Field Division 6

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Infantry factory blocking point Oberarth
Army Corps 4 and Field Division 6 in the basic disposition from 1992

The Field Division 6 was a traditional militia Association of the Swiss army , the majority of troops from canton Zurich was formed. It was created in 1875 due to the new troop order and was subordinated to the 2nd Army Corps . From 1911 to 1936 it was temporarily renamed the 5th Division.

With Army 61 , it became Field Division 6 and was newly part of Field Army Corps 4 . In 2003 she was released from cantonal military sovereignty and dissolved. It was replaced in 2008 by the 7th Infantry Brigade from Zurich and Eastern Switzerland.

prehistory

With the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Swiss Confederation committed itself to permanent, armed neutrality and to reorganization of the defense system. In the event of war, the cantonal troops were to be united to form a federal army. With the Federal Constitution of 1848, the cantonal troops began to be combined into a national army. With the partial revision of the Federal Constitution of 1874, the legal basis for the construction, equipment, training and leadership of a unified army as well as the Army classes Excerpt (20 to 32 years of age) and Landwehr (33 to 44) were created, with a repeat course every two years had to afford. The cantonal associations were the forerunners of Field Division 6, which was formed with the division of Switzerland into divisional circles by the troop order of 1875.

In 1907 there was a change to the annual refresher course. With the troop order of 1911, the previous eight divisions were reduced to six, making the 6th Division the 5th Division, the 5th Division the 4th Division and the 7th Division the 6th Division.

In 1912 the 5th Division took part in the imperial maneuver in the Kirchberg-Wil area, during which the German Emperor Wilhelm II apparently came to the conclusion that Switzerland could defend its territory against a possible march through by French armies.

First World War

In the first border occupation 1914-18, the Zurich troops, now referred to as the 5th Division, were deployed in the Jura and Ticino. According to the "Ordre de Bataille" of 1917, infantry brigades 13 (infantry regiments 25 and 26) and 14 (Inf Rgt 27 and 28) as well as mountain brigade 15 (mountain rifle regiments 29 and 30) with the following battalions belonged to the 5th division:

  • Inf Rgt 25: Bat 61 SH, 62 ZH, 98 SH / ZH, Rifle Battalion 6 ZH
  • Inf Rgt 26: Bat 63 ZH, 64 ZH, 65 ZH
  • Inf Rgt 27: Bat 67 ZH, 68 ZH, 69 ZH
  • Inf Rgt 28: Bat 66 ZH, Infantry Battalion 70 ZH , 71 ZH
  • Geb J Rgt 29: Geb Bat 47 OW / NW, 72 SZ, 86 SZ
  • Geb J Rgt 30: Geb Bat 94 TI, 95 TI, 96 TI

These included the Fahrende Mitrailleur Department 5, the Cyclist Company 5, the Guide Department 5 and the Artillery Brigade 5. The war inventory of the 5th Division (including 15 Mountain Brigade) was: 1,088 officers, 27,524 NCOs and soldiers, 7,327 horses, 19,150 rifles, 132 machine guns, 287 sabers, 64 guns. With the troop order of 1936 (TO 36), the 5th again became the 6th Division and the intermediate level of the brigade was omitted.

Second World War

After mobilization in World War II , the Swiss Army occupied the Limmat position on the basis of operational order No. 2 of October 4, 1939 , in order to be able to stop an attack from the north and a bypassing of the Maginot Line through Switzerland. The 6th Division, subordinate to the 3rd Army Corps, under its commander Herbert Constam , moved with around 15,000 men (infantry regiments 25, 27, 28) the area south of the Limmat between the Zurich city command and the Dietikon group .

In the roughly 10 km wide section, the division built 150 bunkers and shelters (with up to three floors), 35 observation posts, 90 artillery gun positions for 70 pipes (partly open, partly splinter-proof), 1000 m caverns / tunnels, 6.5 km tank barriers as well as around 490 open or covered fire positions, 80 niches made of wood and corrugated iron, 6 km battle trenches, 40 km wire obstacles.

