Mechanized Division 4
The Mechanized Division 4 (Mech Div 4) was the 4th division of a traditional Northwestern Swiss association of the Swiss militia army with the main force of the troops from the canton of Solothurn . It was formed in 1875 due to the new troop order, restructured to Mech Div 4 in 1962, disbanded in 1994 and replaced by Panzer Brigade 4.
prehistory
In the course of the so-called Napoleon trade between Switzerland and France, the federal troops were mobilized in 1838: The order of the 4th division was to take up a defensive position at the Jurapass Col de Pierre Pertuis . In the Sonderbund War , the 4th Division with 16,000 men took part under Colonel Ziegler on the side of the federal troops.
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.
With the troop order of 1911, the previous eight divisions were reduced to six, making the 5th division the 4th division by 1936 and consisting of three brigades, each with two infantry regiments, the artillery brigade 4 and over 24,000 militiamen. The battalions from Solothurn came to the 2nd Division and were replaced by Lucerne and Zug battalions.
First World War
On August 3, 1914, the day after the mobilization in World War I , the 4th Division moved in under its commandant Wilhelm Schmid (1913-1918) to secure the border section west of Basel to Burg-Rämel. The Army Reserve Division was later in the canton of Bern. The division performed a total of six active duties of two to six months in the Jura and Laufental, 400 to 600 days of service per Wehrmann. During the national strike in 1918, units had to perform security services in the cities on strike of Aarau, Baden, Brugg, Basel and Zurich.
According to the Ordre de Bataille of 1917, the war inventory of the 4th Division (including Mountain Brigade 12) was: 949 officers, 24,470 NCOs and soldiers, 5855 horses, 18,031 rifles, 126 machine guns, 287 sabers, 56 artillery pieces.
With the troop order of 1936 (TO 36), the 4th division became the 5th division again. The Solothurn battalions returned from the 2nd to the 4th Division.
Oberstdivisionär Wilhelm Schmid, Commander 4th Division
4th Division staff
Field artillery, Wangen an der Aare
Guard house, Damvant / Pruntrut
Second World War
After the mobilization in the Second World War in September 1939, the 4th Division, subordinated to the 2nd Army Corps , under its commandant Emil Scherz and around 20,000 men moved behind the Border Brigade 4 from the Stein AG area to the section boundary of the Gempen Division near Liestal in the Limmat position between the 3rd division (right, east) and the Gempen division (left, west). The main line of defense was named «Pestalozzi Line» after the chief engineer of the 4th Division.
On the basis of operational order No. 13 of May 24, 1941, the remaining divisions 2, 4, 5, which had previously been deployed in the advanced position, were relocated to the central room of the Reduit by July / August 1941 . After the 4th Division was moved to the Reduit in May 1941, the reinforced 4 Border Brigade had to defend the area between the border (Stein near Säckingen and Klösterli near Kleinlützel) and the Mittelland.
The 2nd Army Corps, which had taken over most of the northern defense front of the 3rd Army Corps , was subordinated to the remaining Lucerne 8th Division, the 4th and 5th Divisions. The 4th Division under Emil Scherz was assigned the reduit section between Stillaub / Finsterwald and Stansstad / Bürgenstock with the task of smashing enemy deployments on the northern Lake Lucerne and on the southern edge of Lucerne and Kriens .
Fürigen Fortress, 4th Division
Kilchlidossen artillery plant: entrance
Seesperre Nas: Artillery plant Ober Nas
Mueterschwanderberg: Howitzer lap 01 Blattiberg Ost
Cold War
On the basis of the 1961 troop order (TO 61), the Army 61 reform was initiated. The goal was to take into account the threat of the Cold War by increasing the firepower and the mobility of the earth troops as well as modern air defense. The terrain reinforcement in the border area (neutrality protection) was expanded and a new supply organization was supposed to increase sustainability.
The three corps of the field army were renamed field army corps (FAK 1, 2, 3) in 1961 and structured uniformly. Fixed areas of responsibility (basic disposition ZEUS 1992) were assigned to the field army corps and the mountain army corps (Geb. AK 3).
The Mech Div 4 with the Motorized Infantry Regiment 11 (Mot Inf Rgt 11), the Panzer Regiments 2 and 8 (Pz Rgt 2, 8), as well as the Artillery Regiment 4 (Art Rgt 4) was "the movable element" in the FAK 2's disposition. For the form of defense, the armored formations had to conduct counter attacks against enemy forces. The tank regiments of the Mech Div 4 were equipped with the Swiss Panzer 61 and, from 1987, were the first to be retrained for the battle tank 87 "Leopard" .
The restricted areas in Adliswil , Sihlbrugg , Walterswil / Baar and the Wolhusen East and West infantry units were located in their operational area .
With Army 95 , the mechanized divisions were abolished and the armored forces were combined in the armored brigades. Panzer Brigade 4 was newly formed from the armored forces of Mech Div 4: Panzer battalions 13 and 20 with battle tanks 87 Leopard, mechanized battalion 4, self-propelled howitzer department 10, light Flab guided weapons department 4 and genie battalion 4.
With Army XXI , the tank brigades were reduced from five to two, and tank brigades 2, 3 and 4 were disbanded.
Naming of the Mech Div 4 throughout history
- 1875–1911: IV Army Division
- 1911–1936: 4th Division (battalions of 5th Division)
- 1936–1961: 4th Division, Grenzdivision 4
- 1962–1994: Mech Div 4
literature
- Anniversary publication 25 years of Mech Div 4 , 1987
- Command Mech Div 4: Divisionskurier 1971–1994. Vogt-Schild publishing house, Solothurn.
- Peter Kaiser: In the footsteps of the Mechanized Division 4. An army unit through the ages. Vogt-Schild-Druck, Solothurn 1994.
- Walter Player: The Game of Mech Div 4 . Ex Libris Verlag, Zurich 1980.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Bruno Uebel: Course of tactics and strategy and plan for the defense of Switzerland against France in 1838 . Publishing house of the literary comptoir, Zurich and Winterthur 1842
- ↑ Max Schafroth, Edgar Schumacher: 100 Years of the Swiss Wehrmacht . Hallwag Publishing House, Bern 1939
- ↑ Structure of the 6 divisions of the Swiss Army, “Ordre de Bataille” from 1917
- ^ Limmat position of the 4th division
- ↑ Fortress Oberland: Mech Div 4
- ↑ Military and Civil Protection , Canton Solothurn: Reminder plaques for Solothurn 4-er associations. Solothurn June 2011