German 91st Air Landing Division

▣ Unit · 1944 – 1944

The 91st Air Landing Division was a German formation stationed in the Cotentin peninsula, in the area behind Utah Beach, intended to be capable of moving quickly against airborne landings. Its commander, Lieutenant General Wilhelm Falley, was killed early on 6 June 1944 when his car was ambushed by American paratroopers, leaving the division temporarily without direction. In the confused fighting that followed, the division and its attached units were unable to mount a co-ordinated counter-attack against the American drop zones, and it was gradually dispersed and destroyed during the American drive across the peninsula and the capture of Cherbourg. The positions shown here are schematic and follow the division's general area of operations in the Cotentin, not exact unit locations. The loss of its commander in the opening hours was one of several failures of command that prevented a rapid German response to the airborne landings. Its collapse exposed the western flank of the Cotentin to the American advance.

Sources

• Wikimedia Commons — Charnwood (SVG, by EyeSerene)
• Wikimedia Commons — Operations Greenwood and Pomegranate, Normandy, July 1944 (EN.svg)
• Wikimedia Commons — Operation Tractable (SVG, by EyeSerene)
• Wikipedia — 352nd Infantry Division (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Wikipedia — Falaise pocket (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Wikipedia — Normandy landings (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Wikipedia — Operation Overlord (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Related

• Normandy landings

Reuse this data: open dataset (GeoJSON / CSV, CC BY 4.0)