The three-kilometer-wide section of the 6th Division between Uetliberg, Waldegg and Urdorfer Senke was built by the troops, the Uetliberg fortress with a deep system of bunkered shelters as alternating positions, which began on the Limmat and ended behind the Reppisch . The Urdorf blocking point with a tank barrier and 18 concrete armaments ran through the open Urdorf depression . The division received massive artillery support from May 1940 by the heavy motorized cannon division 18 of the 14th artillery regiment and the howitzer battalion 44. The 26th infantry regiment was assigned to the light brigade 2 in the delay area north of the Limmat.

While fortresses were being built in the Reduit and supplies for the troops and the local population were laid out for six months, the 6th Division in the area of ​​the Limmat position belonged to the cover troops to secure the Reduit construction. After the commander of the 4th Army Corps, Jakob Labhart, asked for reinforcements to defend the 50 kilometer-long Reduit border from the Linth via Etzel, Höhrohnen, Zugerberg to the Rigi, the 6th Division was transferred to the left wing on August 17, 1940 of the 4th Army Corps in order to secure the defensive front with barriers and obstacles.

The 6th Division, with its four detachments, Biberbrücke, Alosen, Zugerberg and Rigi, was given the task of holding the Schindellegi -Gotschalkenberg-Zugerberg-Rigi line to Lake Lucerne and preventing the enemy from advancing into the Schwyz basin. Advance troops were supposed to prevent an enemy landing on the left bank of Lake Zurich (Oberrieden to Bäch). The majority of the division was supposed to take up a defensive position behind Sihl on the Finstersee-Gubel-Allenhaben-south exit Zug line and a detachment had to block the area between Zuger and Vierwaldstättersee with the Oberarth barrier . The order remained unchanged until the end of the reduction period.

In the spring of 1943, the bulk of the 5th Division was subordinated to the 4th Army Corps in order to secure the Reduitz access on both sides of the Rigi in the Schwyz basin.

Cold war and army reforms

From 1948 on, the repetition courses resumed the normal three-week cycle. With the Troop Order 51 (TO51), the 6th Division again took over the structures of the TO 36, in addition it received a reconnaissance and a mobile light Flababteilung. In 1955, the maneuver was the first to practice behavior in the event of an attack with nuclear weapons.

Major maneuvers and general defense exercises were carried out with Army 61 . Field Division 6 was deployed in the smaller part for defense in the narrow areas of Kemptthal, Kloten Airport and the Furt and Glatt valleys. The Border Brigade 6 should be able to operate independently in their room. The Zurich Infantry Regiment 27 moved from Field Division 5 to Field Division 6. The operational area of Field Division 6 including Border Brigade 6 had an east-west extension of 40 kilometers and south-north 48 kilometers. The division, including the border brigade, had to hold the Schaffhausen bridgehead, prevent an enemy advance into Zurich, the Limmat and the occupation of Kloten Airport. It had to support the counter-attacks of the Mechanized Division 11 in the areas of Winterthur, lower Glatttal and Brüten.

Airport Regiment 4 was formed in 1987 to secure Kloten Airport in order to be able to intervene quickly in the event of a strategic attack on the airport. The alarm formation was able to mobilize itself independently and was ready for action within 2 to 3 hours in order to secure the protection and guarding of the Kloten and / or Dübendorf airfields by means of "appropriate technical measures" to block the runways and taxiways. The 3400 army members of the airport regiment were equipped with a pager and lived in the vicinity of the airport.

Lock points

The Zurich City Command and the following blocking points were located in the operational area of ​​Field Division 6 . The Linth Plain was ceded to Field Army Corps 4 in 1997, which disarmed numerous factories and changed the blocking number (starting with 7). With this, the blocking points of the Linth plain came from Reduit Brigade 24 to Field Division 6.

With Army 95 , a new repetition course (WK) rhythm was introduced and there was a smooth transition to Army XXI. With Army XXI , all army corps and divisions were dissolved, and with it Field Division 6, which had existed for around 130 years. Field Division 6 was transferred to Infantry Brigade 7, Armored Brigade 11 and Territorial Region 4.

units

  • Border Brigade 6
  • Infantry regiments 26, 28, 54
  • Airport Regiment 4 (Flhf Rgt 4)
  • Panzer Battalion 6
  • Tank battalion 23
  • Artillery Regiment 6
  • Mobile Light Air Defense Unit 6
  • 4th Genie Regiment

