The 711th Infantry Division was raised in May 1941 as part of the 15th Army. Equipped only for occupation duties, it was sent to France as a component of the 15th Army. Originally, the division was placed along the demarcation line between German-occupied and Vichy France, but was later moved along the coast to serve in the Atlantic Wall, eventually settling as part of the 15th Army's left flank in a sector between the Orne and Seine rivers. The division was then armed with more effective weapons to assist in coastal defence, including weapons discarded by the Allies during the wide-scale retreats at the end of the Battle of France.