79th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

The 79th Infantry Division (79. Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of the German Wehrmacht during World War II.

Creation and Early History
The 79th Infantry Division began mobilization on March 1, 1939 as a part of the second German "wave" system (2. Welle) of mobilization. Welle was the German designation for groups of infantry divisions raised at approximately the same time, with approximately the same type of organization,equipment, personnel and training. Raised from Rheinlanders in German Military District (Wehrkreis) XII, headquartered in Wiesbaden,the home station of the 79th was Koblenz. It was designated as a Division on August 26, 1939. Assigned to the French-German border in the Saar region, the 79th trained and worked on the West Wall. The Division saw action against the French on the Saar Front on May 10, 1940 when they were a part of the invasion forces. In June, the division participated in attacks on the Maginot Line and the capture of Epinal. The Cross of Lorraine (Lothringer Kreuz) was designated as the symbol. Unteroffizier Werner Psaar stated that since the division's first combat was mainly in the Lorraine region, this is what led to the symbol. From June 1940 until April 1941, the division was on occupation duty and trained for Operation Sea Lion. The 79th was relocated to Klagenfurt in April 1941 but was too late for the invasion of Yugoslavia.

Barbarossa
It was assigned to Heeresgruppe Süd for Operation Barbarossa on June 26, 1941. From June 1941 until September 1942 the 79th fought in southern Russia at Korosten, Lutsk, Rovno, Piryatin, and Akhtyrka, Kharkov, Voronezh, Izyum and Kalack before being sent in October 1942 to the Battle of Stalingrad.

Stalingrad
The Sixth Army, including the 79th, began its attack on Stalingrad on October 17, 1942. The fighting in the Red October Tractor Factory was fiercely fought, hall by hall. When the Soviet Offensive started on November 19, 1942, the 79th was one of the units trapped in the "kessel" when they were surrounded on November 24. The Sixth Army surrendered on January 31, 1943. The division staff, including the Ia (Operations Officer) Oberst Hans Schwanbeck, were flown out of Stalingrad on January 8–9, 1943. This evacuation is still an issue with surviving veterans of the 79th. Most men were taken into Soviet captivity including Generalleutnant Alexander von Daniels, the commander.

Second Life
The 79th was quickly raised again by the surviving staff officers. On January 12, 1943, from remnants of other German units near Rostov. The division then took part in operations in the Novocherkassk area until relieved on March 13, 1943. They refitted in the Volnovakha area and in April 1943, returned to battle. They fought a number of defensive actions before reaching the Kuban Bridgehead in August 1943. The division was evacuated to the Ukraine and continued a slow movement west for almost a year.

Romania
1944 found the 79th in Romania as a part of IV Korps, 6. Armee. By August, the 79th was one of the divisions attempting to hold the city of Jassy. On August 23, 1944, with the Romanian coup, 79th was once again encircled and virtually annihilated near Chitcani, Romania on the Berlad River. Less than 1,000 soldiers managed to escape. Generalleutnant Friedrich Weinknecht became the second commander of the 79th Infantry Division to be captured by the Soviets.

Third Life - Volksgrenadier
On October 27, 1944, the division was raised again outside of the Welle system, this time in West Prussia and now as the 79th Volksgrenadier Division (79. Volks-Grenadier-Division). It had only ten percent combat veterans and was largely made up by absorbing the 586th Volksgrenadier Division (Katzbach). On December 11, 1944, the 79th Volsgrenadier Division was assigned to 7. Armee a reserve force near Bitburg, Germany. Though at half strength, the 79th was to take part in Operation Herbstnebel.

Luxembourg
On December 21, 1944, the 79th VG towards its assembly area near Diekirch, Luxembourg. On December 24, 1944, the Volksgrenadiers in conjunction with the Führer Grenadier Brigade, launched a series of attacks against the Blue Ridge Division, the 80th Infantry Division (United States). The objective was to seize the town of Heiderscheid, a strategic bridge crossing along the Sure River. Both units suffered very heavy losses, particularly when on December 26 most of the 79th VG artillery and FGB armor was destroyed by American fighter bombers. The 79th VG begin falling back, unable to hold against the US 80th Infantry Division, towards the town of Baunscheid, to hold another strategic bridgehead there.

1945
After Heavy fighting continued into January 1945, the Division fell to U.S. forces at Heidelberg and Darmstadt. Remains of the 79th fought in the vicinity of Rothenburg ob der Tauber under the name Battle Group (Kampfgruppe) "Hummel" in mid-April. This last organized unit of the 79th Volksgrenadier Division surrendered to US Forces on April 14, 1945. Grenadiers of the 79th Volksgrenadier Division fought small unit actions in the Alps.

Order of Battle 1939

 * Infanterie-Regiment 208
 * Infanterie-Regiment 212
 * Infanterie-Regiment 226
 * Artillerie-Regiment 179
 * Panzerabwehr-Abteilung 179
 * Pionier-Battalion 179
 * Aufklärungs-Abteilung 179
 * Infanterie-Divisions-Nachrichten-Abteilung 179
 * Infanterie-Divisions-Nachschubtruppen 179

Order of Battle 1944

 * Grenadier-Regiment 208
 * Grenadier-Regiment 212
 * Grenadier-Regiment 226
 * Divisions-Füsilier-Battalion 79
 * Artillerie-Regiment 179
 * Panzerjäger-Abteilung 179
 * Pionier-Battalion 179
 * Feldersatz-Battalion 179
 * Infanterie-Divisions-Nachrichten-Abteilung 179
 * Infanterie-Divisions-Nachschubtruppen 179

Trivia
The Cross of Lorraine was used as a divisional insignia by both the German 79th Infantry Division and its American counterpart.

Printed references

 * Quarrie, Bruce The Ardennes Offensive, I ARMEE & VII ARMEE (Order of Battle series book), Osprey Publishing Group, London, UK. 2001. ISBN 1-85532-913-1
 * Hans Sänger Die 79. Infanterie-Division. 1939, ISBN 10 3895552135
 * Unteroffizier Werner Psaar, Source: "Wiesbadener Soldatenkalender 1943" Rud. Bechtold & Comp., Wiesbaden

Web resources

 * Pipes, Jason. "". Retrieved December 28, 2007.


 * "". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. (Follow links for 79. Volks-Grenadier-Division) Retrieved December 28, 2007.


 * Kwasny A., Kwasny G., Die Eichenlaubträger 1940-1945 (CD), Deutsches Wehrkundearchiv, Lage-Waddenhausen, 2001


 * Oberst Alois Weber "". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved December 28, 2007.