Commanders of Field Division 6

  • Johann Egloff 1875–1883 ​​colonel division
  • Hermann Bleuler 1883-1891 colonel division
  • Ulrich Meister 1891–1900 colonel division
  • Ulrich Wille 1900–1904 Colonel Division
  • Jean von Wattenwyl 1904 colonel division
  • Heinrich Wyss 1904–1910 colonel division
  • Hermann F. Steinbuch 1910–1919 Colonel Division
  • Leo Dormann 1920–1928 colonel division
  • Ulrich Wille 1928–1931 colonel division
  • Renzo Lardelli 1931–1932 Colonel Division
  • Johannes von Muralt 1932–1937 colonel division
  • Herbert Constam 1938–1943 Colonel Division
  • Marius Corbat 1944–1946 Colonel Division
  • Edgar Schumacher 1947–1956 colonel division
  • Ernst Uhlmann 1957–1961 colonel division
  • Adolf Hanslin 1962–1966 colonel division
  • Lorenz Zollikofer 1967–1973 Colonel Division
  • Frank Seethaler 1974–1981 division general
  • Rolf Binder 1982–1985 division general
  • Peter Näf 1986–1989 division general
  • Ulrico Hess 1989–1997 division general
  • Hans-Ulrich Solenthaler 1998–2003 division shareholder

Naming of Field Division 6 throughout history

  • 1875-1911: VI. Army Division (Monday November 13, 1874)
  • 1911–1936: 5th Division (TO 11)
  • 1936–1961: 6th Division, Border Division 6 (TO 36)
  • 1962–2003: Field Division 6 (TO 61)

Museums and military historical associations

literature

  • Gubler Robert: Field Division 6 - From the Zurich militia to the field division 1815-1991 . Volume 1, Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 1991, ISBN 978-3-03823-062-5
  • Bernhard Stadlin: The gateway to the Réduit - fortress construction in the canton of Zug during the Second World War . In: "Eilet then, o sons", Zuger Verein für Heimatgeschichte Volume 11, Zug 1994.
  • Gertrud and Paul Wyrsch-Ineichen: In the Réduit: The canton of Schwyz during the Second World War. Situations and events about which not everything was in the newspaper at the time , MHVS 87 1995.
  • De Luca Jargo: .. has to prevent an advance into the Schwyz basin… . Catalog for the anniversary exhibition 125 Years Regiment 29 , Musée Suisse, Forum of Swiss History, Schwyz / Zug 2000.
  • Oswald Schwitter: Réduit fortifications of the 6th Division between Etzel and Rigi . In: Michel Kaspar: "The 29er" - History and military political environment of the 29 Mountain Infantry Regiment, Schwyzer Hefte Volume 27, Schwyz 2000.
  • Valentin Kessler: The fortifications in the canton of Schwyz . Reprint from the communications of the Historical Association of the Canton of Schwyz, Issue 95, 2003.
  • Hans-Ulrich Solenthaler (Ed.): Field Division 6. Field Division 6 from 1992 until it was transferred to Army XXI . Volume 2, Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2003, ISBN 978-3-03823-048-9
  • Patrick Jordi: Military History Foundation and the fortresses in the Canton of Zug, Baar 2002
  • Video "History of the F Div 6": old Zurich military history and changes in the Zurich military system from the French era to the "Züri Putsch" and the Sonderbund War to the founding of today's F Div 6. Kdo F Div 6, Zurich 2003.

Web links

Commons : Field Division 6  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lieutenant Colonel HR Kurz: The German Imperial Visit to Switzerland . General Swiss military magazine, September 1962
  2. Structure of the 6 divisions of the Swiss Army, “Ordre de Bataille” from 1917
  3. ^ Limmat position of the 3rd Army Corps ( Memento from December 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  4. Fortified Switzerland: Limmatstellung ( Memento from January 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  5. Limmat position of the 6th Division ( Memento from December 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  6. Edgar Bonjour : History of Swiss neutrality. Four centuries of federal foreign policy. Volume 9: Documents. 1939-1946. Helbing and Lichtenhahn, Basel et al. 1976, ISBN 3-7190-0677-8 .
  7. ^ Valentin Kessler: The fortifications in the canton of Schwyz . Reprint from the communications of the Historical Association of the Canton of Schwyz, Issue 95, 2003
  8. NZZ of December 6, 2003: The Airport Regiment 4 resigns
  9. Fortress Oberland: Field Division 6