30th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

30. Infanterie-Division German 30th Infantry Division
Active	1 October 1936 — 8 May 1945
Country	Nazy Germany
Branch	Heer
Type	Division
Role	Infantry
Nickname(s)	Briesen-Division
Engagements	World War II Invasion of Poland Battle of France Operation Barbarossa Demyansk Pocket Courland Pocket
Decorations	1 reference in the Wehrmachtbericht
Commanders
Notable commanders	Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel

30th Infantry units march through Paris before Kurt von Briesen (on horse), 1940

The 30th Infantry Division of the German Army was created on 1 October 1936 in Lübeck and mobilized on 26 August 1939 for the upcoming invasion of Poland. At that time, it consisted of the usual German infantry division elements: three infantry regiments of three battalions each, one three-battalion regiment of light artillery, one battalion of heavy artillery (from a separate artillery regiment, but attached to the particular division), a panzerjager (anti-tank) battalion, an aufklärungs (reconnaissance) battalion, a signals battalion, a pioneer (engineer) battalion, and divisional supply, medical, and administrative units.

Offensive of the Red Army south of Lake Ilmen 7 January–21 February 1942.

In the winter of 1941 the division was trapped in the Demyansk Pocket along with the 12th, 32nd, 123rd and 290th infantry divisions, and the SS-Division Totenkopf, as well as RAD, Police, Todt organization and other auxiliary units, for a total of about 90,000 German troops and around 10,000 auxiliaries. Their commander was General der Infanterie Walter Graf von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt, commander of the II. Armeekorps (2nd Army Corps).

Commanders

• Generalleutnant Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, creation – 4 February 1938
• Generalmajor Kurt von Briesen, 4 February 1938 – 1 July 1939
• Generalleutnant Franz Böhme, 1 July 1939 – 19 July 1939
• General der Infanterie Kurt von Briesen, 19 July 1939 – 25 November 1940
• Generalmajor Walter Buechs, November 1940 – 5 January 1941
• General der Infanterie Kurt von Tippelskirch, 5 January 1941 – 5 June 1942
• Generalleutnant Thomas-Emil von Wickede, 5. Juni 1942 – 29 October 1943
• Generalleutnant Paul Winter, (September 1943)
• Generalmajor Gerhard Henke (acting), 29 October 1943 – 5 November 1943
• General der Infanterie Wilhelm Haase, 5 November 1943 – 15 March 1944
• Generalleutnant Hans von Basse (acting), 15 March 1944 – 15 August 1944
• Generalmajor Otto Barth, 15 August 1944 – 30 January 1945
• Generalleutnant Albert Henze, 30 January 1945 - capitulation

References

• Breithaupt, Hans (1955). Die Geschichte der 30. Infanterie-Division 1939 - 1945. Podzun, Bad Nauheim.

External links

• 30. Infanterie-Division @ Lexikon der Wehrmacht