9th Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)
|
9th Mountain Division (East) |
|
|---|---|
 Troop identification: ice ax and propeller |
|
| active | March 8th to May 8th 1945 (surrender) |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Branch of service | Mountain troop |
| Type | Mountain Division |
| structure | Gebirgs-Jäger-Rgt 154 Gebirgs-Jäger-Rgt 155 |
| Installation site | Styria |
|
9th Mountain Division (North) |
|
|---|---|
 Troop identification: traditional hat with feathers from the frog |
|
| active | March / April 1944 as division group " Kräutler " until May 8, 1945 (surrender) |
| Country |
German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Branch of service | Mountain troop |
| Type | Mountain Division |
| structure | Div.Stab zbV 140 Gebirgs-Jäger-Rgt 139 |
| Installation site | Lapland |
The 9th Mountain Division is two large units of the mountain troops of the Wehrmacht , which were founded independently of each other towards the end of the Second World War .
history
According to the tracing service of the German Red Cross , not just one, but two 9th Mountain Divisions were formed in March 1945, namely the 9th Mountain Division (North) from the Kräutler division group in Norway in the area of the 20th Mountain -Armee and the 9th Mountain Division (East) from the Semmering combat group.
The field post overview no longer records both renaming.
Mountain Division Styria
The mountain division Styria was a large association of the German mountain troops in World War II and was set up as a so-called shadow division . The division was hastily set up on April 25, 1945 in Styria from the local Reich Labor Service (RAD). It consisted of the mountain brigades "Styria" (installation site Murtal ) and "Enns" (installation site Ennstal ) set up shortly before, mainly members of the RAD . Both were formed from two Jäger regiments each with two battalions, an artillery division and a pioneer division, and the Styrian Mountain Division was integrated into the 9th Mountain Division East on the same day as it was set up .
structure
- Mountain Hunter Regiment 154
- Mountain Hunter Regiment 155
- Mountain Artillery Regiment 56
- SS Mountain Infantry Training and Replacement Battalion 13
- State Rifle Battalion 851
9th Mountain Division (East)
The schematic war structure calls the 9th Mountain Division (East) on April 12, 1945 and May 7, 1945 only as combat group Raithel, led by Colonel Heribert Raithel (1910-1976), at III. Panzer Corps of the 6th Army . The formation of the 9th Mountain Division from the Raithel combat group was approved on April 25, 1945 at the request of the 6th Army - using the Styrian Mountain Division. The division took part in the III. Panzer Corps took part in the defensive battles of the 6th Army against the Red Army.
The history of the formation of this division is probably unique for that of a German unit in the Second World War, because it was created out of necessity through improvisation, in that all tangible units of the military district XVIII were sent to the threatened area around the Semmering to prevent the Red Army in Styria and thus in the rear of the 6th Army to prevent. This colorful conglomerate of associations formed the 9th Mountain Division in the last days of the war, so that finally mountain troops, SS men, tank destroyers, artillerymen, pilots, ground personnel of the Air Force, members of the Navy, Hungarian citizens and police officers from Estonia and Lithuania, a total of around 10,400 Man, fought in their ranks.
Due to the diversity of the units and the short lifespan of the unit, the course of the battle must be told in unusual detail for a division history. In addition, the fighting was essentially characterized by raiding troops up to a maximum of company frames, where it was a matter of conquering or holding individual points that were important to combat, such as farmsteads or mountain tops. Despite the unfavorable framework conditions, this mixed association was able to meet the expectations placed in it and hold the assigned defensive positions until the end of the war. This was mainly due to the fact that the Red Army considered its war goals in this area to be achieved from mid-April and shifted the focus of its activities to the north-west in the Danube region and in Czechoslovakia .
structure
On May 1, 1945, the commander of the visited 6th Army , General of the Armored Corps Hermann Balck , the headquarters of the battle group Semmering , located in the Semmering located HAKOA was -Hütte. He brought the news to the combat group commander, Colonel Heribert Raithel, that his combat group would now be referred to as the 9th Mountain Division .
The structure for this new division for the few days that the Second World War was to last was as follows.
