A kampfgruppe of 16th Panzer Division, led by Count Strachwitz, reached the outskirts of Stalingrad on 23 August 1942, brushing aside the sole Soviet defences, anti-aircraft guns manned by female factory workers[1] (possibly the 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment).

It advanced on the Caucasus with elements coming to within 20 miles of Astrakhan on 14 September 1942 – the most easterly point reached by any German unit during the war.

[4] The 16th Motorized Infantry Division participated in defensive operations after the Soviets broke up the front of the southern sector.

In parallel, a 16th Volksgrenadier Division was created in October 1944, which defended the Upper Rhine until March 1945, when it was forced to retreat deeper into Germany.

The 16th Motorized Infantry Division has been implicated in the San Clemente di Caserta massacre, Campania, on 4 October 1943, when 25 civilians were murdered.