22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division

22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division
Troop registration
active	April 29, 1944 to February 1945
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Armed SS
Branch of service	cavalry
Type	division
structure	See outline
Butcher	German-Soviet War Battle for Budapest
commander
list of	Commanders

The 22nd SS-Freiwilligen-Kavallerie-Division was a cavalry division of the Waffen-SS during the Second World War . It was made up of Hungarian “volunteers” ( de facto Hungarian Germans who are obliged to serve as conscription ).

history

Lineup

The division was established on April 29, 1944. At first it consisted of only two cavalry regiments , later a third regiment from the 8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer" was added. The frequently mentioned honorary name " Maria Theresa " does not appear in official documents.

Calls

The basic training lasted until August 1944, after which the transfer to the area of ​​the Army Group South Ukraine took place . In October 1944, the division was used as part of the 6th Army in heavy defensive battles. The Red Army , advancing from the east and south into Hungary , finally closed the division in the capital Budapest after heavy fighting on Christmas Eve 1944.

The division was largely wiped out in the fall of Budapest in February 1945. The remnants of the division that had been outside the pocket were used to set up the 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division .

At the beginning of February 1945, when the battle for Budapest came to an end, only a few soldiers of the 22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division were able to make their way west.

Areas of application

• April 1944 to August 1944 (installation and training)
• September 1944 to February 1945 (defensive battles against the Red Army invading Eastern and Southern Hungary (battle for Budapest))

structure

• SS volunteer cavalry - regiment 52
• SS Volunteer Cavalry Regiment 53
• SS Volunteer Cavalry Regiment 54
• SS Volunteer Cavalry Regiment 17th
• SS Artillery Regiment 22nd
  • SS Panzer Reconnaissance Division 22
  • SS Panzerjäger Department 22
  • SS Pioneer Battalion 22
  • SS News Department 22
  • SS division supply troops 22
  • SS Administration Troops Department 22
  • SS medical department 22

Commanders

April 21, 1944 to February 11, 1945 SS Brigade Leader August Zehender

literature

• Rolf Michaelis : The cavalry divisions of the Waffen SS. 2nd Edition. Michaelis-Verlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-930849-02-X .
• Walther Held: Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in World War II. 5 volumes. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1978–2002.
• Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 4. The Land Forces 15–30 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1976, ISBN 3-7648-1083-1 .