163 and 169 ID (Lapland) - question

[WGoose]

dear colleagues! I don't find anything on the 163rd and 169 infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht anywhere. I know that there is a book from the 1960s describing the battles of the 163rd division.
I have not seen these divisions digitized in the public domain, if there are links to them, then please share.
thank you for your attention and success to everyone in trying to form their own view of past events.

[Larry D.]

This is the only detailed account in English that I know of:

Ziemke, Earl F. The German Northern Theater of Operations 1940-1945. Dept. of the Army Pamphlet No. 20-271. WashDC: GPO, 1959. Hb. 342p. Illus. Maps. Footnotes. Appendices. Bibliographical note. Glossary. Index.

I am certain that there are Finnish and Norwegian studies on this subject.

There is no divisional history for the 169. Inf.-Div.

L. deZ.

[WGoose]

Thank you very much for the answer!
in Russian, this book is http://militera.lib.ru/h/ziemke_e01/text.html I
would like Rolls with Archives.
Just in case, a list of non-existent Rolls of 169 pd Germans (like in R315)

169ID

1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500 1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515

[WGoose]

im deutschen Teil des Internets habe ich die Titel von Büchern in 163 Divisionen gefunden.

Hilmar Potente (Hrsg.): Von Potsdam zum Polarkreis und zurück. Der Weg der 163. Infanterie-Division - I. Teil: Norwegen 1940, Selbstverlag, Berlin 1982
Herbert L.W. Schlüfter/Wolfgang Aussner: Von Potsdam zum Polarkreis und zurück. Der Weg der 163. Infanterie-Division - II. Teil: Finnland, Selbstverlag, 1990
Erich Gliesche (Hrsg.): Von Potsdam zum Polarkreis und zurück. Der Weg der 163. Infanterie-Division - III. Teil: Ostfront 1945, Selbstverlag, 1998
Gliesche / Frasunkiewicz: Von Potsdam zum Polarkreis und zurück. Der Weg der 163. Infanterie-Division - Bildband, VDM Heinz Nickel/Schild-Buchdienst, 2006

[FransN]

Hi WGoose,

If you are looking for primary sources: There are quite a few folders (e.g. Kriegstagebücher = war diaries) on the 163. and 169. Inf. Div. in the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv in Freiburg im Breisgau (BA-MA). Using the search engine of the Bundesarchiv, called Invenio (you have to make an account), you can look for the folders that interest you most.
Once you have logged in in Invenio, choose:
-Norddeutscher Bund und Deutsches Reich
-Militär
-Reichswehr und Wehrmacht 1919 bis 1945/1946
-Reichsheer und Heer
-Kommandobehörden, Verbände und Einheiten
-Divisionen
-Infanteriedivisionen
The relevant folders are in files RH 26-163 and RH 26-169.
Unfortunately, the files of these two divisions have not (yet) been digitised.
Thus, either you can order copies, or you can visit the reading room (book well in advance) of the archive in Freiburg.
Please let me (us) know of your progress. Good luck!

Best regards,
Frans

[FransN]

By the way WGoose,

I am strongly interested in the mountain troops of the Waffen-SS. One of these units, the 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division "Nord" fought in Lapland 1941-1944.
Should you also be interested in this unit, there are plenty of DIGITISED (!!!) files in BA-MA, see RS 3-6 in Invenio. Plenty of folders (especially from 1941/1942). A real gold mine!

Best regards,
Frans

[Palg]

Hello,

I have some of the rolls for 163 ID (only one file for 169 ID) on my Google Drive, scroll down to the divisions to find it: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

They were part of XXXVI. (Geb) AK, so you can also find some information there as well as under Armee-Oberkommando 20 where i have almost all the rolls.

Hope you will find something useful,

regards

Pål

[Leros87]

In the book “Hitler’s Legions” by Samuel W Mitcham he stated that 163, which had taken part in the invasion of Norway, joined the Mountain Corps for the invasion of Russia but was allowed to travel to Finland through Sweden. He said it withdrew to northern Norway after destroying the Kolosyoki nickel works. After the withdrawal it was sent across the Baltic to defend Kolberg, where it was destroyed in March 45.
169 joined 36 Corps for the drive on Murmansk and then relmained in Lapland until it’s withdrawal but no detail on its activities. In March 45 it was a field training division in Norway.

[WGoose]

dear colleagues!
thank you all for the answers, SS-Nord I previously downloaded from this link
https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothe ... OWNJJWFH34
the quality is excellent.
according to 36AK: the 7th SS-Nord regiment participated in the battles for Alakurtti and on Verman, the documents of the Nord division say "see the 36AK documents", and they apparently burned down in 1942, or I was looking badly))

[WGoose]

dear colleagues!
by the link https://cont.ws/@wildgoose/2527198 in German and Russian languages.
36AK telephone reports for July 1941 (analogous to Operational Reports) on the direction of Rovaniemi-Kandalaksha.
if I have time before the end of my vacation, I will publish August and September 1941