272nd Volksgrenadier Division (Germany)
Encyclopedia
The 272nd Volksgrenadier Division (more accurately Volks-Grenadier Division), was a German Army
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...

 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 formed following the defeats of the Normandy Campaign
Normandy Campaign
The Battle of Normandy or Normandy Campaign includes the following:* Operation Overlord - The Western Allied campaign in France from June 6 - August 25, 1944...

 in 1944. Composed of men taken from existing Heer units and airmen and sailors retasked to infantry duties, the division fought on the retreating Western Front
Western Front (World War II)
The Western Front of the European Theatre of World War II encompassed, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and West Germany. The Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale ground combat operations...

 until it was largely encircled in the Ruhr Pocket
Ruhr Pocket
The Ruhr Pocket was a battle of encirclement that took place in late March and early April 1945, near the end of World War II, in the Ruhr Area of Germany. For all intents and purposes, it marked the end of major organized resistance on Nazi Germany's Western Front, as more than 300,000 troops were...

 in April 1945.

Unit history

272nd Volksgrenadier Division was formed on 17 September 1944 at the Döberitz Training Area in Germany by combining the then-forming 575th Volksgrenadier Division with the remnants of the veteran 272nd Infantry Division
272nd Infantry Division (Germany)
The 272nd Infantry Division was a Type 1944 infantry division of the German Wehrmacht during World War II, that was originally formed in December 1943...

, which had barely managed to escape from the Allied offensives following the Normandy landings.

Organized using the new volksgrenadier division structure designed in August 1944, the division consisted of three two-battalion infantry regiments, a four-battalion artillery regiment, a combat engineer battalion, an antitank battalion, a signals battalion, a fusilier company, and a logistics regiment. At its full table of organization strength it fielded 10,000 men.

After six weeks of reorganization and training, the division was shipped to the Western Front in early November 1944, and fought in the Battle of the Huertgen Forest, along the Roer River, and the retreat to the Rhine. It eventually was forced to capitulate in April 1945 when it was encircled in what became known as the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket, though a single regiment escaped but was later forced to surrender at the Harz "Fortress"
Harz
The Harz is the highest mountain range in northern Germany and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart , latinized as Hercynia. The legendary Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz...

. Its most singular engagement was during the Battle of Kesternich
Kesternich (World War II)
Kesternich is a small village just inside the German border from Belgium. It was the site of two major battles during World War II. These battles are tied to the Siegfried Line Campaign, Battle of the Huertgen Forest, Battle of the Bulge, and Roer Dam Assault at the outset of Operation...

 from 13 to 18 December 1944, when it managed to encircle and destroy an entire battalion from the 310th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 78th Infantry Division, capturing over 300 men and officers.

Though, like other volksgrenadier divisions, the 272nd's ranks were filled with a large proportion of former Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 (Air Force) and Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...

 (Navy) personnel (up to 50% by some estimates), the division performed creditably, due in part to the large number of veteran commanders and non-commissioned officers it retained from the old 272nd Infantry Division, which itself was built on the foundation of the disbanded 216th Infantry Division
216th Infantry Division (Germany)
The 216th Infantry Division was created on 26 August 1939 by reorganizing several Border Defense and Army Reserve units from Lower Saxony, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Hannover...

.

Most notable about the volksgrenadier division concept was its pared-down manpower allocation (10,000 men vs. the older division structure of 16,000 men) and the reliance on large numbers of a new weapon, the assault rifle model 1944, or Sturmgewehr 44
Sturmgewehr 44
The StG 44 was an assault rifle developed in Nazi Germany during World War II and was the first of its kind to see major deployment, considered by many historians to be the first modern assault rifle...

, a radical departure from the bolt action Mauser model 98 rifle.

Combining reliance on this new weapons technology, the volksgrenadier divisions were supposed to be the new model division representing the will of the German people, or das Volk, and their willingness to fight to the bitter end. Though a few volksgrenadier divisions lived up to this ideal, most failed to meet expectations and by the war's end, the term volksgrenadier came to be viewed by the Allies as meaning a second-rate, bottom-of-the-barrel type of soldier.

Divisional commanders

  • Oberst (Colonel) Georg Koßmala
    Georg Koßmala
    Georg Koßmala was a Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients 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 successful...

     (30 September - 13 December 1944)
  • Generalmajor (Brigadier General) Eugen König
    Eugen König
    Eugen König was a Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients 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 successful...

     (13 December 1944 - 14 April 1945)

Knight's Cross winners

  • Hauptmann Friedrich Adrario
    Friedrich Adrario
    Friedrich Adrario was a highly decorated Hauptmann in the Wehrmacht during World War II and Generalmajor in the Bundesheer. 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...

    , Antitank Battalion 272, 26 December 1944
  • Oberst Ewald Burian
    Ewald Burian
    Ewald Burian was a highly decorated Oberst in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...

    , Grenadier Regiment 980, 4 October 1944
  • Generalmajor Eugen König, Division Commander, 1 August 1942, (Oakleaves 4 November 1943)
  • Oberst Georg Koßmala, Division Commander, 13 March 1942, (Oakleaves 26 March 1944)
  • Hauptmann Adolf Thomae, 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Regiment 980, 24 February 1945
  • Major Hans Uhl, Division Ia (Operations Officer), 22 January 1943
  • Oberstleutnant Ernst Werner, 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Regiment 980, 19 August 1944

Order of battle

Order of Battle, October 1944:
  • Staff Company
  • Volks-Grenadier Regiment 980
  • Volks-Grenadier Regiment 981
  • Volks-Grenadier Regiment 982
  • Artillery Regiment 272
  • Pioneer (Combat Engineer) Battalion 272
  • Antitank Battalion 272
  • Signal Battalion 272
  • Fusilier Company 272
  • Logistics Regiment 272
  • Field Replacement Battalion 272
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