272nd Infantry Division (Germany)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 272nd Infantry Division


caption=
dates= December 1943 - September 1944
country= flagicon|Germany|Nazi Germany
allegiance=
branch= Army (das deutsche Heer)
type= Infantry Division Type "Kriegsetat 1944"
size= 6 Battalions, 12,725 men total
battles= Battle of Caen
Operation Atlantic
Operation Spring
Battle of Verrières Ridge
Retreat to the Seine
disbanded= Reformed into 272nd Volksgrenadier Division September 1944, disbanded April 1945.

The 272nd Infantry Division was a Type 1944 infantry division of the German Wehrmacht during World War II, that was originally formed in December 1943. The division fought in many of the major battles throughout Operation Overlord, culminating in the Retreat from Northern France and the Low Countries in late August/early September 1944.

Unit Origins

The 272nd Infantry Division was formed in Belgium beginning on 12 December 1943 from the remnants of the 216th Infantry Division, which had been decimated on the Eastern Front and disbanded the month before. [Jenner, Martin: Die niedersächsiche 216./272. Infanterie-Division 1939-1945. (Nauheim: Podzun-Pallas Verlag, 1964), pp. 142-143] The entire staff of the 216th, its signal battalion, divisional support units, and most of its artillery regiment were simply re-designated with the new divisional number. Grenadier Regiments 396 and 398 were disbanded, except the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Regiment 396, which was re-designated as Füsilier Battalion 272. Its commander, Generalleutnant Friedrich August Schack, was carried over from his previous command of the 216th.

Only Grenadier Regiment 348, under the command of Oberstleutnant Burian, was withdrawn from Russia in its entirety, to be re-designated as Grenadier Regiment 980. Both Grenadier Regiments 981 and 982 were created from reserve and training battalions of the 182nd Reserve Division, consisting almost entirely of native German personnel or Reichsdeutsche. The combat engineer and antitank battalions were formed from scratch using elements forwarded from the Replacement Army. [Tessin, Georg: Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945, Vol. 8. (Osnabrūck: Biblio Verlag, 1979), p. 307]

The 272nd Infantry Division trained in the Bevern area in Belgium while under the command and control of the Fifteenth Army. In April 1944 it was sent to the French Mediterranean Coast to continue its training plan and to conduct security duties near the Franco-Spanish border while under the control of the Nineteenth Army. By 19 June, it reported that its present for duty strength was 11,211 men and 1,514 Russian auxiliaries or Hiwis, for a total of 12,725 men, close to its authorized strength [Niklas Zetterling, "Normandy 1944: German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness". (Winnipeg: J.J. Fedorowicz, 2000), p. 252] . For information about its commitment to the defensive front in Normandy and its main engagements, refer to the section shown below.

After surviving the retreat from Normandy, on 17 September 1944 it was redesignated as the 272nd Volksgrenadier Division.

Divisional Organization

Upon its formation in December 1943, the 272nd Infantry Division was comprised of the following regiments & formations. [Schack, Friedrich August, MS B-540, "272nd Infantry Division (15 December 1943 to 26 July 1944" (Foreign Military Studies Division, 1947, 19 pages), pp. b-c.]

:Division Headquarters and Staff Company 272

:Grenadier Regiment 980 (Oberst Ewald Burian)

:Grenadier Regiment 981 (Major Edwin Bodsch)

:Grenadier Regiment 982 (Oberstleutnant Paul Roesener)

:Füsilier Batallion 272 (Major Gerhard Thuermer) :Artillerie-Regiment 272 (Oberstleutnant August Wilbrandt)

:Panzerjäger-Abteilung 272 (Hauptmann Fritz Adrario)

:Pionier Bataillon 272 (Hauptmann Hassinger) :Nachrichten Bataillon 272 (Major Schossig) :Divisions-Nachschubführer 272 (Major Ritter)

:Feld-Ersatz Bataillon 272 (Major Schuetz)

Division Commanders

Generalleutnant Friedrich August Schack (5 Dec. 1943 to 3 Sep. 1944)

Ia (Operations Officer): Oberstleutnant i.G. Hubert Werner

The 272nd Infantry Division during the Battle of Caen, July - August 1944

Due to the deteriorating situation on the Normandy Front, the division was shipped via rail beginning 2 July 1944, experiencing numerous Allied air attacks and Maquis ambushes along the way that slowed its movement to a crawl and caused it to arrive at the front piecemeal. Forced to unload its trains at the Loire River, the division had to make the remaining 180-kilometer trip to Normandy on foot, marching mostly by night to avoid Allied fighter-bombers. By midnight on 13 July, enough of the division had arrived to begin movement into the front lines, where its first three battalions found themselves placed under the control of the I SS Panzer Corps and tasked to begin the relief in place of the battered 1st SS Panzer Division “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler” (LSSAH). The 272nd Infantry Division headquarters was established in Fresnay [Jenner, pp. 150-153.] .

These three battalions and the supporting artillery battalion, as well as Füsilier Battalion 272, found themselves immediately involved in battle. By the end of 16 July, the division had already suffered 933 casualties. By the 17th of July, most of the 272nd Infantry Division had arrived at the front and was immediately placed into line. Grenadier Regiments 980 and 982 were holding the front line, which stretch from the right flank at the Caen railway station to the left flank at Maltot [Jenner, pp. 153-154] . The following day, 18 July 1944, the British began their long-awaited offensive, Operation Goodwood, designed to allow their 2nd British Army to break out of the beachhead and seize Caen once and for all. Using seven armored and two infantry divisions, the British intended to smash the German defenses and punch a way through to Falaise and open the road to Paris.

