| 132nd Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
| 132. Infanterie-Division | |
 | |
| Active | 1940–45 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division 15,000 Soldiers |
| Colors | Red and Yellow |
| Engagements | World War II |
The132nd Infantry Division (German:132. Infanterie-Division) was aGermandivision inWorld War II. It was formed on 5 October 1940 inLandshut, as part of the11th Wave of Wehrmacht mobilization, and was destroyed in theCourland Pocket in 1945.
In May 1941 the units of this division participated in the suppression of theSerb uprising in Sanski Most in theIndependent State of Croatia, afascistpuppet state created fromYugoslav territory. Following operations in the Balkans, the division participated inOperation Barbarossa as part ofArmy Group South. The division was held in reserve and did not see combat in the Soviet Union until July 27, 1941, nearKoziatyn in Ukraine. The division was then involved in operations south ofKiev along theDnieper River and later was diverted to the Crimea, where it served on theIsthmus of Perekop, Kerch Peninsula and Sevastopol front. During theSiege of Sevastopol the division captured theFortress of Maxim Gorky. Subsequently the division was transferred toArmy Group North to assault the fortified city of Leningrad due to its experience in assaulting Sevastopol. Before the attack on Leningrad could commence, called Operation Nordlicht, the division became involved in repulsing the SovietSinyavino offensive in August 1942. The division then spent most of the year of 1943 defending the environs around the "bottleneck": a thin strip of land located along the southern coast ofLake Ladoga that was crucial to maintaining theSiege of Leningrad. In November 1943, the division was transported by rail to the extreme southern flank of Army Group North. While stationed there it witnessed the Destruction of Army Group Center with the commencement of the Russian summer offensive, calledOperation Bagration. The division then became responsible for maintaining the link between Army Group North and what remained of Army Group Center, and to prevent the Russians from outflanking Army Group North from the south. Eventually the division was cut off from the rest of the German army in theCourland Pocket before surrendering to the Russians on 10 May, 1945.
A personal memoir of service in the division was written by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, in his book:In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front[1] Biderman was with the division for four years on the Russian Front and served in 132nd Tank Destroyer Battalion as an NCO and later as an officer in the 437th Infantry Regiment. After surrendering, he spent almost three years in Soviet captivity, as a prisoner of war.
Structure of the division:[2][3]
