5th Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)
The 5th Mountain Division (German: 5. Gebirgs Division) of the German Army was established in the Salzburg region in October 1940, out of units taken from the 1st Mountain Division and the 10th Infantry Division. Its first action was in the 1941 Balkans Campaign, when it took part in Operations Marita and Merkur; in the latter it was used in an air-landing role. In November, it returned to Germany for refitting, and in April 1942 it was deployed to the Eastern Front, where it joined Army Group North on the Volkhov Front. In April 1943 it was redeployed to Italy. It fought out the remainder of the war in Italy and the Western Alps, and surrendered to the U.S. Army near Turin in May 1945.
| 5th Mountain Division | |
|---|---|
 Unit insignia | |
| Active | 1940–45 |
| Country | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Germany |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Gebirgsjäger |
| Role | Mountain warfare |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | General Julius Ringel |
Commanders
- Julius Ringel (1 November 1940 – 10 February 1944)
- Max-Günther Schrank (10 February 1944 – 18 January 1945)
- Hans Steets (18 January 1945 – 2 May 1945)
War crimes
The division was implicated in the Grugliasco massacre, Piedmont, alongside the 34th Infantry Division, where, on 30 April 1945, 67 civilians were executed.[1][2] In the same days the division was also implicate in the Santhia massacre, on the way to Milan, resulting in 48 deaths.[3]
References
- "Grugliasco, 30.04.1945" (in Italian). Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- "5. Gebirgs-Division" (in Italian). Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- "Santhia, 29-30.04.1945" (in Italian). Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- Tessin, Georg (1965). Die Landstreitkräfte 1—5. Die Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939—1945. Frankfurt/Main: E.S. Mittler. p. 290.