- Division staff: consisted mainly of officers from the Dachstein Mountain Artillery School - Obertraun
- Mountain Artillery Regiment 56 ( Commander Oberstleutnant Bergmann): formed from units from the Mountain Artillery School Dachstein – Obertraun
- Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 154 (Commander Lieutenant Colonel Swoboda): emerged from various alarm units
- 1st Battalion Commander Major Petzold: 1st to 4th company from members of the SS Mountain Jäger Training and Replacement Battalion 13, Air Force Construction Replacement Battalion 17, Landesschützen Battalion 851, Convalescent Company of 44. Infantry Division high and German Masters
- 2nd Battalion (Commander Major Walter Leifheit): 1st to 3rd company made up of members of the flying personnel of Kampfgeschwader 27 Boelcke
- III. Battalion (Commander, Captain Hans Schlierf): 1st to 4th company made up of members of the Admont Mountain Hunters School and the 27th Combat Squadron
- Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment 155 (Commander Major Erwin Starkl): arose from various alarm groups
- 1st Battalion Commander Oberleutnant Grögor: 1st to 4th company from members of the Fliegerhorst -companie 218 / VII, pilot school A / B 14 Klagenfurt , mountain hunter replacement regiment 136 Wolfsberg
- 2nd Battalion (Commander Captain Rudolf Dickermann): 1st to 3rd company from members of the Mountain Jäger Replacement Regiment 136
- III. Battalion (Commander Captain Heinz Becker): 1st to 3rd company from members of Kampfgeschwader 27, Air Force School ABK "Z" (German flight instructors, Hungarian flight students as well as maintenance and ground personnel), SS mountain hunter training and replacement -Bataillons 13 (former 2nd companies), reception company of the SS division "Nordland"
- IV. Battalion (Commander Oberleutnant Rudolf Ihssen, from 2nd May Oberleutnant Theodor Seesitsch): 1st to 3rd company from members of the MG Fortress Battalion Klagenfurt, convalescent company of the 44th Infantry Division Hoch- und Deutschmeister , police units the Baltic States (Estonians and Lithuanians) and a naval unit
- Mountain Reconnaissance Department 56 (Commander SS- Hauptsturmführer Horst Grunwald): 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th companies from members of the SS-Gebirgs-Jäger-Training and Replacement Battalion 13th
- Panzer Jäger Replacement and Training Company 48 (Commander Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig Lang)
- Mountain Pioneer Company
history
Starting position
The counter-offensive launched by the Red Army after the failure of Operation Spring Awakening on March 16, 1945 resulted in the 6th Panzer Army north of the Semmering and the 6th Army south of the Semmering having to retreat to German territory. This offensive, which culminated in the “ Vienna Operation ”, and the chaotic retreat of the Wehrmacht that it caused, resulted in some Soviet units crossing the border before the Germans. So it was not surprising that the first Soviet soldiers set foot on Austrian soil near Klostermarienberg ( Oberpullendorf district ) on March 29th around noon , even before many Wehrmacht units (especially south of it) had reached this line. These tips probably belonged to the IX. Guards Mechanized Corps of the 6th Guards Armored Army, which spearheaded the 3rd Ukrainian Front during the attack on Vienna.
Just three days later, on April 1st, the 103rd Guards Rifle Division of XXXVII. Guards Rifle Corps of the 9th Guards Army in Gloggnitz and blocked the rail connection over the Semmering in order to make it impossible to move German troops over the southern railway line . The other two divisions of the corps, the 98th and 99th Guards Rifle Divisions, penetrated the Schwarzatal and thus secured the left flank of the Soviet advance into Vienna. While in the area north of Gloggnitz to Neunkirchen the I. SS Panzer Corps deployed the strong regimental combat group Keitel of the 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division , to the west and south of Gloggnitz alarm units from Styria were thrown to the front, initially as combat group Semmering or Kampfgruppe Raithel and shortly before the end of the war they were combined in the 9th Mountain Division. Other names of the units on situation maps or in daily reports of Army Group South were Korpsgruppe Semmering (April 8th), Gruppe Semmering (April 9th to 13th), K.Gr. Colonel Raithel (April 14th) and K.Gr. Semmering (April 15-19).
Deployment of the German alarm units
Of the units that were later to form the Semmering combat group, some smaller units were already in the vicinity of the later combat area. The Landesschützen Battalion 851 had been commissioned for a long time to secure the tunnels and structures on the southern railway line. The Luftwaffe Construction Replacement Battalion 17 was located in Reichenau an der Rax , and a convalescent company of Infantry Regiment 132 of the 44th Infantry Division was stationed in Payerbach . In addition, were along the railway flak Flakbrigade set up 16, but the battle group were not assumed.
The driving force behind the efforts to close the gap between the 6th Panzer Army and the 6th Army on Semmering was the commander of military district XVIII, General of the Mountain Forces, Julius Ringel .
