Das Reich. Waffen-SS Armoured Elite

98 Pages·2003·41.822 MB·English

by  Michael Sharpe

----SPEARHEAD.a.-
DAS REICH
Waffen-SS Armoured Elite
AnotherSovietattackhasbeenstoppedinitstracks.
Waffen-SSartilleryobservers,wearingcleanloose
fittingsnowcamouflagecoverallsovertheirparkas,
carefullystudytheenemylinesthroughtheirstereo
telescope.AnynewmovementbytheSovietswillresult
inanotherfireordertobringdownartilleryfireonthe
enemy'spositions.
~SPEARHEAD.a.-
leu
DAS
Waffen-SS Armoured Elite
Acknowledgements Firstpublished 2003
Michael Sharpe wrote the book, Brian
ISBN071102975X
Davis provided the black&. white photos.
Thanksfor the colour re-enactment All rightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans
material toWW2 Living HistoryGroup electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,recordingorbyanyinformationstorageandretrieval
system,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
SS/Pz. Gren. Regt. 3 Deutschland,
9/Kompanie, New England, USA, ©CompendiumPublishing,2003
particularly Brian Clinton (Gunther
PublishedbyIanAllanLtd
Muller). MarkFranklin did the mapsand
Donald Sommerville edited. animprintofIanAllanPublishingLtd,Hersham,SurreyKT124RG
PrintedbyIanAllanPrintingLtd,Hersham,SurreyKT124RG
Code:0306/B
Abbreviations
AC Armoured car BritishLibraryCataloguingin PublicationData
APC Annouredpersonnelcarrier ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritish Library
Arty Artillery Note:InternetsiteinformationprovidedintheReferencesectionwascorrectwhenprovidedbythe
Atk Anti-tank author.Thepublishercanacceptnoresponsibilityforthisinformationbecomingincorrect.
Bn Battalion
BdE BefehJshaberdesErsatzheeres 55Ranks Waffen-SSfonnations/unitstructure
(CommanderofReplacement Mannschaften(Enlistedmen) AbteilungSimilartoabattalion,a
Army) SS-Schutze formationofcombinedunitsdesignedto
Engr Engineer SS-Oberschutze beindependentonthebattlefield.
Hy Heavy SS-Sturmmann Annee(army)ComprisedofseveralKorps,
leFH leichteFeldhaubitze SS-Rottenfiihrer plusanyindependentformations,the
(lightfield gun) SS-Stabsrottenfiihrer Armeeoperatedonthestrategiclevel.
Lt Lieutenant; light TheonlyWaffen-SSArmeewasSixth
MC Motorcycle UnteroffiziereobnePortepee SSPanzerArmy.
Mor Mortar (JuniorNCOs) Aufklanmg(reconnaissance)Waffen-SS
Mot Motorised SS-Unterscharfuhrer recceunitswerewell-armedandhadtwo
NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutsche SS-Standartenjunker coysofACs,plusseveralMCcoysanda
Arbeiterpartei(Naziparty) motorisedheavyweaponscoy.
OKW OberkommandoderWehnnacht UnteroffizieremitPortepee Bataillon(battalion)Tacticalunitofthreeor
OKH OberkommandodesHeeres (SeniorNCOs) moreKompanien,sometimeswith
Pak Panzerabwehrkanone SS-Oberscharfiihrer additionallugeandastrengthof
(anti-tankgun) SS-Hauptscharfiihrer between500-1,000soldiers.
PzBefWag Panzerbefehlswagen SS-Sturmscharfiihrer Batterie(battery)Agroupofsupport
(armdcomdvehicle) weaponsoperatingasaunit.
pzGr Panzergrenadier Offiziere(CommissionedOfficers) BrigadeIndependentformation,usuallyof
PzJr Panzerjager SS-Untersturmfiihrer 1-7,000soldiers.MostWaffen-SS
PzKpfw Panzerkampfwagen(tank) SS-Obersturmfiihrer brigadesand/orlegionswereforeign
RHQ Regimental HQ SS-Hauptsturmfiihrer volunteerunitsofvaryingsizeandthus
SA Sturmabteilung SS-Sturmbannfiihrer notrelevanttoDasReich.
