Field Army Corps 1
The Western Swiss Field Army Corps 1 (FAK 1) of the Swiss Army was an army unit consisting of several divisions , brigades and directly subordinate corps troops , which was led by a corps commander (before the army 61 supreme corps commander ). The 1st Army Corps (since 1961 Field Army Corps 1 ) existed from 1891 to 2003.
history
In 1891 the Swiss army was divided into four army corps for the first time. Paul Cérésole , Federal Councilor from 1870 to 1875 and father of the pacifist Pierre Cérésole , was given command of the 1st Army Corps by the Federal Council in 1891, which he commanded until 1898.
In 1906, the Chief of Staff of the Swiss Army saw Switzerland threatened by France, which could advance with an encircling attack ( Plan H = Helvétie) through Switzerland towards the unfortified southern border of Germany. The three-country border was then in the Pruntrut tip of the Jura near Bonfol because Alsace was part of Germany .
First World War
The fortification Murten was in World War I for key space West for backing the Swiss plateau against enemy attacks from the West.
In the Ordre de bataille of 1917, the army was divided into 6 divisions:
| division | Brigades | Regiments | Battalions of infantry |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GE VD | 1, 2, 3 | 1 + 2, 3 + 4, 5 + 6 | 1 2 3, S1 S2, 4 5 6, 10 13, 8 9, 11 12 88 |
| 2 FRI NE JU SUN | 4, 5, 6 | 7 + 8, 9 + 10, 11 + 12 | 14 15 16, 18 19 20, 21 22 24, 17 23 90, 49 50 51, S3 S4 S5 |
| 3 BE VS | 7, 8, 9 | 13 + 14, 15 + 16, 17 + 18 | 25 26 27, 28 29 30, 31 32 33, 37 38 39, 34 35 36, 40 89 |
| 4 BS BL AG LU | 10, 11, 12 | 19 + 20, 21 + 22, 23 + 24 | 41 42 43, 44 45 48, 46 52 53, 54 97 99, 55 56 57, 58 59 60 |
| 5 ZH SH NW TI | 13, 14, 15 | 25 + 26, 27 + 28, 29 + 30 | 61 62 98 S6 , 63 64 65, 67 68 69, 66 70 71, 47 72 86, 94 95 96 |
| 6 SG TG AR GR GL | 16, 17, 18 | 31 + 32, 33 + 34, 35 + 36 | 73 74 75, 79 80 85 , 78 81 82, 83 84 S7, 76 77 S8, 91 92 93 |
The 1st Army Corps was made up of the 1st , 2nd and 3rd Divisions (Div), later the Mountain Brigades (Br mont) 10 and 11 were added.
The war stock of the 1–3. According to the Ordre de Bataille of 1917, the division was 2962 officers, 74,316 NCOs and soldiers, 19,888 horses, 51,983 rifles, 360 machine guns, 861 sabers, 184 artillery pieces.
Parade of the 3rd Division in front of General Wille in Bern
2nd division parade ( Friborg )
Battalion 24 (Bernese Jura, Div 2) and Bataillon 25 (Bern, Div 3) during the parade
Rifle Company I / 3, Gümligen ammunition depot
Second World War
After the mobilization of the war in World War II on September 2, 1939, the 3rd Division was relocated to the Laupen - Aarberg - Ins - Murten area as an army reserve in order to prepare the barrier between Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Biel (Operation Order No. 1). The key area of Murten, as the cornerstone of the advanced position, was equipped with additional reinforcements and operated by Border Brigade 2 and Light Brigade 1.
Shortly before the outbreak of war, the border troops (troop order 1938) were reorganized with 11 border brigades (Gz Br). During the whole of the Second World War, the border brigades remained in their home region, and the operational area and subordination were often adjusted. The Border Brigades 1-3 were subordinate to the 1st Army Corps.
