Situation of German 332. Infanterie-Division on July 15th 1943

[stg 44]

What was the situation facing the 332nd division of the German army during the battle of Kursk on the 15th of July? I had read they had suffered extremely heavy losses by the end of the battle, suffering over 75% of the losses their corps suffered and were so badly effected that they were disbanded at the end of the battle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/332nd_Sta ... Wehrmacht)

in the spring of 1943 it was transferred to the Eastern Front; it was disbanded after the Battle of Kursk.

I know it faced serious attacks, including by a Soviet tank corps that apparently was only stopped from driving it back several miles by it own limited strength at the start of the attack due to losses taken against Panzer divisions to the north earlier in the battle.
How severe were the casualties suffered by the 15th of July and how many more would they take before the end of the battle on the 17th and during the withdrawal phase? Were the Soviets poised to smash it in and turn the flank of the XLVIII. Panzer-Korps? I know the Soviets were in the process of moving up the 4th Guards Tank Corps and another army (not sure about their target), but things did not seem to bode well for continuing the fight for the Germans. I'm curious what the prospects were on the west flank of Kursk in general by the 15th - 17th.

[Paul_Atreides]

"it was disbanded after the Battle of Kursk" means "on 3 September". Division's battle losses up to 20 July - 393 KIA, 2 402 WIA, 123 MIA. So we need losses during August.

[stg 44]

"it was disbanded after the Battle of Kursk" means "on 3 September". Division's battle losses up to 20 July - 393 KIA, 2 402 WIA, 123 MIA. So we need losses during August.

Thanks for the info! What is the source for the losses?

[Paul_Atreides]

"Kursk 1943" by Zetterling/Frankson.

[stg 44]

Thank you

[per70]

Chris Lawrence in his Kursk "The battle of Prokhorovka" gives slightly different figures.

A starting strength of 13 829 on July 4.
406 KIA, 2 357 WIA, 129 MIA, 315 DNBI and 165 Returned up to July 18.
And a strength of 11 146 on July 16

[Sean Oliver]

The fighting on the south face of the Kursk salient didn't just stop when Zitadelle was cancelled in mid-July. Historians of the Kursk fighting have almost totally overlooked the two week interlude after Zitadelle but before the big Soviet offensive Operation 'Rumyantsev' on Aug 3. During those two weeks, Voronezh Front's Rifle Divisions continued to launch almost daily battalion/regimental sized recon + probing attacks against the remaining and weary German divisions from LII.AK and XXXXVIII.PzK., (like 332nd, 57th,19th Pz, 167th, 6th Pz.) who were hoping for a break after Zitadelle. These Russian attacks were were intended to determine the exact German artillery, mortar, Pak, and MG positions, and seize various hills and villages which would be useful when they launched their own big offensive in a few days on on Aug 3d. The Germans infantry responded with counterattacks, and the see-saw fighting became quite bitter over certain locations west of Belgorod. By the time Voronezh and Steppe Fronts launched Rumyantsev, the German defenders were already understrength, with companies having about 50-100 combat infantrymen each.
BTW, Despite historians' fixation on tanks with Kursk, it was the severe German infantry losses during July and August '43 probably did more to undermine the long-term ability of the Germans to hold the line.

[EugE]

"it was disbanded after the Battle of Kursk" means "on 3 September". Division's battle losses up to 20 July - 393 KIA, 2 402 WIA, 123 MIA. So we need losses during August.

The main purpose of disbandment was due to transferring some parts of Division before Soviet offensive from right to left flank of 4 PzAOK.

[Jan-Hendrik]

Thank you for both documents!

Jan-Hendrik

[EugE]

On the August 3rd. 332. ID had: Gren.Rgt. 676 - 744 man. Gren.Rgt. 678 - 474 man. III./Gren.Rgt. 677 - 233 man. The Gren.Rgt. 677 must be released and transferred to submission of the XXXXVIII. Pz.Kps from July 30 - August 3. Also I./Art.Rgt. 332, I. и II. Gren.Rgt. 678 must be released and replaced by Gren.Rgt. 164 of 57 ID. AA and PzJg.Abt. 332 has also been in the sector of 57 ID. Few units of Gren.Rgt. 217 were in region of 332. ID. like AA 157, Pz.Jg. 157. The 332. ID suffered from July 4th to August 2nd - 4536 man. From August 2nd to August 9 1889 man (heaves fighting in Tomarovka - Borisovka area).

[Sean Oliver]

EugE: What is your source for these Aug 3rd figures?
Thanks to everyone for sharing such data. We should always try to include sources, especially archival.

[EugE]

You can find it in the next Rolls:
T315 R2076 - 332 ID.
T314 R1297,1299,1306.
T313 R365-390.
I don't remember where exactly.