Formation and early service The 244th Infantry Division was founded on 8 September 1943 as a
static division () in the
Antwerp area under control of
15th Army and supervision by
Wehrkreis I (
East Prussia). Wehrkreis I had formed the
Division E for recovering wounded soldiers on 19 June and used this Division E personnel for the formation of the 244th Infantry Division. Additionally, the division was joined by supply units of the former
39th Infantry Division, which had sustained heavy casualties in the southern sectors of the
Eastern Front and was subsequently dissolved. The initial divisional commander was
Martin Gilbert. Initially, the division consisted of Grenadier Regiment 932, 933 and 934, as well as Artillery Regiment 244 and the Division Units 244. The three grenadier regiments contained three battalions each, and Artillery Regiment 244 consisted of three detachments. Group Knieß was part of the
19th Army starting in January 1944. In the summer of 1944, the 244th Infantry Division was tasked with the defense of some 80 km of coastline and staffed with 11,640 personnel.
Formal dissolution After the surrender of Marseille on 28 August 1944, the entirety of the 244th Division except for two battalions stopped existing. Only the battalions IV./932 and IV./934 (the two former eastern battalions added to the divisions on 19 April 1944), were at this point stationed, away from the main body of the division, with the
IV Luftwaffe Field Corps and thus survived the destruction of the division. They subsequently joined the
19th Army in the
Upper Rhine sector, Starting in August 1944, the division was marked in German records as "status unknown" () and was formally dissolved on 7 October 1944. == Organization ==