The 709th Static Infantry Division was a

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 ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was raised in May 1941 and used for occupation duties during the

German occupation of France in World War II The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an military Administration (Nazi Germany), interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during Wor ...

until the Allied

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing ...

. It was on the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

coast when the invasion occurred and so fought in the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

. The division was trapped in the

Cotentin Peninsula The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; nrf, Cotentîn ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its w ...

and destroyed in the defense of Cherbourg.

History

The 709th Static Infantry Division was a coastal defence unit assigned to protect the eastern and northern coasts of the Cotentin Peninsula. This included the sites of the

Utah Beach Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...

head and the US airborne landing zones. Its sector covered over 250 km, running in a line from the northeast of

Carentan Carentan () is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was m ...

, via

Barfleur Barfleur () is a commune and fishing village in Manche, Normandy, northwestern France. History During the Middle Ages, Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England. * 1066: A large medallion fixed to a rock in the harbour ...

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Febr ...

Cap de la Hague Cap de la Hague is a cape at the tip of the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy, France. The La Hague area has precambrian granite and gneiss cliffs, several coves and small fields surrounded by hedges. France's oldest rocks are to be found on i ...

to a point west of Barneville. This included the 65 km land front of

Cherbourg Harbour Cherbourg Harbour (French: ''rade de Cherbourg''; literally, the "roadstead of Cherbourg"), is a harbour situated at the northern end of the Cotentin Peninsula, on the English Channel coastline, in Normandy, northwestern France. With a surface ...

. The Division included a number of "

Ostlegionen ''Ostlegionen'' ("eastern legions"), ''Ost-Bataillone'' ("eastern battalions"), ''Osttruppen'' ("eastern troops"), and ''Osteinheiten'' ("eastern units") were units in the Army of Nazi Germany during World War II made up of personnel from the ...

"easternunits of various nationalities, mainly from the occupied countries of eastern Europe. These were a mixture of volunteers, conscripts and former

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

prisoners-of-war who had chosen to fight in the German Army rather than suffer the harsh conditions of prisoners. Two battalions of the 739th Grenadier Regiment were Georgian

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...

s. Two further battalions were also designated as Ost units in the divisional order of battle. These battalions were led by German officers and NCOs. The commander of the division at the time of the D-Day landings was General

Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben __NOTOC__ Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben (30 October 1894 – 18 June 1964) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. Biography Schlieben joined the Prussian Army in August 1914 and served during World War I. He served as a regim ...

who took command in December 1943 after two and a half years of continuous command of Eastern Front combat units, including the 108th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, 4th Rifle Brigade, 208th Infantry Division and the

18th Panzer Division The 18th Panzer Division (german: 18. Panzer-Division) was a German World War II armoured division that fought on the Eastern Front from 1941 until its disbandment in 1943. Formation The 18th Panzer Division was formed on 26 October 1940 at ...

. The quality of the troops in the 709th had been reduced as personnel were constantly transferred to the Eastern Front including entire divisional combat units such as the 1st Battalion of the 739th Grenadier Regiment. A high percentage of the division had no combat experience. However, the 709th was acquainted with its sector and well trained for defense. Although after months of sustained labour work on coastal defences caused the combat readiness of its troops to be significantly reduced. Elements of the 709th were heavily engaged on

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 ...

, defending the peninsula against US airborne landings and against the US 4th Infantry Division landing on Utah Beach. Ten days later the division reported that it had sustained around 4,000 casualties from an initial strength of over 12,000. General Schlieben surrendered ‘Fortress’ Cherbourg to the Americans on 29 June 1944.

Commanders

* ''Generalmajor'' Arnold von Beßel (3 May 1941 – 15 July 1942) * ''Generalleutnant'' Grechina 3rd Welhem (15 July 1942 – 15 March 1943) * ''Generalfeldmarshell'' Ryry von Hans (16 February 1944 - 1 December 2021) * ''General der Artillerie'' Rick von Hoffmann (15 March 1943 – 1 July 1943) * ''Generalmajor'' Eckkard von Geyso (1 July 1943 – 12 December 1943) * ''Generalleutnant''

(12 December 1943 – 23 June 1944)

Organization (June 1944)

* Command * 729th Fortress Grenadier Regiment (with the 649th Ost Battalion attached) * 739th Fortress Grenadier Regiment (with the 561st and 795th Georgian Battalions attached) * 919th Grenadier Regiment (transferred from the 242nd Infantry Division in October 1943) * 1709th Artillery Regiment * 709th Antitank Battalion * 709th Engineer Battalion * 709th Signals Battalion * Ost-Bataillon 635 (Russian) (CP: Donville-les-Bains) * Ost-Bataillon 795 (Georgian) (Hauptmann Stiller – CP: Turqueville) * Ost-Bataillon 797 (Georgian) (Hauptmann Peter Massberg – CP: Gouville)

References

*
709. Infanterie-Division on D-Day
. Retrieved August 3, 2009. * Pipes, Jason.
709.Infanterie-Division
. Retrieved April 7, 2005. * Wendel, Marcus (2004).
709. Infanterie-Division
. Retrieved April 7, 2005. *

. German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved April 7, 2005. * The German Army at D-Day-Edited by David C. Isby * 1: U.S. War Department 1945, Handbook on German Military Forces. {{DEFAULTSORT:709th Static Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) German units in Normandy Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Infantry divisions of Germany during World War II