The 85th Infantry Division (German: ''85. Infantrie-division'') was a Wehrmacht division used in the Second World War. It participated in the German defence 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 ...

, and took part in the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes.

Operational history

The 85th Infantry Division was raised in February 1944 and placed under the command of Lieutenant General

Kurt Chill Kurt Chill (1 May 1895 – 5 July 1976) was a German general during World War II who commanded the LV. Armeekorps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross of the Iron ...

, previously the commanding officer of the 122nd Infantry. Participating as an occupational division in

German-occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

, the 85th was part of the 15th Army's rear-guard in Northern France during the

D-Day landings 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 ...

. It was moved to Normandy in early August as part of a relief force in the forming Falaise pocket, where it was to replace the ''12th SS-Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend"'' by August 11. On August 14, the division received help from second company of the 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion as it travelled from Assy to Maizieres; its commander was killed when the escort convoy encountered a group of Sherman tanks attached to the 1st Hussars. On August 15, the Canadian 4th Armoured Division broke through the 85th's defences around the Falaise pocket.

The Netherlands

Damaged, the division was ordered back to Germany to replenish its numbers. However, Chill ordered his men to form a number of reception stations at the bridgeheads of the Albert Canal in northern Belgium; his idea was to pick up stragglers as a means of gaining numbers, instead. The month of its relocation to the Netherlands also coincided with Operation Market Garden, the allied invasion of the Netherlands. Under attack by the

2nd Canadian Infantry Division The 2nd Canadian Division, an infantry division of the Canadian Army, was mobilized for war service on 1September 1939 at the outset of World War II. Adopting the designation of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, it was initially composed of v ...

in early October, "Kampfgruppe Chill", a detachment of the 85th, was assigned to the Scheldt to replace the retreating 346th Infantry Division. This was however, part of a deception by Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich von der Heydte to fool the Canadians into attacking a much more powerful force. In reality, the detachment consisted of the 185th Artillery Regiment and remnants of the 1053rd and 1054th Grenadier Regiments. The rest of the force consisted of three battalions of the 2nd Parachute Division.

The Calgary Highlanders The Calgary Highlanders is a Canadian Army Primary Reserve infantry regiment, headquartered at Mewata Armouries in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The regiment is a part-time reserve unit, under the command of 41 Canadian Brigade Group, itself part of L ...

, unaware of the true size and skill of the division group, suffered bitterly at Hoogerheide due to this deception, which was worsened by the arrival of the 244th and 667th Army Assault Gun Brigades. Chill was replaced as division commander by the highly decorated ''Major General'' Helmut Bechler in mid-November. Also in mid-November, the division had been separated between armies, with parts going to the 15th Army's 98th Army Corps and the

1st Parachute Army The German 1st Parachute Army (1. ''Fallschirm-Armee'') was formed in September, 1944, comprising 30,000 men. History Its first commander was Colonel General Kurt Student, the ''Wehrmacht''s airborne pioneer. During the Allied Operation Mark ...

. The division, along with the 15th Army's LXXIV Army Corps, participated in the

Battle of Hürtgen Forest The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (german: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) was a series of battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944, between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II, in the Hürtgen Forest, a a ...

in December 1944 as the Wehrmacht attempted to force the Allies out of the Ardennes. The division under Bechler continued to hold out against Allied advances until its final capitulation in March 1945; the rest of the corps would be destroyed at the Ruhr pocket the following April in the

Battle of Aachen The Battle of Aachen was a combat action of World War II, fought by American and German forces in and around Aachen, Germany, between 2–21 October 1944. The city had been incorporated into the Siegfried Line, the main defensive network o ...

. Remnants of the division were merged with others to form Infantry Division Potsdam.

Operational history

The Netherlands

Sources

See also