The 163rd Infantry Division (german: 163. Infanterie-Division) was a German Army infantry division in

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 ...

. Formed in November 1939, it was engaged in the

invasion of Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

the following year. It fought alongside the Finnish Army during

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

against the Soviet Union. During this time, the division's transit through neutral Sweden caused the

Midsummer Crisis The Midsummer crisis ( sv, Midsommarkrisen) was a political crisis in Sweden after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941. Sweden's neutrality was tested when Nazi Germany and Finland demanded that Sweden allow the transit of the ...

of 1941. The division spent most of the war in Finland, before being returned to Germany. It was destroyed in March 1945 in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

by the

First Polish Army First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

, subordinated to the

Soviet 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 nation ...

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...

History

The 163rd Infantry Division was raised in November 1939. In April 1940 it was employed in the

, landing at

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...

, Arendal, and

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

. It was troops from this division that was present on the heavy cruiser Blucher when it was sunk in the

Battle of Drøbak Sound The Battle of Drøbak Sound took place in Drøbak Sound, the northernmost part of the outer Oslofjord in southern Norway, on 9 April 1940. It marked the end of the " Phoney War" and the beginning of World War II in Western Europe. A German fle ...

in the early hours of the invasion of Norway. Thereafter it remained on occupation duty in Norway until June 1941, when it was subordinated to the Finnish army to support operations along the

River Svir A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...

during

. In the early stages of Operation Barbarossa and the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

the 163rd Division was to be transferred from Norway to Finland, and Sweden decided to allow safe transit of the division by railway through Swedish territory. The decision was in conflict with the Swedish neutrality-policy causing a political crisis (the "

" of 1941), and it raised many challenging questions about Sweden's neutrality during World War II. Today this remains a highly debated subject in Sweden and in the Nordic countries. The division was transferred 25 June to 12 July. In Swedish literature the division is better known as "Division Engelbrecht", after its commander at the time. The transport took the route Charlottenberg-Laxå-Hallsberg-Krylbo-Ånge-Vännäs-Boden-Haparanda. In February 1942 it joined the

German XXXVI Mountain Corps __NOTOC__The XXXVI Corps was a German military formation in World War II. It was formed in October 1939 and took part in the invasion of France. In August 1940 the corps was moved to southern Norway and from there to northern Finland. It took pa ...

near

Kandalaksha Kandalaksha (russian: Кандала́кша; fi, Kantalahti, also ''Kandalax'' or ''Candalax'' in the old maps; krl, Kannanlakši; sms, Käddluhtt) is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandala ...

, and remained there until the Germans withdrew from Finland back into Norway in autumn 1944. In early 1945 it was transferred back to Germany, standing in reserve for a time at Berlin, then destroyed by the Soviets in

in March.

Organization

Structure of the division: * Headquarters ** 307th Infantry Regiment ** 310th Infantry Regiment ** 324th Infantry Regiment ** 234th Artillery Regiment ** 234th Reconnaissance Battalion ** 234th Tank Destroyer Battalion ** 234th Engineer Battalion ** 234th Signal Battalion ** 234th Field Replacement Battalion ** 234th Divisional Supply Group

Commanding officers

*General der Artillerie

Erwin Engelbrecht Erwin Engelbrecht (12 November 1891 in ''Wildpark'' Potsdam – 8 April 1964 in Munich) was a German military officer. Career In January 1939 Engelbrecht was promoted to General, in September 1942 to General of the Artillery. During 1939-1942 h ...

, 25 October 1939 – 15 June 1942 *General der Infanterie Anton Dostler, 15 June 1942 – 28 December 1942 *Generalleutnant

Karl Rübel __NOTOC__ Karl Rübel (16 August 1895 – 8 March 1945) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Rübel was killed on 8 March 1945 near Schivelbein, Pomerania, during th ...

, 29 December 1942 – 8 March 1945

References

External links

* Pipes, Jason.
163.Infanterie-Division
. Retrieved April 9, 2005. * Wendel, Marcus (2004).
163. Infanterie-Division
. Retrieved April 9, 2005. *

. German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved April 9, 2005. German units in the Arctic Continuation War Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II 1939 establishments in Germany {{Germany-WWII-stub

History

Organization

Commanding officers

See also

References

External links