356th Infantry Division
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The 356th infantry division was a unit of the German Army (Heer) created in Toulon France in May 1943.
Details
[edit]The 356th Infantry Division was formed on May 1, 1943 as the "Gisela" unit near Toulon in southern France. In November 1943, the division was transferred from France to Italy, to the Ligurian coast between Ventimiglia and Genoa. In the spring of 1944, units of the division were deployed to fight partisans in northern Italy between Liguria and Piedmont. The 356th Fusilier Battalion was relocated to the Anzio-Nettuno area at the end of January 1944 and took part in the Battle of Anzio near Cisterna di Latina and Velletri. From mid-February to early March it was then deployed to the Monti Aurunci near Castelforte and the Monti Ausoni near Coreno Ausonio on the Gustav Line. The 1st Battalion of the 871st Grenadier Regiment was also relocated to the Gustav Line on the Garigliano River at the beginning of March and fought there in costly defensive battles until the end of March. In June 1944 the division was relocated to Tuscany and then deployed to the Gothic Line in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna.
In July 1944, the division was involved in fierce defensive battles south of Florence near Greve in Chianti against attacking South African units with which the Allies began their attack on Florence. Between January and August, members of the division were involved in numerous war crimes against the Italian civilian population. In total, over 200 people were victims of war crimes committed by the division. By September 1944, the division had reached the "Green Position". This was followed by a march along the Via Emilia into the area between San Marino and Rimini. After heavy defensive battles on both sides of the Via Emilia, the division withdrew by December 1944 via the Savio, Bidente and Montane to the Senio near Bagnacavallo. In January 1945, the division was relocated through northern Italy, first to Hungary. In March 1945, it fought at Lake Balaton and at Stuhlweissenburg and then withdrew to Austria via Komarom and Raab. In May 1945, the division was taken prisoner of war by the US near Wiener Neustadt
Commanders
[edit]General Lieutenant Egon Von Neindorff (1 May 1943 – 15 May 1943)
General Lieutenant Karl Faulenbach (15 May 1943 – Oct 1944)
Oberst Kleinhenz ( Oct 1944 – Feb 1945)
Oberst von Saldern ( Feb 1945 – 8 May 1945)
Manpower strength
[edit]April 7th 1945
[edit]56 Officers
894 Soldiers
3 Hetzers
Order of battle
[edit]Grenadier-Regiment 869
Grenadier-Regiment 870
Grenadier-Regiment 871
Artillerie-Regiment 356
Pionier-Bataillon 356
Feldersatz-Bataillon 356
Schnelle Abteilung 356
Aufklärungs-Abteilung 356
Divisions-Nachrichten-Abteilung 356
Divisions-Nachschubführer 356 [1] [2]