GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA. No. 70. Records of German Field Commands: Divisions (221st-255th), Part X The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration Washington: 1975 This finding aid has been prepared by the National Archives as part of its program of facilitating the use of records in its custody. The microfilm described in this guide may be consulted at the National Archives, where it is identified as Microfilm Publication T315. Those desiring to purchase microfilm should write to the Publications Sales Branch (NEPS), National Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20408. Some of the papers reproduced on the microfilm referred to in this and other guides of the same series may have been of private origin. The fact of their seizure is not believed to divest their original owners of any literary property rights in them. Anyone, therefore, who publishes them in whole or in part without permission of their authors may be held liable for infringement of such literary property rights. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 58-9982 GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA. VA. Mo. 70. Records of German Field Connands: Divisions (221st-255th), Part X The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration Washington: 1975 INTRODUCTION Tne Guides to_ German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria, Va. invasion of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in 1941; training in constitute a series of finding aids to National Arcnives micro- Rumania in 1941; the campaign against tne Soviet Union, 1941-44; film of seized records of German central, regional, and local occupation and security duty and coastal defense in Norway in government agencies and of military commands anu units, as 1942; and coastal defense and training in Belgium and France well as of tne Nazi Party, its formations, affiliated associa- in 1943. tions, and supervised organizations. The records described in the guiues were created generally during the period 1920-45. The INDEX to Guide No. 70 can be found immediately following the instructions for its use on page 160. The master copy for The guide series was initiated by the microfilming project of this index was computer formated and printed from terms input the Committee for the Study of War Documents of the American simultaneously with the descriptive material in the text of Historical Association (AilA) in cooperation with tne National the guide, and was supplemented with references, cross-refer- Archives and tne Department of the Army. With the termination ences, and explanatory subheadings. The full edition was then of AHA participation in July 1963, the National Arcnives reproduced from the master copies by photographic offset printing. assumed sole responsibility for the reproduction of records and the preparation of guides. The provenance to which each record item is attributed is the unit headquarters that created or filed it, although a large This guide is one of many in the series describing the records proportion of the items had in fact already been retired to de- of tne German army field commands that have been arrangeu by positories of the Heeresarchiv Potsdam, wnere accession numbers unit and filmed in discrete microfilm publications according were assigned and stamped or written on the covers in the order to their military echelon as follows: Army Groups (Microfilm received, and wnere the records were then cataloged by unit. Publication T311J, Armies (T312), Panzer Armuss (J315) , Corps Tne records reached tne United States still rougnly arranged by (T314), Divisions (T515), and Rear Areas, Occupied Territories, unit, since Allied intelligence officers retained this systera, and Others (TSUI). taking advantage of the circumstance that the original Potsdam catalogs were acquired along with tne seized field command records. Guide No. 7u (designated Part X of tne Guides to German Army The AHA and the National Archives also followed this arrangement Divisions—Parts I-IX oein^ Guides 41, 45, and 65-6y) describes in tneir joint and separate microfilm projects, altnough some the records of divisions numbered 221 tnrougn 255 reproduced on record items appear out of sequence because they were still classi- 130 rolls of Microfilm Publication T315. The records include fied or temporarily unavailable at the time the unit records were material on formation, training, and border security in Germany filmed. This also accounts for the occasional break in continuity in 1939, 1941, and 1943, and in Norway in Iy42; the campaign in of roll numbers in the guides where those unit records filmed later Poland in 1939; assembly, occupation and security duty, training, on nigher roll numbers appear out of item number sequence at the and antipartisan operations in Poland, 1959-40; the campaign in end of tae division entries. Record items not yet retired to the Belgium, tne Netherlands, and France in 1940; occupation and Heeresarchiv depositories at the time of capture were assigned security duty and coastal defense in iielgium and France, 1940-41; accession numbers above 75,000 by American custodians in extension assembly, occupation duty, and training in Poland, 1940-41; the of the original Potsdam numbering scheme. 