73rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

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73rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) - Wikipedia

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73rd Infantry Division
73. Infanterie-Division
Insignia of the 73rd Infantry Division
Active	26 August 1939 – 16 April 1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Nickname(s)	Kleist Division
Engagements	World War II

The German 73rd Infantry Division or in German 73. Infanterie-Division was a German military unit which served during World War II. The division consisted of more than 10,000 soldiers, primarily of the infantry branch, with supporting artillery. The division was only semi-motorized and relied on marching for the infantry units and horse-drawn transport for most of the support equipment, especially the artillery.

The 73rd Infantry Division was formed on 26 August 1939 as part of the 2nd wave (aufstellungswelle). Shortly after its formation it then participated in the invasion of Poland as a reserve division of Army Group North.

In 1941, it fought briefly in the Greek Campaign. It fought on the southern sector of the Eastern Front, from July 1941 through May 1944. As part of the 11th Army, it participated in the Crimean campaign in late 1941, including the initial assaults near Perekop and the "Tartar Ditch" as well as Sevastopol.

In the spring of 1944, it was cut off by the Soviet forces in the Crimea and destroyed in Sevastopol in May 1944. The division was reformed in Hungary on 16 June 1944. it participated in battles around Warsaw in the summer, at the end of July it was routed by the Red Army's 2nd Guards Tank Army commanded by Alexei Radzievsky, and in September 1944 was destroyed by Soviet forces during their assault on the Praga suburb of Warsaw. The division was subsequently reformed.

On 1 January 1945, the 73rd Infantry Division (then part of 9th Army under Army Group A) had a strength of 10,782 men.^[1]^: 504

The 73rd Infantry Division was destroyed in the fighting around Danzig in 1945. The surviving divisional staff officers went down with the liner Goya on 17 April 1945.

Commanding officers

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General der Artillerie Friedrich von Rabenau (26 August 1939 – 29 September 1939)
General der Infanterie Bruno Bieler (29 September 1939 – 29 October 1941)
General der Infanterie Rudolf von Bünau (1 November 1941 – 1 February 1943)
Generalmajor Johannes Nedtwig (1 February 1943 – 7 September 1943)
Generalleutnant Hermann Böhme (7 September 1943 – 13 May 1944)
Generalleutnant Dr. Friedrich Franek (26 June 1944 – 29 July 1944)
Generalmajor Kurt Hähling (30 July 1944 – 7 September 1944)
Generalmajor Franz Schlieper (7 September 1944 – 10 April 1945)

Order of battle

Structure of the division:^[2]^[3]

Headquarters
170th Infantry Regiment
186th Infantry Regiment
213th Infantry Regiment
173rd Reconnaissance Battalion (later bicycle battalion)
173rd Artillery Regiment
173rd Engineer Battalion
173rd Tank Destroyer Battalion
173rd Signal Battalion
173rd Divisional Supply Group

References

^ Lakowski, Richard (2008). "Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung zwischen Ostsee und Karpaten". In Müller, Rolf-Dieter (ed.). Die Militärische Niederwerfung der Wehrmacht. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (in German). Vol. 10/1. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. pp. 491–681. ISBN 9783421062376.
^ German Order of Battle, 1st-290th Infantry Divisions in WWII. p. 82.
^ "Infanterie-Division (2. Welle), German Army, 22.06.1941". niehorster.org. Retrieved 22 January 2019.

Sources

Tessin, Georg (1972). "Die Landstreitkräfte 71—130". Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939—1945 (in German). Vol. 6. Frankfurt/Main: E.S. Mittler. pp. 14–16.

Numbered infantry divisions of the German Army (1935–1945)

1st – 99th

1st – 9th	1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10th – 19th	10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20th – 29th	20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30th – 39th	30 31 32 33 34 35 36 38 39

40th – 49th	41 44 45 46 47 48 49

50th – 59th	50 52 56 57 58 59

60th – 69th	60 61 62 63 64 65 68 69

70th – 79th	70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79

80th – 89th	80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

90th – 99th	91 92 93 94 95 96 98

100th – 199th

100th – 119th	102 106 110 111 112 113

121st – 129th	121 122 123 125 126 129

130th – 149th	131 132 134 137 148

150th – 159th	153 154 155 156 157 158 159

160th – 169th	160 161 162 162nd (Turk.) 163 164 166 167 168 169

170th – 189th	170 174 176 180 181 182 183 189

190th – 199th	190 196 197 198 199

200th – 299th

200th – 209th	201 203 205 206 207 208 209

210th – 219th	210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219

220th – 229th	221 223 225 226 227 228

230th – 239th	230 231 232 237 239

240th – 249th	240 242 243 244 245 246 249

250th – 259th	250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258

260th – 269th	260 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269

270th – 279th	270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279

280th – 289th	280 281 282 286

290th – 299th	290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299

300th – 399th

300th – 309th	301 302 303 304 305 306 309

310th – 329th	311 319 320 321 323 324 325 326 327 328 329

330th – 339th	330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339

340th – 349th	340 342 343 344 346 347 348 349

350th – 359th	351 352 353 355 356 357 358 359

360th – 369th	361 362 363 364 365 367 369

370th – 379th	370 371 372 373 376 377 379

380th – 389th	383 384 385 387 389

390th – 399th	392 393 395 399

400th – 719th

400th – 499th	416 430 462

500th – 599th	521 526 554 555 556 557

600th – 699th	600 606 650

700th – 709th	702 703 704 707 708 709

710th – 719th	710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719

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Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the 73rd Infantry Division
Bruno Bieler Otto Hitzfeld¹ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Werner Ziegler (Oak Leaves & Swords)
¹ Swords with the LXVII. Armeekorps.