The first combat unit to arrive at Semmering was a company from Panzerjäger Replacement and Training Department 48 from Cilli , consisting of 7 anti-tank guns 7.5 cm. This department had been alerted in their home garrison on Maundy Thursday (March 28) and started the motorized transfer march north on Good Friday. Part of the department (14 tank destroyers of the types Marder and Hetzer ) was ordered to Feldbach , while the department staff, intelligence train and a tank hunter company continued the march to Semmering. The guns went into position on the last serpentines of Semmeringstrasse as well as in Edlach and on the Preiner Gescheid . The commander of the department, Lieutenant Colonel Ludwig Lang, set up his command post in the Südbahnhotel . Until the arrival of the later combat group commander, Colonel Heribert Raithel, on April 11, Lang was the officer with whom the threads came together at Semmering and who coordinated the deployment of all the units that gradually arrived.
On April 1 (Easter Sunday), when the Soviet 103rd Guards Rifle Division had already reached Gloggnitz at noon from the south of Kirchberg am Wechsel , numerous other replacement units of the military district XVIII were alerted and ordered to Semmering.
The Admont Mountain Hunters School was transported by train to Krieglach and from there set out on a battle march towards Semmering. At Maria Schutz , the companies took up their positions, and the first skirmishes with a leaked enemy soon broke out.
In the course of April 1st, the 1st and 2nd companies of the SS Mountain Jäger Training and Replacement Battalion 13 from Leoben reached the combat area and took up quarters in the Panhans Hotel . These should subsequently form the core of the Mountain Reconnaissance Department 56 when the 9th Mountain Division was formed. The battalion consisted mainly of ethnic Germans who had been recruited in Yugoslavia, Hungary and Romania. Many instructors also came from these countries and had gained front-line experience in the 7._SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division_ "Prinz_Eugen" . The SS battalion was originally the replacement division of the 6th SS Mountain Division "North" ; now the companies were deployed in the Semmering area. The tracked 5th MG Company camped out on a forest path during the night of April 1 to April 2 because it had lost its way. The next morning she had to fire Soviet units that she had bypassed during the night. The battalion subsequently held the assigned positions along the Adlitzgraben, which runs north of the Südbahnhotel, which served as a command post.
Another 200 Waffen SS men from the Nordland division were transferred from Graz to Rettenegg, which initially formed the southernmost point of the combat group's operational area. A company of the MG Fortress Battalion Klagenfurt was dispatched from the Carinthian Garrison Annabichl , which consisted of three platoons of four SMGs each and was also deployed at Rettenegg.
From the air base Zeltweg the Air Force School ABK "Z" with 116 men (German flight instructor, German and Hungarian maintenance personnel, Hungarian student pilots) to was Steinhaus am Semmering and from there to Pfaffensattel set in motion. On April 4, another 60 air force personnel from the A / B 14 pilot school arrived at Semmering from Klagenfurt . Another unit was set up in Zeltweg with the 90-man air base company E 218 / VII and transported to Semmering by bus.
Another core unit of the future Mountain Division was the Mountain Jäger Replacement Regiment 136 from Wolfsberg, which was relocated to the Semmering with 320 men in a motorized march.
The batteries of the Dachstein-Obertraun Mountain Artillery School, which arrived in the combat area from April 6th, were to form the backbone of the combat group at Semmering. Not only did they alert them on Easter Sunday, but General Julius Ringel also appointed their leader, Colonel Heribert Raithel, as the future commander of the combat group, who was to replace the previous combat group commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lang on April 11th. His soldiers were brought to Semmering by bus. On the way a stop was made in Kapfenberg , where parts of the workforce of the Böhler works were integrated into the unit as Volkssturm men and some guns that were produced in this plant were taken over into the department's inventory.
On April 10, the two battalions of Kampfgeschwader 27, which was disbanded in Linz-Hörsching on April 4, arrived in the combat area and strengthened the defense there.
Battle area and distribution of units
The front section of the combat group was 36 km long and had to be extended by 24 km to the west after a break-in by the Red Army in the south of the Wechsel . From north to south there was the following distribution of the associations:
The northern left wing of Kampfgruppe Semmering in the Schwarzatal near Reichenau an der Rax was formed by Landesschützen Battalion 851 and Luftwaffe Construction Replacement Battalion 17 as well as the 7th Company of SS Mountain Jäger Training and Replacement Battalion 13, which was partly composed of Bosnian volunteers. It was relatively calm on this section of the front. Losses were mainly caused by Soviet artillery fire or when defending against raiding troops. The units deployed there formed the 1st Battalion of the Mountain Jäger Regiment 154 at the end of April.