SP Self-propelled SS-Obersturmbannfiihrer DivisionCombinationofseveralregiments
SPW SchutzenPanzerWagen(APe) SS-Standartenfiihrer andAbteiJungen,withmanpowerof
SS Schutzstaffel SS-BrigadefiihrerundGeneralmajor anythingbetween10-21,000soldiers.
SS-VT SS-Verfiigungstruppe derWaffen-SS Waffen-SSpanzerdivisionstendedto
(militarisedtroops) SS-GruppenfiihrerundGeneralleutnant havealargecomplement.
Tk Tank derWaffen-SS Feldersatz(fieldreplacement)When
WH WehrmachtHeer(asin SS-ObergruppenfiihrerundGeneralder possible,Waffen-SSdivisionswouldhave
carandMCnumberplates) Waffen-SS anErsatz,orreplacementformation,
SS-Oberstgruppenfiihrerund ofteninGermany,whichfednewtroops
Dates GeneraloberstderWaffen-SS tothefrontlineunits.
20/7/54 20July1954 Reichsfiihrer-SS Feldpostamt(FPA)Militarypostoffice.
CONTENTS
Origins and History 6
Ready forWar 10
InAction 14
Insignia, Clothing and Equipment 66
People 84
Assessment 90
Reference 92
Index 96
AakAAunitsusuallyhadamixtureof (bakery),Fleischerei(butcher),newsand andtheKrankenkraftwagen(motorised
towedheavy88mm,motorisedmed QMunits. ambulance)section.
37mmandIt20mmquadAAguns. Panzer(armour)Tankbattalionswere Stab(staff)Headquartersunitcomprising
Kolonne(column)An independent organisedintocompanies,withoneor officerswhowouldbeassignedtoa
=
transportatioriunit,varying insize, morecommand(Befeh~ tanksper specificrolesuchas:la operations;
= =
transportingequipmentorsuppliessuch company,and Werkstatt(workshop/ Ib supply&transport;Ie intelligence;
asabridgecolumnoralightinfantry repair)andsupplycompaniesallocatedto Id=training;lIa=personnelmatters,
column (whichconsistedofanumberof eachregiment.EachPzDivhadattached officers;lib=personnelmatters,men;
= =
horse-drawnvehiclescapableof adeep-maintenanceKraftfahrzeug III judgeadvocate;IVa administration;
= =
transportingafixedtonnage). detachment,includingaworkshop, IVb medical;V motortransport.
Kommando(detachment)Tacticalmilitary weaponsandasparesunit. DivHQincludedtheCO,plusstaffofficers,
formationofindeterminatesize. Panzerjager'(anti-tank)APzJgunitusually cartographers(Kartenstelle),asignals
Kompanie(company)Tacticalunitofthree containedamixtureofmotorisedand unit,anMPunit(Fe/dgendarmerie),plus
ormoreluge;withastrengthof stationaryanti-tankweapons. anescortforceandtransportteam.
100-200soldiers. Pionier(assaultengineers)Inadditionto Trupp(troop)Tactical,sometimes
Korps(corps)IdeallytheWaffen-5Scorps buildingbridgesandfortifications,Pionier independent,unitof10-20men.
(formedfrom1943)comprisedtwoor troopsweretrainedasassaulttroops, Werfer(mortar)ComparedtoAllied
moredivisions,plusseveralattached specialisinginurbanfightingand formations,Germanunitsweremuch
Abtei/ungen,andtheHQstaff.Although weaponslikeflamethrowersandsatchel betterarmedwithmortars.Adivisional
theI5SPanzerKorpswasthemodel, charges.Usuallysplitintoanarmoured Werlerunittypicallyhadthreebatteriesof
manpowershortagesmeantthatthesize company,severalPionierandspecial six150mmtowedmortarsandabattery
andqualityofeachvaried. companiessuchasBriicken(bridging) ofsix210mmtowedmortars.After1943
Nachrichten(signals)Asignalsunit, andassaultboat. sixbattalionsofSSNebeltruppen
comprisedFemsprech(telephone),Funk RegimentComprisingseveralBataillone,with (specialisedrocketlaunchertroops)were
(radio)andsupplyunits. anywherebetween2-6,000men. raisedandequippedwithNebe/werler
NachschubbuppeSupplytroops,which Sanitiitstnlppe(medicaltroops)These (amulti-barrelledrocketlauncher).
