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197th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 197th Infantry Division (German: ''197. Infanterie-Division'') was a German division in World War II. It was activated on 1 December 1939. The division was destroyed near Vitebsk during the Soviet Vitebsk–Orsha Offensive of Operation Bagration in the summer of 1944. Operational history The division was activated on 1 December 1939 in the Posen region in Wehrkreis XXI as a division of the seventh '' Aufstellungswelle'', using personnel from the replacement personnel of Wehrkreis XII (Wiesbaden) stationed in the Posen area at the time. The division maintained a Hessian, Palatine and Middle Rhenish regional identity. The division initially consisted of the Infantry Regiments 321 and 332 (formed from Infantry Replacement Regiment 33 and Infantry Replacement Regiment 246, respectively) as well as the Light Artillery Detachment 229. The initial divisional commander was Hermann Meyer-Rabingen. With its two infantry regiments, the 197th Infantry Division was initially unders ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine infantry. Although disused in modern times, heavy infantry also commonly made up the bulk of many historic armies. Infantry, cavalry, and artillery have traditionally made up the core of the combat arms professions of various armies, with the infantry almost always comprising the largest portion of these forces. Etymology and terminology In English, use of the term ''infantry'' began about the 1570s, describing soldiers who march and fight on foot. The word derives from Middle French ''infanterie'', from older Italian (also Spanish) ''infanteria'' (foot soldiers too inexperienced for cavalry), from Latin '' īnfāns'' (without speech, newborn, foolish), from which English also gets '' infant''. The individual-soldier term ''infantry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aufstellungswelle
In the German Wehrmacht before and during World War II, infantry divisions were raised as part of a designated ''Aufstellungswelle'' (deployment wave) or ''Welle'' (wave), sometimes translated as "draft". The ''Aufstellungswelle'' system was adopted by the Wehrmacht in late 1938. Peacetime units were the first wave, and 34 other waves followed until the 35th wave in April 1945. Several types of divisions were organized by ''Aufstellungswelle'', including infantry, security, shadow and Volksgrenadier divisions. Background The mobilization model for the Wehrmacht's active and reserve forces in multiple waves was first issued in the annual mobilization plan of 8 December 1938. The system initially had four waves, the first of which would be the peacetime army and the other three raised in anticipation of the invasion of Poland. The first wave (the peacetime army) consisted of divisions with ordinal numbers of one to 50. The second wave, reservists who had completed their compulsory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
335th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 335th Infantry Division (german: 335. Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1940 to 1944. It saw active service in France and on the Eastern Front and was destroyed in fighting in Romania in August 1944. Operational history The 335th Infantry Division was formed in Konstanz in November 1940 under the command of ''Generalleutnant'' Max Dennerlein. The division nominally fell within the responsibility of Wehrkreis V. At its core were three infantry battalions transferred from the 298th Infantry Division while two battalions came from the 197th Infantry Division. The 87th Infantry Division, which had fought in the Battle of France, also transferred a battalion to the 335th. It was one of several static divisions raised for service in the occupied countries of Western Europe. It also had a strong Polish representation. In mid-1941, the 335th Infantry Division was posted to a position near the border betwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
9th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the German Army during World War II. It came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. The division was headquartered in Vienna, in the German military district Wehrkreis XVII. Originally raised from Austrian forces annexed into Germany before the war, the 9th Panzer Division was part of most of the German Army's early Blitzkrieg attacks into western Europe. Sweeping east, the division was then a component of Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union; it was badly mauled at the Battle of Kursk. Returning to France to rebuild in 1944, the division was rushed to counter Operation Overlord. It was destroyed several successive times by British and American forces as the German Army was pushed back across Europe. The division suffered massive casualties in armor and personnel until it finally collapsed in March 1945. The division's few survivors were pushed into the Ruhr Pocket where t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friedrich Von Mellenthin
Friedrich von Mellenthin (30 August 1904 – 28 June 1997) was a German general during World War II. A participant in most of the major campaigns of the war, he became known afterwards for his memoirs '' Panzer Battles'', first published in 1956 and reprinted several times since then. Mellenthin's works were part of the exculpatory memoirs genre that fed the post-war revisionist narrative, put forth by former Wehrmacht generals. ''Panzer Battles'' was instrumental in forming the misconceptions that influenced the U.S. view of Eastern Front military operations up to 1995, when Soviet archival sources became available to Western and Russian historians. Biography Mellenthin was born in Breslau; his brother Horst von Mellenthin was also a World War II general. In 1924, Friedrich von Mellenthin enlisted in the ''Reichsheer''; in 1932 he married Ingeborg von Aulock. He was assigned to the Prussian Military Academy in 1935. Between 1937 and June 1941, Mellenthin held several ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force them to move around the fortifications. The Maginot Line was impervious to most forms of attack. In consequence, the Germans invaded through the Low Countries in 1940, passing it to the north. The line, which was supposed to be fully extended further towards the west to avoid such an occurrence, was finally scaled back in response to demands from Belgium. Indeed, Belgium feared it would be sacrificed in the event of another German invasion. The line has since become a metaphor for expensive efforts that offer a false sense of security. Constructed on the French side of its borders with Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium, the line did not extend to the English Channel. French strategy therefore envisioned a move into Belgium ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France–Germany Border