Mobilization formation of the 1st Army Corps
| unit | commander | Operational area |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Army Corps | Corps Commander Lardelli | West and southwest |
| 1st division | Colonel Divisionaire Gustave Combe | Vaud |
| 2nd division | Colonel Division Borel | Biel and Neuchâtel Jura |
| 3rd division | Colonel division of Graffenried | Bern / Murten |
| 8th division | Colonel Division Gübel | Wiggertal |
| 9th division | Colonel division Bolliger | Gotthard |
| 1st Light Brigade | Colonel Charriere | Morges / Jura |
| 2nd Light Brigade | Colonel Koller | Freiberg |
| 10th Mountain Brigade | Colonel Brigadier Black | lower course of the Rhone and Dranses |
| 11th Mountain Brigade | Colonel Brigadier Bühler | Simplon (Upper Rhone Valley) |
The Swiss Army occupied the Limmat position on October 4, 1939, on the basis of operational order No. 2 (Aufmarsch Nord) in order to be able to stop an attack from the north and a bypass of the Maginot line through Switzerland. In this army position, the 1st Division was subordinated to the 3rd Army Corps and the 2nd Division to the 2nd Army Corps. Since the army deployment at Front North was clearly directed against the German Reich, the general had the western border against France occupied by the 1st division in the Gros de Vaud and on the Mentue and with the 2nd division in the Neuchâtel Jura for reasons of neutrality . If the North case was triggered, however, the two French divisions would have been moved to their combat areas in the Limmat position. The positions of the 1st Division with the Dietikon Fortress and the front slope of the Heitersberg were prepared in 1939 by the Dietikon group's ad hoc association . In May 1940 the 2nd Division received the order to protect the area around the lakes and the Sankt-Immer-Tal and the Val de Ruz , to block the axes on both sides of the Zihl Canal and to keep them on Mont Vully .
On 17 June 1940 the first German tanks arrived at Les Verrières the Swiss border and the Wehrmacht was the 45th French Army Corps under General Marius Daille include. On June 18, the Federal Council approved the crossing of the border and the internment of over 40,000 Allied soldiers, including 1,000 Algerian Spahis and the 2nd Polish Rifle Division with 12,000 men, who did not want to be taken prisoner by Germany. The 45th Army Corps would have rushed to the aid of Switzerland in a German attack in May 1940 on the basis of a secret agreement ( Maneuver H ). With the reduit order (operational order No. 12) of July 1940, the frontier troops in the border zone , the advanced position “Südufer Zürich-Limmat-Bözberg-Gempen-Mont Raimeux-Chasseral-Chaumont-Mont Vuilly-Saane from Laupen to Hauteville” and the central position defines the defense in three stages.
Bans 1940/41
The barriers of the 2nd Division extended from the Jura to the Murten area: Sonceboz , Frinvillier , Gampelen , Mont Vully , Löwenberg , Biberächeren . The Neuenegg lock belonged to the light brigades.
The barriers of the 1st Division were at the Reduite entrance in Gruyères and at La Tine on the Vaud / Freiburg border.
The locks of the 3rd Division were at the entrance to the central room (Reduit) around Lake Thun: Heiligenschwendi , Merligen- Sickle, Fischbalmen , Einigen , Wimmis - Gantrisch .
Infantry Works Im Fang (1st Division)
Gross Tosse Fortress (1st Division)
Lock point Löwenberg (2nd division)
Ban Gurmels (2nd Division)
Reduit
With the operational order No. 13 of May 24, 1941, the 1st Army Corps under Jules Borel received the order to defend the Reduit with the northern front, to block the upper Aare valley and to protect the access to the Réduit in the western Prealps. General Guisan laid down the defensive outer border of the Reduit for the Bernese Oberland from Heiligenschwendi via Oberhofen , the kander position in Einigen to the Simmentalsperre ( Wimmis ). With its strategically important heights, it was north of Lake Thun and west of the Sigriswilergrat in front of the actual Reduit line Pilatus- Hohgant -Sigriswilergrat- Stockhorn - Kaiseregg -La Tsintre-Vanil Noir-La Tine- Rochers de Naye -Chillon. The Mountain Brigade 10 was assigned the Lower Valais and the Mountain Brigade 11 the Simplon Pass and the upper Rhone Valley. Light Brigade 1 was deployed as a deceleration force in the Lake Geneva area and canton of Friborg. The fortress area of Saint-Maurice also belonged to the area of operations .
In the valley entrances to the Reduit, the troops of the 1st Army Corps with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Divisions, Mountain Brigade 10 and the territorial troops, who were responsible for this defensive area, set up field and permanent installations. A total of 27 battalions of outgoing infantry, 10-11 battalions of territorial infantry and 18 artillery divisions were deployed in four fortress companies in the three reinforced divisions. In the Lake Thun area, the fortifications were made exclusively with concrete. A protected facility was built in Frutigen for the command of the 1st Army Corps. The 1st Army Corps was the strongest army corps with around 94,000 men.
