People's Grenadier Division

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People's Grenadiers on the Adriatic Front, October 1944
Field Marshal General Model visits the advanced command post of the 246th Volksgrenadier Division deployed in and around Aachen on October 9, 1944

People Grenadier Division was the name given to infantry divisions that from 20 July 1944 by the German Wehrmacht to offset the heavy losses in the wake of the invasion of Normandy and the collapse of Army Group Center to replace the existing infantry - divisions set up with folk grenadiers or refreshed.

description

The Volksgrenadier divisions were initially set up from regular units of the front and replacement armies. In the last months of the war they were formed from Volkssturm units, alarm units and dispersed soldiers. Air force soldiers and members of the navy were combined into air force field divisions and marine infantry divisions and opposed to the Allied troops. Starting in February 1945, the 1928 class and one month later the 1929 class was called up for military service. 16-year-olds came to the front in replacement and training divisions as part of the “Heimat an die Front” campaign and, like completely untrained Hitler Youths , were supposed to protect the Reich from defeat.

background

After the heavy losses in France and on the Eastern Front in the summer of 1944 and Heinrich Himmler's appointment as commander in chief of the replacement army , so-called Volksgrenadier divisions were set up, which were subordinate to the Reichsführer SS in terms of troop law and discipline and were thus partially withdrawn from the control of the Wehrmacht leadership. This was in response to the involvement of the military in the attempted coup on July 20, 1944 . The Volksgrenadier divisions belonged de facto to the area of ​​activity of the SS Leadership Main Office , which also included the Waffen SS .

With the designation Volks- the solidarity of the armed forces and the German people should be underlined. This propaganda campaign was all the more necessary since many ethnic Germans from " Volksliste III" and "IV" had actually been drafted into these associations, who had professed "Germanness" for material reasons, in particular higher food allocations . The intense ideological influence and tough disciplinary measures were intended to guarantee the reliability of the Volksgrenadier divisions. In combat use, however, there were heavy losses due to poor training. The Volksgrenadier divisions were deployed mainly in the West at the end of 1944. In March, two Volksgrenadier divisions fought near Kaiserslautern (see Operation Undertone ).

structure

These divisions were organized differently than the infantry divisions before, because they only had six instead of the usual nine battalions , and were therefore smaller. Because the high losses were no longer fully compensated, this was also the norm for many older divisions. The Volksgrenadier divisions were poorly armed.

Outline overview

Division staff with

3 grenadier regiments each

  • Regimental headquarters / headquarters company with news, engineer and bicycle train
  • 2 battalions of 3 rifle companies each (9 light machine guns , 2 platoons with assault rifles ) and one heavy company (8 heavy machine guns, 6 medium grenade launchers , 4 light infantry guns )
  • Infantry gun company with 4 light infantry guns and 8 heavy grenade launchers.
  • Tank destroyer company with 72 anti-tank missile rifles , 18 of which as equipment reserves without operating personnel

Division fusilier company (like Grenadier-Kp, but made mobile on bicycles)

Panzerjägerabteilung with

The 2nd company was called Panzerjäger-Kp from October 1944, and Jagdpanzer -Kp from February 1945 . The equipment with assault guns was not uniform, sometimes other anti-tank guns were also used on self-propelled guns. In general, the equipment of the entire tank destroyer department was based on the available material and was very inconsistent.

Artillery regiment with

  • Stick battery
  • Light compartment with stick battery and 3 batteries of 6 field cannons or anti-tank guns 7.5 cm (partially mot.)
  • 2 light compartments with stick batteries and 2 batteries each with 6 light field howitzers 10.5 cm (partially mot.)
  • heavy compartment with stick battery and 2 batteries of 6 heavy field howitzers each 15 cm (covered)

Engineer battalion with 2 companies (part mot.)

News department (abbreviated) with

  • Telephone company (part mot.)
  • Radio company (mot.)
  • Relay supply

Field Replacement Battalion with

  • 4-5 companies
  • Division Combat School

Medical company (part mot.)

