unit history
As part of the 2nd wave, Infanterie Regiment 208 was formed on the 26th August 1939 and assigned to the 79. Infanterie Division. The 79. was formed in the Wehrkreiss XII area of the Reich, with its headquarters stationed in Koblenz. The 79. Inf.Div consisted of the following units:
- Infanterie Regiment 208
- Infanterie Regiment 212
- Infanterie Regiment 226
- Artillerie Regiment 179
- Panzer-Abwehr Abteilung 179
- Pioneer Bataillon 179
- Aufklärungs Bataillon 179
- Infanterie Divisions Nachrichten Abteilung 179
- Infanterie Divisions Nachschubtruppen 179
France
The 79. Inf.Div invaded France on the 10th May 1940 and took part in the offensives across the Rhine-Marne Canal near Parroy and the Moselle River near Chatel. In June, 79. Inf.Div participated in attacks on the Maginot Line, concluding the campaign in France with the capture of Epinal on June 21, 1940.
After this the division trained for the planned invasion of England, but when this was aborted it remained in France until April 1941 as part of the occupation forces. It then returned to Germany in preparation for it's next task.
Barbarosa
On June 26th 1941, the 79. Inf.Div was committed to the invasion of the soviet union as part of operation Barbarosa. The Division participated in actions in the southern portion of Russia via Korosten, Lutsk, Rovno, Piryatin, and Akhtyrka. From November 1941 to June 1942 the Division fought in the Belogorod and Volchansk areas. The Division then advanced from Volchansk via Valuiki, Rovenki, and Serafimovich. By October 1942 the Division was in the marshes between the Don and Volga Rivers, and received orders to the place that was to become the end of the Division's march into Russia, Stalingrad.
Stalingrad
The 79. began its attack, as part of the Sixth Army, on Stalingrad on October 17, 1942, with the assignment of entering the city and taking the Red October tractor factory.
The fighting, hall by hall, was fierce, with the Division taking many casualties. The Russian surprise offensive on November 19, 1942, collapsed the northwest flank of German defenses of the city, and a second attack the next day found the defending German forces in the process of being cut-off and surrounded. By November 24, 1942, the Russian forces joined up west of Stalingrad. As the Russians tightened their grip on the city, desperate attempts by the Luftwaffe to support the German units within the city failed.
On January 7, 1943, what was left of the 79. Inf.Div was transferred to the 305. Inf.Div. With Hitler’s refusal to allow the Sixth Army to breakout of the city, the Sixth Army and the 79. surrendered to Russian forces on January 31, 1943. The Division staff were the only members to survive the battle, being flown out of the city on January 8. Ninety eight percent of the men of the first 79. Infantry Division never left Stalingrad.
79. Inf.Div. Born Anew
The Division staff that fled Stalingrad was committed back into action on January 12, 1943, rebuilding the Division from the remnants of units that were within the vicinity of city of Rostov. This second 79. Inf.Div took part in operations in the Novocherkassk area. On March 13, 1943, the 79. was relived by the 15th Luftwaffe Field Division, to be refitted and reformed in the Volnovakha area. The Division was recommitted to action in April, 1943, and fought a series of defensive actions, that ended when Russian forces reached the Kuban peninsula in August, 1943. The Division was evacuated from the Kuban, and from September, 1943 to September, 1944 continued to retreat West, out of Russia and into Romania, in another series of defensive actions.
Romania, 1944
In August, 1944, the 79. Inf.Div was one of the divisions attempting to hold the city of Jassy, Romania, when the Red Army launched a massive offensive there. As if fighting the Russians was not enough, Germany's one-time ally, Romania, decided that summer to change sides and ally itself with the Soviet Union. The 79., along with about 300,000 other Germans and their allies, found themselves surrounded by the Russians on August 7, 1944. The Division was pretty much destroyed by Russian forces on August 20, 1944, near the village of Chitcani, Romania. From the 79., only about 1000 soldiers in scattered pockets, managed to escape from this disaster.
Volksgrenadier-Division
After the destruction of the second 79. Inf.Div in Romania, the unit was quickly reorganized as a Volksgrenadier-Division (VG) in West Prussia on October 2, 1944. The Division was composed of only 10 percent combat veterans, with about 70 percent of the enlisted personnel having been previously classified as indispensable from their various jobs at the different headquarters and staffs, and were of only minimal combat value. The officers and the veterans of the Division however, were to prove to be exemplary in combat, despite the incomplete training the Division received while in West Prussia. On December 11, the 79. VG.Div. was sent to be a reserve force for the 7th Army, near Bitburg, Germany, in preparation for operation "Wacht am Rhein," the Ardennes Offensive.
Operation "Wacht am Rhein"
On December 21, six days into "Wacht am Rhein," the 7th Army was beginning to over extend its lines, and the 79. VG was moved into position towards its assembly area, near the town of Diekirch, Belgium, to counter the threat of General Patton's Third Army approaching from the south. On December 24, the 79. VG, in conjunction with the Führer-Grenadier Brigade, marched west to launch a series of fierce attacks against the 80th Infantry Division (the Blue Ridge Division) of the American (US) Third Army 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 79. VG artillery and armour was destroyed by American fighter bombers. The 79. VG begin falling back, unable to hold against the US 80th Inf.Div, towards the town of Baunscheid, to hold another strategic bridgehead there.
The last days of the 79.
What was left of the 79. VG continued to fall back into Germany, attempting to hold back attacking American forces. By the end of March, 1945, the 79. VG had been reduced to a Kampfgruppe, a division in name only. With no armor, artillery, or transport, and minimal ammunition, the 79. VG surrendered to American forces at Rotherburg ob der Tauber on April 14, 1945.