indudednon-combatantssuchasthe includedtheFe/d/azarett(fieldhospital lug(platoon;pluralZiige)Atacticalunitof
veterinaryunit,theBackerei-Kompanie unit),com~rising theSanitatscompanies 30-40soldiers.
ORIGINS & HISTORY
Fame and infamyin equal measuresurround the2nd 55 PanzerDivision DasReich,the
mostdecorated ofallWorldWarII German armed units.With the 1st55 PanzerDivision
(Leibstandarte AdolfHitler), 12th 55 Panzer Division (Hitler}ugend) and the 3rd 5S
PanzerDivision (Totenkopf), DasReichformed an elitecore ofhighly-skilled,motivated
soldiers within theWaffen-55 that won the deserved plaudits of both friend and foe on
the battlefieldsofEurope,and equallydeserved condemnationforitsactionsoutsidethe
sphere of military operations. No fewerthan 69 Knight's (ross recipients fought in the
ranksofDasReichduringthefiveandahalfyearsofwar,testimony,ifanywereneeded,
totheelitestatusofthismuch-vaunteddivision.Thehistoryofthedivisionwasbothbrief
and spectacular, but with the other elite Waffen-55 divisions, Das Reich has left an
indelible markon the historyofarms,both through theferocityofitsactionsandforthe
scale of its achievements. Measure for measure they are unequalled.This title in the
Spearhead series therefore looks at the career of the 2nd 55 Panzer Division, its
antecedentsand related units,in peacetime and in war.
The story is all the more remarkable when one considersthat priorto October1939
no formal 55 Division existed.As with allWaffen-55 units,the elementsthat coalesced
to form 2nd 55 Panzer in 1941 were fostered in the violent political scene of 1920s
Germany, by an upstart political party (the Nazi N5DAP) seeking to defend itselffrom
Right:Pre-warphotographofmenfromGermania
duringatrainingmarch.TheSSStandarten
(regiments)GermaniaandDeutschlandwerethe
mainconstituentelementsoftheDasReichDivision.
Bothwerecreatedinthemid-1930saftertheNazis
cametopower.
6
ORIGINS & HISTORY
attacks byrival groups and, in turn, harassopponents.The rise ofthe partythrough fair Above:'EyesRight!'The2ndCompanyof
meansandfoul,andthetransformationofthesepolitical protection groups,iscovered in SSRegimentDeutschlandsalutes
more detail in the companion volume in this series, Spearhead5: LeibstandarteAdolf SS-ObersturmbannflihrerKepplerandcompany
commander(andlaterDasReichcommander)
Hitler. Suffice to say that by 1930, the Schutzstaffel (55) had been formalised as a
SS-HauptsturmflihrerWilliBittrich,bothofwhose
personal bodyguard unit for Hitler under the leadership of the ambitious Heinrich
headsandupperbodiesarecutoffinthisphotograph.
Himmler,with detachments in mostofthe main German cities.There had been aname
Theregimentalbandplayson.
change,too,to Politische Bereitschaften (Political Stand-bydetachments) which had the
unofficial statusofpolicesquads.
Soon after the Machtergreifung (seizure of power) in January 1933 the NSDAP
leaders set about consolidating their hold on power, using the Allgemeine (general)
branchofthe55,theSAandtheStahlhelm,which wereall authorisedtoactasauxiliary
police units, to cast along shadow over Germany.The Politische Bereitschaften were
expanded in the principal municipalities,and rapidly anytrace ofopposition to the self
proclaimed Nazi'revolution'was eradicated.
