196th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

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The 196th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) was a German Army infantry division formed in November 1939 in the Danzig area (Wehrkreis XX) as part of the seventh mobilization wave. It began with two infantry regiments, 340 and 345, plus Light Artillery Detachment 233, under the command of Richard Pellengahr. Because it had only two regiments, it was not yet a full infantry division; a third regiment was created on January 10, 1940, when field replacement battalions 6, 16 and 26 were combined into Infantry Regiment 362. Artillery Regiment 233 was also expanded with additional units. In April 1940 the division took part in Operation Weserübung as part of Group XXI. On September 11, 1940, Infantry Regiment 345 and the first detachment of Artillery Regiment 233 were reassigned to the 199th Infantry Division, and on September 17 the artillery regiment gained two more batteries. After the removal of Regiment 345, the division became a binary unit (two infantry regiments) and was equipped with basic mountain troops gear.

On March 1, 1942, Friedrich Franek replaced Pellengahr as divisional commander. In 1943, the 1st Battalion of Infantry Regiment 362 was sent to Army Group Center on the Eastern Front, where it was dissolved and its personnel redistributed; a new battalion replaced it in September 1943. Kurt Möhring took command on December 23, 1943. The division was reorganized to Ostdivision structure on January 6, 1944. In February 1944 Oberst (Colonel) Klinge took command, followed by Friedrich von Unger in June 1944. In July 1944 parts of the division were transferred to Army Group Center. Grenadier Regiments 340 and 362 were sent to Lithuania, where they were destroyed and dissolved on September 15, 1944. The remaining fighting units were merged into the 131st Infantry Division, while less capable remnants were allocated to the 361st Infantry Division in Wahn, near Cologne.

A small remnant of the division remained in Norway, comprising Reconnaissance Detachment 233 (later the 2nd Battalion of the Bicycle Reconnaissance Regiment Norway) and portions of Artillery Regiment 233 (later the 2nd Battalion of Artillery Regiment 269) as well as Fortress Artillery Detachment 1048. Because it no longer functioned as an independent division, its administrative headquarters was dissolved in August 1944.