Orders and operational areas of the 1st Army Corps in the Reduit (Operation Order No. 13)
| unit | commander | Troop strength (TO38) | assignment | Operational area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st division | Combe | 20,000 | Defend the reduit between Rochers de Naye and Kaiseregg and with heavyweight along the axes that lead from Bulle into the Simmental | Rochers de Naye to Kaiseregg |
| 2nd division | 24,000 | Defend the Reduit between Stockhorn and Kaiseregg | Kaiseregg to Stockhorn | |
| 3rd Division (Geb), Bern Division | from Graffenried | 16,000 | As "Kampfgruppe Thunersee" it holds a position on the line from Hohgant to Kaiseregg and defends itself here to the utmost | Stockhorn - Lake Thun - Hohgant |
| Mountain Brigade 10 (Br mont 10) | black | 11,000 | Defends the south-eastern part of the Swiss Alps in the Lower Valais | Lower Valais |
| Mountain Brigade 11 Simplon Brigade | Buhler | 13,000 | Defend the Upper Valais and the Simplon | Simplon Pass - Upper Rhone Valley |
| 1st Light Brigade | Charrière | 10,000 | Deceleration force in the midland | Lake Geneva Region, Canton of Friborg |
| Fortified area of Saint-Maurice | Louis Mamin | Flanked the alpine or central region position (réduit national) in the west | St. Maurice |
By July / August 1940, the 1st and 3rd Divisions were withdrawn into the Reduit, followed in July 1941 by the 2nd Division, which had previously been deployed in the advanced position (Operation Order No. 13, May 1941).
Artillery Works Jaunpass (2nd Division)
Monument of the Gebirgsbrigade 11 (Simplonbrigade) on the Simplon
Fortress Saint-Maurice: Hermitage Fort Scex
Cold War
In 1945 the 1st Army Corps was reinforced with the Light Brigade 1, the Mountain Infantry Regiments (rgt inf mont) 5, 6, 7, the Mountain Fusilier Battalion (Geb Füs Bat) 17 and the 3rd Division became the 3rd Mountain Division. In 1947 an anti-tank division was added as reinforcement. The headquarters were in Bern until after the end of the Second World War and were relocated to Lausanne in 1955 .
During the Cold War, the Motor Infantry Regiment 2 of Mechanized Division 1 was intended to occupy the infantry blocking bar between its two tank regiments.
In 1961 the following changes were made due to Troop Order 61 : The 1st Division was converted into the Mechanized Division (Div méc) 1, the 2nd Division into the Frontier Division (Div fr) 2, and the 3rd Division into the Field Division 3 . In addition there were the Border Brigade (br fr) 3 and the Territorial Brigade (br ter) 1. The fortress Saint-Maurice was subordinated to the fortress brigade 10 and thus to the mountain army corps 3 .
Based on the basic Zeus disposition of 1992, the FAK 1 comprised Mechanized Division 1, Field Divisions 2 and 3, Border Brigades 1–3 and, as corps troops, Cyclist Regiment 4 and Genieregiment 5.
The reform army 95 led to the dissolution of the border brigades 1, 2, 3 as well as the mechanized division 1 and fortifications.
With the Army Reform XXI , all army corps and divisions were dissolved at the end of 2003.
Corps area and attack axes
According to the Hague Agreement, the Swiss Army has an obligation to defend its territory from national borders in accordance with the principle of armed neutrality . Therefore the army corps could be allocated fixed corps rooms for defense.
The corps area of FAK 1 was around 8,000 square kilometers and was the largest of all field army corps rooms and comprised the cantons of Geneva , Vaud , Neuchâtel , Friborg , Bern and Jura . It was bilingual and was mainly located in western Switzerland and consisted of the three sections of the Northern Jura (barrière du Jura), the central part (approx. 70 km wide) of the Central Plateau and the pre-Alps in the south. It reached from Geneva to Kleinlützel , from Lake Geneva to the Emme and the Vaud, Friborg and Bern foothills. The area near the border has strong, favorable terrain for defense, while the area beyond is open and maneuverable.
Possible axes of attack in the west were the sea axis via Geneva-Lausanne-Friborg into the Bern area, the axis via St-Cergue or Pontarlier to Yverdon or Fleurier-Neuchâtel and the axis Montbéliard-Porrentruy-Les Rangiers-Delémont towards Biel or Solothurn. In the east, the easiest thrust south of the Aare led via Langenthal-Bern-Friborg with secondary axes along the Napf or through the Emmental to the Aare. The FAK 1 was oriented towards the west, but should also have expected to be deployed as the rearmost corps with the front facing the east, which required the FAK 1 to be able to move around freely.