To the south of it, in the area between Reichenau and Breitenstein , a battalion of the Boelcke Combat Squadron 27 was deployed in defense, which was later renamed the 2nd Battalion of the 154th Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment.
This was followed by the section of the SS Mountain Jäger Training and Replacement Battalion 13, the later Mountain Reconnaissance Department 56, with the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th MG companies, the parts also had to turn off other sections. The units were initially deployed in Breitenstein and in a west-east direction along the Adlitzgraben towards Eselstein. After the successful German counter-attacks, the defensive position was brought forward to the Kobermannsberg and the SS companies now mainly defended north of the Adlitzgraben. The 2nd company of this battalion had already been ordered south to the Fröschnitzsattel on April 1st and secured this extensive section until reinforcements gradually came up. It later became part of the III. Battalion of the Mountain Jäger Regiment 155.
The position of the later III ran further in a north-south direction. Battalion of the Mountain Jäger Regiment 154, which was formed from members of the Mountain Jäger School Admont and the 1st and 3rd squadrons of Kampfgeschwader 27. The positions ranged from the Baufelsen near Eselstein to Maria Schutz to the summit of the Sonnwendstein . Also in this section there was sometimes fierce fighting. Today the Gebirgsjäger Memorial Trail leads from Maria Schutz to the summit of the Sonnwendstein.
Fighting until April 11th
The combat operations are described in the sparse relevant specialist literature in some cases in a somewhat confusing or contradictory manner, also due to the confusing nature of the raiding party.
Northern section of the battle (Reichenau to Sonnwendstein)
All sources agree that Gloggnitz was conquered by the Red Army on April 1st, Easter Sunday. However, there are temporal differences about the beginning of the fighting in the Semmering area. According to Rauchsteiner, Soviet troops marched from Schottwien along Adlitzgrabenstrasse in the direction of Semmering on Easter Monday at 5 a.m. when they were hit by German artillery fire and around 40 Soviet soldiers were killed.
According to other eyewitness reports, the Soviet vanguard marched one day later, on Tuesday, April 3rd, playing music in the direction of Breitenstein and reached the Pertl-Hof .
Shortly after the Red Army reached the Pertl farm group south of Breitenstein and set up three PAK guns there, the first German counterattack took place at dawn on April 3 as part of the fighting on the Semmering. This attack was carried out by a platoon of the Admont mountain troops, who were commanded by an Untersturmführer of the Waffen SS. The provision for the partially successful attack took place at what was then Hotel Sonnhof . The Soviet PAK guns were destroyed and several Soviet soldiers who had been in the homestead were killed. On the way back, the mountain troops also suffered heavy losses because the Red Army had in the meantime captured the Hotel Sonnhof behind the attackers. The mountain troops were able to save themselves with difficulty in the Südbahn hotel, which had been converted into a battle group command post. By the Soviet counter-attack of the day the district went over Wolfsbergkogel lost to the Red Army, as well as the building complexes of the dairy farm and the laundry of the southern railway hotels, the south of the homestead group Pertl were, were occupied by the Soviets.
On the night of April 3rd and 4th, the 3rd and 7th companies of SS Gebirgs-Jäger-Training and Replacement Battalion 13 reached the combat area on foot from the Preiner Gescheid. While the 7th Company went on to Reichenau and defended a relatively calm section of the battle there until the end of the war, the 3rd Company advanced on Breitenstein and had the first fallen on the western edge of the community.
On the evening of April 3, the 1st Company of the 136 Mountain Jäger Regiment from Wolfsberg carried out an unsuccessful attack on the Südbahn dairy farm (6 killed, 18 wounded, 2 missing). Another attack on April 5 after midnight also failed with high losses. On the morning of the same day, the 1st Company of SS Mountain Jäger Training and Replacement Battalion 13, which was brought up from the top of the pass, tried to recapture the dairy and the Pertl farm, but this attempt also failed bloodily. Only another combined attack by the Waffen SS and mountain troops, this time supported by heavy weapons (one PAK gun and two 2 cm anti-aircraft guns), was finally successful. The laundry was fiercely fought over, the dairy and the Pertl homestead were evacuated by the Soviets, who retreated north towards Breitenstein. During these violent fighting with heavy losses on both sides, the Pertl farm group and the Sonnhof hotel burned down. In these fights around the Pertl-Hof alone, around 50 Soviet soldiers were counted; of the 120 men in the SS company deployed, 16 and 17-year-old volunteers, only 35 men escaped without being wounded. The Red Army also evacuated Breitenstein by dawn on April 6 and withdrew to the east in the direction of Schottwien.
