The 41st Infantry Division (german: 41. Infanteriedivision), formerly the 41st Fortress 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 division in

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was employed on occupation duties in southern Greece, and surrendered to the

Yugoslav partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...

at the end of the war.

History

Founded as the 41st Fortress Division, this unit was formed in

Bruck an der Mur Bruck an der Mur is a city of some 13,500 people located in the district Bruck-Mürzzuschlag, in the Austrian state of Styria. It is located at the confluence of the Mur and Mürz Rivers. Its manufacturing includes metal products and paper. Br ...

in December 1943, with its command staff being formed from the

cadre Cadre may refer to: *Cadre (military), a group of officers or NCOs around whom a unit is formed, or a training staff *Cadre (politics), a politically controlled appointment to an institution in order to circumvent the state and bring control to th ...

of the defunct 39th Infantry Division, and was ready for duty at the start of 1944 at a strength of 22 battalions. In its initial deployment, it was to defend the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

peninsula of Greece as a coastal component of LXVIII Army Corps, attached to the

Army Group F Army Group F (german: Heeresgruppe F, italic=yes) was a strategic command formation of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. The commander of Army Group F served also as the ''Oberbefehlshaber Südost'' ( OB South East). Created 12 August ...

under General

Hellmuth Felmy Hellmuth Felmy (28 May 1885 – 14 December 1965) was a German general and war criminal during World War II, commanding forces in occupied Greece and Yugoslavia. A high-ranking Luftwaffe officer, Felmy was tried and convicted in the 1948 Hostag ...

. The 733rd Grenadier Regiment was attached to the division in September 1944, after it was separated from its parent 133rd Fortress Division during the evacuation of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. On the 28th it was located in Thebes, though this was only learned by Allied decrypters the following month. It operated in the army group's rear guard during the German retreat from

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part o ...

, being attacked by royalist guerrillas and elements of the British 2nd Parachute Brigade, with minor skirmishes taking place as the division moved through Yugoslavia.''Hinsley'', p.291''Mitcham'', ''German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry Divisions in World War II'' p.86''Mitcham'', ''German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry Divisions in World War II'' p.158 The division was restructured as an infantry division in January 1945, and engaged the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

as such along the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...

and

Drava The Drava or Drave''Utrata Fachwörterbuch ...

rivers. The 41st was then put under the command of the 117th Jäger Division. The 41st surrendered to the 11th Yugoslav Shock Division near

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

on May 8, 1945.

Commanders

Order of battle

In its initial formation, the division was two full regiments in strength. It was expanded further in 1944, and even more in 1945. ;September 1944 *141st Divisional Supply Troops *141st Engineer Battalion *141st Fusilier Battalion *141st Signal Battalion *309th Army Anti-Aircraft Battalion *733rd Grenadier Regiment *919th Army Coastal Artillery Regiment *938th Grenadier Regiment *965th Grenadier Regiment *1009th Fortress Infantry Battalion ;1945 *1230th Grenadier Regiment *1231st Grenadier Regiment *1232nd Grenadier Regiment *41st Füsilier-Bataillon *141st Artillery Regiment *141st Pioneer Bataillon *141st Panzerjäger-Abteilung *141st Nachrichten-Abteilung *141st Feldersatz-Bataillon *141st Versorgungseinheiten

Sources

Notes

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:41st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 0*041