Division and brigade rooms with locks
The rooms of the three border brigades led along the western border of Lake Geneva along the Jura and the three field divisions east of it to the Delémont – Solothurn line:
The area of the Border Brigade 1 stretched along the Jura from Col des Étroits to Col de la Givrine and on Lake Geneva from Promenthouse to La Tour-de-Peilz with 51 barriers (Col des Étroits etc.). The border brigade 2 bordered in the north with that of the border brigade 1 and included the canton of Neuchâtel, the St. Imier area and small areas of the canton of Vaud with 41 barriers. The area of border brigade 3 joined that of border brigade 2 in the north and comprised the sections of the Jura chains from Epiquerez to Klösterli ( Kleinlützel ), the Ajoie, the Delémont basin and east to Moutier and Biel with 32 barriers ( Col des Rangiers with artillery work Plainbois, etc.).
The area of field division 3 extended north of Lake Geneva to Freiburg. It had to prevent enemy advances into the Basse Brote and Haut Veveyse areas with three barriers between Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Geneva. In the area of Mechanized Division 1 , which joined that of Field Division 3 to the north and reached across the Aare to Lyss, there were 8 barriers to the west and east of Lake Murten as far as the Bern and Freiburg area. The area of field division 2 bordered to the north on field division 1 and extended until shortly before Solothurn.
Promenthouse, first line of defense on Lake Geneva to the west (Grenzbrigade 1)
Pré-Giroud Fortress, Vallorbe (Border Brigade 1)
Centi Bunker Löwenberg (Mechanized Division 1)
Gurmels (Mechanized Division 1)
Order and defense disposition
The FAK 1 had the difficult task of protecting Geneva and the federal state of Bern including their airports and the border point of the Ajoie against border crossings. Other tasks were entrusted to him as part of the overall defense, such as cooperation with the largest territorial zone 1 and the cantons (civil defense). Despite the bilingualism of the staffs and troops, there were no problems; the staffs had the principle that everyone should speak and write in their mother tongue. Important documents have been published in two languages.
The defense system of the FAK 1 had the shape of a horseshoe that was supported by the mountain army corps . From the west there were blocking options on the Promenthouse , on the Aubonne and on the Mentue - Paudèze line , in the east on the Chandossel- Graben ( Friborg-Murtensee-Mont Vuilly ) and on the Emme .
The difficult terrain of the corps area required great mobility of the troops and the firepower of the support weapons in order to enable rapid combat readiness after mobilization.
(Colonel) Corps commanders
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literature
- Swiss Field Army Corps 1: Report on the maneuvers of November 9-12, 1914 . National government publication.
- Moritz Boschung, Jakob Baumann, Jean-Jacques Chouet, Robert Kopp, Schweizer Feldarmeekorps 1: Life and history of the Feldarmeekorps 1, 1892-1986 . With the biographies of the commanders of the 1st Corps Paul Cérésole, Louis-Henri Bornand, Henri Guisan, Olivier Pittet, Arthur de Techtermann, Roch de Diesbach. Editions 24 Heures, Lausanne 1986.
- Michel Chabloz, Pierre-François Stoercklé, Irene Bisang, Babigna Pallarès: Security on the threshold of the 21st century. History and life of the Field Army Corps 1 . Romanel Publishing House, Lausanne 2000.
- Louis Geiger, Franz Betschon : Memories of the Army 61 . Huber, Frauenfeld 2009, ISBN 3-7193-1513-4 .
- Jürg Keller: The 1st Army Corps in active service 1939-1945 . GMS Annual Bulletin 2010.
Web links
- GMS series, issue 31: The 1st Army Corps in active service 1939 - 1945
- Jean Abt: Field Army Corps 1 and Army 95, tradition and change (fr.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Structure of the 6 divisions of the Swiss Army, “Ordre de Bataille” from 1917
- ↑ DDPS: Geneva Rifle Battalion 14 ( Memento of the original from January 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ DDPS: Zürcher Geb S Bat 6 - first and oldest rifle battalion in Switzerland ( memento of the original from January 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Zurich Infantry Battalion 70 (Inf Bat 70)
- ^ Association of Historical Military Facilities Freiburg / Bern: Locks / Objects
- ↑ Jürg Keller: The 1st Army Corps in active service 1939-1945. Annual journal of the Society for Military History Study Trips (GMS), 2010.
- ↑ due to Troop Order 38, TO 38
- ↑ NZZ of November 3, 2003: Farewell to Field Army Corps 4
- ↑ Agreement on the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in the Event of Land War, concluded in The Hague on October 18, 1907.
- ↑ ETH Library, General Swiss Military Journal 1983, Issue 4: The Field Army Corps 1 - the Janus head of our defense
