Mountain Division 12
Map with all coordinates: 
The Mountain Division 12 (Geb Div 12) was a 1962 with the Army 61 - rather than the full 12 Mountain Brigade - newly created division of the Swiss Army for use in the mountains and as the eastern pillar (Southeastern Switzerland) of the Mountain Army Corps 3 . It was dissolved in 2003 together with Territorial Brigade 12 ( Ter Br 12) and transferred to Mountain Infantry Brigade 12 (Geb Inf Br 12). The division's troops came from the cantons of Graubünden , Sankt Gallen , Glarus and Zurich .
assignment
The Mountain Division 12 had the basic task of preventing enemy attacks in or through their area from the national border, as well as intercepting enemy attacks in key areas , destroying invaded enemies and maintaining the key areas for a long time. They had to block the eastern flank of the Gotthard , keep the connection to the fortress brigade 13 (Fest Br 13), protect the national road N13 (A13) ( San Bernardino axis ) and be ready as a reserve for a field division.
The order included covering the back and flanks of a field army corps as well as the sustainable protection of important communications and military and civil infrastructure.
The Zurich Mountain Infantry Regiment 37 of Mountain Division 12 was the first military unit to be entrusted with a subsidiary security mission based on a Federal Council resolution in October 1998 : in February 1999 it completed this with embassy guarding in Geneva.
Type of threat and type of use
For an enemy, the Swiss Alpine region was less of a primary operational objective than a bypass area for the air force or to secure a north-south connection during an advance in a westward direction. The mountain division had to be able to fend off threats from the south, east and north by helping to reinforce the combat brigades in their area.
Operational area
The operational area of the reinforced division stretched from the state border 120 km in the east-west axis and 70 km in the north-south axis and covered a large part of the canton of Graubünden . The five incidence axes Martina , Müstair , Campocologno , Castasegna and Splügenpass lead from the border area into the center of the canton. With the exception of the Engadin axis , all connections run along the San Bernardino axis , which opened in 1967, together with access to the Lint plain and the central Alpine region. The heavily structured, partly forest-covered area with numerous narrow spaces and altitudes between 600 and 2500 m required a defensive battle under rapidly changing weather conditions, offered numerous blocking options and protection from enemy mass fire. With the destruction of the division's permanent explosive objects, a total breach length of 3500 m with a technical delay value of 250 days was achieved.
Artillery works and blocking points (of national importance with *)
- Artillery Works Crestawald A 7833 ⊙
- Rothenbrunnen 1207 * ⊙
- Via Mala / Reischen 1209 ⊙
- Sufers / Crestawald 1211 * / 1201 ⊙
- Mulegns 1225 ⊙
- Julier Pass 1228 * ⊙
- Laret 1237 ⊙
- Bergünerstein 1243 ⊙
- Albula Pass 1245 ⊙
- Flüelapass 1249 ⊙
- St. Antönien - Gadenstätt-Stelserberg 1284 ⊙
Warfare
In addition to a highly mechanized thrust by the enemy through valleys, over alpine passes and forest roads, helicopters and airborne operations were a great danger. The infantry strong mountain division had to be very agile in order to be able to concentrate forces and resources at critical points by means of combat groups.
Structure (Ordre de Bataille) of the Mountain Division 12
- Mountain Infantry Regiment 35 (St. Gallen, Glarus): Geb Inf Bat 35, Gebirgsfüsilierbataillone 8 SG, 85 GL, 112 SG
- Mountain Infantry Regiment 36 (Graubünden): Geb Inf Bat 36, Gebirgsfüsilierbataillone 91, 92, 93
- Mountain Infantry Regiment 37 (Zurich): Geb Inf Bat 37, Gebirgsschützenbataillone 6 , 10, 11
- Artillery regiments 12, 16 (combined in one regiment in 1979)
- Transmission, training department 12
- Genie Battalion 12
- Mobile light anti-aircraft (Flab) department 12
- Reconnaissance Battalion (1966–1979) 12
- Material and Supply Battalion 12 (incorporated into Territorial Zone 3 in 1977)
- Motor Transport Department 12 (incorporated into Territorial Zone 3 in 1979)
- Division Staff Battalion 12 (since 1979)
- Dragoon Company (dissolved in 1979)
- Anti-tank battalion 12
- Mountain Medical Department 12 (dissolved in 1983, each mountain infantry regiment received a medical company)
The division had its own military music formation, the game of Gebirgs-Division 12 .
education
In order to be able to move around in mountainous terrain at any time, camouflage, mountain fighting and hunting combat formed the focus of the training. The mountain training on a broad basis formed the basis of the mountain combat training. In the newly created Mountain Army Corps 3, training in the large unit was taken by the hand and the previous mandatory and voluntary mountain training was further promoted. The Mountain Division 12 organized a voluntary summer and winter division competition in Flims every year .
literature
- Jon Andri Tgetgel (Ed.): 25 years Geb Div 12 . Festschrift. Gasser Printing and Publishing, Chur 1987.
- Information Group Staff Geb Div 12: Our Large Associations - The Mountain Division 12 . General Swiss military magazine ASMZ, issue 3, 1987.
- Valentino Crameri: The Mountain Division 12. History of the Mountain Division 12 from its foundation in 1962 to the turn of the millennium . Publisher Gasser, Chur 1999.
- Valentino Crameri: The last courier 12th illustrated book on the farewell of the mountain division 12 . Verlag Kommando Gebirgsdivision 12, Chur 2003.
- Andres Stäbler: The fortifications of the Albula Pass . The barrier on the Albula Pass as part of the Swiss defense concept during World War 1 and 2 and the Cold War. SVA 2007.
Web links
- Military Museum St. Luzisteig: The history of the large army units (Mountain and Border Brigade 12, Sargans Fortress and Fortress Brigade 13, Mountain Division 12, Territorial Zone and Territorial Brigade 23)
- Glarner Officers Society GOG of January 29, 2004: Divisonnaire a D Valentino Crameri on the history of the Mountain Division 12
- Homepage of the PONTE Foundation of the Gebirgs-Division 12 to support their soldiers
Individual evidence
- ↑ NZZ of November 29, 2003: Adoption of the Graubünden associations
- ^ Officer Society Glarus: The former commandant Valentino Crameri on the mountain division 12 ( Memento of the original from April 2, 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.
- ↑ Silvio Keller, Maurice Lovisa, Thomas Bitterli: Military-historical monuments in the canton of Graubünden, VBS 2003
- ↑ ETH Library: The Mountain Division 12
