45th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

The 45th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Towards the end of the war, the division was reassembled into a second iteration, the 45th Volksgrenadier Division

History

45th Infantry Division

With the annexation of Austria in 1938 by Nazi Germany, what was once the 4th Austrian Division was incorporated into the Wehrmacht and re-designated the 45th Infantry Division. In the 1939 Invasion of Poland, the division was on the right wing of Gerd von Rundstedt's Army Group South.
On 22 June 1941, the 45th Infantry Division began Operation Barbarossa by starting the 9-day long siege of the Brest Fortress. In March 1942 the Red Army defeated the division at Livny, Russia and captured the archive of the division. That was the first time the Red Army learned about the defense of the Brest Fortress It suffered heavy casualties during the Battle of Kursk. It was rebuilt but virtually destroyed at Bobruysk in June 1944 during Operation Bagration.

45th Volksgrenadier Division

The destroyed 45th Division was again rebuilt as the "45th Volksgrenadier Division" in the autumn of 1944 in Poland, by renaming the short-lived 546th Grenadier Division, which was then still in formation. On 1 January, the division had a strength of 10,118 men. The division fought at Warsaw and Radom in 1945, retreating through Silesia to Koniggratz, and finally to Czechoslovakia, where it surrendered.

Commanding officers

General der Infanterei Friedrich Materna
Generalmajor Gerhard Körner,
Generalleutnant Fritz Schlieper,
Generalleutnant Fritz Kühlwein,
Generalleutnant Hans Freiherr von Falkenstein,
Generalmajor Joachim Engel,
Generalmajor Gustav Gihr,
Generalmajor Joachim Engel,
Generalmajor Richard Daniel,
Generalmajor Erich Hassenstein,

Order of battle

1939

Infantry Regiment 130
Infantry Regiment 133
Infantry Regiment 135
Reconnaissance Detachment 45
Artillery Regiment 98
I Detachment
II Detachment
III Detachment
I/Artillery Regiment 99
Engineer Battalion 81
Anti-Tank Detachment 45
Signal Detachment 65
Field Replacement Battalion 45
Supply Unit 45

1942

Grenadier Regiment 130
Grenadier Regiment 133
Grenadier Regiment 135
Bicycle Detachment 45
Artillery Regiment 98
I Detachment
II Detachment
III Detachment
I/Artillery Regiment 99
Engineer Battalion 81
Panzerjäger Detachment 45
Signal Detachment 65
Field Replacement Battalion 45
Supply Unit 45

1943–1944

Grenadier Regiment 130
Grenadier Regiment 133
Grenadier Regiment 135
Fusilier Battalion 45
Artillery Regiment 98
I Detachment
II Detachment
III Detachment
I/Artillery Regiment 99
Engineer Battalion 81
Panzerjäger Detachment 45
Signal Detachment 65
Field Replacement Battalion 45
Supply Unit 45