It was renamed the 205th Infantry Division on 1 January 1940 and sent to France near the end of the western campaign. It was demobilized in July, but mobilized again in early 1941, and served as a garrison against any potential Allied invasion until early 1942. It was then sent to the Russian Front, where it served with Army Group Center in the "little Stalingrad" at Velikiye Luki over the winter of 1942–1943. The division was transferred to Army Group North in late 1943 and eventually trapped in the Courland Pocket, where it surrendered to the Soviets in 1945.