The Franco-German border (; ) separates France and Germany and has a length of , about half of it along the Rhine. History The Franco-German border can be traced back to the 17th century, and the various treaties following the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), starting with the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) and the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678–1679), marking the Rhine as the frontier between the Kingdom of France, and the different German states. The actual border was determined in the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The border then changed after the French defeat during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), where the French Third Republic was forced to yield Alsace-Lorraine to the new German Empire in 1871. The territory was then returned to France 48 years later after the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The border changed again in 1941 when Nazi Germany de facto annexed the region (without international legal recognition, or treaty). The current border was re-established after the defeat o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Group C
Army Group C (in German, ''Heeresgruppe C'' or ''HGr C'') was an army group of the German Wehrmacht, that was formed twice during the Second World War. History Army Group C was formed from Army Group 2 in Frankfurt on 26 August 1939. It initially commanded all troops on Germany's western front but after the Polish campaign it was reduced to commanding the southern half of the western front, overseeing the frontal breakthrough through the Maginot Line during June 1940. At the end of the battle of France it moved back to Germany then – under the cover name "Section Staff East Prussia" – moved to East Prussia on 20 April 1941. On 21 June 1941 it was renamed Army Group North. It was re-formed on 26 November 1943, by being separated from the staff of Supreme Commander South (''OB Süd'' Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erich Von Manstein
Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (born Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski; 24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a German Field Marshal of the ''Wehrmacht'' during the Second World War, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. Born into an aristocratic Prussian family with a long history of military service, Manstein joined the army at a young age and saw service on both the Western and Eastern Front during the First World War (1914–18). He rose to the rank of captain by the end of the war and was active in the inter-war period helping Germany rebuild its armed forces. In September 1939, during the invasion of Poland at the beginning of the Second World War, he was serving as Chief of Staff to Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South. Adolf Hitler chose Manstein's strategy for the invasion of France of May 1940, a plan later refined by Franz Halder and other members of the OKH. Anticipating a firm Allied reaction should th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermann Meyer-Rabingen
__NOTOC__ Hermann Meyer-Rabingen (7 August 1887 – 21 February 1961) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He commanded the 197th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht), 197th Infantry Division beginning on 1 December 1939, initially serving in the rank of ''Generalmajor''. On 1 November 1941, he was promoted to the rank of ''Generalleutnant''. On 1 April 1942, he was replaced as commander of the 197th Division by Ehrenfried-Oskar Boege. Meyer-Rabingen went on to be appointed commander of the 159th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht), 159th Infantry Division on 20 September 1942. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 12 January 1942 as ''Generalleutnant'' and commander of 197. Infanterie-Division.Fellgiebel 2000, p. 254. References Citations Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer-Rabingen, Hermann 1887 births 1961 deaths People from Rotenburg an der Wümme People from the Pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Rhine Basin
The Middle Rhine Basin (german: Mittelrheinische Becken) is the central landscape region of the Middle Rhine in Germany and, along with the Limburg Basin, forms one of the biggest intra-montane lowland regions within the Rhenish Massif. The basin is divided into the valley bottom of the Neuwied Basin, the Neuwied Basin Perimeter east of the Rhine and the Lower Moselle Valley west of the Rhine in the south, and the Maifeld-Pellenz Hills in the north. The basin is bounded on the east of the Rhine in the northeast and east by the slopes of the Westerwald and, on the west of the Rhine, from north to southwest by the Eifel mountains, and in the southeast by the valley of the Moselle above Moselkern. Its mild winters and dry climate enable intensive agriculture, which is why the landscape has few woods. Natural regions The Handbook of Natural Region Divisions of Germany groups the Middle Rhine Basin within major unit group 29, the Middle Rhine Region, but classifies it as a major unit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palatines
Palatines (german: Pfälzer), also known as the Palatine Dutch, are the people and princes of Palatinates ( Holy Roman principalities) of the Holy Roman Empire. The Palatine diaspora includes the Pennsylvania Dutch and New York Dutch. In 1709, England found itself hosting thousands of Palatines and other Germans who were fleeing famine, war and religious persecution in their native lands. Many of the first arrivals came from the Rhenish and Bavarian Palatinates, and the refugees became collectively known as the "Poor Palatines". They had been displaced by French invasions and famine during the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession. After arriving in London, many were resettled in Ireland and British America. Towards the end of the 17th century and into the 18th, the wealthy region was repeatedly invaded by French troops during two wars. At that time the region had not yet fully recovered from the Thirty Years' War. They imposed a scorched-earth policy and cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
