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
Active1940–45
Country Germany
BranchArmy
TypeGebirgsjäger
RoleMountain warfare
SizeDivision
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		General Julius Ringel

Commanders

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]

References
  1. "Grugliasco, 30.04.1945" (in Italian). Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  2. "5. Gebirgs-Division" (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.


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