Ambulance company

Commander of the Div. Supply troops (Kodina, becomes a division supply regiment at the end of 1944) with

  • Divisionsverwaltungs-Kp (part mot.), Therein bakery and butcher train
  • 1 motor company (120 t capacity, including fuel vehicles)
  • 2 driving squads (30 t capacity, covered)
  • 1 supply company (part mot.)
  • 1 workshop company (part mot.)

Veterinary company (stringed)

Field post office (part mot.)

Lineup

  • 17 Grenadier divisions of the 29th wave (No. 541-553, 558 , 559, 561, 562) were renamed Volksgrenadier-Division after July 20, 1944, while the four divisions (No. 543, 546, 550 and 552) the numbers of destroyed and dissolved associations (nos. 78, 45, 31, and 6).
  • 6 Volksgrenadier-Divisions of the 30th wave with line-up between July 20th and August 3rd, 1944. (No. 12, 16, 19 and 36, as well as 560, 561 by renaming).
  • 25 Volksgrenadier divisions of the 32nd wave (No. 564-588) including 10 shadow divisions (31st wave) and remnants of destroyed or dissolved divisions.
  • 3 Volksgrenadier divisions with reclassification of existing units (Nos. 48, 211, 264).
  • Other grenadier or people's grenadier divisions received the numbers of dissolved divisions
    • 564th becomes 183rd Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 567th becomes 352nd People's Grenadier Division,
    • 568th becomes 256th Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 569th becomes 361st Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 570th becomes 337th Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 571st becomes 18th Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 572nd becomes 340th Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 575th becomes 272nd Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 577th becomes 47th Volksgrenadier Division ,
    • 578th becomes 212th Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 583rd becomes 62nd Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 585th becomes 167th Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 586th becomes 79th Volksgrenadier Division,
    • 588th becomes 320th Volksgrenadier Division.

At the end of 1944, the still existing Volksgrenadier divisions were reclassified into Infantry Divisions 45 .

In the last weeks of the war further, hastily gathered combat units were formed, which names as Volkswerfer- brigades or People's artillery corps received. As the term “Volksgrenadier” referred to old Prussia, associations with the names of famous Germans were formed in the final phase of the war. Clausewitz , Ferdinand von Schill , Ulrich von Hutten , Scharnhorst , Theodor Körner , Albert Leo Schlageter are the names of the last units newly established by the army. In April 1945, eventually became more of fanatical NS - officials the Freikorps Adolf Hitler formed. Most of these units, too, were armed only with old rifles , but also with automatic weapons, especially the newly developed assault rifle 44 and bazookas . Artillery , tanks , and assault guns were missing, as was pioneer equipment .

Calls

The Volksgrenadier divisions were used - with little success - mainly in the Battle of the Bulge , in the defense of the Western Wall and on the Eastern Front. Then they were used in battles within the Reich territory. Mostly without adequate training and poorly organized, they were thrown into situations that overwhelmed them. Only a few divisions were able to achieve success (such as the 12th Volksgrenadier Division ).

literature

  • Gerd R. Ueberschär , Rolf-Dieter Müller : 1945. The end of the war. Primus-Verlag, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-89678-266-5 (former title: End of War 1945 ).
  • Timm Haasler The 326th Volks-Grenadier-Division in the Ardennes Offensive 1944/45 Amazon 2017
  • Douglas E. Nash Victory Was Beyond Their Grasp: With the 272nd Volks-Grenadier Division from the Huertgen Forest to the Heart of the Reich Amazon 2008
  • Pröhuber, Karl-Heinz: Volksgrenadier-Divisionen - On the history and the personnel / economic framework conditions of the large associations deployed in the West in 1944/45 - A study . Helios-Verlag, Aachen 2017, ISBN 978-3-86933-184-3 , p. 523 .

Web links

See also