The 216th Infantry Division was raised in 1939 in Hameln Lower Saxony (Wehrkreis XI), from primarily Landwehr in the area surrounding the city of Hannover. It did not participate in the Invasion of Poland, since it was occupying defensive positions in the Ardennes Forest along the Der Westwall. It did take part in the invasion of the Low Countries and France in May and June 1940. When Operation Barbarossa, the Invasion of the Soviet Union, began on June 22, 1941, the Division was performing occupation duties in France along the Channel Coast. In 1944 the division included the following units: