Magdeburg Pioneer Battalion No. 4

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The Magdeburgische Engineer Battalion 4 was in Magdeburg stationed pioneer - battalion .

history

Prussia / German Empire

The unit was formed in Prussia on March 27, 1816 as one of the New Prussian Pioneer Battalion by the highest cabinet order from the 4th and 6th Field Pioneer Company as the 6th Pioneer Department (Magdeburg). The locations were initially Wesel and Cologne . From March 30, 1818, the unit was then referred to as the 4th Pioneer Department (Magdeb.) . From 1820 the sole location was Cologne.

In 1833 Erfurt became the new location of the unit. Here on July 28, 1859, the company was expanded to three companies .

former pioneer barracks in 2019

On July 4th, 1860, the unit was stationed as Magdeburg Pioneer Battalion No. 4 in Magdeburg, which ultimately remained the unit's garrison until 1945 . From October 1, 1900, the location was in the Magdeburg Pioneer Barracks , which was later renamed the Mudra Barracks .

From May 14 to 19, 1900, the 2nd company of the battalion built the pioneer tunnel that is still preserved today as part of an exercise in the Selketal near Alexisbad .

Weimar Republic

When the Reichswehr was formed, it was set up as the 4th (Prussian) Pioneer Battalion in Magdeburg. The unit was subordinate to the 4th Division in Dresden .

Between 1928 and 1932 the bridge column was motorized.

Nazi era and World War II

With the upgrade of the Armed Forces led to the formation of two additional battalions from the battalion 4. The second company , by then in the Magdeburg Mudra barracks stationed, was (stationed in the engineer battalion Riesa A Pirna ). The 3rd Company was assigned to the Pioneer Battalion Riesa B and stationed first in Riesa , then in Weißenfels . The units remaining in Magdeburg were now called Pioneer Battalion Magdeburg and were housed in the Mudra barracks , the Golz barracks and the Beseler barracks . The unit was then placed under the 13th Infantry Division . As such, the battalion would have had to wear No. 13. In order to preserve the tradition, however, the designation Pioneer Battalion No. 4 was retained. For this, the Pioneer Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division (the former Pioneer Battalion Riesa B) carried the number 13.

Sudetenland

During the occupation of the Sudetenland during the Sudeten crisis in 1938, the pioneer battalion was used to build temporary wooden bridges. The Czechoslovak Army had blown up various bridges.

Poland

The engineer battalion was also involved in the attack on Poland in September 1939. First from 3 to 6 September on the Warthe line and the Widawka position, then from 7 to 18 September in the Radom area . From October 1, the battalion took part in the fighting near the Vistula . Work on the Vistula bridges and the securing of bridgeheads at Puławy and Dęblin took place here . Then the battalion came to the Westerwald .

France

From here, in May 1940, the battalion took part in the campaign in the west . After deployment at the border with Luxembourg , the battalion broke through to the English Channel from May 14th to 24th . This was followed by missions on the Somme , in the battles for Péronne and Corbie . From May 28 to June 1, the battalion was involved in the Battle of Dunkirk . It was then moved to the area south of Arras , from where the Weygand Line was broken from June 7th to 10th . From June 11th to the armistice on June 25th, the battalion advanced towards the Alps . On July 5, the battalion began to move to the home garrison, which was reached on July 10. However, the troops withdrew again on August 30, 1940. There was no further transfer to the home garrison. On November 1st, the division was relocated to Romania . The battalion was renamed Lehr-Pionier-Bataillon 4 . After the division was relocated in May 1941, it became Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon 4 , as the division had meanwhile been reclassified as a whole to a Panzer division .

Soviet Union

The battalion was then involved in the preparation and implementation of the German attack on the Soviet Union . As part of the preparation, other parts of the Wehrmacht were trained in mine hunting etc. The battalion's participation in the attack on Dnepropetrovsk then followed . On August 25, 1941, a raft bridge that had only been partially blown up was made passable for vehicles up to 3 tons within a few hours. In September the battalion was deployed away from its own division. Instead of in the Szula section , the battalion had already advanced to the Oriol and there, with heavy losses, had built a wooden bridge over the river. In the course of further fighting, the loss of life became so great that the 3rd Company was disbanded by order of November 5th and divided between the other two companies. In the winter of 1941/42 the battalion operated a forward pioneer material store on the Mius between the villages of Ryasnij and Pokrovkoje . The summer offensive began on June 22, 1942. The battalion consisted of just one company. The area of ​​application was the region around the Kuban . In February and March 1943 the battalion was divided between the combat groups Ratzel (100 men) and Brux (126 men). The area of ​​operation was the region on the Sea of ​​Azov . On March 3, 1943, the battalion's trench strength was reported to be 100 men. A transfer to Crimea followed in May . In August 1944, the battalion was deployed south of Kishinau and was then considered missing from August 22nd. The remnants of the battalion were then collected at the Örkény military training area , 50 km south of Budapest in Hungary and reorganized with the entire division. In March 1945 the battalion was officially renamed to Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon Feldherrnhalle 2 . In practice, the renaming is likely to have had little meaning. In addition to Germany's near surrender , another Panzer Pioneer Battalion was accidentally renamed accordingly.

Defensive battles in the empire

Before the battalion in March in Panzer Engineer Battalion Feldherrenhalle 2 was renamed, it came first to refresh existing units. Mainly 16 to 18 year old boys around Magdeburg who had previously received insufficient training in a military training camp were drafted. Most of these young men had previously been assigned to the Reich Labor Service to build trenches and tank trenches. After the battalion in Holzminden was insufficiently equipped, it was relocated to the area around Herford. However, the order for action came only when the front line was already close to Herford. The battalion was overtaken by the American tanks that night.

Commanders

people

Known members of the battalion were:

literature

  • Günter Adlung, Axel Kühling, Katja Jerochina: The Magdeburg Regiments 1666 to 1900 Uniforms, Standards and History in Magdeburg City Witness (n) , Issue 11, Magdeburg 2006, ISBN 3-935831-31-5 .
  • Kgl. Prussia. Magdeburgisches Pionier-Battalion No. 4 1914-1918 (=  From Germany's great times. Formerly Prussian troops . Volume 79 ). Sporn, Zeulenroda (Thuringia) 1935 ( digitized version of the Württemberg State Library ).
  • Georg Tessin : German associations and troops, 1918–1939. Old army. Volunteer associations. Reichswehr. Army. Air force. National Police . Edited on the basis of the documents of the Federal Archives-Military Archives; published with the support of the Federal Archives and the Defense Research Working Group . Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1974, ISBN 3-7648-1000-9 , p. 202 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Axel and Volker Mothes: Harzer Klippen- & Stiegenwelt, Volume I, Stiegenbuchverlag Halle (Saale) 2011, page 12