The 363rd Volksgrenadier Division (german: 363. Volksgrenadier-Division) was a
volksgrenadier
''Volksgrenadier'' was the name given to a type of German Army division formed in the Autumn of 1944 after the double loss of Army Group Center to the Soviets in Operation Bagration and the Fifth Panzer Army to the Allies in Normandy. The na ...
division of the
German Army 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 opposi ...
, active from 1944 to 1945.
The division was formed in September 1944 to replace the
363rd Infantry Division which was annihilated in the
Falaise pocket, by redesignating the 566th Volksgrenadier Division, under the command of
August Dettling
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...
. It contained the 957th, 958th and 959th Grenadier Regiments, and the 363rd Artillery Regiment.
[Axis History Factbook]
The division fought in the Netherlands, suffering heavy casualties during the failed
German offensive against the Nijmegen salient in early October 1944. After being refitted, the division fought around and along the
Roer River
The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perc ...
before finally being destroyed in the
Ruhr pocket in April 1945.
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{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Volksgrenadier divisions
Military units and formations established in 1944
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945