| The 2.Gebirgs
Divisions home-base was in Innsbruck, Austria, Wehrkreis XVIII. This
was one of the divisions formed primarily from former 6th Austrian Mountain
Division units (Tyrolean Austrians) after the Anschluss in April
1. 1938 . It was mobilized in August 26. 1939, and entered action in September
1939. The Division fought as part of Army Group South in Southern Poland
and took part in the march to capture the Polish city of Lemberg.
After the Campaign in Poland It subsequently
took part in the invasion of Norway, fighting in the Narvik area in support
of 3.Gebirgs Division in May of 1940. The Division took part in actions
in central Norway, and then in operations against the British while attempting
to link up with units of the 3rd Gebirgsjäger Division holding the
Northern port of Narvik. It then spent some time on occupation duties in
the far north of Norway and in Lapland. The Division served in the far
north until 1944 when the German forces moved back into Norway.
On the opening of Operation Barbarossa,
in June 1941, the division became part of XIX Gebirgskorps in 20.Gebirgsarmee
and took part in the drive towards Murmansk. It served in this corps in
the same theatre until late 1944, when the Finns concluded their own peace
agreement with the Soviet Union, and the German units in Lapland withdrew
into Norway. The division suffered badly during the Russian winter offensive
of 1944.
A transfer to the Western Front followed,
and the main combat regiments were rebuilt and rein-
forced, though the quality of the replacements
did not match that of the division's original comple-
ment. It joined Heersgruppe G at the front in
February 1945 and took part in the fighting for
the Saar and Moselle areas before retreating
into Southern Germany where it joined XII Korps.
Their battered remnants surrendered to the Americans
in May 1945. |
