342nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

342nd Infantry Division
German: 342. Infanterie-Division
342. Infanterie Division Vehicle Insignia
Active	19 November 1940 – April 1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Heer (Wehrmacht)
Type	Infantry
Size	Division
Engagements	World War II in Yugoslavia (1941–1942) Battles of Rzhev Operation Bagration Vistula–Oder Offensive Battle of Halbe
Commanders
Notable commanders	Walter Hinghofer Paul Hoffman Heinrich Nickel

The 342nd Infantry Division (German: 342. Infanterie-Division) was a formation of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. Established on 19 November 1940, it was formed from elements of two existing divisions. It first served as part of the occupation forces in France between June and September 1941 and was then largely responsible for the brutal repression of resistance in eastern parts of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia between September 1941 and February 1942.

The division was then transferred to Army Group Centre on the Eastern Front where it distinguished itself in the fighting throughout 1942–1944. After heavy losses, it underwent a brief period of re-organisation in April 1944 and returned to the front in May 1944 to fight throughout the retreat to Germany. It was almost destroyed in the fighting on the Vistula, and was encircled in the Halbe pocket at the end of the war, but some elements of the division managed to surrender to the United States Army at Travemünde. Nineteen officers and men of the division were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross while serving with the division, and its last commander, Generalleutnant Heinrich Nickel was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross while commanding the division.