1st Luftwaffe Field Division

{{command structure

|name= Order of Battle, 1st Luftwaffe Field Division{{sfn|Mitcham|2007a|pp=299–300}}

|date=June/July 1942

|parent=

|subordinate=

• I Field Jager Battalion
• II Field Jager Battalion
• III Field Jager Battalion
• IV Field Jager Battalion
• 1st Luftwaffe Field Artillery Battalion
• 1st Luftwaffe Field Bicycle Company
• 1st Luftwaffe Field Tank Destroyer Battalion
• 1st Luftwaffe Field Engineer Battalion
• 1st Luftwaffe Field Signal Company
• 1st Luftwaffe Field Flak Battalion
• 1st Luftwaffe Field Divisional Supply Troops

}}

The 1st Luftwaffe Field Division, the first of several such divisions, was formed in mid-1942 in Königsberg, Eastern Prussia, under the command of Oberst{{#tag:ref|The rank of Oberst is equivalent to that of colonel in the United States Army.{{sfn|Mitcham|2007b|p=197}}|group=Note}} Gustav Wilke. Intended to serve as infantry, its personnel were largely drawn from surplus Luftwaffe (German Air Force) ground crew. The division included four battalions of infantry, as well as artillery, engineer and signal units although it lacked regimental staff. After training was completed in December 1942 it was sent to Army Group North as part of the 18th Army although still under Luftwaffe command. Stationed near Novgorod, it was transferred to the Army in December 1943. The division saw little fighting until the withdrawal from Leningrad in January 1944 during which it was involved in heavy defensive battles north of Novgorod.{{sfn|Mitcham|2007a|pp=299–300}}

The division's personnel were inadequately trained for its role as infantry and due to the heavy losses incurred in the Soviet attacks of the 1943/1944 winter, the division itself was disbanded shortly afterwards. Its surviving personnel were absorbed by the 28th Jager Division.{{sfn|Mitcham|2007a|pp=299–300}}

• Oberst Gustav Wilke (30 September 1942 – 16 January 1943; 14 April – 14 June 1943; 23 July — 30 September 1943);
• Generalmajor{{#tag:ref|The rank of generalmajor is equivalent to that of brigadier general in the United States Army.{{sfn|Mitcham|2007b|p=197}}|group=Note}} Werner Zech (17 January – 13 April 1943);
• Oberst Anton Longin (15 June – 22 July 1943);
• Generalmajor Rudolf Petrauschke (1 October 1943 – February 1944).{{sfn|Mitcham|2007a|pp=299–300}}{{#tag:ref|Ranks stated are those at the time of taking command.{{sfn|Mitcham|2007a|pp=299–300}}|group=Note}}

At least 680 graves of soldiers of the 1st Luftwaffe Field Division are found at the war cemetery in Veliky Novgorod, where a total of 11.400 German and Spanish soldiers are buried.[https://kriegsgraeberstaetten.volksbund.de/friedhof/nowgorod de:Kriegsgräberstätte Nowgorod]

;Footnotes

{{reflist|group=Note}}

;Citations

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{{refbegin}}

• {{Cite book|last=Mitcham |first=Samuel W.|author-link=Samuel W. Mitcham|title=German Order of Battle, Volume Two: 291st–999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII|year=2007a|location=Mechanicsburg, PA, United States|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-3437-0}}
• {{Cite book|last=Mitcham |first=Samuel W.|author-link=Samuel W. Mitcham|title=German Order of Battle, Volume Three: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Divisions in WWII|year=2007b|location=Mechanicsburg, PA, United States|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-3438-7}}

{{refend}}

{{Luftwaffe Field Divisions}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

{{DISPLAYTITLE:1st Luftwaffe Field Division}}

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Category:1942 establishments in Germany

Category:1944 disestablishments in Germany

Category:Military units and formations established in 1942

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1944