Field Division 3

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3rd Division, border occupation 1915

The Field Division 3 was a traditional militia Association of the Republic and Canton of Bern . It was incorporated into the Swiss Army in 1875 as the 3rd Division ("Bern Division") and disbanded in 2003.

prehistory

In the Sonderbund War of 1847, the Bern Division under Ulrich Ochsenbein was deployed by General Dufour against the Sonderbund cantons, with Dufour paying attention to compliance with humanitarian principles in the fighting. With the military organization of 1875, the Bern militia army was absorbed into the Swiss army after almost 700 years of existence. In 1891 it became part of the newly established 1st Army Corps .

The 3rd Division was the only division whose infantry was recruited exclusively from one canton .

The battalions from the Bernese Mittelland and Berner Oberland came as cantonal troops to the 3rd Division, which consisted of Infantry Brigades 7 (Rgt. 13, 14) and 8 (Rgt. 15, 16) and the Mountain Brigade 9 (Rgt. 17, 18) duration.

First World War

With the 1911 troop order (TO 11), four mountain brigades (Br 3, 9, 15, 18) with a total of 21 battalions were created for the first time. The mountain brigades were assigned to field divisions 1 (Lausanne), 3 (Bern), 5 (Zurich) and 6 (Chur) and were assigned to the mountain areas of Valais / Vaud (Br 3), Berneroberland (Br 9), Central Switzerland / Ticino (Br 15) and Graubünden (Br 18).

Shortly before the First World War , the Emmentaler and Oberaargau battalions joined the 3rd Division. The infantry regiments were formed from the battalions (Bat), each of which was recruited from one part of the canton. Eduard Wildbolz was commandant of the 3rd Division from 1912 to 1917.

According to the "Ordre de Bataille" of 1917, the 3rd Division included Infantry Brigades 7 (Infantry Regiments 13 and 14) and 8 (Inf Rgt 15 and 16) and Mountain Brigade 9 (Mountain Infantry Regiments 17 and 18) with the following battalions:

Card refresher course 1926

The combat units were supported by the following logistical formations: Divisionspark 3 (transport and maintenance), Telegraph Pioneer Company 3, Divisionsbrückentrain 3, Sappeur Battalion 3, Mountain Medical Department 3, Food Department 3, Medical Department 3.

According to the Ordre de Bataille of 1917, the war inventory of the 3rd Division (including Mountain Brigade 9) was 1024 officers, 25,534 NCOs and soldiers, 7,065 horses, 17,519 rifles, 120 machine guns, 287 sabers, 64 artillery pieces.

  • Parade of the 3rd Division in front of General Wille in Bern

  • Battalion 24 (Bernese Jura, Div 2) and Bataillon 25 (Bern, Div 3) during the parade

  • Park of Telegraph Pioneer Company 3 in Delémont

  • Telegraph pioneer company 3 in cable construction

Second World War

After mobilization in the Second World War in September 1939, the 3rd Division was relocated to the Laupen - Aarberg - Ins - Murten area as an army reserve . In October 1939 the 3rd Division was deployed in the Limmat position between the 5th Division (right, east) and the 4th Division (left, west) in the Fricktal , where they massively expanded the Frick basin .

In July / August 1940, the 3rd Division was withdrawn to the Reduit , where they hold the line Hohgant - Sieben Hengste - Burst - Sigriswilergrat - lower Kander - Brodhüsi (near Wimmis ) - Stockhorn chain to Kaiseregg ( Wimmis-Stockhorn barrier ) and to Had to defend extreme. General Guisan laid down the defensive outer border of the Reduit for the Bernese Oberland from Heiligenschwendi via Oberhofen am Thunersee , the Kander construction in Einigen to the Simmentalsperre ( Wimmis ). It lay with its strategically important heights north of Lake Thun and west of the Sigriswilergrat in front of the actual reduit line (of the 1st Army Corps) Pilatus-Hohgant-Sigriswilergrat-Stockhorn-Kaiseregg-La Tsintre-Vanil Noir-La Tine- Rochers de Naye -Chillon.

The later operational area of ​​the Reduit Brigade 21 was taken over in 1940 by the reinforced 3rd Division with a focus on Lake Thun. The following troops were available to her:

  • four infantry regiments (Inf Rgt 11 14 15 16, extract)
  • Territorial Infantry Regiment 80 (Bat 150 and 151)
  • Territorial Battalions 170 and 174
  • reinforced artillery regiments 3 and 14 (9 compartments with 22 batteries)

The troops of the 3rd Division were organized in the following combat groups under the heading "Kampfgruppe Thunersee ":

