389 Infantrie Divison around 1944
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panzergrenadier1944
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389 Infantrie Divison around 1944
Can anyone tell me the whereabouts of the 389 ID? Did they fight in any campaigns? What area did they operate in? My uncle was trained in Milowitz in 1942 and then sent to the eastern front where he was captured around 1944-1945? He survived Russian captivity but died at home before I could find out anything about him. Any help would be appreciated.
389. Inf.Div.
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I took this from Hell's Gate:
The Hessian 389.Inf.Div. was formed in France in the summer of 1943. A relative newcomer to the Eastern Front, this division, nicknamed the “Rheingold Division”, had been rebuilt from another division of the same number which had been destroyed at Stalingrad the previous winter. It was transferred from occupation duty along the French Coast in October 1943 and was immediately thrown into the battles for the Dnieper Line, where its performance was less than stellar. Its own grenadier regiments – Gren.Rgt.544, 545, and 546 - suffered heavy losses among its infantry companies during the retreat from the city of Cherkassy in late December 1943 to early January 1944. To augments its weakened ranks, a battalion each from Gren.Rgt. 331 and 339 from 167. Inf.Div. was temporarily attached. Despite this welcome addition to the division’s strength, on 24 January 1944 it still had fewer than one man for every 15 meters of frontage. Its commander, Gen.Maj. Kurt Kruse, born 1895 in Neustrelitz, was a World War One veteran and an artilleryman like his corps commander, Gen.Lt. Stemmermann. Prior to assuming command of the division on 1 June 1943, he had commanded Art.Rgt.186 Kruse’s division had the dubious distinction of being located at the point of main effort of the planned Soviet attack during the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Operation (aka the Battle of the Cherkassy Pocket) and had 14 enemy divisions hurled against its defenses. Hard hit during the previous month’s fighting, on 24 January 1944 it still fielded 26 artillery pieces and 12 antitank guns and would soon need every one of them. Despite its previously displayed shortcomings, 389.Inf.Div. gave a good account of itself during the upcoming battle and had developed field fortifications in its sector to a high degree, a fact noted in the Soviet after action report. After breaking out from the Cherkassy Pocket, General Kruse’s division, which had been reduced to 1,932 men present for duty (including Hiwis) by 18 February 1944, was sent to the Milowitz training area in Czechoslovakia, where it absorbed the two grenadier regiments of Schatten-Division Milowitz (a so-called “shadow division”) as well as an artillery battalion. Considered completely rebuilt for front-line service, it was back in action again the summer of 1944 with Army Group North. Surrounded in Courland with the rest of that Army Group in September 1944, it was later evacuated to Germany by sea. After several months of combat, the Rheingold Division was finally cut off on the Hela Peninsula and forced to surrender to the Soviets in April 1945. Kruse himself relinquished command of his division on 15 March and did not serve again in a command capacity until chosen to lead Höhere Artilleriekommando 314, an army-level artillery headquarters, on 10 March 1945.
I took this from Hell's Gate:
The Hessian 389.Inf.Div. was formed in France in the summer of 1943. A relative newcomer to the Eastern Front, this division, nicknamed the “Rheingold Division”, had been rebuilt from another division of the same number which had been destroyed at Stalingrad the previous winter. It was transferred from occupation duty along the French Coast in October 1943 and was immediately thrown into the battles for the Dnieper Line, where its performance was less than stellar. Its own grenadier regiments – Gren.Rgt.544, 545, and 546 - suffered heavy losses among its infantry companies during the retreat from the city of Cherkassy in late December 1943 to early January 1944. To augments its weakened ranks, a battalion each from Gren.Rgt. 331 and 339 from 167. Inf.Div. was temporarily attached. Despite this welcome addition to the division’s strength, on 24 January 1944 it still had fewer than one man for every 15 meters of frontage. Its commander, Gen.Maj. Kurt Kruse, born 1895 in Neustrelitz, was a World War One veteran and an artilleryman like his corps commander, Gen.Lt. Stemmermann. Prior to assuming command of the division on 1 June 1943, he had commanded Art.Rgt.186 Kruse’s division had the dubious distinction of being located at the point of main effort of the planned Soviet attack during the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Operation (aka the Battle of the Cherkassy Pocket) and had 14 enemy divisions hurled against its defenses. Hard hit during the previous month’s fighting, on 24 January 1944 it still fielded 26 artillery pieces and 12 antitank guns and would soon need every one of them. Despite its previously displayed shortcomings, 389.Inf.Div. gave a good account of itself during the upcoming battle and had developed field fortifications in its sector to a high degree, a fact noted in the Soviet after action report. After breaking out from the Cherkassy Pocket, General Kruse’s division, which had been reduced to 1,932 men present for duty (including Hiwis) by 18 February 1944, was sent to the Milowitz training area in Czechoslovakia, where it absorbed the two grenadier regiments of Schatten-Division Milowitz (a so-called “shadow division”) as well as an artillery battalion. Considered completely rebuilt for front-line service, it was back in action again the summer of 1944 with Army Group North. Surrounded in Courland with the rest of that Army Group in September 1944, it was later evacuated to Germany by sea. After several months of combat, the Rheingold Division was finally cut off on the Hela Peninsula and forced to surrender to the Soviets in April 1945. Kruse himself relinquished command of his division on 15 March and did not serve again in a command capacity until chosen to lead Höhere Artilleriekommando 314, an army-level artillery headquarters, on 10 March 1945.
Abbott: This sure is a beautiful forest.
Costello: Too bad you can't see it for all those trees!
Costello: Too bad you can't see it for all those trees!
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Doktor Krollspell
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Hello panzergrenadier1944!
Just as a bare-bone addition to Doug's reply...
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... /389ID.htm
Regards,
Krollspell
Just as a bare-bone addition to Doug's reply...
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... /389ID.htm
Regards,
Krollspell
"Wie es eigentlich gewesen ist"
Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)
Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886)
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Doktor Krollspell
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Can anyone shed some light on the subject?Gen.Maj. Kruse
Hi -
According to Kurt Mehner's book "Die Deutsche Wehrmacht 1939 - 1945 Fuehrung und Truppe" (Patzwall Verlag 1993), Kruse commanded the 389. Inf.Div. from 1 June 1943 until 15 March 1944.
Cheers,
Doug Nash
According to Kurt Mehner's book "Die Deutsche Wehrmacht 1939 - 1945 Fuehrung und Truppe" (Patzwall Verlag 1993), Kruse commanded the 389. Inf.Div. from 1 June 1943 until 15 March 1944.
Cheers,
Doug Nash
Abbott: This sure is a beautiful forest.
Costello: Too bad you can't see it for all those trees!
Costello: Too bad you can't see it for all those trees!
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Richard Hargreaves
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Thanks for the link Doktor, that's a really good site with a lot of material. Definitely one to bookmark.Doktor Krollspell wrote:And a website devoted to the 389. Infanterie-Division...
http://www.389id.de/
Regards,
Krollspell
No-one who speaks German could be an evil man
.. I know of some other inf div wich had a much more relax combat history... -
Jan-Hendrik
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