2nd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)

2nd Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)

The German 2nd Mountain Division was raised in 1938 from the former Austrian 6th Mountain Division and German mountain troops. It fought as part of Army Group South during the Invasion of Poland (1939, attacking from the territory of Slovak State), then took part in the invasion of Norway in 1940, and attempted to relieve the beleaguered 3rd Mountain Division at Narvik. In 1941 it moved into Lapland to participate in Operation Silberfuchs, the attack on the Soviet Arctic as part of Operation Barbarossa. In late 1944 it withdrew to Norway and then transferred to Denmark. In 1945, it fought on the Western Front, where it was engaged in heavy combat near Trier.

The Allies destroyed much of the division near Württemberg towards the end of the war, with survivors surrendering to the Americans.