118th Jäger Division

November 2016 January 2023 718th Infantry Division118th Jäger Division 718. Infanterie-Division118. Jäger-Division 118. Jaeger Div.png 200 118. Jäger Division Vehicle Insignia 1941–1945 Nazi Germany 16px Heer (Wehrmacht) Infantry light infantry Division XV Mountain CorpsV SS Mountain CorpsXXII Mountain CorpsLXVIII Army Corps * World War II: recapture of Olovo on 21 January 1942Hronologija narodnooslobodilačkog rata 1941–1945, Beograd: Vojnoizdavački zavod. 1964 Operation Schwarz Belgrade Offensive German invasion of Albania German winter offensive in Albania (1943–1944) Operation Spring Awakening The 118th Jäger Division (de 118. Jäger-Division) was a light infantry division of the German Army in World War II. It was formed in April 1943, by the redesignation of the 718th Infantry Division which had itself been formed in April 1941. It was transferred to Yugoslavia in May 1941, to conduct anti partisan and Internal security operations. It took part in the Battle of the Sutjeska in June 1943, and fought partisans in Bosnia before being sent to the Dalmatian coast to guard against Allied landings in the summer of 1944. It then fought on the Eastern Front in the Vienna offensive during the final months of the war before surrendering to the British in Carinthia in May 1945. Formation The 118th Jäger Division was formed under the name 718th Infantry Division following an order dated 16 April 1941, under which each of Germany's fifteen military districts (Wehrkreis) was required to raise two additional infantry regiments for the war effort. Each of these pairs would become its own infantry division, for a total of fifteen divisions that would go on to form the divisions of the fifteenth Aufstellungswelle. The 718th Division consisted of the two regiments raised in Wehrkreis XVIII (Salzburg), the Infantry Regiments 738 and 750. Like the other divisions of the fifteenth wave, the 718th Division consisted of only two rather than the standard three infantry regiments.Die Waffengattungen – Gesamtübersicht Tessin Georg Biblio Verlag 1977 3764810971 Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 1 Osnabrück 57 de Aufstellung der 15. Welle Mai 1941 Background thumb|Soldiers of 118th Jäger Division, Bosnia and Herzegovina, September 1943 The main purpose of the German jäger divisions was to fight in adverse terrain where smaller, coordinated formations were more facilely combat capable than the brute force offered by the standard infantry divisions. The jäger divisions were more heavily equipped than mountain division, but not as well armed as a larger infantry formation. In the early stages of the war, they were the interface divisions fighting in rough terrain and foothills as well as urban areas, between the mountains and the plains. The jägers (it means hunters in German), relied on a high degree of training and slightly superior communications, as well as their not inconsiderable artillery support. In the middle stages of the war, as the standard infantry divisions were downsized, the Jäger structure of divisions with two infantry regiments, became the standard table of organization.Mcoy, Breaker German Army 101st Light Division, 101st Jager Division 1941 – 42 2009 http://www.quikmaneuvers.com/german_army_101st_light_division.html 3 April 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090629041521/http://www.quikmaneuvers.com/german_army_101st_light_division.html 29 June 2009 dead Area of operations Austria (May 1941 – May 1941) Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia and the Independent State of Croatia (May 1941 – April 1943) Balkans (April 1943 – July 1944) Dalmatia (July 1944 – September 1944) Yugoslavia (September 1944 – January 1945) Balkans, Hungary and Yugoslavia (January 1945 – May 1945) Commanders Generalleutnant Johann Fortner (3 May 1941 – 14 March 1943) Generalleutnant Josef Kübler (14 March 1943 – 10 July 1944) Generalmajor Hubertus Lamey (10 July 1944 – 8 May 1945) Order of battle Jäger Regiment 738 Jäger Regiment 750 Artillerie Regiment 668 Aufklärungs (Reconnaissance) Bataillon 118 Panzerjäger (Tank destroyer) Bataillon 118 Pionier (Engineer) Bataillon 118 Funk (Signals) Bataillon 118117 Jager Division Wendal, Marcus 4 March 2009 http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=960 Axis History References Notes Bibliography Shepherd Ben Ben H. Shepherd Terror in the Balkans: German Armies and Partisan Warfare Harvard University Press 2012 9780674048911 Shepherd Ben 161–189 en Glimmers of Sanity: The 718th Infantry Division in Bosnia Shepherd Ben Terror in the Balkans: German Armies and Partisan Warfare Harvard University Press 2012 9780674048911 Shepherd Ben 190–214 en The Morass: Attitudes Harden in the 718th Infantry Division Category:Jäger Divisions Category:Military units and formations established in 1941 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Category:Military units and formations of Germany in Yugoslavia in World War II