Photos taken in 2014 showing the locations of the fighting:
The Pertl farm near Breitenstein, which fell into flames during the fighting.
The first attack by the Admont mountain troops on the Pertl farm took place on this street ("Gläserstraße") on April 3rd.
The Südbahnhotel, which was used as a command post during the fighting.
The laundry of the Südbahnhotel was fiercely fought over.
The dairy of the Südbahnhotel, today the main building of a golf course, was the scene of bloody fighting.
The outbuildings of the dairy still show the traces of the fighting.
The damage to the facade is believed to have been caused by a German machine gun.
View from the Pertl-Hof to the Fleischmann Viaduct. From this direction came the ultimately successful German attack.
The 3rd Company of SS Mountain Jäger Training and Replacement Battalion 13 deployed in the west of Breitenstein followed the Soviet troops in the direction of Kobermannsberg, which they subsequently defended until the end of the war. Since this ridge represented a frontal projection to the east, it was repeatedly attacked by the Red Army. In defensive battles with heavy losses, the height could be maintained. The attempt to conquer the ruin of Klamm on April 11th by the 3rd Company failed due to high losses for the German attacker.
The Semmering defense received a substantial reinforcement on April 6th with the arrival of the batteries of the Dachstein-Obertraun Mountain Artillery School, as there was finally support from artillery on the German side.
An unpleasant situation for the German defense was the occupation of the Eselstein by Soviet troops. This 974 meter high elevation was in front of the front line in the east. The Red Army had installed Advanced Observer (VB) there, who were able to precisely guide the artillery fire of the Soviet guns that had set up in Schottwien. In order to eliminate this danger, there were a few unsuccessful attack attempts by mountain troops and the Waffen-SS up to April 10th, all of which had to be broken off with great losses. After April 10th these attacks were stopped and they were content with the erection of a defensive position on the opposite site.
On the afternoon of April 7th, Maria Schutz was also occupied by the Red Army. However, this unit was driven away by a counterattack by the mountain troops on April 8th. The area around the church and monastery was not attacked by the Soviet infantry until the end of the war and was defended like a base by the Wehrmacht soldiers.
In the course of April 10, the two battalions of the disbanded Kampfgeschwader 27 arrived in Spittal am Semmering and were brought to the combat area. One of the two battalions, the later II. Battalion of Geb.Jg.Rgt. 154, was pushed in in the Kreuzberg area, between Breitenstein and Reichenau, and suffered first casualties and wounded when trying to straighten the front.
Southern section of the battle (Sonnwendstein to Rettenegg)
These days were less dramatic south of the Sonnwendstein than north of this elevation. The section from Sonnwendstein to Rettenegg was initially only secured by very few associations. One of the first was the 2nd Company of the SS Mountain Jäger Training and Replacement Battalion 13, which was relocated to the Fröschnitzsattel right from the start.
The area between the Sonnwendstein and the Fröschnitzsattel was monitored by the mountain hunters of Geb.Jg.Rgt. 136 from Wolfsberg like a base. The 2nd Battalion of Geb.Jg.Rgt. 155 are created. The reinforcements, which gradually arrived, were incorporated into this front, such as the A / B / 14 pilot school from Klagenfurt.
One of these units was a training company of the 44th Infantry Division Hoch- und Deutschmeister , which had to record some dead and wounded in an attack operation at the Harderkogel on April 5th.
Another unit from the first hour was the Air Force Company ABK "Z" from Zeltweg, which initially took up position at the Pfaffensattel. Subsequently it became part of the III./Geb.Jg.Rgt. 155 in which soldiers of the Waffen-SS from Graz and the combat squadron 27 should also find themselves.
The soldiers of the Waffen-SS were the remnants of the SS Panzer Grenadier Replacement and Training Battalion 11 from Graz, which arrived on April 8th at the Alpl and on April 10th proceeded via Rettenegg to the Feistritz forest and there probably with the fortress -MG Battalion Klagenfurt met the Red Army vanguard. The majority of this SS battalion had had to endure the toughest fighting in the days before near Rechnitz in the Oberwart district and had only been able to make their way to the German lines with heavy losses.
The Kampfgeschwader 27 reached Spital am Semmering on April 10 and was deployed in battalions in the northern section and the southern section. The soldiers for the south of the front moved to the Fröschnitzsattel, where they took position against Trattenbach . This unit was lucky in that it was assigned a relatively quiet combat section until the end of the war.
