The 18th SS "Horst Wessel" Volunteer Mechanized Infantry Division formed in early 1944 as an expansion of the 1st SS Motorized Infantry Brigade (q.v.), using mostly ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe. Although the SS intended to equip it properly, the division promptly gave up some 400 vehicles to the SS Wiking Division and thereafter fought as an normal foot infantry division, at battle group strength. It consisted initially of two mechanized infantry regiments, numbered 39 and 40, a tank battalion, an artillery regiment and battalions of antitank, antiaircraft, engineer, and signal troops. It fought in tough actions in Army Group Center, ending the war in the Prague region.
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