Field Division 8

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Field Army Corps 2 and Field Division 8 in the basic disposition from 1992

The Field Division 8 was a traditional militia Association of the Swiss army , the majority of Lucerne consisted troops. It was created in 1875 due to the new troop order and was subordinated to the 2nd Army Corps . It was abolished in 1911 and re-established in 1938. With Army 61 , it became Field Division 8 under Field Army Corps 2. In 2003, the canton was released from military sovereignty and dissolved.

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. In 1907 there was a change to the annual refresher course.

In 1875 the Federal Council issued the ordinance on the numbering of troop units. The extract was grouped into a battalion of four companies. Among other things, the Uri battalion was given the number 87 and with the troops of the Innerschwyz and Glarus became regiment 29, which belonged to the 15th brigade of the 8th division.

In 1887 Alphons Maximilian Pfyffer von Altishofen became the first Lucerne man to take command of the 8th Division. With the troop order of 1911, which came into force in 1912, the previous eight divisions were reduced to six, with the 8th division being abolished.

With the troop order of 1938 (TO 38), the 8th Division was re-established with the following mountain battalions of three companies each from the exodus :

  • Mountain Infantry Regiment 19: Mountain Infantry Battalion (Geb J Bat) 41 LU, 42 LU
  • Mountain Infantry Regiment 20: 45 LU (Landwehr), 47 OW 2 Kp, NW 1 Kp
  • Mountain Infantry Regiment 37: Mountain Rifle Battalion (Geb S Bat): 6 ZH, 11 ZH, 48 Zug
  • Mountain Infantry Regiment 81: 43 LU, 44 LU

Second World War

During the mobilization in World War II on September 1, 1939, the army with its three army corps obtained the 1939 mobilization list (Operation Order No. 1) with its three army corps. The command of the 2nd Army Corps with the 8th Division was stationed in Lucerne.

On the basis of Operation Order No. 2 of October 4, 1939, the Swiss Army occupied the Limmat position in order to be able to stop an attack from the north and a bypass of the Maginot Line through Switzerland. The reinforced 8th Division with the mountain infantry regiments 19, 20, 37 and 81 was deployed in the first army position between the 5th and the 1st Division / Group Dietikon, with the western section border at the mouth of the Limmat and the eastern at Rüsler / Neuenhof .

In the left section of the 8th Division of the Gebenstorfer horn was created a 350-meter-long tank barrier at the foot of which the throat of Gebenstorf ( dam site Gebenstorf should block). In the middle section, the Baden - Dättwil axis had to be closed as one of the main lines of defense of the Limmat position ( blocking point Baden ) and an advance over the plateau of the Gibstorfer Horn had to be prevented. In the right section, the Zurich Mountain Infantry Regiment 37 had to block the crossings from the Limmat Valley to the Reuss Valley between Baden and Oberrohrdorf . Between Geissberg and Ibrig in 1939/40 the blocking points Rein of the 5th Division (2nd Army Corps) and Roost of the 8th Division (3rd Army Corps) were created. At the vulnerable section border between the 2nd and 3rd Army Corps in the middle of the Aare Valley, several heavy motor cannon detachments had to cover the primary artillery of the 5th and 8th Divisions up to the north of the Endingen-Würenlingen-Villigen line.

  • 8th division in the moated castle

  • Vickers bunker, Roost lockout

  • Artillery observation tower Gibstorfer Horn

  • Infantry bunker, Baden-Eichtal

In accordance with the progress made in the construction of the fortresses in the Reduit, fortresses and the establishment 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).

On July 3, 1940 - 22 days before the Rütli report - the retreat of the 16,000 men of the 8th Division of the 2nd Army Corps under Alfred Gübeli from the Limmat position began in stages with marches to his actual Reduit area between Hohgant in the rear Emmental to Stilaub (Finsterwald ) . The Mountain Rifle Battalion 6 of the Mountain Infantry Regiment 37 arrived on September 10, 1940 in its Reduit room in Schangnau in the Emmental, where it remained with interruptions until October 1944.