The ruthlessness of such measures was soon graphically demonstrated. Hitler had
recognised as early as 1922 the threatthat laywithin the ranks ofthe SA membership
(this in part prompted him to form theAdolf HitlerShockTroop that becamethe 1st55
Panzer Division LeibstandarteAdolfHitler). Bythe end of 1933 SA membership stood
at approximately 3 million, dwarfing the 50,000-strong fledgling Schutzstaffel. The
brown-shirted 5A regarded itself as the true strong arm of the party, and under Ernst
R6hm, aclose friend of the Nazi leader, its members had become asignificant and
increasinglybelligerentthreatto Hitler'sdominanceofthe party. Furthermore,they had
been encouraged to believe thatthey would replace the German Army as the country's
national defence force. The delicate political balance on which the Nazis were still
dependentcould,ofcourse,countenancenosuchthreattothestatusquoand inJanuary
1934,ayearafterhisappointmenttopower,Hitlerused55murdersquadstodecapitate
the SAduringthe infamous'Nightofthe Long Knives'.
7
5PEARHEAD: DASREICH
REGIMENT Deutschland
SS-StandarteDeutschland,February1935
Priortothis event,in October1933,somenine monthsafterHitler'sappointmenttothe
HQCompany
Chancellorship, a group of 35 men selected from each of the 5tandarten of the
3xSS-Sturmbanneachof3xInfantrySturme,
<
1xSignalsPlatoon,1xMG-Sturm Allgemeine-55 waschosen toform the cadreofthe 1stBattalion ofanew55 regiment.
55MotorcycleSturm These men were posted to the Munich Regimentofthe Bavarian state police and,after
SSTrenchmortarSturm
SSArmouredCarPlatoon selection, began officer training at the 55 academy at BadTolz.They, together with a
3xMotorisedsupplycolumns group of NCOs, formed the nucleus around which theWaffen-55 and Das Reich were
Band
built.
Unchallenged by the 5A after the savage purge, during the mid-1930s the 55
underwent arapid expansion, under which the 55 platoons within the Munich police
grew into the Politische Bereitschaft Munich, with a strength in mid-1934 of three
infantrycompanies,onemachine-gun companyand an infantry-gun company. Fromthis
unitwe can tracethe lineageofthe
Regiment Deutschland, one of the
two main formations from which
the 2nd 55 Panzerwas created.
Under orders from Himmler,
from late 1934 the 55-Politische
Bereitschaften wereformalised into
thethree 5tandarten (regiments) of
theVerfOgungstruppe (AdolfHitler,
Deutschland and Germania) to
allow for more effective
administration, and to furthersteps
toward fulfilling Hitler's ambitions
for the 55. As part of this
restructuring, in October the
Munich unit was amalgamated
with two similar formations
into 5tandarte 1 of the
55-VerfOgungstruppe (55 I.VT),
becoming 1st Battalion (1./55
I.VT).(Although itwasoriginallyto
have been the 1st 55 Regiment,
Hitler later decreed that the
Leibstandarte AdolfHitlerwas not
to be included in the numbering
sequencefor55units,toemphasise
that it was to remain instead his
personal domain.)
Above:DeutschlandcommanderSS-Standartenftihrer An NCO cadre was selected around which the sub-units of 5tandarte 1 were
FelixSteinertakesthesaluteofhisregimentin organised along military lines. But although the newly formed regiment had all the
Kufstein,March1938. bearing ofamilitaryunit,and nominal administration passed from the Nazi partytothe
7th InfantryDivision,itwasnotyetconsideredto bearegularArmyunit.All thesameit
wasstationed inregularbarracksaccommodation,withthebattaliontaking upresidence
in the quarters at Munich Freimann in which the regimental headquarters was
established in 1939.
At the same time, the 4th Battalion, which to all intents and purposes was the
renamed Politische Bereitschaft WOrttemberg, was formalised and quartered at
Ellwangen barracks. The men were predominantly southern Germans from Nazi
strongholds in Bavaria andWOrttemberg.
