The 210th Coastal Defence Division was created from a ''Division zbV'' staff (an ''ad hoc'' headquarters that could be used to form a division around) in July 1942, and shipped north to defend the port
Petsamo Petsamo may refer to:
* Petsamo Province, a province of Finland from 1921 to 1922
* Petsamo, Tampere, a district in Tampere, Finland
* Pechengsky District, Russia, formerly known as Petsamo
* Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast, Russi ...
in Arctic Finland. In late 1944 it moved westward to take up the defense of
Vardø
( fi, Vuoreija, fkv, Vuorea, se, Várggát) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county in the extreme northeastern part of Norway. Vardø is the easternmost town in Norway, more to the east than Saint Petersburg or Istanbul. The administra ...
in the Norwegian
Finnmark
Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024.
On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbouri ...
.
The division had a non-standard organization, consisting of several battalions of fortress infantry and coastal artillery.
Organization
The division had the following structure during its existence:
* Headquarters at
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
** 661st Fortress Battalion
** 662nd Fortress Battalion
** 663rd Fortress Battalion
** 664th Fortress Battalion
** 665th Fortress Battalion
** 37th Army Coastal Defense Artillery Regiment
*** 448th Army Coastal Defense Artillery Battalion
*** 478th Army Coastal Defense Artillery Battalion
*** 480th Army Coastal Defense Artillery Battalion
*** 773rd Army Coastal Defense Artillery Battalion
** 3rd Battalion, 67th Mountain Signal Battalion ''(Later became 210th Signal Company)''
**210th Divisional Supply Group
**''(Later Added - 9th Motorcycle Battalion)''
**
Commanders
The division only had 2 commanders during its time :
*
Generalleutnant Karl Wintergerst (15.07.1942 – 01.02.1944)
*
Generalleutnant Kurt Ebeling (01.02.1944 – 08.05.1945)
See also
*
List of German divisions in World War II
References
* Wendel, Marcus (2004).
210. Küste-Abwehr-Infanterie-Division. Retrieved April 7, 2005.
*
. German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved April 7, 2005.
German units in the Arctic
Military units and formations established in 1942
Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
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