Paratrooper Regiment Huebner

Paratrooper Regiment Huebner
active	August 1944 to March 1945
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Wehrmacht
Armed forces	air force
Branch of service	Paratroopers
Type	regiment
Second World War	German Western Front 1944/1945 Operation Blackcock Rhineland campaign
Commanders
Sole commander	Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Huebner

The Huebner paratrooper regiment, also known as the Huebner combat group , was formed in August 1944 and joined the Erdmann paratrooper division in September . The regiment operated from November 1944 to March 1945 as an independent combat group and was then renamed as Fallschirmjäger Regiment 24 ( Fsjg.-Rgt. 24 for short ) and incorporated into the 8th Paratrooper Division .

commander

Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Hübner led before the II. Battalion / Parachute Regiment 5, as part of the brigade Ramcke in the African campaign had been used.

After the war he served in the Bundeswehr for a few years until he retired.

organization

The FJR Huebner consisted of two field battalions. A third was to be formed but failed to reach combat readiness . Initially, the third battalion was in Sint Odiliënberg and Melick .

Calls

In December 1944, both the paratroop replacement and training regiment Hübner were and the Parachute Replacement Regiment Müller, as battle group Hübner and battle group Müller to Roermond to the deployed 176th Infantry Division , whose front line on the Maas went to reinforce, .

In January 1945 the regiment was placed under the 15th Army and took up positions on the Meuse to defend the northern flank of the XII. Cover SS Army Corps .

On January 16, three British combat groups began Operation Blackcock , with the aim of taking the so-called Ruhr triangle between Roermond , Sittard and Heinsberg . The British managed to do this within twelve days despite extreme cold and sometimes bad weather.

Hübner's defense of Sint Joost

The skirmish over the Dutch village of Sint Joost ( 51 ° 7 '  N , 5 ° 54'  E ) was a turning point in Operation Blackcock. After four days of fighting, the Germans were well aware that the Panzer Division's plan of advance relied heavily on roads, mainly because of the adverse winter conditions.

Sint Joost was on the advance route of the British 7th UK Armored Division (also "Desert Rats") on their way to Montfort ( 51 ° 8 ′  N , 5 ° 57 ′  E ). On January 20, in cold and foggy weather, infantry and tank units of the 'Desert Rats' began their first attack on the two German companies of FJR Hübner suspected in Sint Joost . Ultimately, it took them four waves of attack to conquer the village; the last was on Sunday January 21st. Flamethrower Churchill tanks "Crocodile" contributed significantly to the conquest and set many houses on fire.

A total of 60 German paratroopers were captured. The 9th Durham Light Infantry counted 33 dead in Sint Joost; the '1st Rifle Brigade' 34. Over 100 German soldiers died, most of them in bitter urban fighting . The surviving German soldiers only ventured out of the cellars under the protection of civilians because they feared they would be shot by the victors. Hübner had lost almost two companies through death or capture.

In February 1945 the combat group Huebner was appointed to the 'Fallschirmjäger Regiment 24' (FJR 24) and remained under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Huebner. In March 1945 she was placed under the command of Major Zander. FJR 24 tried to stop the British advance towards Bremen and surrendered to British troops south of it in April 1945.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Abbreviation according to: Fallschirmjäger, illustrated book and chronicle 1939 - 1945, Rudolf Böhmler and Werner Haupt, revised edition, Verlag Hans-Henning & Podzun, Dornheim 1971.
2. ^ 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 .
3. ↑ Samuel Mitcham: Hitler's Legions. Stein and Day, New York 1985, ISBN 0-8128-2992-1 , p. 424.