168th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

168th Infantry Division
168. Infanterie-Division
Active	December 1939 – May 1945
Country	Army (Wehrmacht)
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Engagements	Battle of Kiev (1941) Second Battle of Kharkov Kamenets-Podolsky pocket
Commanders
Notable commanders	Dietrich Kraiss Werner Schmidt-Hammer Carl Anders

The 168th Infantry Division (

On 11 January 1940, Hans Mundt replaced Boysen as divisional commander.^[2]

In June 1940, the 168th Infantry Division was moved to the reserves of the 1st Army (Army Group C) during the Battle of France. After that campaign's conclusion, the 168th Infantry Division was placed in occupied Poland under the supervision of the XXXXIV Army Corps, which was in turn part of the 18th Army (Army Group B). The 168th Infantry Division remained in Poland between July 1940 and May 1941, at times part of the XXXXIV, XVII, and XXIX Corps, which were in turn at times part of the 18th, 12th, 17th and 6th Armies.^[1]

In June 1941, during the beginning of

After operations as part of the XXIX Army Corps in the Romny area in October and under LI Army Corps in the Belgorod area in November, the 168th Infantry Division spent the end of the year 1941 in the Kharkiv region, again part of the XXIX Army Corps.^[1]

Combat in the Kharkiv area dragged on until July 1942. The 168th Infantry Division spent this entire time nominally as part of the XXIX Army Corps, but its forces were heavily subdivided and distributed in parts to the

In January 1943, the 168th Infantry Division was assigned to the Fourth Hungarian Corps at the Don, before serving under Corps Cramer in February and under Corps Raus (Army Detachment Kempf, Army Group South) in the Myrhorod region in March.^[1] On 9 March, Walter Chales de Beaulieu assumed divisional command of the 168th Infantry Division.^[2]

In June, the 168th was reassigned to the XI Army Corps (Army Detachment Kempf). The division returned to the Belgorod area, where it had already fought as part of the LI Army Corps in November 1941. After brief service as part of the III Army Corps in July, the 168th Infantry Division, now again part of the XI Army Corps, was moved once more to the Kharkiv area.^[1] The German defeat at the Battle of Kursk cause a wave of German retreats during which the 168th Infantry Division suffered heavy casualties.^[2] In September 1943, the XI Army Corps, with the 168th Infantry Division under it, was assigned to the 8th Army and deployed to the Kiev area, where the 168th Infantry Division was again placed under the III Army Corps in October.^[1]

On 1 December 1943, Werner Schmidt-Hammer assumed command of the 168th Infantry Division.^[2]

Between November 1943 and February 1944, the 168th Infantry Division served under the

Between April and June 1944, the 168th Infantry Division was part of the XXXXVI Corps in the Ternopil area. The corps was still part of the 1st Panzer Army, but the army was now part of the newly formed Army Group North Ukraine. Between July and September 1944, the 168th Infantry Division was part of the XI Army Corps in the Carpathian Mountains.^[1] On 8 September 1944, Carl Anders took command of the division from Schmidt-Hammer.^[2]

In October, the 168th was assigned to the

On 1 January 1945, the division, then under command of the 4th Panzer Army of Army Group A, had a strength of 9,978 men.^[3]: 504

In January 1945, the 168th Infantry Division was subordinate to the XXXXVIII Corps under the 4th Panzer Army in the Baranów area.^[1] After Maximilian Rosskopf had briefly taken command of the division on 6 January 1945, Schmidt-Hammer assumed command for the third and final time on 19 February.^[2]

Between February and May 1945, the 168th Infantry Division spent the last months of the war in Silesia, the same area in which it was originally formed. The final formation that the 168th served under was the XXXX Corps, part of the 17th Army.^[1] The final commander of the division was one Oberst Hansen, who took charge of the division in the last few days of the war, as late as May 1945.^[2]

Noteworthy individuals

• Wolf Boysen, divisional commander starting 1 December 1939.
• Hans Mundt, divisional commander starting 11 January 1940.
• Dietrich Kraiss, divisional commander starting 8 July 1941.
• Walter Chales de Beaulieu, divisional commander starting 9 March 1943.
• Werner Schmidt-Hammer, divisional commander starting 1 December 1943, starting on 9 December 1944, and starting on 19 February 1945.
• Carl Anders, divisional commander starting 8 September 1944.
• Maximilian Rosskopf, divisional commander starting 6 January 1945.

References