German 245th Infantry Division

Hi, all.

I'm digging into the German 245th Infantry Division (particularly the 936th Grenadier Regiment) which fought in Holland in September 1944 (west flank of the XXX Corps push in MARKET GARDEN).

I have the basic overviews and a little from the Bundesarchiv, but very little detail in terms of strength or make up (interesting as the British Intelligence Summary references Czech troops).

I wonder if anyone had any thoughts on where else to look?

I'm assuming that any personal accounts would be near impossible to obtain.

 

Cord von Hobe: Einsatz der 245. Infanterie Division (Juli bis Oktober 44). , Military Study P-173, NARA,1954, Washington DC.
You’d be hard-pressed to find much better material, as the original documents no longer exist

 

Try www.feldgrau.net Unsure where it is based, a USMC friend referred to it ages ago.

There are x11 threads there id'd with: https://www.feldgrau.net/forum/search.php?keywords=245th+infantry+division

The next site: https://forum.axishistory.com/ does not appear to have an open access search option.

An online search with: "245th Infantry Division" site:ww2talk.com id'd three threads here, one is this. Then with: "245 Infantry Division" site:ww2talk.com three different threads at a glance.

 

I suspect that the Czechs were Sudeten Germans who were conscripted into military service

 

Thanks - references to Polish and Falshamjager in there too, so a bit of a mixed bag.

 

The Poles were most likely Germanized after parts of Poland were declared part of the Reich—and consequently had to serve in the Wehrmacht as well
When it came to cannon fodder, the Nazis weren't particularly picky about racial purity

The paratroopers may have come from one of the numerous training units based in the Netherlands