On the first day, the British were able to advance seven kilometers with the support of over 2,100 heavy and medium bombers blasting the way clear for the tanks and ground troops. German losses were heavy, but the 1st, 12th SS Panzer Division, 21st Panzer Division, and the 272nd Infantry Division fought back desperately. At one point, the 272nd lost contact with its left and right neighbors, and found itself two kilometers ahead of the German front line, forcing it to conduct a fighting withdrawal back to the new German main line of resistance. The artillery regiment frequently found its batteries placed in the direct fire role in order to keep the onrushing British tanks at bay, its guns frequently firing up to 600 rounds a day. By 20 July, Caen had fallen, but the British advance was held up by the German defenses along the Verrières Ridge, held in part by the stalwart Grenadiers of the 272nd Infantry Division. Most of the division’s infantry battalions by that point had suffered losses between 40 and 50 percent< [Jenner, pp. 157-159] .

The Division’s outstanding performance in the fighting near Caen was recognized in the Wehrmachtsbericht of 24 July 1944, which announced to the German people “In the Caen area, the 272nd Infantry Division, under the inspirational leadership of Generalleutnant Schack, has especially distinguished itself through its tough defense and magnificent counterattacks [Jenner, pp. 233] .”

On July 251944, after a preliminary barrage lasting upwards of five hours, forces of the II Canadian Corps initiated a massive offensive across a seven-kilometer front, stretching from the Orne River to Bourguebus Ridge, along the entire northern slope of Verrières Ridge. Although initial successes were made by Canadian forces, strong adherence to defensive doctrine by German forces across the ridge prevented major gains. ["Jarymowycz", Pg. 1] The 272nd Division was able to inflict particularly heavy casualties on the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada. 315 out of 325 men were either killed, wounded, or captured [Copp, "Toll of Verrières Ridge"]

Counterattacks were carried out throughout the 25th and 26th of July by Heer and Waffen SS troops and tanks, ["Jarymowycz", Pg. 7] so that by the evening of 26th July, the tip of the Anglo-Canadian spearhead had been broken off and the front line pushed back between two and three kilometers. ["Jarymowycz", Pg. 8] The next evening, the exhausted survivors of the 272nd were pulled out of line and sent to a quiet area on the front line near the town of Troarn to rest, reconstitute and take in replacements. It continued to reorganize until 3 August, absorbing the bulk of the disbanded 16th "Luftwaffe" Field Division. This brought the 272nd back up to 50 – 60% of its authorized strength [MS B-702, pp. 6-8] . By being transferred to the Troarn area, it also managed to avoid being trapped in the Falaise Pocket. Though it had managed to emerge victorious after contributing more than its fair share towards the effort to stop Operation Goodwood, much more lay ahead – fighting at Troan, retreat across the Dives, the tank battle at Lisieux, and the retreat across the Seine and the low countries.

Though not as glamorous as their counterparts from the highly-vaunted Waffen SS, the ordinary Grenadiers of the 272nd had acquitted themselves very well indeed, helping to stop numerous tank-heavy British assaults even though it lacked armor of its own. Using Panzerfaust, hand grenade bundles, antitank guns, and sheer guts, the 272nd Infantry Division had racked up numerous tank kills in ten days of combat, while undergoing some of the fiercest bombardments of the Normandy Campaign, a feat rarely equaled by any other German infantry division at the time and recognized by being named in a second Wehrmachtsbericht on 4 August 1944, which stated "The 272nd Infantry Division...forced to rely alone on the tough resistance of its brave Grenadiers...is to be thanked that the enemy breakthrough attempt south of Caen was prevented by timely counterattck by its assembled forces." [Jenner, p. 233] .

Notes

References

* cite journal
last = Copp
first = Terry
authorlink = Terry Copp
title = The Toll of Verrières Ridge
journal = Legion Magazine
publisher = Canvet Publications Ltd.
location =
date = May/June 1999
accessdate = 2007-06-20

* Citation
first = Roman
last = Jarymowycz
author-link = Roman Jarymowycz
title = Der Gegenangriff vor Verrières German Counterattacks during Operation "Spring": 25-26 July 1944
year =
place = Wilfrid Laurier Centre for Military Strategic & Disarmament Studies

* Jenner, Martin: "Die niedersächsiche 216./272. Infanterie-Division 1939-1945". (Nauheim: Podzun-Pallas Verlag, 1964)
* [http://aberjonapress.com/catalog/vwbtg/index.html Nash, Douglas E.: "Victory was Beyond Their Grasp: with the 272nd Volks-Grenadier Division from the Hürtgen Forest to the Heart of the Reich". (Bedford: The Aberjona Press, 2008)]

* Schack, Friedrich August, MS B-540, "272nd Infantry Division (15 December 1943 to 26 July 1944" (Foreign Military Studies Division, 1947, 19 pages)

* Schack, Friedrich August, MS B-702, "272nd Infantry Division (26 July - 12 September 1944" (Foreign Military Studies Division, 1947, 40 pages)
* [http://www.militaria-biblio.de/Verlagsverzeichnis_11.version/MX5FtariaX5F12-453.html Tessin, Georg: Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945, Vol. 8. (Osnabrūck: Biblio Verlag, 1979)]
* [http://www.jjfpub.mb.ca/campaign_histories.htm Zetterling, Niklas, "Normandy 1944: German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness". (Winnipeg: J.J. Fedorowicz, 2000)]

External links

* [http://www.272nd.org/272_history.htm 272nd Infantry Division]