German 2nd Mountain Division

2nd Mountain Division 2. Gebirgs-Division
Unit insignia
Active	October 1938 – 8 May 1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Army
Type	Gebirgsjäger
Role	Mountain warfare
Size	Division
Engagements	World War II

The 2nd Mountain Division (German: 2. Gebirgs Division) was a Gebirgsjäger division of the German Army which served in World War II, mainly in the northern sector of the Eastern Front, near the Arctic. Formed in 1938, the division was disbanded at the end of the war in 1945.

Following the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in March 1938, the 2nd Mountain Division was formed on 1 April 1938, with personnel of the 6th Division of the Austrian Army. Based at Innsbruck, part of Wehrkreis XVIII (military district XVIII), most of its men were from the Tyrol region of Austria.

Commanded by Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) Valentin Feurstein, it fought as part of Army Group South during the Invasion of Poland and then took part in Operation Weserübung, the Norwegian Campaign in 1940. It carried out a cross country march to rescue the 3rd Mountain Division, which was under siege from British forces during the Battles of Narvik.

The division moved into Lapland as part of Mountain Corps Norway in 1941, to participate in Operation Silberfuchs (Operation Silver Fox), the attack on the Soviet Arctic as part of Operation Barbarossa. It drove for Murmansk but was unsuccessful in the face of strong Soviet defence. It continued to serve in the Arctic region until late 1944, when the Finns negotiated the Moscow Armistice with the Soviet Union. The division had to withdraw to Norway, fighting off Soviet forces as it did so. Back in mainland Europe, its depleted infantry regiments were brought back up to strength.

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