The 21st Infantry Division was a German military unit which fought during World War II.
History
The
21st Infantry Division (Germany) was formed in 1934 in
Elbing,
East Prussia, by expanding the 3rd Prussian Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division of the old
Reichswehr. As this was a direct breach of the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles, its existence was initially concealed; it was formally designated as the 21st Infantry Division in October 1935. Its East Prussian origin informed the adoption of the divisional symbol, a figure holding a shield bearing the black cross of the
Teutonic Knights.
After being involved in series of defensive battles and retreats to
Riga as the Soviet army conquered their territory, late 1944 saw the 21st Infantry Division again in East Prussia, assigned to
Third Panzer Army in the area of
Tilsit before being reallocated to
Fourth Army and deployed in the area of
Insterburg, facing the Soviet
East Prussian Offensive. Along with the bulk of Fourth Army it was encircled and largely destroyed in the
Heiligenbeil pocket in the closing weeks of the war. Remnants of the division's forces were transported over the
Frisches Haff to
Pillau and
Samland, where the unit was eventually dispersed in battle with Soviet troops, while some elements escaped along the
Frische Nehrung to
Hela and eventually by sea to
Schleswig-Holstein.[citation needed]
Commanding officers
Generalleutnant
Albert Wodrig, 1 October 1934 – 10 November 1938
Burkhard Müller-Hillebrand (1969). Das Heer 1933-1945. Entwicklung des organisatorischen Aufbaues (in German). Vol. III: Der Zweifrontenkrieg. Das Heer vom Beginn des Feldzuges gegen die Sowjetunion bis zum Kriegsende. Frankfurt am Main: Mittler. p. 286.
Georg Tessin (1970). Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg, 1939 - 1945 (in German). Vol. IV: Die Landstreitkräfte 15 -30. Frankfurt am Main: Mittler.