent 1941 on occupation duty. In early 1942 it was sent to the Eastern Front, being assigned to the Third Panzer Army of Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct German strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union...

.

1942; Velikiye Luki

Initially the division was split up and used in various sectors, some elements being employed in anti-partisan operations.

The division was present at Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki is a town on the meandering Lovat River in the southern part of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It is the second largest town in Pskov Oblast; population: The town is served by the Velikiye Luki Airport....

 in late 1942. The town itself was garrisoned by the division's Infantry Regiment 277, along with the divisional artillery and pioneer battalion, under the command of a Lieutenant-Colonel von Saß. This force was encircled by units of Galitsky's
Kuzma Galitsky
Kuzma Nikitovich Galitsky was a Soviet army general who earned the title Hero of the Soviet Union.-Biography:Kuzma Galitsky was born on October 24, 1897 in the city of Taganrog into a worker's family. He studied at the Taganrog Boys Gymnasium, which he graduated from in 1912, and worked at the...

 3rd Shock Army
3rd Shock Army (Soviet Union)
The 3rd Shock Army was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The 'Shock' armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and artillery assets than other combined arms armies...

 in the Battle of Velikiye Luki
Battle of Velikiye Luki
The Velikiye Luki offensive operation was executed by the forces of the Red Army's Kalinin Front against the Wehrmacht's 3rd Panzer Army during the Winter Campaign of 1942-1943 with the objective of liberating the Russian city of Velikiye Luki as part of the northern pincer of the Rzhev-Sychevka...

 and destroyed after a siege of almost two months.

1943-4; Nevel, Courland

During 1943-4 the 83rd Division took part in defensive battles of Army Group Centre and Army Group North, having been transferred to the Sixteenth Army in October 1943. By late 1943 it had been reduced to four grenadier battalions.

Towards the end of 1944 Army Group North had been pushed into the Courland Pocket
Courland Pocket
The Courland Pocket referred to the Red Army's blockade or encirclement of Axis forces on the Courland peninsula during the closing months of World War II...

, where the division was involved in repulsing the first of the Soviet attempts to reduce the encircled force. At the end of the year it was evacuated by sea, and sent to reform at Thorn
Torun
Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....

. It was now assigned to the Second Army of Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula was an Army Group of the Wehrmacht, formed on January 24, 1945. It was put together from elements of Army Group A , Army Group Centre , and a variety of new or ad-hoc formations...

, where it would take part in the defence against the Soviet East Prussian Offensive
East Prussian Offensive
The East Prussian Offensive was a strategic offensive by the Red Army against the German Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front . It lasted from 13 January to 25 April 1945, though some German units did not surrender until 9 May...

.

1945; Graudenz, Samland

The staff and one regiment, Grenadier Regiment 257, were lost in Graudenz after being ordered to hold the town, which was encircled by the 2nd Belorussian Front
2nd Belorussian Front
The 2nd Belorussian Front was a military formation of Army group size of the Soviet Army during the Second World War...

 on February 18, 1945, at all costs. The defenders capitulated on March 5.

The remaining troops were transferred by sea to Samland, where several German divisions were conducting a defence. They were pushed back towards Pillau, where elements of the 83rd Division formed the final rearguard defending the harbour mole on 25 April (the divisional commander Maximilian Wengler
Maximilian Wengler
Maximilian Wengler was a German Insurance broker, serving as a general during World War II and recipient of the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...

 was killed at Neutief where the last German position was being held by Major-General Karl Henke
Karl Henke
Karl Henke was an engineer officer in the Reichsheer during World War I, in the German inter-war army, the Reichswehr, and in the Wehrmacht.-Military service, World War I:...

).

Other parts of the division surrendered to Soviet forces on the Hela peninsula
Hel Peninsula
Hel Peninsula |Nehrung]]) is a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is located in Puck County of the Pomeranian Voivodeship.- Geography :...

.

Commanding officers

  • Generalmajor Kurt von der Chevallerie
    Kurt von der Chevallerie
    Kurt Wilhelm Gustav Erdmann von der Chevallerie was a highly decorated General der Infanterie in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the 1. Armee. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...

    , 1 December 1939 – 10 December 1940
  • Generalleutnant Alexander von Zülow, 10 December 1940 – 13 February 1942
  • Generalmajor Adolf Sinzinger, 13 February 1942 – 2 November 1942
  • Generalleutnant Theodor Scherer
    Theodor Scherer
    Generalleutnant Theodor Scherer was a divisional commander in the Wehrmacht in World War II.-Early life:Theodor Scherer was born to a Bavarian schoolmaster in 1889....

    , 2 November 1942 – 1 March 1944
  • Generalmajor Wilhelm Heun, 1 March 1944 – 28 June 1944
  • Generalmajor Heinrich Götz
    Heinrich Götz
    Heinrich Götz was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or...

    , 28 June 1944 – 22 August 1944
  • Generalleutnant Wilhelm Heun, 22 August 1944 – 27 March 1945
  • Generalmajor of the Reserves Maximilian Wengler
    Maximilian Wengler
    Maximilian Wengler was a German Insurance broker, serving as a general during World War II and recipient of the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...

    , 27 March 1945 – 25 April 1945
  • Oberst Raatz, 25 April 1945 – German capitulation

War crimes accusations

In 1946 several captured officers of Infantry Regiment 277, including its former commander Eduard Freiherr von Saß, were executed in Velikiye Luki for crimes
War crimes of the Wehrmacht
War crimes of the Wehrmacht were those carried out by the German armed forces during World War II. While the principal perpetrators of the Holocaust amongst German armed forces were the Nazi German 'political' armies , the regular armed forces represented by the Wehrmacht committed war crimes of...

 committed against the civil population of the city. It should also be noted that the division took part in anti-partisan operations, such as Operation Greif at Vitebsk
Vitebsk
Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...

.

See also

  • Division (military)
    Division (military)
    A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

    , Military unit
  • Heer
    German Army
    The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...

    , Wehrmacht
    Wehrmacht
    The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

    , List of German divisions in WWII
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