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Upgrades and reorganizations are shown only to identify the variant names for what is notionally a single unit; other upgrades and reorganizations are deferred to the individual articles. Due to the scope of this list pre-war changes are not shown, nor are upgrades from units smaller than a division.


NAME ELEMENTS NOT USUALLY TRANSLATED


;'' Grenadier '': A traditional term for heavy infantry.
;'' Jäger '': A traditional term for light infantry (literally "hunter").
;''Lehr'': A demonstration unit (literally "learning-" or "teaching-").
;''Nummer'': "Number". (See description in Infantry Series Divisions, below.)
;'' Panzer '': Armored (literally "armor").
;''Sturm'': "Storm" or "Assault".
;'' Volk s'': "of the People".
;''zbV'': Abbreviation for "Special Purpose" ("zur besonderen Verwendung").
''Volks'', ''Sturm'', and ''Grenadier'' were sometimes used simply as morale-building epithets, often without any significance to a unit's organization or capabilities.


ARMY



Panzer Divisions



Numbered Panzer Divisions





Named Panzer Divisions






Light Divisions


The designation "Light" (''leichte'') had various meanings in the German Army of World War II. There was a series of 5 Light divisions; the first four were pre-war mechanized formations organized for use as mechanized cavalry, and the fifth was an ''ad hoc'' collection of mechanized elements rushed to Africa to bail the Italians out and organized into a division once there. All five were eventually converted to ordinary Panzer divisions.


Various other divisions were dubbed "Light" for other reasons, and are listed among the Infantry Series Divisions.


Infantry Series Divisions



Types of division in the series


German infantry divisions had a variety of designations and specializations, though numbered in a single series. The major variations are as follows:
;Fortress (''Festung''): Divisions of non-standard organization used to garrison critical sites. The smaller ones might consist of only two or three battalions.
;'' Grenadier '': A morale-building honorific usually indicative of reduced strength when used alone.
;Light, '' Jäger '': Provided with partial horse or motor transport and usually lighter artillery, and reduced in size compared to an ordinary infantry division. Some of these were essentially identical to mountain divisions, and were sometimes referred to as ''Gebirgsjäger'' ("Mountain Light Infantry") divisions.
  • This description does not apply to the ''Light'' divisions in Africa (5th, 90th, 164th, 999th), nor to the five ''Light'' mechanized divisions listed in their own subsection.

    • ; Motorized : Provided with full motor transport for all infantry and weapons systems. Usually reduced in size compared to an ordinary infantry division.

;''Division Nummer'': A sort of placeholder division, with a number (''Nummer'') and staff but few if any combat assets. These divisions started out without any type in their name (e.g., ''Division Nr. 179''), though some acquired a type later on (e.g, ''Panzer Division Nr. 179'').
;'' Panzergrenadier '': As motorized, but with more self-propelled weapons and an added battalion of tanks or fully armored assault guns.
;Static (''bodenständige''): Deficient in transport, even enough to move its own artillery. Many of these were divisions that had been mauled on the Russian Front and were sent west to serve as coastal defense garrisons until sufficient resources were available to rehabilitate them.
;'' Volksgrenadier '': A late-war reorganization with reduced size and increased short-range firepower. Many previously destroyed or badly mauled infantry divisions were reconstituted as ''Volksgrenadier'' divisions, and new ones were raised as well. Its fighting capability was equivalent to a US-style National Guard formation.
;''zbV'': An ''ad hoc'' division created to meet a special requirement. (E.g., Division ZbV ''Afrika'' )

Most of the size reductions listed above were by about a third, either by the removal of an infantry regiment or the removal of one infantry battalion from each of the three regiments.

Infantry divisions were raised in ''waves'', sets of divisions with a standardized table of organization and equipment. In general the later waves (i.e., the higher-numbered divisions) were of lower quality than the earlier ones.


Numbered Divisions






















Named Divisions










Mountain Divisions




Ski Division




Cavalry Divisions


According to Davies, the ''Cavalry'' divisions were Mounted Infantry and the ''Cossack'' divisions were " True Cavalry ", modelled on the Russian cavalry divisions.



Landwehr Divisions




Artillery Divisions




Named Fortress divisions




Named Training Divisions




Field Replacement Divisions




NAVY



Naval Infantry Divisions





LUFTWAFFE



Hermann Göring Divisions


The Hermann Göring formations grew from a single police detachment to an entire Armored Corps over the course of the war. The later epithet ''Fallschirm'' ("parachute") was purely honorific.



Airborne Divisions


In order to keep its existence secret, the first German Airborne division was named as if a ''Flieger'' ("flier") division in the series of ''Luftwaffe'' divisions that controlled air assets rather than ground troops:
  • 7th ''Flieger'' Division (often translated ''7th Air Division'')



The division was later reorganized to start a series of nominally airborne divisions. Though named '' Fallschirmjäger '' ("paratrooper") divisions, most were not actually trained for Airdrop s, and in practice all operated as ordinary Motorized Infantry throughout their existence. The lower-numbered ones maintaned an élite status, but quality generally declined among the higher-numbered ones.



Field Divisions


These were ordinary Infantry divisions organized from ''Luftwaffe'' personnel made available after mid-war due to the manpower crunch. They were originally ''Luftwaffe'' units but were later handed over to the '' Heer '', retaining their numbering but with ''Luftwaffe'' attached to distinguish them from similarly numbered divisions already existing in the ''Heer''.



Training Divisions




Anti-Aircraft Divisions


These were headquarters for controlling aggregates of ''FLAK'' ("anti-aircraft artillery") assets rather than ordinary Combined Arms divisions organized for ground combat.



WAFFEN-SS


All divisions in the ''Waffen-SS'' were ordered in a single series, regardless of type. Those tagged with nationalities were at least nominally recruited from those nationalities. Many of the higher-numbered units were small battlegroups ( Kampfgruppe n), i.e. divisions in name only.

Waffen SS formations from "Aryan" nations were called ''SS-Divisions'' whereas volunteer formations from "non-Aryan" nations were given the title ''Division der SS''.



Also Panzer Division ''Kempf'' , a temporary unit of mixed ''Heer'' and ''Waffen-SS'' components.


SEE ALSO



REFERENCES


  • Astel, John; Goodwin, A. E.; Long, Jason, Bengtsson, Sven Ake; & Parmenter, James D. (1998). "Orders of Battle". Data booklet from the ''. ISBN 1860100910.

  • 1

  • Parada, George (2004). " Panzer Divisions 1940-1945 ". Retrieved April 1, 2005.


  • Yeide, Harry;(2004). The Tank Killers, A History of America's World War II Tank Destroyer Force. (pg. 209). Casemate Publishers, Havertown, PA. ISBN 1-932033-26-2.



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