The 111. Infanterie-Division was formed in November 1940 as part of the 12. Welle (wave) from elements of 3. Infanterie-Division, 36. Infanterie-Division and Festungs-Infanterie-Regiment D. It was destroyed at Sevastopol, Crimea, on 12 May 1944. The division staff formed the staff of the 226. Infanterie-Division.

Commanders

General der Infanterie Otto Stapf (5 Nov 1940 - 1 Jan 1942)
General der Infanterie Hermann Recknagel (1 Jan 1942 - 15 Aug 1943)
Generalmajor Werner von Bülow (15 Aug 1943 - 30 Aug 1943)
General der Infanterie Hermann Recknagel (30 Aug 1943 - 1 Nov 1943)
Generalmajor Erich Gruner (1 Nov 1943 - 12 May 1944) (KIA) (1)

Operations Officers (Ia)

Oberst Hans Stoch (Nov 1940-1 May 1942)
Oberst Alfred Philippi (1 May 1942-Jan 1943)
Major Hasso Freiherr von Puttkamer (Jul 1943-Nov 1943)
Oberstleutnant Alexander Franz (?-12 May 1944) (POW)

Area of operations

Germany (Nov 1940 - June 1941)
Eastern Front, southern sector (June 1941 - May 1944)

Holders of high awards

Holders of the Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army (4)
- Barth, Otto, 05.10.1942 (1238), Oberst, Kdr. Art.Rgt. 117
- Jung, [first name not listed], 08.02.1942 (662), Leutnant, 12./Inf.Rgt. 70
- Növel (possibly Hövel), Werner, 05.09.1942 (1209), Oberleutnant, Battr.Chef 4./Art.Rgt. 117
- Wilhelm, Adolf, 05.10.1942 (1239), Major, Kdr. Pi.Btl. 111
Holders of the German Cross in Gold (60)
Holders of the Honor Roll Clasp of the Heer (2)
- Januschkewitz, Erich, 25.10.1944, Hauptmann, Pz.Jäg.Abt. 111
- Schmolke, Helmut, 25.05.1944, Leutnant, 1./Gren.Rgt. 70
Holders of the Knight's Cross (12) (11 RK + 1 EL)

Order of battle (1940)

Infanterie-Regiment 50
Infanterie-Regiment 70
Infanterie-Regiment 117
Artillerie-Regiment 117
Divisionseinheiten 111

Order of battle (1943)

Grenadier-Regiment 50
Grenadier-Regiment 70
Grenadier-Regiment 117
Artillerie-Regiment 117
Divisions-Füsilier-Bataillon 111
Divisionseinheiten 111

Notable members

Otto Herfurth (Active in the resistance against Hitler and executed after the failure of the July 20 Plot)
Joachim Kuhn (Active in the resistance against Hitler)

Generalfeldmarschall Walter von Reichenau talking to Generalleutnant Otto Stapf September 1941

(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)

Footnotes

1. Generalmajor Erich Gruner was killed on 12 May 1944 by Soviet tank fire.

Sources used

French Maclean - Quiet Flows the Rhine: German General Officer Casualties in World War II
Georg Tessin - Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht 1933-1945

Reference material on this unit

Friedrich Musculus - Geschichte der 111. Infanterie Division 1940-1944