GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA. No. 68. Records of German Field Commands: Divisions (141st-187th), Part VIII The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration Washington: 1974 www.maparchive.ru 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 www.maparchive.ru GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA. No. 68. Records of German Field Commands: Divisions (141st-187th)f Part VIII The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration Washington: 1974 www.maparchive.ru www.maparchive.ru INTRODUCTION The Guides tp_ German Records Microfilmed at_ Alexandria, Va. the campaign in North Africa, 1942-43; occupation duty, coastal constitute a series of finding aids to National Archives micro- defense, and training in Belgium and The Netherlands, 1942-43; film of seized records of German centralp regional, and local antipartisan operations, coastal defense, and security duty in government agencies and of military commands and units, as Yugoslavia, 1942-44; antipartisan warfare in Poland, 1942-44; well as of the Nazi Party, its formations, affiliated associa- coastal defense in Albania, 1943; security duty and training in tions, and supervised organizations. The records described Denmark, 1943; and defensive operations in The Netherlands and in the guides were created generally during the period 1920-45. Poland, 1944, and in Italy and Germany, 1944-45. The guide series was initiated by the microfilming project of The INDEX to Guide No. 68 can be found immediately following the Committee for the Study of War Documents of the American the instructions for its use on page 168. The master copy for Historical Association (AHA) in cooperation with the National this index was computer formated and printed from terms input Archives and the Department of the Army. With the termination simultaneously with the descriptive material in the text of of AHA participation in July 1963, the National Archives the guide, and was supplemented with references, cross-refer- assumed sole responsibility for the reproduction of records and ences, and explanatory subheadings. The full edition was then the preparation of guides. reproduced from the master copies by photographic offset printing. This guide is one of many in the series describing the records The provenance to which each record item is attributed is the of the German Army field commands that have been arranged by unit headquarters that created or filed it, although a large unit and filmed in discrete microfilm publications according proportion of the items had in fact already been retired to de- to their military echelon as follows: Army Groups (Microfilm positories of the Heeresarchiv Potsdam, where accession numbers Publication T311), Armies (T312), Panzer Armies (T313), Corps were assigned and stamped or written on the covers in the order (T314), Divisions (T315), and Rear Areas, Occupied Territories, received, and where the records were then cataloged by unit. and Others (T501). The records reached the United States still roughly arranged by unit, since Allied intelligence officers retained this system, Guide No. 68 (designated Part VIII of the Guides to German Army taking advantage of the circumstance that the original Potsdam Divisions—Parts I-VII being Guides 41, 45, and 63-67) describes catalogs were acquired along with the seized field command records. the records of divisions numbered 141 through 187 reproduced on The AHA and the National Archives also followed this arrangement 123 rolls of Microfilm Publication T315. The records include in their joint and separate microfilm projects, although some material on formation, training, and air defense in Germany, record items appear out of sequence because they were still classi- 1939-40; the campaigns in Norway, Belgium, France, and Luxem- fied or temporarily unavailable at tne time the unit records were bourg in 1940; coastal defense in Belgium, 1940; training, filmed. This also accounts for the occasional break in continuity occupation duty, and coastal defense in France and Norway, of roll numbers in the guides where those unit records filmed later 1940-43; assembly and training in Poland, 1940-41; the campaigns on higher roll numbers appear out of item number sequence at the in Yugoslavia and Greece, 1941; occupation duty and coastal end of the division entries. Record items not yet retired to the defense in Greece, 1941; security duty and training in Crete, Heeresarchiv depositories at the time of capture were assigned 1941-42; transit of Sweden, 1941; assembly in Finland and accession numbers above 75,000 by American custodians in extension Rumania, 1941; the campaign against the Soviet Union, 1941-44; of the original Potsdam numbering scheme. 111 www.maparchive.ru Considerable information on the fate of German military archives roll reproducing the records of each unit. A data card describing during World War 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 des Heeresarchivs, OKH, filmed as Micro- of film were again filmed as a finding aid at the beginning of film Publication T73, rolls 1-38, 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 tne records of these divisions have been filmed selec- these card descriptions were prepared hastily to keep pace with tively, the war journals (Kriegstagebuecher) and activity reports the filming and restitution scnedules. (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 unfilined, 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 aate on a pertinent document for the LOCATION and ACTIVITY given Branch (NEPS), National Archives (GSA), Washington, DC 20406, 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. Grass 1 These unit histories are based on information found in the records, and Petronilla Hawes under the supervision of Donald "E. Spencer. in tne Potsdam catalog, on contemporary German daily situation Mrs. Hawes also prepared the input data for the computer. Edward maps, and in manuscripts of the Foreign Military Studies series. D. Thomas of GSA functioned as programmer-analyst. The computer- Tney supplement or correct the brief histories, based on the input scheme, a modification of the SPINDEX program, was devised Order o£ Battle o£ the German Army (War Department, Washington, by the undersigned. D.C., March 1945) which were filmed at the beginning of every ROBERT WOLFE Chief, Captured Records Branch Military Archives Division IV www.maparchive.ru TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction ill German Military Symbols and Abbreviations ' vii Organization of German Army Staffs x Published Guides to German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria, Va xii Suggestions for citing microfilm xiv Records: 141. Reserve-Division 1 143. Reserve-Division . 4 147. Reserve-Division 6 148. Reserve-Division 9 151. Reserve-Division 11 . 154. Reserve-Division 13 157. Gebirgs-Division 16 158. Reserve-Division 18 159. Reserve-Division 21 161. Infanterie-Division 24 162.