After the majority of the army (divisions 1, 3, 7, 8) had withdrawn to the central area (operation plan no. 11 of July 12, 1940 as a temporary solution), the 8th Division received orders to deploy the reinforced 8th Division for defense of the central area during the period of barriers not yet built . The reinforced 8th Division formed the group "Vierwaldstättersee" with the "Kampfgruppen Stans" and "Beckenried", to which the space between Beckenried and the Lopper was assigned. In this operational area, she received the order to close the narrow sea between the noses ( Seesperre Nas ). The Lucerne construction office of the 2nd Army Corps began in 1940 with the planning and construction of the fortresses Ober Nas , Unter Nas and Fürigen, which were designed to be identical in size, armament and equipment. The Fürigen fortress, which had to block the road on Lopper, was built in record time from 1940.

Corps section border Lake Lucerne

The line-up of the Swiss Army was continually and temporarily adapted to the course of the war with corresponding operational (Op Bf) and supplementary orders. The orders to the army corps, defense front, section boundaries and troop positions were changed. The key position of the reduced entrance to Lake Lucerne was affected several times:

Unit / Op Bf no. 11 July 12, 1940 12 July 17th 1940 13 May 15, 1941 Div 19th March 1943 13 December 27, 1943
Army Corps (North) 2 4th 4th 4th 4th
Division (North) 7th 6th 6th 6th 5
Corps border   Middle of the lake Middle of the lake Rigi Middle of the lake
Army Corps (South) 2 3 2 2 2
Division (South) 8th 8th 5 5 4th

The fortresses at the Reduite entrances within sight of Lucerne with the Mühlefluh / Vitznau , Ober- and Unter Nas, Fürigen, Kilchlidossen , Klein-Durren , Mueterschwanderberg (Zingel, Drachenfluh, Blattiberg), Wissiflue and Ursprung factories formed the greatest concentration of artillery works in the Switzerland. They closed the bottle necks of the Reduite entrances between Rigi, Bürgenstock and Pilatus .

In its actual reduit area, the 8th Division and the «Combat Group Brünig» had to block the access from Central Switzerland to the Brünig Pass (Brünig barrier) in the area of ​​the fortresses Grimsel / Wallis and Lake Thun.

The defensive position led from the south-western section boundary at Hohgant , Bumbachtal ( Bumbachtal barrier , Canton Bern) over the ridge of the Schrattenfluh ( Schrattenfluh barrier ). The adjacent Flühli barrier was created in 1941–1944 by the 8th Division and, together with the Hirsegg barrier that followed, formed the strongest barrier in the division area. She locked the plain south Flühli toward Sörenberg - Glaubenbielenpass - Giswil -Brünigpass. The headquarters of the 8th Division was in the "Altibach" division command post in Giswil.

Shortly before the end of World War II, the 2nd Army Corps consisted of the 4th, 5th and 8th Divisions. These insinuations were legalized with the TO 1947.

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 fortifications in the former Reduit area of ​​the 8th Division were further expanded during the Cold War under the responsibility of Reduit Brigade 22 .

With Army 61 (TO 61) the number of divisions was increased from nine to twelve. The 2nd Army Corps became Field Army Corps 2 (FAK 2), which in a clearly defined operational area comprised Mechanized Division 4 , Field Divisions 5 and 8, Border Brigades 4 and 5 and, as corps troops, a Dragoon Regiment, a Cyclist Regiment and a Genre regiment .

Mission statement of Field Division 8 from 1984

Due to the ever shorter advance warning times , the rapid establishment of combat readiness ("rakabe") became the most important objective of the army mission statement, especially for militia troops. Field Division 8 developed the basics for this and had the individual activities checked 1: 1 under realistic framework conditions in a large-scale test before the final version of the “Rakabe” makeshift was drawn up for the troops.

