91st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)

The 91st Infantry Division was a German infantry division active during World War II. Formed in January 1944 as part of the 25th Wave, it was primarily composed of personnel drawn from replacement units and those previously deemed unfit for frontline service. Its intended role was to occupy and defend the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy against the expected Allied invasion.

The division was assigned to the LXXXIV Corps, part of the 7th Army. Heavily involved in the fighting during the Battle of Normandy, the 91st Infantry Division was tasked with defending a large sector including Utah Beach. The division was heavily disrupted by the airborne landings on D-Day, with its headquarters at Picauville being overrun. Elements of the division were involved in intense fighting around Sainte-Mère-Église and other key locations in the early stages of the invasion.

The 91st Infantry Division suffered significant casualties during the Normandy campaign and was subsequently encircled in the Falaise Pocket. While remnants managed to escape the pocket, the division was effectively destroyed. It was later reformed in September 1944 as the 91st Air Landing Division, indicating a change in its intended operational role and composition after its initial destruction. This reformed division continued to see action on the Western Front until the end of the war.