Nyorai kuenderera mberi kweiyi ndima - 262nd Infantry Division yakaiswa pakatarisana neMaginot Line mukupera kwa1939 uye yakaramba iripo kusvika mushure mekupera kweHondo yeFrance. Muna September 1940, boka racho rakatamisirwazve kuPoland yakanga yapambwa
, uye vakapinda mu"Operation Barbarossa" muna June 1941. Yakasvika kuburikidza neBrody, Zhytomyr, Kiev neBryansk ndokuzoendeswa kuHondo yeMoscow. Muna 1942, yakashanda pasi peArmy Group Center. Musi wa15 Gunyana 1942, Friedrich Karst akatsiva Theisen semutungamiri wedhipatimendi.