  • 1. Rapid implementation of war mobilization and immediate preparation of combat readiness
  • 2. Realistic, terrain-based knowledge of the enemy's possibilities, their strengths and weaknesses
  • 3. Active and persistent news gathering, quick orientation of those directly interested
  • 4. Dynamic and aggressive warfare at all levels; Decisive use of reserves, simple and flexible issuing of commands
  • 5. Level-appropriate mastery of combined arms combat, safe operation and skilful use of weapons
  • 6. Make the greatest possible use of the mobility of the fire and the possibilities with regard to destruction, mines and obstacles
  • 7. Hitting the opponent in the full depth and breadth of his attack
  • 8. Close cooperation within the framework of overall defense, the territorial organization and with the fixed troops
  • 9. Permanent security of connections, combat autonomy and personal and material readiness for action
  • 10. Creation and maintenance of a discipline and a will to defend themselves, which are characterized by: independence and subordination, self-responsibility and a sense of community, self-confidence and camaraderie, self-criticism and trust, physical and mental resilience.

In the area where Field Division 8 was deployed, the following areas were blocked: Aarburg, Däniken, Dicki, Gunzgen, Hägendorf, Langmattrain, Niederbuchsiten, Walterswil, Winznau

With Army 95 , a new repetition course (WK) rhythm was introduced and there was a smooth transition to Army XXI. The field army corps 2 consisted of the field divisions 5 and 8, the tank brigade 4 (previously mechanized division 4), corps troops each from a cyclist and artillery regiment as combat units and from a genius, fortress and transmission regiment each for the leadership and support of the territorial division as a logistic association, the entire logistics for the army corps.

With Army XXI , all army corps and divisions were dissolved, and with it Field Division 8. With the army reform, the cantons ceded their military sovereignty to the Confederation.

Naming of Field Division 8 throughout history

  • 1875–1890: VIII Army Division (Monday November 13, 1874), 2nd Army Corps
  • 1891–1911: 8th division
  • 1911: repealed (TO 11)
  • 1938–1961: 8th Division (TO 38), in the Reduit 3rd Army Corps from July 1940
  • 1961–2003: Field Division 8 (TO 61), Field Army Corps 2

literature

  • Command Field Division 8 (Ed.): 50 Years of Field Division 8 1938-1988 . Verlag Kommando der F Div 8, Kriens 1988.
  • Field Division 8 information group, Hermann Suter et al .: Defilee Field Division 8. March 27, 1981 in the picture. Publishing group Keller / Maihof AG, Lucerne 1981.
  • Walter Lüem et al .: The position of the Limmat in World War II , Baden-Verlag, Baden 1997, ISBN 3-85545-105-2 .
  • Heinz Hürzeler, Bruno Bommeli: The 8th Division in the Réduit: the Second World War in the Entlebuch, Waldemme, Schrattenflue area. Publisher of the Swiss Society for Military History Study Trips GMS, Wettingen 2006
  • Albert Imfeld et al .: Giswil - Traces of the Second World War. Volume 11 from the Giswil history book series. Local History Association, Giswil 2011
  • Otto Reinhard: War Mobilization and War Years 1939-1945 . Documentary. Historical Association Obwalden 2011.
  • Military monuments in the cantons of Nidwalden, Obwalden and Lucerne, DDPS 2001
  • Gregor Bättig et al .: The defense efforts in the Nidwalden area 1935-1995 , a contribution to the history of Nidwalden. 150 years of Nidwalden Officers' Association, 1857–2007. Aktiv Verlag Stans 2009, ISBN 3-909191-36-3 .
  • Edmund Müller: Our large associations. Die Felddivision 8 , Allgemeine Schweizerische Militärzeitschrift (ASMZ), Volume 153, Issue 5, 1987.

Web links

Commons : Field Division 8  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Uri Battalion 87
  2. ↑ Ordre de bataille Operation Order No. 4, 1940 ( Memento of September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ 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 .
  4. ↑ Hansjakob Burkhardt: Fortification "Seesperre Nas" and Swiss Navy on Lake Lucerne . Nidwalden Museum, Stans 2005
  5. ↑ Jost Hammer, Peter Ottiger: Rapid combat readiness ("Rakabe"). Felddivision 8, 1987. Allgemeine Schweizerische Militärzeitschrift (ASMZ), Volume 153, Issue 5, 1987
  6. ↑ Edmund Müller 1987, see web links
  7. ↑ Fortress Oberland: Field Division 8
  8. ↑ Giswil Local History Association: Traces of the Second World War ( Memento from December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Aktiv Verlag: The military efforts in the Nidwalden area 1935–1995 ( Memento from July 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive )