The 153rd Grenadier Division (german: 153. Grenadier-Division), sometimes referred to as 153rd Infantry Division (german: 153. Infanterie-Division, label=none) in
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
documents, was an
infantry division
A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers.
In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...
of the German
Heer
Heer may refer to:
People
* Jeet Heer, Canadian author and journalist
* Jeffrey Heer (born 1979), American computer scientist and entrepreneur
* Kamal Heer (born 1973), Punjabi singer and musician
* Oswald Heer (1809–1883), Swiss botanist and ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was founded under the name Division No. 153 (german: Division Nr. 153, label=none), and also carried the names Commander of Reserve Troops III (german: Kommandeur der Ersatztruppen III, label=none), 153rd Reserve Division (german: 153. Reserve-Division, label=none), and 153rd Field Training Division (german: 153. Feldausbildungs-Division, label=none). It was first deployed in August 1939, received its first redesignation in December 1939, was renamed twice more in 1942, was destroyed by forces of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
twice and then redeployed, and was redesignated a final time in 1945.
Operational history
Formed on 26 August 1939 during German
mobilization
Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and ...
and shortly before the
Invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, the unit that would become the 153rd division was initially designated ''Commander of Reserve Troops III'' and served as the training division and administrative body for recruits from
Wehrkreis III
The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military distr ...
(
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
). This unit was dubbed ''Division No. 153'' on 12 December 1939. Division No. 153 continued the previous function of Commander of Reserve Troops III. The reserve regiments that were part of the division included, but were not limited to, Infantry Reserve Regiment 23 'Potsdam', Infantry Reserve Regiment 76 '
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
', Infantry Reserve Regiment 218 '
Berlin-Spandau
Spandau () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') of Berlin in the homonymous borough (''Bezirk'') of Spandau. The historic city is situated, for the most part, on the western banks of the Havel river. As of 2020 the estimated population of Spandau was 39, ...
', Motorized Infantry Reserve Regiment 83 '
Eberswalde
Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German State ( Bundesland / ''federated state'') of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005), geographic ...
', and others.Example list taken from March 1940.
The division was redesignated 153rd Reserve Division (german: 153. Reserve-Division, label=none) on 11 September 1942. Until this point, the division had remained in Wehrkreis III, but was now prepared to be sent to the front. The remaining replacements were moved for additional training to 463rd Division and the fighting units of the 153rd then transferred to
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. This division was then soon renamed again as part of an order given on 10 December 1942. Parts of the division that were stationed in
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
were transferred to the 258th Infantry Division, the remainders were merged to become 153rd Field Training Division (german: 153. Feldausbildungs-Division, label=none). This division was first ready for operations, specifically the training of recruits for other divisions on the Eastern Front, on 15 January 1943.
The 153rd Field Training Division, which had been assigned to
XXXXIX Mountain Corps
XXXXIX Mountain Corps was a mountain corps of the German Army during World War II that participated in the invasion of Yugoslavia.
In June 1941, it participated in Operation Barbarossa as part of Army Group South. It fought in the Battle of Uma ...
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
forces in March 1944.
The 153rd Field Training Division was redeployed for a second iteration using its surviving staff officers in April under command of XXIX Army Corps ( 6th Army) and then, starting in May, LXXII Army Corps (
Third Romanian Army
The 3rd Army (Armata a 3-a Română) was a field army of the Romanian Land Forces active from the 19th century to the 1990s. It fought as part of the German Army Group B during World War II, in Ukraine, the Crimea, and the Caucasus. General Petre ...
), before being destroyed once more in August 1944 in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
after having briefly served under XXIX Army Corps again. The inadequately equipped 153rd had been forced into action and called up from the army group's reserves by the commanding general of XXX Army Corps,
Georg-Wilhelm Postel
__NOTOC__
Georg-Wilhelm Postel (25 April 1896 – 20 September 1953) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany.
Postel was taken prisoner by t ...
