The 176th Infantry Division was a military formation that served with the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

during World War II.

Brief history

On 31 October 1944, the 176th Infantry Division was formed out of the 176th Division and was a “training and replacement” formation. It had a strength of about 7,000 men, most of whom were in a poor shape. The division was nicknamed the "kranken division" (sick division), because it was mostly made up of men deemed unfit for military service, such as the physically handicapped and men with severe allergies. One battalion consisted of men with serious hearing maladies, two comprised Luftwaffe personnel, (but with ample infantry training), while many others were convalescents and semi-invalids.U.S. Army, Order of Battle of the German Army, Washington, 1945, p. 193 In November and December 1944, the Division was part of the XII SS Corps,

5th Panzer Army 5th Panzer Army (german: 5. Panzerarmee) was the name of two different German armoured formations during World War II. The first of these was formed in 1942, during the North African campaign and surrendered to the Allies at Tunis in 1943. The a ...

. Between January and March 1945 the 176th Infantry Division was assigned to the XII SS Corps, 15th Army. The 176th Division was a 'regular' military formation which operated mainly on the Dutch side of the " Roer bridgehead" during Operation ''Blackcock''. During the operation, its HQ was located at Effeld near Vlodrop. The division was actually refitting and re-equipping during the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Blackcock. The division was assigned to the LXXIV Korps of 15th Army in April 1945 and saw action in the Duisburg area where it eventually surrendered.

Commanders

The 176th Division was under the command of ''General-Major'' Christian-Johannes Landau (1897 - 1952). Landau was a World War I veteran and “artilleryman”, he took command of the division on 1 January 1945. He was awarded the Knight's Cross on 9 May 1945, two days after the official surrender of Germany . Landau held a master's degree in agriculture. He was taken into captivity on 9 May 1945 and released in 1947. He died in 1952 in Freiburg, Brunswig at the age of 55.

Organisation

The division had been formed in October 1944, it included three Grenadier Regiments (the 1218th, 1219th, and 1220th). It totalled six Grenadier battalions, one Fusilier battalion and one '' Panzerjäger'' (Anti-Tank) battalion. The 1178th Artillery Regiment consisted of four battalions. From captured documents, dating from October 1944, it is believed that the 176th Division operated in so-called Battle Groups ("

Kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germa ...

n"), three of which were centred on the Grenadier Regiments, while the fourth was organized around the Engineer/Pioneer battalion.

Notes

Sources

* U.S. Army, Order of Battle of the German Army, Washington, 1945 * Nutter, Thomas E. ''Mythos revisited – American Historians on German Fighting Power in WWII'' "Chapter 10 – Closing in with the enemy"

External links

http://www.operation-blackcock.com
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations established in 1944 Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1945