The 462nd ''Volksgrenadier'' Division (german: 462. 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 name ...

'' 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 1942 to 1944.

Operational history

The 462nd ''Volksgrenadier'' Division was originally formed in October 1942 as a replacement division in the French town of Nancy, in the French Region of Lorraine Province, under the command of ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...

'' Otto Schilling. It took responsibility for many of the units of the former 182nd Reserve Division and was expanded with various fortress and training troops stationed at

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

Saarburg Saarburg (, ) is a city of the Trier-Saarburg district, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the banks of the river Saar in the hilly country a few kilometers upstream from the Saar's junction with the Moselle. Now known as a tourist ...

and

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

. After

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

it was designated as a ''

'' division and reorganized for combat and was dispatched to the frontlines in August 1944. At the start of November 1944, now commanded by ''

Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of O ...

Vollrath Lübbe Vollrath Lübbe (4 March 1894 – 4 April 1969) was a German general in the Wehrmacht. A veteran of World War I, he rose to command several divisions during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded by Nazi ...

, the division, less the 1216th Grenadier Regiment which had been transferred to the 19th ''Volksgrenadier'' Division, was defending the town of Metz from the United States Third Army. At this stage of the war, the division numbered 7,000 personnel. It surrendered the town on 28 November, having lost two commanders during the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

; Lübbe had suffered a stroke and his replacement, ''Generalmajor''

Heinrich Kittel __NOTOC__ Heinrich Kittel (31 October 1892 – 5 March 1969) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 462nd Infantry Division. As a prisoner of war, he was interned at Trent Park, where his conversations with fellow inmates we ...

, was wounded in action on 22 November. Over 1,000 men evaded capture by virtue of being evacuated as wounded prior to the fall of Metz. The division was disbanded shortly afterwards.

Commanders

*''Generalmajor'' Otto Schilling (5 October – 4 December 1942); *''Generalleutnant'' Ernest Guntzel (5–17 December 1942); *''Generalleutnant'' Hans von Sommerfeld (17 December 1942 – 14 July 1944); *''Generalleutnant'' Walter Krause (15 July – 14 October 1944); *''Generalleutnant''

(15 October – 8 November 1944); *''Generalmajor''

(8–22 November 1944); *''Oberst'' Joachim Wagner (22–28 November 1944).

Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:462nd Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht) Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Volksgrenadier divisions