Organisation and history

The division

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...

 was formed in July 1944 at Stablack near Preußisch Eylau, East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

, in the 29th mobilisation wave, with the following organisation:

• Grenadier-Regiment Ostpreußen 3
• Grenadier-Regiment Ostpreußen 4
• Artillerie-Regiment Ostpreußen 2
• Divisionseinheiten Ostpreußen 2

In October 1944 it was reconstituted as the 562nd 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, with the following organisation:

• Grenadier-Regiment 1144
• Grenadier-Regiment 1145
• Grenadier-Regiment 1146
• Artillerie-Regiment 1562
• Füsilier-Kompanie 562
• Divisionseinheiten 1562

As part of the to LV Corps of the German Fourth Army

German Fourth Army

The 4th Army was a field army of Imperial Germany during World War I and of the Wehrmacht during World War II-World War I:At the outset of war, the Fourth Army, with the Fifth Army, formed the center of the German armies on the Western Front, moving through Luxembourg and Belgium in support of the...

, it fought on its home territory opposing the Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

's 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...

. The division was destroyed in the Heiligenbeil pocket

Heiligenbeil Pocket

The Heiligenbeil Pocket or Heiligenbeil Cauldron was the site of a major encirclement battle on the Eastern Front during the closing weeks of World War II, in which the Wehrmacht's 4th Army was almost entirely destroyed during the Soviet Braunsberg Offensive Operation...

 in March 1945.

Commanders

• Major-General Johannes-Oskar Brauer (9 October 1944 - 22 January 1945)
• Major-General Helmuth Hufenbach
  Helmuth Hufenbach
  Helmuth Hufenbach was a highly decorated 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...
  
   (22 January 1945 - 27 March 1945)

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, List of German divisions in WWII
• 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:...