100th Jäger Division (Wehrmacht)

100th Hunter Division
Troop registration of the 100th JD
active	October 10, 1940 to 1945 surrender in Silesia
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Wehrmacht
Armed forces	army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	Hunter Division
structure	structure
Strength	15,000 debit
Insinuation	6th Army
Installation site	Döllersheim ( Allentsteig ) / Austria
Nickname	"Fir and oak leaves"
Second World War	German-Soviet War Battle of Stalingrad ,
Commanders
list of	Commanders
insignia
Troop registration number 2

The 100th Jäger Division (100th JD) was a large unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht . It was used in the German-Soviet War , including the Battle of Stalingrad . The division consisted mostly of Austrians. You were also under a Croatian regiment.

Division history

Areas of application

• Eastern front-southern sector: July to October 1942
• Stalingrad: October 1942 to January 1943
• Yugoslavia: April to July 1943
• Albania: July 1943 to March 1944
• Eastern front-southern sector: March to September 1944
• Hungary and Silesia: September 1944 to May 1945

On October 10, 1940, the division was set up on the Döllersheim military training area as the 100th light infantry division . It was part of the 12th wave of deployment . On July 6, 1942, the division into the 100th Jäger Division took place .

From 1941 the 100th Jäger Division took part in the attack on the Soviet Union in the advance along the Wisznia, across the Dniester and the Strypa. After fighting on the Dnieper, in Kharkov and on the upper Donetsk, the 100th Jäger Division came to the Mius front.

In 1942 the 100th Jäger Division advanced to the middle Don and fought at Kalatsch and in the great Don-Bogen.

After the division had received the order on September 21, 1942 to support the attack of the German divisions fighting in the city center, it arrived at the Stalingrad theater between September 25 and 26 . In the following weeks she was in action in the battles for the “Red October” steelworks, “Höhe 102” ( Mamayev Hill ) and the Tatar Wall. In the city, which was already badly damaged by air raids and artillery fire, the division suffered enormous losses from day one. At the beginning of 1943 the Jäger division in the Stalingrad pocket was completely destroyed. The 100th Jäger Division was next to the 297th Infantry Division and the 44th Infantry Division one of the three Stalingrad divisions, which were mainly composed of Austrians.

In March 1943, the 100th Jäger Division was reassembled from troops from Wehrkreis XVII (Vienna) and relocated to Croatia . In 1944 she was used against partisans and for coastal protection in Albania . It was then moved back to the Eastern Front to stabilize the front in Galicia .

In the spring of 1945, the remains were taken prisoner by the Soviets after fighting retreat in Silesia and near Trautenau .

structure

• Jäger Regiment 54
• Hunter Regiment 227
• reinforced (Croatian) infantry regiment 369
• Panzerjäger detachment 100
• Reconnaissance Department 100
• Artillery Regiment 83
• Engineer Battalion 100
• Divisional News Department 100
• Divisional Supply Leader 100
• Field Replacement Battalion 100

people

Commanders of the 100th JD

period of service	Rank	Surname
July 6, 1942 to January 31, 1943, then imprisonment	Lieutenant General	Werner Sanne
April 25, 1943 to January 1, 1945	Lieutenant General	Willibald Utz
1. – 31. January 1945	Colonel	Hans Kreppel
February 1 to May 1945	Major general	Otto Schury

Staff officers (Ia) of the 100th JD

period of service	Rank	Surname
July 6, 1942 to January 31, 1943, then imprisonment	major	Wolfgang Henkel
March 25, 1943 to September 30, 1944	Lieutenant colonel	Jürgen Bennecke
September 30, 1944 to January 24, 1945, fallen in action	Lieutenant colonel	Karl Krückeberg
February 10 to May 1945	major	Johann Schmidt

Excellent people

A total of 46 members of the 100th Jäger Division were awarded the German Cross in Gold and 12 with the Knight's Cross. The following people received a certificate of praise from the Army High Command:

• Lieutenant Heinzel, 16. Kp./IR 54 on August 20, 1941
• Feldwebel Holzmann, platoon leader 15. Kp./IR 54 on August 20, 1941
• Oberfeldwebel Gottfried Rock, Zugführer / JR 227 on October 17, 1944

Knight's Cross bearer

• Lieutenant Colonel Franz Weller, Regiment Commander JR 54, awarded on September 4, 1941
• Lieutenant General Werner Sanne, division commander 100th JD, awarded on February 22, 1942
• Colonel Franz Neibecker, regiment commander JR 227, awarded on February 16, 1942
• Captain Franz Klausgraber, battalion commander III. Btl./IR 227, awarded on March 13, 1942
• Rittmeister Hans-Günther Braun von Stumm, leader of the reconnaissance department. 100, awarded on July 20, 1942
• Captain Otto Heger, battalion commander II. Btl./JR 227, awarded on September 21, 1944
• Lieutenant Otto Schneider, Führer Pi.Kp/JR 54, awarded on October 28, 1944
• First Lieutenant Rudolf Kühnfels, Company Commander JR 54, awarded on December 9, 1944
• Oberleutnant Josef Wagner, company commander 1. Kp./JR 227, awarded on February 18, 1945
• Oberjäger Adolf Grubinger, MG leader 9. Kp./JR 227, awarded on February 28, 1945
• Oberjäger Friedrich Pein , sniper 2. Kp./JR 227, awarded on February 28, 1945
• Oberjäger Josef Preiss, Gruppenführer 15. Kp./JR 227, awarded on April 20, 1945

Prominent relatives

• Hans Fitzinger , teacher, local politician, musician and author

Function and tasks

The 100th Jäger Division, originally consisting of only two infantry regiments, was considered a unit of light infantry and was designed for combat with smaller and mobile combat groups in difficult terrain (low mountain ranges, swamps, etc.). Because of this suitability, the 100th Jäger Division acted as the middle unit between the mountain troops and the conventional infantry . As is typical of a light infantry association, the 100th Jäger Division only had light artillery and transported most of its equipment on horses. The soldiers of the 100th Jäger Division had to undergo tough combat training. In addition to Austrians as the largest ethnic group, Silesians served in this association.

literature

• Hanns Neidhardt: With fir trees and oak leaves . War chronicle of the 100th Jäger Division, formerly 100th Light Infantry Division, Stocker-Verlag, Graz, Austria, 1981, 468 pages with 83 sketches, ISBN 978-3-7020-0373-9 .
• David M. Glantz: Armageddon in Stalingrad : September – November 1942 (The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 2). University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2009, ISBN 978-0-7006-1664-0 .
• Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 6. The Land Forces 71-130 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1979, ISBN 3-7648-1172-2 .

Individual evidence

On the pages of the book:

• David M. Glantz: Armageddon in Stalingrad: September – November 1942 (The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 2). University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2009.

1. ↑ p. 136.

Further evidence

1. ↑ How should one aptly translate Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army?