3rd Cavalry Division (Wehrmacht)

3rd Cavalry Division
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
Equestrian Regiment 31 Cavalry Regiment 32
Heavy Cavalry Division 3
Artillery Regiment (tmot.) 869
Panzer Reconnaissance Division 69
Assault Gun Division 69
Security Battalion 69
Pioneer Squadron 69
Cavalry Intelligence Division 69

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	49441128 ♠Nov 28, 1944	0!Lieutenant colonel	Kdr. 3rd Cavalry Brigade
Gollert-Hansen, Hans-Detlef	Oak leaves for the Knight's Cross	49450114 ♠Jan. 14, 1945	1R!Rittmeister d. R.	Kdr. II./RR 31
Friedrich, Gustav	Knight's cross	49440311 ♠March 11, 1944	1!Rittmeister	Boss 6th RR 31
Koehler, Hans-Joachim	Knight's cross	49450305 ♠0March 5, 1945	1!Rittmeister	Kdr. I./RR 31
Schwanbeck, Walter	Knight's cross	49441005 ♠0Oct 5, 1944	4!Sergeant	Group leader 2./RR 31
Eikmeier, Hans	Knight's cross	49440930 ♠Sep 30 1944	1!Rittmeister	Fhr. II./RR 32
Knobloch, Leo	Knight's cross	49440930 ♠Sep 30 1944	4!Sergeant	Company troop leader 1st RR 32
Schneider, Wilhelm	Knight's cross	49450430 ♠Apr 30, 1945	3!Constable	Shock Troop Leader Staff Squadron II./RR 32
Syrowy, Jan	Knight's cross	49450430 ♠Apr 30, 1945	4!Sergeant	Platoon leader 3./RR 32
Bose, Georg	Knight's cross	49440921 ♠21 Sep 1944	2!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.

[StovesS282–284-1] 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 .

[ScherzerS187ff-2] ↑ ^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.