, when Postel found himself unable to close the gaps left by retreating Romanian units. The 153rd division was unable to stop the Soviet onslaught, and was quickly defeated as the Soviets continued their advance on XXX Army Corps' right flank as well as their frontal assault against Postel's units. On 20 August, the XXIX Army Corps was ordered to form a new front west of the
Seret river
The Seret (Ukrainian: Серéт) is the left tributary of the Dniester that flows through the Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine. It is long and its basin area is .13th Panzer (which at this point had no tanks left) and 10th Panzergrenadier Divisions and '' Panzerverband Braun''. At this point, the 153rd Division was so depleted that it could not even muster a regiment-sized force. On 24 August, the Soviet
2nd
A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI).
Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to:
Mathematics
* 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'')
* Second of arc, an angular measurement unit ...
and
3rd
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (d ...
Ukrainian Fronts captured
Huși
Huși (, Yiddish/ he, חוש ''Khush'', hu, Huszváros, German: ''Hussburg'') is a city in Vaslui County, Romania, former capital of the disbanded Fălciu County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, Romanian Orthodox episcopal see, an ...
, crossed the
Prut river
The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine.
Characteristics
The Prut originates ...
, and subsequently trapped the German 6th Army, along with great amounts of German divisions,Other trapped German units besides the 153rd included the following: Infantry Divisions:
9th
9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding .
Evolution of the Arabic digit
In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...
,
15th
15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16.
Mathematics
15 is:
* A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and .
* A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...
Dniester
The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...
.
Some parts of the division's second iteration fled to
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, but were then delivered into Soviet captivity by the Bulgarian leadership. The division's commanding general,
Friedrich Bayer
Friedrich Bayer (born Friedrich Beyer, 6 June 1825 in Barmen now Wuppertal – 6 May 1880 in Würzburg) was the founder of what would become Bayer, a German chemical and pharmaceutical company. He founded the dyestuff factory ''Friedrich Bayer'' ...
, was among those delivered to the Red Army, on 11 September 1944.
The 153rd Field Training Division was deployed for a third iteration in October 1944 in the German rear area. On 14 December 1944, orders were given to refit the third iteration of the 153rd Field Training Division for frontline combat. The division was fighting in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
at the time. There, it got trapped alongside the 1st and 23rd Panzer Divisions between the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
and
Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...
. The 153rd Field Training Division was eventually overrun at
Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...
and only parts of the division escaped.
These remnants renamed german: 153. Grenadier-Division, label=none in February 1945. This division remained in combat in the Deutsch-Brod pocket until the end of the war. It was assigned to XXIX Army Corps in April and then ended the war under command of XXXXIX Army Corps, both then part of
1st Panzer Army
The 1st Panzer Army (german: 1. Panzerarmee) was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II.
When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group ...
under
Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similarl ...
. On 8 May, the day of
German surrender
The German Instrument of Surrender (german: Bedingungslose Kapitulation der Wehrmacht, lit=Unconditional Capitulation of the "Wehrmacht"; russian: Акт о капитуляции Германии, Akt o kapitulyatsii Germanii, lit=Act of capit ...
, the 153rd Grenadier Division was captured by Soviet forces at Deutsch-Brod.
Noteworthy individuals
* Curt Schönheinz, divisional commander (August 1939 to December 1939).
* Otto Schröder, divisional commander (December 1939 to May 1942).
* Diether von Böhm-Bezing, divisional commander (May 1942 to December 1942).
*
René de l'Homme de Courbière
René ('' born again'' or ''reborn'' in French) is a common first name in French-speaking, Spanish-speaking, and German-speaking countries. It derives from the Latin name Renatus.
René is the masculine form of the name ( Renée being the femin ...
, divisional commander (January 1943 to June 1943).
* Kurt Gerok, divisional commander (June 1943 to June 1944).
*
Friedrich Bayer
Friedrich Bayer (born Friedrich Beyer, 6 June 1825 in Barmen now Wuppertal – 6 May 1880 in Würzburg) was the founder of what would become Bayer, a German chemical and pharmaceutical company. He founded the dyestuff factory ''Friedrich Bayer'' ...
, divisional commander (from June 1944 to August 1944). Taken prisoner by Bulgarian forces when attempting to enter Bulgaria while fleeing Romania. Later delivered into Soviet captivity.