21st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

The division was formed in 1934 in Elbing on the basis of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division of the Reichswehr . Initially, for the purpose of misinformation, the headquarters of the division was called the "military command of Elbing," then the "commandant of Elbing." When the creation of the Wehrmacht was officially announced in October 1935, the division received serial number 21 and was subordinate to the command of the 1st corps district . The division included the 3rd, 24th and 45th infantry regiments. The emblem of the division was the image of a knight with a shield, which depicted the coat of arms of the Teutonic Order , which should have reminded of the past of Elbing, which was one of the fortresses of the order.

In preparation for the military operations against Czechoslovakia during the Sudeten crisis of 1938, the 21st division as part of the 1st army corps remained in East Prussia at the disposal of the command of the 3rd army , which aimed to protect the eastern border of Germany [1] . In 1939, the division as part of the 21st army corps participated in the invasion of Poland , in particular, in the battles for the Mlava position and in the siege of Warsaw . In November 1939, the division was transferred to the Western Front. During the French campaign of 1940, the division took part in the battles of the 13th and 38th army corps of the 12th army . In September 1940, the division was transferred to East Prussia , becoming subordinate to the "native" 1st Army Corps. In its composition, she took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union . In August, the division participated in breaking through the Luga line from the bridgehead in the Shimsk area.

In the first echelon of the First Army Corps, the 11th and 21st Infantry Divisions advanced, which already on August 10 broke through the first two positions of the Soviet troops. The next day, Shimsk was captured. On August 12, the 126th and 96th Infantry Divisions joined the expanding offensive. The breakthrough of the defense of the 48th army in the Novgorod direction ended on August 13. The decisive role on this day was played by the fact that the Germans fell into the hands of a detailed defense plan for the 128th Rifle Division . It marked minefields, the main nodes of the resistance and the distribution of forces between different sectors of the defense. In accordance with this, the commanders of the 11th and 21st divisions introduced their sappers to eliminate vast minefields, and the vanguards of the advancing regiments followed the sappers. To destroy the bunkers used 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. On August 14, the 21st Infantry Division reached the Novgorod - Luga highway, and the 11th Infantry Division reached the railway in the same direction. The engineer battalion of the 11th division blew up a bridge on this road. Soviet troops on the Luga line gradually lost the strings of communication that connected them with the rear. On the morning of August 15, the Germans made an attempt to take control of Novgorod on the fly, but it failed. Dive bombers of the VIII air corps fell on Novgorod. ... In the evening, the 21st Infantry Division seeped into the city, and on the morning of August 16, the German flag fluttered over the Novgorod Kremlin . However, the battle for the city did not end there. The regiment of the 21st Infantry Division and the 424th regiment of the 126th Infantry Division remained with the VIII Air Corps to storm the city, and the remaining regiments of the 21st Division and the 11th Infantry Division launched an offensive on Chudovo ... German troops had to repel Soviet counterattacks using tanks, during one of which on August 18 the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 21st Infantry Division was completely surrounded. However, strong air support ultimately ensured the Germans success in the battles for Novgorod. As the battles for Novgorod continued, the First Army Corps was advancing towards Chudovo. The 11th Infantry Division took up defense on Volkhov to protect the right flank of the corps, and the combat group of the 21st Infantry Division captured Chudovo on August 20, cutting the October Railway ^[2] .

The next how many years she participated in the blockade of Leningrad , with a breakthrough of which at the end of 1944 she rolled back to East Prussia, where she became part of the 3rd Panzer Army in the Tilsit area. However, soon the 21st Infantry Division was subordinated to the 4th Army and deployed in the Insterburg area before the start of the East Prussian operation . Together with other units of the 4th Army, she was surrounded in the Heiligenbayl boiler and defeated in the last weeks of the war. The remainder of the division was evacuated through the Gulf of Kaliningrad to Pillau and Sambia , where they were finally scattered by the advancing Soviet units. Some groups managed to escape through the Gulf of Kaliningrad to Hel and further by sea to Schleswig-Holstein .

1939

• 3rd Infantry Regiment
• 24th Infantry Regiment
• 45th Infantry Regiment
• 21st artillery regiment
  • 1st Division of the 57th Heavy Artillery Regiment
• 21st Scooter Squadron
• 21st Air Force Battalion (until December 1939)
• 21st combat engineer battalion
• 21st anti-tank battalion
• 21st battalion of communications
• 21st reserve battalion

1942

• 3rd Grenadier Regiment
• 24th Grenadier Regiment
• 45th Grenadier Regiment
• 21st artillery regiment
• 21st Scooter Battalion
• 21st combat engineer battalion
• 21st anti-tank battalion
• 21st battalion of communications

1944-45

• 3rd Grenadier Regiment
• 24th Grenadier Regiment
• 45th Grenadier Regiment
• 21st artillery regiment
• 21st Fusilier Battalion
• 21st combat engineer battalion
• 21st anti-tank battalion
• 21st battalion of communications
• 21st reserve battalion

• Lieutenant General Albert Vodrig, from October 15, 1935
• Lieutenant General Kuno-Hans von Bot, from November 10, 1938
• Infantry General Otto Schponheimer, from October 26, 1939
• infantry general Gerhard Matzky, from January 10, 1943
• Major General Hubert Lamey , on November 1, 1943, interim
• infantry general Gerhard Matzky, from December 1, 1943
• Lieutenant General Franz Sensfuss, March 1, 1944
• Infantry General Heinrich Götz, from August 22, 1944
• Major General Karl Kötz, from April 1, 1945

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (44)

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (5)

• Herbert Schwender (No. 442), 04/06/1944 - Colonel, commander of the 45th Grenadier Regiment
• Heinrich Goetz (No. 765), 03/05/1945 - Major General, commander of the 21st Infantry Division
• Franz Rogalski (No. 775), 03/11/1945 - reserve lieutenant, adjutant of the 2nd battalion of the 45th grenadier regiment
• Ernst Kuchkau (No. 777), 03/11/1945 - Chief Sergeant Major, commander of the 6th company of the 3rd grenadier regiment
• Hans-Joachim Kappis (No. 849), 04/28/1945 - reserve lieutenant, commander of the 2nd battalion of the 45th grenadier regiment

• List of divisions of the Third Reich

• 21.Infanterie-Division on Feldgrau.com
• 21. Infanterie-Division on the website lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de
• 21. Infanterie-Division on axishistory.com
• 21.Infanterie-Division on ordersofbattle.com