8
ORIGINS & HISTORY
During the Reichsparteitag celebrations of 1934Standarte 1. SS-VT was given the SS-Sfandat1e2.VTGennania,Odober1934
title Deutschlandand the constituent battalions received colours. Later an honour cuff 3xSturmbann
band bearingthesamelegend wasawarded,and a2nd Battaliontaken onstrength and 1xTrenchmortarSturm
1xMotorcycleSturm
quartered in IngolstadtLandstrasse.Thiswascomprised ofthe HilfswerkSchleissheim,(a
groupofexpatriateAustrian Nazi volunteers) which had been drafted intothe SS-VT at asatFebruary1935
the suggestion of Himmler to circumvent adiplomatic clash with the Italian dictator 3xSS-Sturmbann
eachof3xInfantryStiirme,
Mussolini over the secondment of foreign volunteers to the German forces.The 3rd 1xSignalsPlatoon,1xMG-Sturmx3
Battalion wasnotformallyestablished untilJuly 1936atthe Munich Freimann barracks, 55MotofcydeSturm
around acadre of volunteers and transferees from the 1stand the 4th Battalions, and 55TrenchmortarSturm
55Band
recruits drawn mainlyfromWurttemberg and Bavaria.
3xMotorisedsupplycolumns
In October 1936 SS-Sturmbann N (Nurnberg) was formed around a cadre from
SS-LeibstandarteAdolfHitlerandSS-StandarteDeutschland.Ittookpartintheannexation
ofAustria asapartofSS-Standarte Deutschland. Itwasthen converted intoamotorcycle
battalion in November1938and redesignated SS-Kradschutzen-Bataillon N.
REGIMENT Germania
The second ofthe two principal units ofthe future Das Reich was Regiment Germania,
formedasSS-Standarte3.1VTin 1934.Itwasrenamed SS-Standarte2.1VTwhen Hitler
ordered that SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler would not be included in the numbering
sequence. In September 1936, SS-Standarte Germania, then stationed in Hamburg,
received its colour standard at the Reichsparteitag in Nuremberg. It was organised
formallyasaregimenton 1Octoberofthatyear,withthreeinfantrybattalionsandthree
heavyweaponscompanies.Although these unitswere administeredtogether,theyrarely
coalesced and lacked both acommon training schedule and true cohesion. Even so the
regiment played arole in the annexation ofAustria, was responsible for security during
Mussolini's subsequent visit to Germany, and also took part in the annexation of
Sudetenland underdetachmenttotheArmy. Germanialaterserved asaguard regiment
in Prague, asWach-Regiment des Reichsprotektors von Bohmen und Mahren, until July
1939.Forthe invasion ofPoland itwas attached to FourteenthArmyandfollowing that
campaign formed partofthe SS-Verfugungstruppe Division.
Bytheendof1936thetwocoreunitsoftheSS-VT- andthusDasReich- hadbeen
established.Atthistimethey had acombined nominal strength of5,040.To these were
later added further battalions of pioneer, artillery and signals troops and, after the
annexation ofAustria,the 3,500 men ofthe DerFuhrerRegiment (see below).Together Below:Germaniamarchpastledbytheregimental
with the separate wholly separate Leibstandarte Regiment (2,600 troops), and the band.Pre-warphotographtakeninHamburg.
concentration camp guards of the Totenkopfverbande (3,500 troops),
these regiments comprised the armed strength ofthe 55.
REGIMENT DerFuhrer
Completing the triumvirate of SS-VT units was the SS-Standarte Der
Fuhrer. It was formed as SS-Standarte 3.1VT inVienna in March 1938,
following theannexation ofAustria,ofAustrian volunteersaround acadre
from SS-Standarte Deutschland. At the Reichsparteitag in Nuremberg in
1938, while still stationed inVienna, it was renamed SS-Standarte Der
Fuhrer and received its colour standard. Command of this unit was
temporarily transferred to the Army during the mobilisation in October
1938.Ittookpartintheoccupation ofCzechoslovakia and laterserved as
aguard regiment in Prague,asWach-Regimentdes Reichsprotektors von
Bohmen und Mahren.There was no role forthe regiment in the invasion
ofPoland,during which itwas stationed on theWestWall.
9