9th Mountain Division (Germany)

The German 9th Mountain Division was a Nazi Germany military division (technical designation "Division zbV 140"). It was formed in 1945 from the "Shadow Division" Steiermark. Two simultaneous but independent attempts were made to raise the division in the waning days of the war; the resulting units are conventionally distinguished as Nord ("North") and Ost ("East"), after the respective theaters where they were being assembled. For all practical purposes the 9th Mountain Division never fully came into being.

9th Mountain Division Nord: In the spring of 1944 the 139th Mountain Regiment, which had been left in Lapland by the 3rd Mountain Division when it withdrew at the end of 1941, was reinforced to become Divisionsgruppe Kräutler. In September it received the additional designation Division zbV 140, and as a result is mentioned once in late-war documentation as "Div.Gr.K (Div.z.b.V.140)". On May 6 1945 the OKW issued an order redesignating it as the 9th Mountain Division, but the order came so late that it is not actually listed as such on any situation maps or other official records. The unit had withdrawn from Lappland into Norway as German fortunes in the Arctic waned, and surrendered to the British at the end of the war. (Some documentation from the post-war period further confuses matters by referring to this unit as the 10th Mountain Division.)

9th Mountain Division Ost: In the spring of 1945 Shadow Division Steiermark controlled two RAD brigades, and these were mobilized for combat duty as an "Alarm" division under the name Mountain Division Steiermark. The division's two regiments were composed of a very diverse mix of personnel from the Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, police, and other organizations. It appears also to be related to Kampfgruppe Raithel and/or Kampfgruppe Semmering, though the late-war documentation is weak. Its elements surrendered to the Soviets at the end of the war.

See also

• Division (military)
• Military unit
• List of German divisions in WWII
• Heer
• Wehrmacht

References

• Pipes, Jason. "9th Gebirgsjager Division". Retrieved April 12, 2005.
• "9. Gebirgs-Division". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved April 12, 2005.
• "Divisionsstab z.b.V. 140". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved April 12, 2005.
• "Gebirgs-Division Steiermark". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved April 12, 2005.