276th Volksgrenadier Division
The 276th Volksgrenadier Division, originally the 276th Infantry Division, was a German Army unit in World War II. Plans for the 276th began on 22 May 1940 as part of the 10th mobilization wave, but the project was dropped after France fell sooner than expected. The unit later appeared as the 276th Infantry Division, deployed on 17 November 1943 in southern German-occupied France, formed from remnants of the 38th Infantry Division as part of the 22nd mobilization wave.
On 16 June 1944 it was activated for combat on the Western Front and attached to XXXXVII Panzer Corps of Panzer Group West, holding the line south of Tilly. On 7 August Allied breakthroughs west of Hamars forced a withdrawal. After the Allied breakout at Avranches, the division was trapped in the Falaise Pocket and annihilated.
The division was reformed in Poland on 4 September 1944 by redesignating the 580th Volksgrenadier Division, under the command of Kurt Möhring. It consisted of Grenadier Regiments 986, 987 and 988, plus the 276th Artillery Regiment. The 580th had been created a week earlier in West Prussia from the remaining forces of the 276th Infantry Division and new recruits.
As the 276th Volksgrenadier Division it fought in the Battle of the Bulge, suffering over 2,000 casualties. General Möhring was killed on 18 December 1944 and was succeeded by Hugo Dempwolff. The division later fought in Luxembourg and was destroyed while fighting American forces in March 1945.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:45 (CET).