87th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

The 87th Infantry Division (German: 87. Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of the German Army during the Second World War, active from 1939 to 1945.

87th Infantry Division
87. Infanterie-Division
Active26 August 1939 – 10 May 1945
Country Nazi Germany
BranchArmy
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Garrison/HQAltenburg
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Walter Lucht
Walter Hartmann
Gerhard Feyerabend

Operational history

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The 87th Infantry Division was created on 26 August 1939 in Altenburg.

The division is notable as the first German division to enter the French capital city of Paris on 14 June 1940, during the Battle of France. The French 7th Army had abandoned the city the previous day, leaving it as an open city to avoid the city's destruction.[2]: 34 

The division went into captivity in the Courland pocket.

Commanders

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Notes

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Footnotes
  1. ^ The rank of generalleutnant is equivalent to that of major general in the United States Army.[3]
Citations
  1. ^ Mitcham 2007a, p. 144.
  2. ^ Andreas Hillgruber; Gerhard Hümmelchen (1989) [1978]. "Juni 1940". Chronik des Zweiten Weltkrieges: Kalendarium militärischer und politischer Ereignisse 1939–1945. Bindlach: Gondrom. pp. 31–37. ISBN 3811206427.
  3. ^ Mitcham 2007b, p. 197.

References

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  • Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007a). German Order of Battle, Volume One: 1st–290th Infantry Divisions in WWII. Mechanicsburg, PA, United States: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5.
  • Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007b). German Order of Battle, Volume Three: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Divisions in WWII. Mechanicsburg, PA, United States: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3438-7.