Another alarm unit that reached the combat area via the Alpl was the Klagenfurt fortress MG battalion, which consisted of soldiers, some of whom were disabled. On April 7th or 8th, the soldiers marched from Alpl to Rettenegg, which was free of the enemy at that time. We continued in the direction of Feistritzsattel , where there was combat contact with the Red Army. The unit then withdrew towards Rettenegg, which it subsequently defended. From the end of April she formed the 2nd Company of the IV Battalion of the Geb.Jg.Rgt. 155, to which the aforementioned training company of the 44th Infantry Division (as the 1st company) should also belong.
Fighting until the end of April
On April 11th, Colonel Heribert Raithel replaced the previous combat group commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lang. Raithel formed a command staff from the officers of his unit, the Mountain Artillery School Dachstein-Obertraun, who had to deal with the following urgent tasks:
- Clarification of the situation
- Registration of the units
- Structure and training (e.g. pilots) of incoming units
- active defense
- Formation of reserves
While the front lines remained relatively stable in the northern section of the combat group, local attacks and counter-attacks occurred repeatedly in the southern section. One of these combat operations took place on April 17th at Sonnwendstein, in which the Soviet soldiers managed to break into the front of Air Base Company 218 / VII. In a counter-attack, the company commander and the artillerymen who were present threw the enemy out of their positions. An officer of artillery, Captain Schurr, was seriously wounded and for the defensive success in the Honor Roll called the army and sent to the Knight's Cross. There is no evidence in the relevant literature that this high distinction should be awarded.
The fights also resulted in heavy losses from the mountain hunters from Wolfsberg (born in Rgt 136). They lost eight dead and 23 wounded in an attack on the Trattenbach - Feistritzsattel road . Two days later, when another attack was made by a 31-man platoon, only 13 returned unharmed. The attacking 1st Company also suffered heavy casualties with 13 dead and 12 wounded.
The company of the fortress machine gun battalion Klagenfurt, located in the extreme south of the combat group section near Rettenegg, also suffered losses in a counterattack on the Feistritzsattel. Back in Rettenegg, she found that the Red Army had also appeared there in the meantime. These were soldiers of the 36th Guards Rifle Division of the XXX. Rifle Corps that belonged to the 26th Soviet Army. Coming via the Oberwart district, this unit broke into northeast Styria. From April 13, this advance was reinforced by the V Guard Cavalry Corps, whose goal was the area around Fischbach , while the XXX. Rifle Corps secured the northern flank.
This dangerous shock also led to the fact that the front section of Kampfgruppe Semmering was extended by another 24 kilometers and it was now a matter of blocking the Alpl and Schanz passes against a Soviet advance in the Mürz Valley . The Red Army reached Rettenegg on April 15, and Colonel Raithel was forced to pull some formations from his front and use them to counterattack the Soviet units that had been chased out near the Schanz. For this act, Raithel was personally submitted to the Knight's Cross by the Commander in Chief of the 6th Army General of the Panzer Force Hermann Balck for the oak leaves . Although there is at least one photo of Raithel showing him with an oak leaf , he does not appear in the relevant literature or in the award lists.
Rescue was near by the 117th Jäger Division , brought from the Balkans on the southern railway , which was assembled in the Mürz valley and finally thwarted the Soviet advance by a counterattack from April 17th. In concentric attacks, this division, together with units of the 1st Panzer Division and the 1st Volks-Gebirgs-Division, smashed the units that had advanced into Styria.
After this last large-scale counterattack by the Wehrmacht in this area, the situation calmed down more and more in the second half of April. The Red Army had largely achieved its war aims in the eastern part of Austria, but still had to enforce territorial claims in Czechoslovakia. For this reason there was a north-west shift of the Soviet associations, while locally only smaller operations were carried out. The near end of the war was already casting its shadow.
Foundation of the 9th Mountain Division and surrender
On May 1st, as described above, the Commander-in-Chief of the 6th Army, General Hermann Balck, made this visit to the command post of the combat group, where he brought the message about the establishment of the 9th Mountain Division.
On the evening of May 7th there was a commanders' meeting in the division command post at Semmering, during which Colonel Raithel reported on the impending surrender. The soldiers had to have reached the American lines in the west by 12 noon on May 9 in order to be taken prisoner by the Western Allies. Not every small unit got the information in time. However, the majority of the division reached the safe demarcation line via the Reichenau - Preiner Gscheid - Mariazell - Wildalpen - Ennstal or Semmering - Mürzzuschlag - Bruck an der Mur - Leoben - Schoberpass - Liezen roads . Austrian army members were released to their homeland and often struggled through individually or in small groups.
Résumé
The 9th Mountain Division, a structure of the most varied of alarm units, fulfilled the expectations placed on it by preventing Soviet units from penetrating into Styria and thus into the rear of the 6th Army.