111 Considerable information on the fate of German military archives roll reproducing the records of each unit. A data card describing during World 'Var II, including documentation of efforts to recon- each record item was also microfilmed immediately preceding the struct records destroyed in several wartime fires, may be found folder it describes, and the cards for all folders on one roll in the files of the Chef dcs Hecresarchivs, OKII, filmed as Micro- of film were again filmed as a finding aid at the beginning of film Publication T7S, rolls 1-33, and described in Guide No. 12 that roll. The information contained on these cards was used of this series. as a reference in compiling descriptive entries for the guide, but considerable revision was undertaken because so many of Although the records of these divisions have been filned selec- these card descriptions were prepared hastily to keep pace with tively, the war journals (Kriegstagebuecher) and activity reports the filming and restitution schedules. (Taetigkeitsberichte) and their annexes (Anlagen) of the opera- tions (la) and intelligence (Ic) staff sections, wherever avail- The CONTENTS column on the pages containing records descriptions able, were filmed in their entirety. A few records of the supply, provides (a) the abbreviation of the staff section that originated administrative, medical, personnel, and judge advocate staff the document, (b) the title appearing on the folder cover, and sections assigned to division headquarters were filmed for those (c) additional information providing a general description of the units whose operations and intelligence files were incomplete contents. The inclusive dates of the file item are given under a or missing. Map annexes (Kartenanlagen), consisting exclusively DATE column; the ITEM NO. is the identification symbol given on of large maps difficult to put on microfilm, were generally the original folder; the ROLL refers to the sequence of the film omitted; maps interspersed among and integrated with the tex- in Microfilm Publication T315; and 1ST FRAME gives the frame tual records were filmed in several overlapping sections, which, number of the first page of the file item. along with the loss of color markings, detracts considerably from their value and ease of use. The original records, filmed and unfilmed, have been returned to the Federal Republic of Germany for deposit in the Bundesarchiv- A unit history in tabular form precedes the file item listing for Militaerarchiv in Freiburg. The master negatives of Microfilm each division. The DATE column gives the opening date or first Publication T315 have been deposited with the Publications Sales date on a pertinent document for the LOCATION and ACTIVITY given Branch (NEPS), National Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20408, from in the next two columns, and the timespan extends to the next which copies of specific rolls may be purchased. Reference copies date given. The CHAIN OF COMMAND column gives the names of the may be consulted in the microfilm reading room of the National commanding officers and superior units, with timespans for each, Archives. For suggestions for citing microfilm, see page xiv. where available. The descriptions in this guide were prepared by Anton F. Grassl, These unit histories are based on information found in the records, Petronilla Hawes, and Donald E. Spencer. Mrs. Hawes also pre- in the Potsdam catalog, on contemporary German daily situation pared the input data for the computer. Edward D. Thomas of the maps, and in manuscripts of the Foreign Military Studies scries. General Services Administration was the programmer-analyst. They supplement or correct the brief histories, based on the The computer-input scheme, a modification of the SPINDEX program, Order of_ Battle of_ the German Army (War Department, Washington, was devised by the undersigned. D.C., March 1945) which were filmed at the beginning of every ROBERT WOLFE Chief, Modern Military Branch Military Archives Division IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction iii German Military Synbols and Abbreviations vii Organization of German Army Staffs x Published Guides to German Records Microfilned at Alexandria, Va xii Sunfjestions for citing microfilm ..... xiv Records: 221. Sicherun^s-Division 1 223. Infanteric-Division 22 225. Infanterie-Division 36 227. Infanteric-Division 44 228. Infanterie-Division 61 230. Infanterie-Division 6Z 23P. Infanterie-Division 66 2^?. Infantorie-Division 73 246. Tnfanterie-Division 75 250. Infantorie-Division (spanisch) .... C4 251. Infanteric-Division 86 TA1JLL OF CONTENTS (cont'u.) Page 257. Infantcric-Oivision 101 253. Infanterie-Division 116 254. Infanteric-Divisicn 120 255. Infanterie-Division 137 It)') Instructions for Ordering Microfilm 237 VI GERMAN MILITARY SYMBOIS AND ABBREVIATIONS la Operationsabteilung Baupl Baupioniere Ic Feindnachrichtenabteilung Bd. Band Ic/A.O. Feindnachricntenwesen u. Abwehroffizier Beob. Beobachtung Id Ausbildungsoffizier bes.