242nd_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)

242nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

242nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

Military unit

The 242nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Army in World War II.

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World War II

242. Infanterie-Division was formed in Gross-Born (Borne Sulinowo) on 9 July 1943, when Division A, formed from convalescents of the disbanded 298. Infanterie-Division, was re-designated. From 8 August to 5 October 1943, the unit was subordinated to 15th Army in Antwerp and Gent in Belgium, before being transferred to 19th Army under Army Group G in Toulon, France.[1]

In 1944, the division fought against the Western Allies in Operation Dragoon. After being ordered to defend Toulon to the last bullet, and to give the rest of Army Group G a chance to withdraw, Generalleutnant Johannes Bäßler and his 242nd division held out for 10 days, until 26 August 1944, when Bäßler was critically wounded and surrendered the division.[2] The division was formally disbanded on 7 October 1944.[1]

Order of Battle 1944

Commanders
Units
  • 765th Grenadier Regiment (4 battalions)
  • 917th Grenadier Regiment (4 battalions)
  • 918th Grenadier Regiment (4 battalions)
  • 242nd Artillery Regiment (3 battalions)
  • 242nd Panzerjäger Battalion
  • 242nd Reconnaissance Battalion
  • 242nd Pioneer Battalion
  • 242nd Signals Battalion
  • 242nd Division Support Units

The fourth battalions of all three Grenadier regiments were battalions of the Ostlegionen conscripts from Poland and Russia.[3]

References

  1. [1]
    Tessin, Georg (1973). Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und der Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945: Band 8: Die Landstreitkräfte Nummern 201-280. Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag Osnabrück. ISBN 3-7648-1174-9.
  2. [2]
    Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007). German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry divisions in World War II. Stackpole Books. pp. 284–285. ISBN 9780811734165.
  3. [3]
    "German Forces in the West" (PDF). cgsc.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
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