A total of up to 10,400 soldiers from all parts of the Wehrmacht, as well as the Waffen SS and the Volkssturm, fought in their ranks. Many of the soldiers of the Waffen-SS, but also of the air force units, were citizens of foreign countries.
The number of those who fell was around 500 to 600 men who are now resting in the cemeteries of Lower Austria-South Blumau, Semmering, Rettenegg and St. Kathrein am Hauenstein.
In the last days of the war, the highest orders ordered the destruction of the tunnels and viaducts of the Semmering Railway in order to delay the advance of the Red Army. The arrangements for this order were withdrawn by order of Colonel Raithel. Instead, the decision was made to loosen the rails in a tunnel near Breitenstein and then let some locomotives and wagons roll down from Semmering, which then derailed in the manipulated tunnel and thus blocked the Semmering Railway long enough without completely destroying it.
A dark chapter of the last days of the war was the court martial , which passed many death sentences against deserters in order to maintain morale and the will to resist. In the area of the 6th Army there was a mobile court martial which, among other things, based its judgments on a tough order of the day (Ia No. 2191/45 of April 4, 1945) from General Hermann Balck, in which he asked for the necessary Hardness to act against decomposition phenomena. In the area of the 9th Mountain Division, this court met on a case-by-case basis in Steinhaus am Semmering. The shooting of five soldiers in the division is known. Three were shot dead in Steinhaus am Semmering, two soldiers of the Waffen-SS were executed by their own company in Breitenstein for offenses against the guard and desertion, probably on April 17th.
After the war, numerous minefields in the region had to be cleared after civilian casualties.
In addition to the cemetery on the Styrian side of the pass (occupied by approx. 300 fallen soldiers), the memorial trail of the mountain hunters to the Sonnwendstein and the memorial chapel on the Sonnwendstein are reminiscent of the battles of the 9th Mountain Division.
Memorial Chapel of St. Josef on the Sonnwendstein
Access path to the military cemetery on Semmering
Military cemetery on Semmering
View from the military cemetery to the top of the pass
Memorial cross
Memorial plaque from 1987
Gravestone for double grave
Tombstone group
9th Mountain Division (North)
In March / April 1944, the Kräutler division group became the division staff z. b. V. 140 or division group "K" founded. The division appeared in the Schematic War Structure on April 12, 1945 as Div.Gr.K (Div. Z. B. V.140) in the Narvik Army Department . The division's commander was Mathias Kräutler .
In 1944/45 the troops were deployed in Finland and Norway - on all fronts from the fishing peninsula via Kuusamo and Kiestinki to just outside Louhi . The division fought offensive and defensive battles north of the so-called Mountain Rifle Road , on Mount Njatowara and Lake Pja. As part of "Operation Birch", she fought retreat via Kuusamo on Pudasjärvi and Oulu-Olhava . Defensive battles followed in the Kemi - Tornio area , at Tornionjoki and a retreat to the protective position of Rovaniemi . There and in the Palojoensuu - Enontekiö area , she fought defensive battles again before moving to the battering ram position at Kautokeino and the Kilpisjärvi position. Until the surrender, she still fought for positions and withdrew to Norway.
On May 8, 1945, the division was renamed 9th Mountain Division with effect from May 6, 1945 due to a telex from the Wehrmacht High Command to Mountain Army High Command 20 .
After the war, the division was arbitrarily renamed the 10th Mountain Division by the traditional clubs . The official name is 9th Mountain Division (North) .
structure
- Mountain Infantry Regiment 139
- Hunter Battalion 3rd
- Hunter Battalion 6
- Staff of the artillery regiment e.g. V. with I./Gebirgs-Artillerie-Regiment 112 and II./Gebirgs-Artillerie-Regiment 82
- Mountain Artillery Battalion 124
- Light Assault Gun Battalion 424
- Mountain Pioneer Battalion 140
- Mountain News Battalion 140
- Division Supply Squad 140
literature
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 3: The Land Forces 6-14 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1974, ISBN 3-7648-0942-6 .
- Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr. (2007). German Order of Battle. Volume Two: 291st - 999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII. PA; United States of America: Stackpole Books. Pp. 275, 276 + 279, ISBN 978-0-8117-3437-0 .
Web links
- Organizational History of the German Mountain and Ski Division 1939-1945 Nafziger Collection, Combined Armed Research Library.
- Stock overview of the Federal Archives
- 9th Mountain Division on EHRI portal from the Federal Archives
Individual evidence
- ^ Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 3. The Land Forces 6-14. 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1974, ISBN 3-7648-0942-6 ; P. 134.
