9.Infanterie-Division

The 9. Infanterie-Division was formed in Gießen on October 15,1935 from the cover name Infanterieführer V.
The infantry regiments were formed from  15.Infanterie-Regiment of the 5.Division of the Reichswehr.


Mobilized for the Polish campaign, the 9.Infanterie-Division was sent to the Saar to bolster the western flank of Germany's borders while the Wehrmacht overran Poland.

The 9.Infanterie-Division fought in the battle for France in 1940 as a component of 12.Armee, Armeegruppe A in its advance through Luxumburg and Belgium. It fought at Amiens and on the Somme River, later crossing the Oise and Ourcq Rivers before advancing on Paris. Early in the morning of June 14th, 1940, the 9.Infanterie-Division was the first German unit to enter Paris after its fall. 

After the occupation of Paris the 9.Infanterie-Division went into reserve and remained in northern France on occupation duty until April of 1941 when it was posted to Poland and the Easten Front to prepare for the Invasion of the Soviet Union.

There, beneath the aegis of XXXXIV.Armee-korps, 6.Armee, it took part in crossing of the frontiner, the battles through the Stalin Line and the drive on and capture of Kiev by Heeresgruppe Sud. Shifted further to the south, the 9.Infanterie-Division notably took part in the advance into the Caucasus, the Kuban, and in the lower Dneiper campaigns during the 1942-43 period. The division suffered heavy losses in the Summer of 1944, in the general retreat of Axis forces across the Romanian border.

Encircled and nearly anihillated in Romania, what was left of the division was pulled from the line and sent to the Ossboel-Esbjerg area of Denmark to be rebuilt. During re-fitting it absorbed the partially formed 584.Volksgrenadier-Div., and was reformed as the 9.Volksgrenadier-Division.

Source:Feldgrau.com