Field Division 7

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Armored dome for artillery observation, Grynau
Field Army Corps 4 and Field Division 6 in the basic disposition from 1992

The Field Division 7 was a traditional militia Association of the Swiss army , the majority of eastern Switzerland consisted troops. It was created in 1867 due to the division of the army and was subordinated to the 2nd Army Corps . From 1911 to 1936 it was temporarily renamed the 6th Division. In 1940 the 7th Division was subordinated to the newly created 4th Army Corps .

With Army 61 she became Field Division 7 under Field Army Corps 4. In 2003 she was released from cantonal military sovereignty and dissolved. Most of the division's members transferred to the new 7th Infantry Brigade.

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. After the army was divided in 1867, most of the troops from Eastern Switzerland belonged to the 7th Army Division. In 1907 there was a change to the annual refresher course. With the troop order of 1911, which came into force in 1912, the previous eight divisions were reduced to six, making the 7th division the 6th division.

The commandant, Paul Schiessle, had to lead his troops in the first year of command into the imperial maneuvers in the Kirchberg-Wil area of ​​1912, during which the German Emperor Wilhelm II apparently came to the conclusion that Switzerland could defend its territory against any march through by French armies . The German Schlieffen Plan envisaged circumventing the French fortress front through poorly defended Belgian and Luxembourg territory. The main focus of the forces should be placed on the right wing and the left (French fortress front and Switzerland for bypassing) neglected.

  • Colonel Division Schiessle

  • Imperial maneuvers Kirchberg

  • Imperial maneuvers 1912

First World War

In the first border occupation 1914–1918, the 6th Division mobilized mainly in Frauenfeld, Wil, Herisau, St. Gallen, Walenstadt and Chur. It was used from 1915 to 1918 as an army reserve and border guards.

According to the “Ordre de Bataille” of 1917, the 6th Division included infantry brigades 16 (infantry regiments 31 and 32) and 17 (Inf Rgt 33 and 34) as well as mountain brigade 18 (mountain rifle regiments 35 and 36) with the following battalions:

  • Inf Rgt 31: Bat 73 dives, 74 dives, 75 dives
  • Inf Rgt 32: Bat 79 SG, 80 SG, 85 GL
  • Inf Rgt 33: Bat 78 SG, 81 SG, 82 SG
  • Inf Rgt 34: Bat 83 AR, 84 AR / AI, Rifle Battalion 7 GR / TG
  • Geb J Rgt 35: Geb Bat 76 SG, 77 SG, Geb S Bat 8 AR / SG
  • Geb J Rgt 36: Geb Bat 91 GR, 92 GR, 93 GR

These included the Fahrende Mitrailleur Department 6, the Cyclist Company 6, the Guide Department 6 and the Artillery Brigade 6. The war inventory of the 6th Division (including Mountain Brigade 18) was: 1,074 officers, 27,186 NCOs and soldiers, 7,531 horses, 18,577 rifles, 126 machine guns, 287 sabers, 68 guns.

With the troop order of 1938 (TO 38), the 6th division became the 7th division again.

  • Officers of the 6th Division

  • Observation post of the 6th Division on the Blauen

  • Log house in the Bruderholz

  • Division park in the bivouac

Second World War

After mobilization in World War II , the Swiss Army occupied the Limmat position on the basis of Operation Order No. 2 of October 4, 1939 , in order to be able to stop an attack from the north and a bypass of the Maginot Line through Switzerland.

At the beginning of 1940 the Swiss Army was partially restructured and a 4th Army Corps was created. The 7th Division, subordinate to the 4th Army Corps, took up the Linth position under its commander Hermann Flückiger in September 1939 with around 13,000 men (infantry regiments 31, 33, 34, 85) . The Lin plain was the target of mechanized units and / or airborne troops in most of the German operational plans. In May 1940 the general ordered the construction of 20 infantry plants, including infantry and tank obstacles, along the Linth Canal, four of which had armored domes for artillery observation.

The 7th Division had three defensive fronts / combat groups: the right one ran from Federispitz via Schänis-Unter Bilten to Sunnenberg, the middle one from Unter Bilten to Reichenburg with a base on the Benkner Büchel and the left one from Reichenburg along the railway line to Buttikon from there to Tuggen and ended at the Grynau. The artillery positions were in the Niederurnen and Holeneich-Lachen area.

In accordance with the progress made in the construction of the fortresses in the Reduit , the creation of supplies (for six months) for the troops and the local population, the divisions were gradually withdrawn from the Limmat position and moved to the central space position (Reduit). The 7th Division remained in the Linth position as it was included in the army's new central position. The construction work stopped on the Limmat line in June 1940 was resumed on the Linth position in July 1940.

With the "Operations Plan West", the bulk of the 7th Division was relocated to the Jura (Hauenstein-Passwang) at short notice at the beginning of June 1940. The "Linth Group" under Colonel Hans Frick remained in the Linth position with three infantry and three artillery regiments each in division strength. The group had the task of preventing the enemy from crossing the Linth between Lake Walen and Lake Zurich and to hold positions on and behind the Linth and along Lake Zurich to Bäch.