- ^ Ray Merriam, Gebirgsjäger: Germany's mountain troops , Bennington, Vermont, 1999, ISBN 9781576381632 ", p. 29
- ↑ Roland Kaltenegger : Battle of the Mountain Hunters around the Western Alps and the Semmering, Chronicle of the 8th and 9th Mountain Division ('Kampfgruppe Semmering'), Leopold Stocker Verlag 1987, ISBN 3-7020-0521-8 , page 140
- ↑ Roland Kaltenegger: Battle of the Mountain Hunters around the Western Alps and the Semmering, Chronicle of the 8th and 9th Mountain Division ('Kampfgruppe Semmering') , Leopold Stocker Verlag 1987, ISBN 3-7020-0521-8 , page 145
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner : The last battles of World War II in the border area Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , page 118
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 129 to 131
- ↑ Hugo Portisch, 'Austria II', Volume 1
- ↑ Manfried Rauchsteiner : The War in Austria 1945 , Österr. Bundesverlag, Vienna 1984, ISBN 3-215-01672-9 , pages 219 to 221
- ↑ Roland Kaltenegger: Battle of the Gebirgsjäger around the Western Alps and the Semmering, Chronicle of the 8th and 9th Mountain Division ('Kampfgruppe Semmering') , Leopold Stocker Verlag 1987, ISBN 3-7020-0521-8 , page 244
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of the Second World War in the border area Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , page 75
- ^ Roland Kaltenegger: Kampf der Gebirgsjäger around the Western Alps and the Semmering, Chronicle of the 8th and 9th Mountain Division ('Kampfgruppe Semmering') , Leopold Stocker Verlag 1987, ISBN 3-7020-0521-8 , page 175
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border area of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , page 84
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border area of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 88 and 89
- ^ Roland Kaltenegger: Kampf der Gebirgsjäger around the Western Alps and the Semmering, Chronicle of the 8th and 9th Mountain Divisions ('Kampfgruppe Semmering') , Leopold Stocker Verlag 1987, ISBN 3-7020-0521-8 , pages 141-143
- ↑ a b Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 86 to 88
- ^ Roland Kaltenegger: Kampf der Gebirgsjäger around the Western Alps and Semmering, Chronicle of the 8th and 9th Mountain Divisions ('Kampfgruppe Semmering'), Leopold Stocker Verlag 1987, ISBN 3-7020-0521-8 , pages 178-179
- ↑ a b Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 100 and 110
- ^ A b Manfried Rauchsteiner : The War in Austria 1945 , Österr. Bundesverlag, Vienna 1984, ISBN 3-215-01672-9 , page 220
- ↑ a b Magazine Troop Service of the Austrian Armed Forces Issue 5/2003: Semmering, April 1945 - The battles for the southern railway dairy , author Friedrich Brettner
- ↑ Website Breitenstein.topothek.at: Semmering, Fleischmann Viadukt, Pertl-Hof , accessed on January 3, 2014
- ↑ Website: Breitenstein.topothek.at: The Hotel Sonnhof on historical postcards , accessed on January 3, 2014
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , page 93
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , page 95
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 107 and 109
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 101 to 104
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border area of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 102 and 103
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border area Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 99 and 100
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border area of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , page 89
- ↑ a b Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 109 and 110
- ↑ a b Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border area of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 98 and 99
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of the Second World War in the border area Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , page 99
- ^ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 111 and 113
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 113 and 114
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border area of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 100 and 110
- ^ Gerhard von Seemen, 'Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939 bis 1945', ISBN 3-7909-0051-6
- ^ Roland Kaltenegger: Kampf der Gebirgsjäger around the Western Alps and the Semmering, Chronicle of the 8th and 9th Mountain Division ('Kampfgruppe Semmering'), Leopold Stocker Verlag 1987, ISBN 3-7020-0521-8 , pages 189 to 193
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 121 and 123
- ↑ Manfried Rauchsteiner : The War in Austria 1945 , Österr. Bundesverlag, Vienna 1984, ISBN 3-215-01672-9 , page 221
- ^ Semmering military cemetery , website regiowiki.at, accessed on January 22, 2015
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border area Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , page 132
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland , KRAL-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , pages 122 and 123
- ↑ Friedrich Brettner: The last battles of World War II in the border region of Lower Austria - Styria - Burgenland. , KRAL-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-99024-171-4 , page 109 and 120
- ^ Website of the online project memorials for fallen: Semmering military cemetery , accessed on July 10, 2014
