The 21st Infantry Division was a German military unit which fought during World War II.
History
The 21st Infantry Division (Germany) was formed in 1934 in Elbing, East Prussia, by expanding the 3rd Prussian Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division of the old Reichswehr. As this was a direct breach of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, its existence was initially concealed; it was formally designated as the 21st Infantry Division in October 1935. Its East Prussian origin informed the adoption of the divisional symbol, a figure holding a shield bearing the black cross of the Teutonic Knights.
Soldiers of the 21st Infantry Division during a railway operation at the Ostpreußenbahn in the Volkhov sector
After being involved in series of defensive battles and retreats to Riga as the Soviet army conquered their territory, late 1944 saw the 21st Infantry Division again in East Prussia, assigned to Third Panzer Army in the area of Tilsit before being reallocated to Fourth Army and deployed in the area of Insterburg, facing the Soviet East Prussian Offensive. Along with the bulk of Fourth Army it was encircled and largely destroyed in the Heiligenbeil pocket in the closing weeks of the war. Remnants of the division's forces were transported over the Frisches Haff to Pillau and Samland, where the unit was eventually dispersed in battle with Soviet troops, while some elements escaped along the Frische Nehrung to Hela and eventually by sea to Schleswig-Holstein.[citation needed]
Commanding officers
Generalleutnant Albert Wodrig, 1 October 1934 – 10 November 1938
Generalmajor Heinrich Götz, 22 August 1944 – 25 September 1944
Oberst Hengersdorff, 25 September 1944 – October 1944
Oberst Eberhard Scharenberg, October 1944 – 12 December 1944
Oberst Beyse, 12 December 1944 – 14 January 1945
Generalmajor Heinrich Götz, 14 January 1945 – 1 April 1945
Generalmajor Karl Koetz, 1 April 1945 – 8 May 1945
Organisation
3. Infanterie-Regiment
24. Infanterie-Regiment
45. Infanterie-Regiment
21. Artillerie-Regiment
57. I./Artillerie-Regiment
21. Aufklärungs-Abteilung
21. Panzerjäger-Abteilung
21. Pionier-Battalion
21. Nachrichten-Abteilung
1. Inf.Div.Nachschubführer
References
"21. Infanterie-Division - Lexikon der Wehrmacht". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved July 3, 2007.
"189.Infanterie-Division". Article at feldgrau.com. Retrieved July 3, 2007.
Burkhard Müller-Hillebrand (1969). Das Heer 1933-1945. Entwicklung des organisatorischen Aufbaues (in German). Vol. III: Der Zweifrontenkrieg. Das Heer vom Beginn des Feldzuges gegen die Sowjetunion bis zum Kriegsende. Frankfurt am Main: Mittler. p. 286.
Georg Tessin (1970). Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg, 1939 - 1945 (in German). Vol. IV: Die Landstreitkräfte 15 -30. Frankfurt am Main: Mittler.