The 47th Volksgrenadier Division (german: 47. 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.
Operational history
The division was formed from the remnants of the 47th Infantry Division in Denmark in September 1944, under the command of ''Lieutenant General''
Max Bork
Max Hermann Bork (1 January 1899 – 4 July 1973) was a German general during World War II who commanded the XIII Army Corps. He may have been a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.
Bork was born in Lasdehnen, East ...
.
In mid-November, the division was ordered just east of the village of Gressnich, now part of
Stolberg in
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
. Field Marshal Model, believing the division to be inexperienced, moved them out of the way of the American
Ninth Army.
It remained in action on the
Western Front, until it was destroyed in March 1945.
Commanders
*''Lieutenant General''
Max Bork
Max Hermann Bork (1 January 1899 – 4 July 1973) was a German general during World War II who commanded the XIII Army Corps. He may have been a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany.
Bork was born in Lasdehnen, East ...
(18 Sep 1944 - Feb 1945)
*''Colonel von Grundherr'' (Mar 1945 - Apr 1945)
*''Colonel Langesee'' (Apr 1945)
*''Major General'' Hauser (1945)
Components
*103rd Grenadier Regiment
*104th Grenadier Regiment
*115th Grenadier Regiment
*147th Artillery Regiment
*147th (Bicycle) Fusilier Company
*147th Pioneer Battalion
*147th Anti-tank Battalion (mot)
*147th Signals Battalion
*147th Field-replacement Battalion
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:47th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)
Military units and formations established in 1944
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
Volksgrenadier divisions