The 2nd Marine Division ''(2. Marine Division)'' was a military formation of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) under control of the German Army (Heer) during the later part of the

Second World War 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 ...

History

In March 1945, the 2nd Marine Division was formed in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

with its home station in

Glückstadt Glückstadt (; da, Lykstad) is a town in the Steinburg district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Lower Elbe at the confluence of the small Rhin river, about northwest of Altona. Glückstadt is part of the ...

from excess naval personnel. The division also had a significant amount of personnel from the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

, a battalion of the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

, and Hungarian units. At the beginning of April 1945, the division was declared ready for action and, although poorly trained and equipped, relocated to the zone south of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

on the

Weser River The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Bre ...

. From 5 April the division was part of Luftwaffe General Kurt Student's Army Group and moved in to defend the Weser-Aller line. On 10 April the division moved under the Blumentritt Army Group, and fought defensive battles on the Aller between

Verden an der Aller Verden an der Aller (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Veern''), also called Verden (Aller) or simply Verden, is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the river Aller. It is the district town of the district of Verden in Lower Saxony and an independent munici ...

and

Rethem Rethem () is a town in the Heidekreis in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Aller, approx. 25 km southwest of Bad Fallingbostel, and 18 km southeast of Verden. The town was the scene of heavy fighting over the period 1 ...

and from the

Essel Essel may refer to: People * André Essel (1918–2005), French businessman * Christian Essel (born 1989), Liberian football player * Christine Essel, American politician * Eileen Essell (1922–2015), English actress * Frank Abor Essel-Cobbah, Gh ...

Schwarmstedt Schwarmstedt is a municipality in the Heidekreis in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the confluence of the rivers Aller and Leine, approx. 20 km south of Bad Fallingbostel, and 30 km east of Nienburg. Further districts of the ...

bridgehead. From 15 April further actions occurred at Kirchboitzen,

Kirchlinteln Kirchlinteln is a municipality in the district of Verden, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its central village is situated approximately 6 km east of Verden, and 40 km southeast of Bremen. It is surrounded by the Linteln Geest (also called ...

Visselhövede Visselhövede () is a town in the district of Rotenburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. Nearby towns include the district capital Rotenburg, Walsrode and Verden. Larger cities within a 100 km radius are Bremen, Hanover and Hamburg. Visselhövede b ...

Neunkirchen am Potzberg Neunkirchen am Potzberg is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kusel- ...

, and Jeddingen. All guns of the two anti-aircraft batteries were lost on the Aller and Weser. The remnants of the division were on 20 April in the area south of

. Of the original almost 13,000 men, only 3,000 remained on 21 April after two weeks of heavy fighting. On 23 April, the remnants of the division settled in the

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

area, where they were used again against the

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...

. On 28 April 1945, the remnants were returned to Meldorf an der Elbe, while the approximately 750 men were withdrawn behind the

Kaiser Wilhelm Canal The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the ...

and were used as an alarm unit in the

Albersdorf Albersdorf is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated near the Kiel Canal, approx. 14 km southeast of Heide. The place was first mentioned in 1281 under the name ''Aluerdesdorpe'', mean ...

and

Hemmingstedt Hemmingstedt is a German municipality in the district of Dithmarschen in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. History Hemmingstedt is the namesake of the Battle of Hemmingstedt, which took place south of the place in today's municipal area of Epenw� ...

area. At the end of the war, the remains of the division were at

Bunsoh Bunsoh is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Ru ...

where it surrendered to the British.Mitchham, p. 36.

Organisation

The division's target structure was that of the '''Volksgrenadier Division, though this was never achieved. The division had no heavy weapons and was mainly equipped with small arms and ''panzerfausts''. The 2nd Marine Engineer Battalion was never established, with the establishment of the 2nd Marine Intelligence Division and 2nd Marine Field Replacement Battalion also never completed, along with the 200th Marine Supply Regiment never operational due to a lack of vehicles. The organisation of the division was as follows (with German title in parenthesis, those in ''italics'' were never fully formed): * 2nd Marine Division Headquarters (2. Marine Division Stab) ** Division Headquarters (Stab) ** ''2nd Marine Intelligence Division'' (2. Marine-Nachrichten-Abteilung) ** 5th Marine Grenadier Regiment (5. Marine Grenadier Regiment) ** 6th Marine Grenadier Regiment (6. Marine Grenadier Regiment) ** 7th Marine Grenadier Regiment (7. Marine Grenadier Regiment) ** 2nd Marine Division Fusilier Battalion (2. Marine Division Füsilier Bataillon) ** 2nd Marine Division Field Replacement Battalion (2. Marine Division Feldersatzbataillon) ** 2nd Marine Artillery Regiment (2. Marine Artillerie Regiment) **4th Battery, 117th Anti-Aircraft Regiment (

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 ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

troops) ** 4th Battery, 162nd Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Luftwaffe troops) ** 2nd Marine Tank Destroyer Battalion (2. Marine

Panzerjäger ''Panzerjäger'' (German language, German "armour-hunters" or "tank-hunters", abbreviated to ''Pz.Jg.'' in German) was a branch of service of the Nazi Germany, German Wehrmacht during the World War II, Second World War. It was an Anti-tank war ...

Bataillon) ** ''2nd Marine Engineer Battalion'' (2. Marine Ingenieur Bataillon) ** ''200th Marine Supply Regiment'' (200. Marine-Versorgungs-Regiment)

Commanders

The divisional commanders included:Pettibone, p. 242. * 11 February 1945 – 8 April 1945: Vice Admiral :de:Ernst Scheurlen * 8 April 1945 – 10 April 1945: Naval Captain Werner Hartmann * 10 April 1945–surrender:

Army Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Werner, Count von Bassewitz-Levetzow

Footnotes

References

* * {{Cite book, last=Pettibone, first=Charles D., title=The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II: Volume I – Germany, publisher=Trafford Publishing, year=2006, isbn=978-1412074988, location=Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, oclc=64670086 Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations of the Kriegsmarine