218th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

Soldiers from the division on parade past Joseph Goebbels and Generaloberst Friedrich Fromm after the Battle of France.

In May 1940, the division was moved to the Western Front, assigned to the reserve of 7th Army. On 15 June 1940 218 Infantry Division became one of 5 Infantry divisions committed by 7th Army in Operation Kleiner Bär, a crossing of the Rhine in the Colmar area.[2] They were to cross the river and attack a portion of the Maginot line defended by 3 French fortress divisions. The 218th attack at Schoenau, led by Infantry Regiment 397, was held up by French fortifications which although damaged by the artillery preparation were not put out of action and forced the Regimental commander to suspend the river crossing in the face of mounting casualties.[2] The divisions 386 Regiment had more success. Crossing the Rhine in an area of fewer fortifications, the regiments assault teams captured the French forward line and several casements, and by noon were engaging the French rearward defensive lines. The following day, with the assistance of further artillery, Stuka dive bomber strikes, the 218th was able to pierce the French defenses, together with 21st and 239th infantry divisions.[2] By 19 June, the division had advanced a further 15 miles into the Vosges Mountains. The French Army was in a state of collapse, as on the previous day, Guderian's Panzer forces had reached the Swiss border, effectively surrounding the French defenders in the Vosges and 3 days later the armistice was signed at Compiègne, marking the end of hostilities.[2]

The division remained in occupation duty in the Alsace region until February 1941, when its soldiers were stood down.

Although the beginning of the German-Soviet War (Operation Barbarossa) involved much of the German army, the 218th Infantry Division had initially remained on occupation duty in Denmark. The beginning of the Soviet Winter Offensive 1941/42 in early December 1941 did however cause significant concern among the German leadership, causing Adolf Hitler to order on 15 December 1941 the preparation of the deployment of additional forces to the Eastern Front from various theaters. The 218th Infantry Division was earmarked for replacement by a less well-equpped 'static' (German: bodenständig) occupation force in Denmark so that the core of the division could be used within weeks on the Eastern Front.[3]^: 609f.

German soldiers in the ruins of Kholm

Whilst en route to Riga, for commitment with Army Group North, Generaloberst Busch, commander of the 16th Army ordered the forward elements of the division rushed into Kholm.[4] Detraining at Loknya, a small stop on the Dno Nevel railway line, but still 50 miles from Kholm,[5] the first battalion to arrive, the I/386, was rushed by all available trucks to Kholm along with a convoy carrying food and ammunition. Oberstleutnant Johannes Manitius, the commander of Infantry Regiment 386, joined his unit in Kholm and another battalion from the Regiment managed slipped past advancing units of the Soviet 3rd Shock Army, before the Soviets threw a solid cordon around the town. The Germans had barely beaten the Soviets to Kholm, and positioned a mixed battlegroup (kampfgruppe) of around 4,500 soldiers under the leadership of Generalmajor Scherer, but the group had virtually no artillery or anti tank guns. By 28 January 1942, the Soviets had closed the ring around the city and drove additional forces from the 218th Division under the divisional commander, Generalmajor Ukermann, back down the road to Loknya, where the remainder of the division was still arriving.[4]

Hitler designated Kholm as a 'Festung' (fortress), which meant the garrison of Kholm would have to hold out until relieved. The remainder of the 218th Infantry Division, joined by a battle group from 8th Panzer Division became the main components of the relief force, known as Groupe Uckermann, which attempted to fight their way back towards Kholm. Meanwhile, the only means of supply, of reinforcements and of replacements for the Kholm garrison was by air transport.

After the success of the relief effort, the 218 took over the defense of the German line at Kholm and remained there for the next 18 months.

In January 1944 the defensive positions around Leningrad of Army Group North collapsed, and Hitler finally authorized a withdrawal to the Panther–Wotan line. With the collapse of Army Group Center to the south meant that the Panther positions were no longer tenable, and the 218th Infantry retreated with the Army group through Estonia to Riga, and then on into Courland.

Soviet assault on Baltic island of Saaremaa (Ösel) in October/November 1944

Upon hearing news of the Finland's armistice with the Soviet Union, Hitler ordered the Baltic Islands to be reinforced [6]

During the Soviet Moonsund Landing Operation, the 23rd Infantry Division was backed by miscellaneous Kriegsmarine and army artillery troops. Its forces were considerably by the transfer of 12th Luftwaffe Division and 218th Infantry division. The 218th division started to land on the island of Saaremaa (Ösel) on 30 September 1944 and marched north. The Soviets forces were not far behind and landed on the northern shores 5 days later. After some sharp clashes General Schörner, commander of Army Group Courland, ordered a withdrawal to the more defensible Sõrve Peninsula (Sworbe Peninsula.) Soviet forces, numerically superior to the Germans, kept up the pressure in October, forcing the Germans back, but a landing behind the German lines failed to displace them.[6]

After a period of calm the Russian forces struck again in mid November, and smashed through the defenses and forced 218th Infantry and other German formations back to the very tip of the peninsula. Against Hitler's orders to hold on to the last man, General Schörner ordered an evacuation.[6] Reduced to battle group strength, the 218th was nevertheless soon returned to the front line in Courland. [7]

The 218 remained in Courland for the final months of the war, finally surrendering to the Soviet Army near Tuckum.[7]