70th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)

70th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

70th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

Military unit

The 70th Infantry Division (German: 70. Infanterie-Division) was a unit of the German Army during World War II. It was formed in 1944 from personnel previously exempted from military service due to stomach disorders or injuries (sometimes referred to as a "Stomach division").

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History

As World War II progressed, German manpower available for military service declined and this was exacerbated by the severe losses suffered in Normandy, Tunisia and Stalingrad, for example. Groups of men that had been previously declared unfit for active service were drafted or recalled into service. These included those with stomach complaints, injuries, and illnesses. To facilitate the provision of special foods, it was decided that these men would be concentrated into one formation (hence the unofficial description of "White Bread" or German: Magen (Stomach) Division).[1] [Tessin does use the terminology of (M) and Magen to denote stomach troops, so it may have been an official Wehrmacht designation.][2]

The Division was formally created on July 17, 1944, on Walcheren Island. The divisional staff, including the commander General Wilhelm Daser, were transferred from the recently disbanded 165th Reserve Division. [3] The infantry was supplied by six repurposed security battalions of "stomach" troops that had been previously formed in February 1944. [2] [4] As part of LXXXIX Corps (15th Army),[5] the Division garrisoned Walcheren Island and the South Beveland isthmus in August 1944. Starting in early October, it defended South Beveland from overland attacks by the II Canadian Corps and I British Corps as part of the Battle of the Scheldt and had fallen back to Walcheren Island by October 26th. [6]Although not a first-class formation, the 70th was installed in static defences and supported by ample heavy artillery, held out for over a month.[7] The Division, left with no escape route from Walcheren, surrendered on 9 November 1944 and 10,000 Germans became prisoners of war.[1][8][9]

Order of battle

The Divisional commander for its entire existence was Generalleutnant Wilhelm Daser.[1][3]

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References

  1. [1]
    "Enemy Forces - South Beveland and Walcheren; 70th Infanterie Division". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 7 Dec 2011.
  2. [2]
    Tessin, Georg (1977). Verbände Und Truppen Der Deutschen Wehrmacht Und Waffen SS, Erster Band: Die Waffengattungen-Gesamtübersicht (in German). Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. p. 77. ISBN 3-7648-1097-1.
  3. [3]
    Mitcham, Jr, Samuel (2007). German Order of Battle: 1st-290th Infantry Divisions in WWII. Stackpole Books. pp. 119–120, 217. ISBN 9780811746540.
  4. [4]
    Tessin, Georg (1977). Verbände Und Truppen Der Deutschen Wehrmacht Und Waffen SS, Fünfter Band: Die Landstreitskräfte 31-70 (in German). Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. pp. 291–292. ISBN 3-7648-0871-3.
  5. [5]
    Mitcham, Jr, Samuel (2007). Retreat to the Reich: The German Defeat in France, 1944. Stackpole Books. p. 141. ISBN 9780811733847.
  6. [6]
    Wheeler, Nicholas (2019). "I British Corps and the Battle of the Scheldt: A Reassessment". Canadian Military History. 28 (2).
  7. [7]
    Levine, Alan (2000). From the Normandy beaches to the Baltic Sea: the Northwest Europe campaign, 1944-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group.
  8. [8]
    "NEWSLETTER - AUGUST 2001". South African Military History Society. Retrieved 7 Dec 2011.
  9. [9]
    Shulman, Milton (2017) [1948]. Defeat in the West. pp. 238–239.
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