The 362nd Infantry Division (german: 362. Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of 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 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 ...

, active from 1943 to 1945. Formed in Italy, it participated in the Italian Campaign for the entire duration of its war service. It was implicated in the massacre of 97 civilians in what is known as the Benedicta massacre, which occurred at

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in April 1944.

Operational history

The 362nd Infantry Division was formed in Italy, in the area around Rimini, during the period from October to November 1943. It was formally established on 15 November under the command of '' Generalleutnant''

Heinz Greiner Heinz Greiner (12 August 1895 – 19 November 1977) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Career During Operation Barbarossa Gre ...

. The division nominally fell within the responsibility of

Wehrkreis VII 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 ...

, and was centred on Füssen. It was a Type 44 division, which meant that it had six battalions of infantry in contrast to the nine of a conventional division, and also had less motorised transport. Its core, including Greiner and his divisional staff, were the remnants of the 268th Infantry Division, which had previously served on the Eastern Front and had recently been disbanded following significant losses incurred in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...

and subsequent retreat. Infantry numbers were boosted with battalions from the 44th, 52nd, 76th and the 305th Infantry Divisions. Its first engagement was in the

Battle of Anzio The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The op ...

in January 1944 and when the Allies managed to break through the German defences four months later, the division was overrun. Prior to this, the division was involved in the Benedicta massacre, which occurred at

between 6 and 7 April 1944, where 97 civilians were executed. Withdrawn to Rome, the division suffered heavy losses during the Allied advance and had to be rebuilt. Two of its original grenadier regiments were disbanded and were replaced by the 1059th and 1060th Infantry Regiments, transferred from the recently disestablished 92nd Infantry Division. Returning to the front on the

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

, it manned the frontlines near Florence and later at Bologna. During

Operation Grapeshot The spring 1945 offensive in Italy, codenamed Operation Grapeshot, was the final Allied attack during the Italian Campaign in the final stages of the Second World War. The attack into the Lombard Plain by the 15th Allied Army Group started on 6 ...

, the last major engagement mounted by the Allied forces on the Italian Front, the division became surrounded near the

Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ligurian language (ancient), Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira (river), Mair ...

by the American forces. It surrendered on 23 April 1945. Some elements of the division were overrun by New Zealand forces advancing on

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Commanders

*''Generalleutnant''

(15 November 1943 – 31 December 1944); *''Generalmajor'' Max Reinwald (1 January – February 1945; 17 – 23 April 1945); *''Generalmajor'' Alois Weber (February – 16 April 1945).

Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:361st Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 0*362