[2] The division marched from Łuków to the Eastern Front on foot between January and February 1942, where it was placed under XXXX Corps (4th Army, Army Group Center) and was active in the Yukhnov area.

[1] Here, the division suffered very heavy casualties almost immediately upon entering combat against the Red Army,[2] making its first enemy contact in late January 1941, reinforcing 4th Army troops under pressure by the Soviet 1941–42 winter offensive.

Between March and April, the division served under XXXXIII Corps (also 3rd Panzer Army).

[1] On 22 February 1943, divisional command passed from Beyer to Karl Rhein, who held the command post until 1 January 1944 and briefly reassumed it between April and August 1944.

This design was later reverted on 22 September 1943, and the 558th and 559th regiments each gave their third battalions back to a newly formed 557th regiment, preparing a reorganization of the division to fit the Division Neuer Art 44 archetype.

The infantry as well as the military equipment remained on the Eastern Front.

The division was involved in the peripheral fights around the Falaise pocket in late August 1944,[1] suffering casualties during breakthrough attempts.

The 331st Infantry Division, according to statements of its commander Walter Steinmüller (in command between 1 August and 16 October 1944) in official Canadian war histories, was one of the final formations to cross the river Seine in the early morning hours of 30 August 1944.