| 342nd Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
| German:342. Infanterie-Division | |
 342. Infanterie Division Vehicle Insignia | |
| Active | 19 November 1940 – April 1945 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  Heer (Wehrmacht) |
| Type | Infantry |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | World War II in Yugoslavia (1941–1942) Battles of Rzhev Operation Bagration Vistula–Oder Offensive Battle of Halbe |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Walter Hinghofer Paul Hoffman Heinrich Nickel |
The342nd Infantry Division (German:342. Infanterie-Division) was aformation of theGermanWehrmacht duringWorld War II. Established on 19 November 1940, it was formed from elements of two existing divisions. It first served as part of the occupation forces inFrance between June and September 1941 and was then largely responsible for the brutal repression of resistance in eastern parts ofAxis-occupied Yugoslavia between September 1941 and February 1942.
The division was then transferred toArmy Group Centre on theEastern Front where it distinguished itself in the fighting throughout 1942–1944. After heavy losses, it underwent a brief period of re-organisation in April 1944 and returned to the front in May 1944 to fight throughout the retreat to Germany. It was almost destroyed in the fighting on theVistula, and was encircled in theHalbe pocket at the end of the war, but some elements of the division managed to surrender to theUnited States Army atTravemünde. Nineteen officers and men of the division were awarded theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross while serving with the division, and its last commander,GeneralleutnantHeinrich Nickel was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross while commanding the division.
The division was formed on 19 November 1940 inWehrkreis XII (Military District XII) with its home station atLandstuhl. One third of the original strength was transferred from the72nd Infantry Division and one third from the79th Infantry Division. This meant that part of the divisional strength originated from aroundKoblenz in theRhineland, and part from aroundLinz inAustria. It was a Category 14 division, which were established with the usual three infantryregiments, but with only 12companies per regiment instead of the usual 14. It included an artillery regiment, but had a reduced complement of equipment in all areas, and its soldiers were between 27 and 32 years of age.[1] Its commander from formation wasGeneralmajor (Brigadier) Rudolf Wagner. Following its formation it was first deployed as part of the occupation forces inFrance between June and September 1941.[2] On 2 July 1941, Wagner was replaced byGeneralleutnant (Major General) Dr.Walter Hinghofer,[3] an Austrian-born career officer who had served the whole ofWorld War I fighting the Russians on theEastern Front.[4] On 14 September 1941, the division was ordered to deploy toBelgrade in theTerritory of the Military Commander in Serbia where it was to come under the command ofLXV Corps. This was the result of repeated requests for reinforcements from the Wehrmacht Commander Southeast,GeneralfeldmarschallWilhelm List due to a growing insurgency in the eastern parts of the partitionedKingdom of Yugoslavia.[5]
The division began arriving from France on 20 September 1941, and was quickly committed tocounter-insurgency operations in the northwestern part of the German-occupied territory of Serbia. Between 24 September and 9 October it conducted its first operation, which was aimed at clearing theMačva region, which consisted of around 600 square kilometres (230 sq mi) west of the town ofŠabac between theDrina andSava rivers. It was reinforced by a battalion from the718th Infantry Division and a police company, and advanced into the region from the Syrmia region to the north. The Germans estimated the numbers of Partisans and Chetniks in the area at between 2,000 and 10,000. The division rounded up large numbers of males between the ages of 14 and 70 in the towns and villages, razed many houses, and exceeded the mandated reprisal ratios of the numbers of prisoners executed per German soldier killed or wounded, shooting 830 of the 8,400 prisoners it took between 21 and 30 September, the great majority of which were unarmed civilians. However, the division had decisively engaged the main insurgent forces which withdrew into theCer mountains.[6]
This was closely followed by two more operations, one in the Cer mountains between 10–15 October, and one towardsKrupanj on 19 and 20 October. The Cer operation targeted around 2,500 well-armed Chetniks and 4,000 poorly-equipped Partisans, and the division burned many villages and shot over 3,000 more people despite capturing few weapons and taking few prisoners. They destroyed insurgent strongholds in theRadovasnica andMount Tronosa monasteries, but despite completing their encirclement of the area most of the targeted insurgents escaped to the west. The Krupanj operation was essentially treated as revenge for two companies of the 704th Infantry Division that had been overrun in the town a few weeks earlier, but again failed to decisively engage the insurgents. During the period from 10 to 19 October the 342nd suffered six men killed with another 24 wounded, but reported that it had killed 546 insurgents and executed another 1,081 after capture, from whom it captured a total of four guns.[7] On 12-13 October, soldiers of the 342nd Division took all the Jewish men of the mostly Austrian "Kladovo group" of refugees who had been imprisoned in the Sabac concentration camp, as well as 160 Roma and some Serbs, to Zasavica (~40 km from the Šabac concentration camp) where all of them (over 800 men) were executed in a farmer's field.
It played a key role inOperation Uzice andOperation Mihailovic, which targeted theYugoslav Partisans andChetniks respectively.[8] In early January 1942, after being relieved by Bulgarian forces, the division was transferred to theIndependent State of Croatia where it took part inOperation Southeast Croatia, after which a regiment of the division took part inOperation Ozren under the command of the 718th Infantry Division.[9] During its service in Yugoslavia the division earned a reputation for ruthless and ferocious brutality against insurgents and the populace alike.[10]
In February 1942 it was sent toArmy Group Centre on the Eastern Front where it fought in theBattles of Rzhev and the retreat after theBattle of Kursk.[2]
It was withdrawn briefly in April 1944 to refit and re-organise inEast Prussia, but returned to the front in May and distinguished itself twice against the Russians that summer. It fought atKovel, during the withdrawal across eastern Poland and at the Baranov bridgehead on theVistula.[2]
On 1 January 1945, the division, then under command of the4th Panzer Army ofArmy Group A, had a strength of 10,124 men.[11]: 504
When the Russians broke out of the bridgehead in January 1945, the division was almost completely destroyed during theVistula–Oder Offensive, but it fought on as akampfgruppe until it was encircled in theHalbe pocket during theBattle for Berlin. Some members of the division managed to escape westwards to surrender to theUnited States Army atTravemünde nearLübeck on theBaltic Sea.[2]
The major units of the division were:[2]
The division was commanded by the following officers:[3]
Hoffman was promoted togeneralmajor on 1 June 1942, Baier was promoted togeneralleutnant on 1 January 1943, and Nickel was promoted togeneralmajor on 1 January 1944 thengeneralleutnant on 1 July 1944.[12]
A total of 19 officers and men were awarded theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross while serving with the division,[13] and its last commander,GeneralleutnantHeinrich Nickel was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross while commanding the division.[14]