2nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

German 2nd Infantry Division 2. Infanterie-Division German 2nd Motorized Infantry Division 2. Infanterie-Division (mot.)
Active	12 October 1937 – 10 January 1941
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Heer
Type	Infantry
Role	Motorized Infantry
Size	Division
Disbanded	Renamed 12th Panzer Division 10 January 1941

The German 2nd Infantry Division was created from components of the Reichswehr's old 2nd Division in 1934, at first under the cover name Wehrgauleitung Stettin and later Artillerieführer II; it did not take its real name until October 1935. It was upgraded to 2nd Motorized Infantry Division in 1937, and fought under that name in Heinz Guderian's XIX Corps during the 1939 Invasion of Poland, first in the cut across the Polish Corridor to reach East Prussia and then as support for the push on Brest-Litovsk. It was then transferred to the west, where it took part in the 1940 Battle of France.

In October 1940 the division was reorganized as the 12th Panzer Division.

Commanding officers

• Hubert Gereke, 1 October 1934
• Paul Bader, 1 April 1937
• Josef Harpe, 5 October 1940

References

Note: The Web references may require you to follow links to cover the unit's entire history.

• Guderian, Heinz (1957) [1952]. Panzer Leader (abridged) (First Ballantine Books ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-25329-9.
• Burkhard Müller-Hillebrand: Das Heer 1933–1945. Entwicklung des organisatorischen Aufbaues. Vol.III: Der Zweifrontenkrieg. Das Heer vom Beginn des Feldzuges gegen die Sowjetunion bis zum Kriegsende. Mittler: Frankfurt am Main 1969, p. 285.
• Georg Tessin: Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg, 1939 – 1945. Vol. II: Die Landstreitkräfte 1 – 5. Mittler: Frankfurt am Main 1966.
• Georg Tessin: Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg, 1939 – 1945. Vol. III: Die Landstreitkräfte 6 – 14. Mittler: Frankfurt am Main 1967.