The Linth Plain played an important role in the army's dispositive, as it enabled access to the Glarnerland with the three Alpine crossings Pragel, Klausen and Kistenpass and an advance via Wägital and Sihlsee into the Schwyz basin. In addition to the permanent fortifications, the flooding of the Linth plain was prepared as a defensive measure with the Linth dams.

  • Bunker along the Linth

  • Damming of the lineal plain

  • Bringing in prepared wooden planks (needle weir) on a back ditch bridge

  • Mösliflue infantry factory, Benkner Büchel

In August 1940 the 7th Division received the order to hold the central position in the Reichenburg-Grynau-Buechberg-Obersee-Etzel section with main bases in the Linth area and on the Etzel and to prevent an enemy push into the Wägi-, Sihl- and Alpthal. For this purpose, the main combat groups Linth, Lachen, Etzel and the combat detachment Wägital were formed. For them the rock works Grynau and Benkner Büchel, the artillery works in Oberurnen and entrance Wägital, the widening and deepening of the canals on both sides of the Linth (Lake Zurich to Grynau) as additional tank obstacles as well as explosive objects at the Linthbrücken, Seedamm, Teufelsbrücke, Wägital.

With the new operational order of the 4th Army Corps of January 1941, the 7th Division's dispositiv was adapted from a linear defensive battle to a deeply staggered defensive battle (from the Linth level), in which the front was regrouped and moved back to the Rinderweidhorn-Stliköckreuz-Etzel ridge: the primary ones were To block access to the Wägital and Sihlsee area and to fortify the heights east of the Etzel up to the Wägitaler Aa. The new combat groups "Bataillon Linth" (blocked position behind the Linth, Linthstauanlagen), "Pfiffegg" (access to Wägital), "Oberegg" (access to the Sihlsee area), "Etzel" (Etzel crossing) were formed, and the 34th Infantry Regiment was designated as a division reserve. The artillery (field artillery departments 19 and 21) was in the Sihlsee area. In the course of 1942, full combat readiness was achieved (fortifications built, ammunition, food and war material depots built). The order remained unchanged until the end of the reduction period.

  • Mösliflue infantry factory, Benkner Büchel

  • Grynau fortress

  • Artillery observation station Etzel Kulm

  • Sihlseedamm Hüendermatt with barrier and camouflaged bunker

Cold war and army reforms

After the Second World War, the field-based systems were covered while the permanent ones continued to be maintained. The bunkers on the Linth Canal served as machine gun positions until the mid-1980s and later as troop shelters. The last shelter at the foot of the Buechberg was released from secrecy in 1992, the Grynau plant in 1994.

From 1948 on, the repetition courses resumed the normal three-week cycle. With the Troop Order 51 (TO 51), the 7th 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.

In 1954, the Thurgau Regiment 31 had to perform extraordinary security services during the Indochina Conference in Geneva.

Major maneuvers and general defense exercises were carried out with Army 61 . The Troop Order 61 brought an operational doctrine adapted to the modern image of war. With Troop Leadership 69, the form of defense was developed, for whose use large parts of eastern Switzerland offered favorable conditions.

Most of the troops came from the cantons of St. Gallen, Thurgau and the two Appenzell, plus troops from the cantons of Schaffhausen, Zurich and Glarus. Field Division 7's area of ​​operations, including Border Brigade 7, extended across the whole of Eastern Switzerland: from the natural border of Lake Constance, over the gentle hills of Thurgau, the diverse St. Gallen and the pre-Alpine terrain in Appenzell and Toggenburg. The blocking points Schönholzerswilen and Sittertobel were in the operational area of ​​Field Division 7 .

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 7, which had existed for around 140 years. With the army reform, the cantons ceded their military sovereignty to the Confederation.

units

  • Border Brigade 7
  • Infantry regiments 31 TG, 33 SG, 34 SG / AR / AI
  • 7th Panzer Battalion
  • 7th Artillery Regiment
  • Mobile Light Air Defense Division 7
  • Genie Regiment 7

Naming of Field Division 7 throughout history

  • 1867–1911: VII Army Division (Monday November 13, 1874), 2nd Army Corps
  • 1911–1936: 6th Division (TO 11)
  • 1936–1961: 7th Division, Grenzdivision 7 (TO 36), 4th Army Corps from 1940
  • 1962–2003: Field Division 7 (TO 61), Field Army Corps 4

Museums and military historical associations

  • The Schwyzer Fortifications Foundation has been safeguarding and maintaining the military and historical heritage in the canton of Schwyz since 2000 and has carried out tours and visits to the fortresses it has acquired. In Schindellegi , Grynau and the Etzel bunker history trails have been established.

literature

Web links

Commons : Field Division 7  - 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 4th Army Corps ( Memento from December 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ^ Limmat position of the 7th Division ( Memento from December 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ 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 .
  6. ^ 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
  7. ↑ Fortress Oberland: Field Division 7