German 302nd Static Infantry Division
Encyclopedia
The 302nd Static Infantry Division was raised over the winter of 1940-1941 and stationed in northern France for occupation duties. According to Hauptmann Joachim Lindner: 'Day after day nothing.'

An Allied amphibious raid
Dieppe Raid
The Dieppe Raid, also known as the Battle of Dieppe, Operation Rutter or later on Operation Jubilee, during the Second World War, was an Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. The assault began at 5:00 AM and by 10:50 AM the Allied...

, to determine if a large landing could be attempted, was made at Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 on 19 August 1942. The Allies suffered heavy losses with men and tanks strewn over the beach along with landing craft. The operation painted a grim picture for any future Allied incursion. A German major observed, 'I have not witnessed images more terrible. In one landing craft the entire crew of about forty men had been wiped out by a direct hit. On the water we could see bits of wreaks, ships in ruins, corpses floating and soldiers wrestling with death. In Paris there was jubilation. The enemy's operation was smashed in just over nine hours!'

Over 6,000 troops landed at Dieppe (mainly Canadians) and less than 2,500 of them succeeded in returning to Britain afterwards. The Germans suffered a coastal battery damaged, 48 Luftwaffe planes destroyed, and approximately 600 casualties.

In October the division was reorganized as the 302nd Infantry Division (with improved mobility and offensive capabilities), and after a few additional months serving as a reserve in France was transferred to the Russian Front in early 1943 to help shore up the line after the fall of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...

. Thereafter it was pushed back along with the front line until it was destroyed in western Ukraine in August 1944, whereupon surviving elements were used to rebuild other weakened infantry divisions.

See also

  • Dieppe Raid
    Dieppe Raid
    The Dieppe Raid, also known as the Battle of Dieppe, Operation Rutter or later on Operation Jubilee, during the Second World War, was an Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. The assault began at 5:00 AM and by 10:50 AM the Allied...

  • Operation Jubilee order of battle
    Operation Jubilee order of battle
    Operation Jubilee was the Allied code name for the raid at Dieppe on the French coast on August 19, 1942. The following order of battle lists the significant military units that participated in the battle, or were available as reserve.-Ground forces:...

  • Division (military)
    Division (military)
    A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...

  • Military unit
  • List of German divisions in WWII
  • Heer
    German Army
    The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...

  • Wehrmacht
    Wehrmacht
    The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

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