The predecessor to the 275 Infanterie Division, the 223 Infanterie Division, was formed in Dresden, Wehrkreis IV, in 1939 from older, veteran personnel, known as Landwehr, in 1939. The division headquarters was established using troops from the Landwehr Commandant Dresden. In September, 1939, the division was transferred to the Saar, and posted to occupation duty in the Posen (Potsdam) area, Wehrkreis XXI, until March, 1940. At this time, the division was transferred to the 6th Army, and participated in the combat taking place in Belgium and France. The division remained in the Bordeaux area of France, until late 1941. During this time, the division underwent personnel changes and transfers, to adjust its age structure to that of a more normal infantry division. Attached to Army Group North in November, 1941, the division fought the Soviets during the Russian Winter Offensive 1941-1942, and participated in the Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Lake Ladoga. During the period from June1942 to the winter of 1942-43, three of the division’s battalions were disbanded. Transferred to the southern sector of the Russian Front in the summer of 1943, the division fought at Velikije-Luki and Kharkov, and was all but annihilated in the Battle of Kiev. The division was dissolved on November 23, 1943, and the remaining survivors were used as a cadre for the newly forming 275 Infanterie Division.
The 275 Infanterie Division was activated in western France on November 17, 1943, as a 22nd Wave division. The division absorbed the staff and surviving elements of the disbanded 223 Infanterie Division. The new division also absorbed the 190th, 234th, 425th and 475th Reserve Grenadiere Abteilungen of the 158th Reserve Division. Initially, the new division was designated 352nd Infanterie Division, but was soon re-designated 275th Infanterie Division on December 10, 1943. Still forming in February, 1944, the division was transferred to Brittany, France, where the division consisted of the divisional staff, one regimental staff, one artillery unit, two abteilungen of“old men… and little else”. On March 1, the division reported a strength of 11,538, on June 1, the division reported a strength of 10,768 officers and men as well as 1,560 HiWis. Before the invasion, the division suffered from a shortage of transportation, and a Kampfguppe, at an estimated strength of 4000 was formed around the following units:
I./Grenadiere Regiment 984
II./Grenadiere Regiment 984
one infantry howitzer platoon
one platoon with 7,5 cm AT guns
Pioneere Abteilung 275
Füsilier Abteilung 275
III./Art.Rgt. 275
Panzer Jäger Kompanie 275
The 275 Infanterie Division participated in training exercises until June, 1944, when the Kampfgruppe, known as Kampfgruppe Heintz, was thrown into the fighting on June 8 in the area west of St.Lo, subordinate to the 352nd Infanterie Division, already defending the beaches of Normandy. Up until this time, the Kampfgruppe was the only elements of the division involved in the fighting in Normandy. On June 27, the remainder of the division was ordered to Normandy, to replace the remnants of the exhausted Panzer Lehr Division. On July 15, Grenadiere Regiment 985 and I./Artillerie Regiment 275 were reported en-route or in the area of Avranches, with other elements of the division following. July 19 found Grenadiere Regiment 985 near Marigny, and 275 Artillerie Regiment in the Canisy-Amrigny sector. Within a week, the entire division was reported as committed to the fighting.
At the time of operation Cobra, the 275 Inf.Div. was not employed as a single formation. The 4/Artillerie Regiment 275 and 6/Artillerie Regiment 275 were with the 2nd SS-Panzer Division Das Reich, while one infantry battalion was with the Panzer Lehr Division. This battalion was the remnants ofKampfgruppe Heintz, previously sent to Normandy. The 985 Grenadiere Regiment was sent to the 352nd Infanterie Division. Also the rest of the artillery was directly subordinated to LXXXIV Korps. Nearly destroyed in Operation Cobra, July 25-27, 1944, the division suffered huge casualties not only from continuous fighter bomber attacks, but also during the breakout from the Falaise pocket, later in August. The commander of the 7th Army, SS General Paul Hausser listed the unit as practically destroyed. Remaining elements of the division fought at Aachen, where the division numbered 800 survivors. The division was removed from the fighting.
October 1, 1944 the 275 Infanterie Division absorbed miscellaneous local defense troops, as well as two Luftwaffe fortress defense abteilungen. Total divisional strength was 5,000 men on October 3, 1944, and the division also included thirteen 105mm howitzers, one 210 mm howitzer and six assault guns (Sturmgeschutz). After rebuilding, the division could only claim to be at one third the strength of a 1941 type infantry division, which, at the time, was rather typical of most combat divisions of the German Army in late 1944. In spite of being under strength, the division was returned to Aachen in November, 1944, and fought in the battle of HuertgenForest, ultimately being all but destroyed in the process. The remaining troops were temporarily assigned to the 344th Infanterie Division, with the divisional staff returned to Germany. Stationed in Flensburg, in northern Germany, the 275 was reformed along the lines of a Volksgrenadiere division. Sent to Czechoslovakia in early March, 1945, the remnants of the division were destroyed while part of the 9th Army in the Halbe Pocket, southeast of Berlin, around Aril 29, 1945. Throughout the existence of the 275 Infanterie Division, the commanding officer was General Leutnant Hans Schmidt, except during the period of October 11 through November 22, 1944, when Oberst Helmut Bechler was the acting divisional commander.