  • "Kampfgruppe Grünenberg" in the Lombachtal (Inf Rgt 15: Bat 31, Kp I / 32)
  • "Kampfgruppe Sigriswil Grat" between Eriz, Thun and Thunersee (Inf Rgt 16: Bat 29 37 38 39)
  • "Kampfgruppe Kander" (Inf Rgt 11: Bat 49 50 90)
  • "Combat group Gantrisch" on the heights that close the Lower Simmental to the north (Inf Rgt 14: Bat 28 29 30, 2nd Division),
  • "Seegruppe" (Inf Rgt 15: Bat 32 33) around Lake Thun without the Bödeli , which belonged to the section of the "Kampfgruppe Interlaken".
  • Division artillery group I (right bank of Lake Thun): Heavy motor cannon division 4, heavy howitzer division 48
  • Division Artillery Group II (left bank of Lake Thun): Heavy motor cannon regiment 14 (Abt 3 17 18) or replacement from June 1941 Heavy motor cannon regiment 12 (Abt 3 13 14), field artillery division 3

The "Kampfgruppe Thunersee" had the order to block the accesses from the north against the Bernese Oberland and Simmental and to prevent the opposing advance against the Lötschberg and Interlaken .

The locks of the 3rd Division were at the entrance to the central area (Reduit) around Lake Thun: Heiligenschwendi , Grünenbergpass , Merligen- Sickle Pass, Beatenbucht / Fischbalmen , Einigen , Wimmis - Gantrisch .

  • Lock point Merligen

  • Blocking point Beatenbucht

  • Einigen infantry bunker

  • Lock point Wimmis

Cold War and Army 61

Operation area of ​​Field Division 3, 1992

From 1875 to 1972 the 3rd Division was also subordinate to cavalry units: 1875–1911, Cavalry Regiment / 1912–1924 Guiden Division 3 / 1924–1936 Cavalry Division 3 / 1951–1961 Dragoons Division 3 / 1962–1972 Dragoons squadron 53.

In the course of the motorization, however , the dragoons were replaced by the armored forces. With the troops Rules 1961 (TO 61) published - with the mechanized reconnaissance battalion 3 and the Armored Infantry Battalion 21 - the first time armored troops in the "Ordre de Bataille".

Similar to the canton of Bern at the political level, the Bern division always played a bridging role at the military level to western Switzerland: As a German-speaking force, it was subordinate to the mostly francophone Field Army Corps 1 (FAK 1).

The area of field division 3 extended north of Lake Geneva to Freiburg . With the locks at Bioley-Magnoux , Bercher , Peyres-Possens between Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Geneva, it had to prevent opposing advances into the Basse Broye and Haut Veveyse areas.

Army XXI

The start of Army XXI ended this 800-year chapter of military history in the canton of Bern. Field Division 3 was dissolved in November 2003 and around 18,000 men in the Bern regiments are now serving in around 80 different units of Army XXI.

Naming of Field Division 3 throughout history

  • 1875-1911: III. Army division
  • 1912–1961: 3rd Division
  • 1962–2003: Field Division 3

literature

  • Emanuel von Rodt: History of the Bernese war system. From the founding of the city of Bern to the state upheaval in 1798 . Bern 1831.
  • Album 3rd Division 1915 . Atar, Geneva 1915. 110 pages with illustrations.
  • Kurt Hauri: History of the Bern Division . In: Paul Ritschard (ed.): Die Berner Division 1875–1985, pp. 58–176. Bern 1985, ISBN 3-7272-9055-2 .
  • Hans-Rudolf Schoch: Caverns and barriers of the combat group Grünenberg. HS publications, Frutigen.

Museum and memorial

Memorial of the Bern Division
  • In 2003, to commemorate Field Division 3, the meeting place “Meeting Point of the Bern Division” was inaugurated in the converted barracks of the Bern troops on Papiermühlestrasse in Bern.
  • The Infantry Fortress Bernese Oberland Association, founded in 2009, wants to preserve as many blocked points as possible as historical cultural assets for posterity and open them for guided tours.

Web links

Commons : Field Division 3  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Bern History Division , official website (accessed March 15, 2011)
  2. ↑ Bernese Oberland News of May 31, 2002: Mountain Infantry Regiment 17: Last flag delivery in the regimental association
  3. ↑ Structure of the 6 divisions of the Swiss Army, “Ordre de Bataille” from 1917
  4. ↑ Jürg Keller: The 1st Army Corps in active service 1939–1945. Annual journal of the Society for Military History Study Trips (GMS), 2010.
  5. ↑ Hans-Rudolf Schoch: Artillery plant forest fire. hs publications, Frutigen 2014
  6. ^ Artilleriewerk Faulensee: History of the 3rd Division ( Memento from January 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Oberland Fortress: Blockage No. 2115 Grünenberg Pass
  8. ^ Association of Historical Military Facilities Freiburg / Bern: Locks / Objects
  9. ^ Berne division meeting place
  10. ^ Association of Infantry Fortress Bernese Oberland