3rd Cavalry Division (Wehrmacht)
3rd Cavalry Division |
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active | February 23 to May 8, 1945 (surrender) |
Country | German Empire |
Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
Armed forces | army |
Branch of service | cavalry |
Type | Cavalry Division |
structure | structure |
Strength | 11,317 soldiers |
Second World War | Belarus 1944 Hungary 1945 |
Commanders | |
list of | Commanders |
The 3rd Cavalry Division was a major military unit of the Wehrmacht in the German Reich . She was the successor to the 3rd Cavalry Brigade.
Division history
The newly formed 3rd Cavalry Brigade was deployed in the central section of the Eastern Front against the Soviet summer offensive in 1944 and suffered considerable losses. After a brief refresher, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade moved into defensive positions in the area of the Bug and Narew in August . In December she moved to the area of Lake Balaton in Hungary and took part in the relief attacks on Budapest . This was followed by the Spring Awakening Offensive in March 1945, in which the division took part. Then she withdrew to Austria and capitulated in the Graz area .
The division has always fought together with the 4th Cavalry Division under the command of the 1st Cavalry Corps.
structure
The 3rd Cavalry Division was the successor to the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, which the OKH set up on February 15, 1944 on the Eastern Front from the existing cavalry regiments North, Middle, South and other motorized and armored units. On February 23, 1945, the 3rd Cavalry Brigade was renamed the 3rd Cavalry Division without further reinforcement.
3rd Cavalry Brigade 3rd Cavalry Division |
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Commanders
3rd Cavalry Brigade
- Colonel Georg Freiherr von Boeselager -? until August 27, 1944
- Colonel Athur Baron von Holtey - October to December 1944
- Colonel Peter von der Groeben - December 1944 to February 22, 1945
3rd Cavalry Division
- Major General Peter von der Groeben - February 23 to May 8, 1945
Knight's Cross bearer
Surname | Award | date | Rank | unit |
Boeselager, Georg Freiherr von | Oak leaves with swords to the knight's cross | Nov 28, 1944 | Lieutenant colonel | Kdr. 3rd Cavalry Brigade |
Gollert-Hansen, Hans-Detlef | Oak leaves for the Knight's Cross | Jan. 14, 1945 | Rittmeister d. R. | Kdr. II./RR 31 |
Friedrich, Gustav | Knight's cross | March 11, 1944 | Rittmeister | Boss 6th RR 31 |
Koehler, Hans-Joachim | Knight's cross | March 5, 1945 | Rittmeister | Kdr. I./RR 31 |
Schwanbeck, Walter | Knight's cross | Oct 5, 1944 | Sergeant | Group leader 2./RR 31 |
Eikmeier, Hans | Knight's cross | Sep 30 1944 | Rittmeister | Fhr. II./RR 32 |
Knobloch, Leo | Knight's cross | Sep 30 1944 | Sergeant | Company troop leader 1st RR 32 |
Schneider, Wilhelm | Knight's cross | Apr 30, 1945 | Constable | Shock Troop Leader Staff Squadron II./RR 32 |
Syrowy, Jan | Knight's cross | Apr 30, 1945 | Sergeant | Platoon leader 3./RR 32 |
Bose, Georg | Knight's cross | 21 Sep 1944 | lieutenant | Platoon leader 1./Sturmgeschütz- Department 177 |
Well-known members of the division
- Georg Freiherr von Boeselager (1915–1944), resistance fighter of July 20, 1944
- Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager (1917–2008), resistance fighter of July 20, 1944
- Peter von der Groeben (1903-2002), Lieutenant General of the Army of the Armed Forces and deputy commander of the NATO -Kommandobereichs Allied Forces Baltic Approaches (BALTAP)
- Antonius John (1922–2016), business journalist and professor of political science
literature
- Rolf Stoves: The armored and motorized large German formations 1935–1945 . Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, ISBN 3-89555-102-3 .
- Hans Joachim Witte; Peter Offermann: The Boeselagerchen Reiter . The Central Cavalry Regiment and the 3rd Cavalry Brigade / Division that emerged from it; 1943-1945. Schild-Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-88014-116-9 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Rolf Stoves: The armored and motorized large German associations 1935-1945 . Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, ISBN 3-89555-102-3 , p. 282-284 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , pp. 187 ff.