Großdeutschland Division

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=Panzergrenadier Division "Großdeutschland" (Greater Germany)
country=Nazi Germany
type=Panzergrenadier
branch=Infantry
dates=Created 1942, Surrendered 1945
command_structure=Expanded from Regiment to become Motorized Infantry Division 1942 and Panzergrenadier Division 1943.
garrison=Berlin, Cottbus, Akhtyrka
nickname="die Feuerwehr" (The Fire Brigade)
battles=Barbarossa, Orel, Kursk
notable_commanders= Generalmajor Hasso von Manteuffel
associated units=Führer Begleit Battalion/Brigade, Führer Grenadier Battalion/Brigade, Panzergrenadier Division "Kurmark", Panzerkorps "Großdeutschland"

Infanterie-Division "Großdeutschland" (mot)
Panzergrenadier-Division "Großdeutschland"
Panzer-Korps "Großdeutschland"

The "Großdeutschland" Division (lit. "Greater Germany Division") was an élite German Heer combat unit which saw action during World War II. It was the premier division of the German Army.

Großdeutschland is sometimes mistakenly perceived as being a part of the Waffen-SS, whereas it was actually a Heer unit. It was, along with the Panzer Lehr Division, the best-equipped unit in the Wehrmacht, receiving equipment before all other units (including Waffen-SS units). The "GD" Division served exclusively on the Eastern Front. It was annihilated near Pillau in May 1945.

Early History - Wachregiment Berlin

The roots of the Division can be traced to 1921, and the formation of the initial guard units in Berlin that would become Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland. The Regiment saw action in France in 1940, and was attached to Panzer Group 2 in the opening phases of Barbarossa, being all but annihilated in the fighting outside of Moscow in late 1941. On the last day of February 1942, Rifle Battalion GD (all that was left of the original Regiment) was disbanded and two battalions formed a new GD Regiment out of reinforcements arriving from Neuruppin. The Regiment moved to Orel after a period in the front line, and on 1 Apr 1942, arising out of the need for new motorized formations for the summer offensives of 1942, an announcement was made at a regimental parade at Rjetschiza:

:"Effective immediately the former Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland is expanded to the Infantry Division Großdeutschland."ref|lineage

Infantry Division "Großdeutschland" 1942

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right|thumb|350px|Map_courtesy_of_[http://www.deutschesoldaten.com deutschesoldaten.com] .] While resting and refitting near Orel, the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland reorganized and expanded to become Infanterie-Division "Großdeutschland" (mot). The existing Regiment became Infanterie-Regiment "Großdeutschland 1", and was joined by the newly formed Infanterie-Regiment "Großdeutschland 2". Supporting units in the form of a Panzer battalion, an assault gun battalion and increased flak, artillery and engineers were added with the upgrade to divisional status.

After the reorganization, the "Großdeutschland" Division was assigned to XLVIII. Panzerkorps during the opening phases of Fall Blau, the assault on Stalingrad. The division took part in the successful attacks to cross the upper Don river and to capture Voronezh. In August, the division was pulled back to the north bank of the Donets and held as a mobile reserve and "fire-brigade" counterattack force. After the Soviet Operation Uranus, the Division was involved in heavy winter fighting near Rzhev. The exhausted division then took part in "Generalfeldmarschall" Erich von Manstein’s abortive Operation Wintergewitter, the operation to relieve Stalingrad.

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right|thumb|350px|Distinctive_unit_markings_of_the_Panzer_Battalion_GD_based_on_photos_taken_in_September_1942_of_PzKpfw IVs of the Panzer Abteilung "GD". Courtesy [http://www.deutschesoldaten.com deutschesoldaten.com] .]

Kharkov

In January-February 1943, "Großdeutschland" and XLVIII.Panzerkorps, along with the II SS Panzer Corps took part in the Third Battle of Kharkov. The division fought alongside the 1.SS Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler", 2.SS Division "Das Reich" and 3.SS Division "Totenkopf" during these battles. After the fall of Kharkov, the "Großdeutschland" was again pulled back and refitted. At this time, the division was equipped with a company of Tiger 1s, an unusual addition making GD the only Panzergrenadier division to have its own heavy tanks, and the only non-Waffen SS division at that time to have its own Tigers (they were normally deployed in independent heavy tank battalions).

Panzergrenadier Division "Großdeutschland"

In June 1943, with the addition of armoured personnel carriers and Tigers the division was redesignated Panzergrenadier-Division "Großdeutschland", though in reality it now had more armoured vehicles than most full scale panzer divisions.

Kursk

The newly re-equipped division was attached to the German Fourth Panzer Army of "Generaloberst" Hermann Hoth, and was to take a major role (again paired with the SS-Panzerkorps) in Operation Citadel, the battles to sever the Kursk salient. During the buildup period, a battalion of new Panther Ausf. D tanks came under the operational control of "Großdeutschland". After the launch of Citadel, the division was heavily engaged in the fight to penetrate the southern flank of the salient. The new Panthers were plagued by technical problems, suffering from engine fires and mechanical breakdowns, many before reaching the battle. The division fought on until it was pulled back to Tomarovka on 18 July 1943.

Defensive battles

After the cancelled Kursk offensive, the division was transferred back to Heeresgruppe Mitte, and resumed its role as mobile reserve. The Tiger tank company was expanded to an entire battalion, becoming the III. Bataillon of the Panzer Regiment. GD saw heavy fighting around Karachev before being transferred back to XLVIII Panzerkorps in late August. For the rest of 1943, "Großdeutschland" was engaged in the fighting withdrawal from the eastern Ukraine, taking part in battles around Kharkov, Belgorod, and finally on the Dnieper, ending the year fighting strong enemy forces near Michurin-Rog, east of Krivoi-Rog. It was during this period that the division earned the nickname "die Feuerwehr" (The Fire Brigade).

1944

"Großdeutschland" continued fighting in the area of Krivoi-Rog early in January 1944 until it was transferred west for rest and refit. During this period, 1./Panzer Regiment 26 (Panther) joined the Panzer Regiment GD, and GD's I. Bataillon moved to France to refit and train with the new tanks; they did not rejoin the Division until after the Normandy invasion.

Over the next months, the division continued moving from crisis-point to crisis-point across the front. Panzer Regiment "Großdeutschland" saw action in the battles to relieve the Cherkassy pocket in late January 1944 while the rest of the division was involved in heavy fighting from the Dniester to Northern Bessarabia. On 4 March 1944 the First, Second and Third Ukrainian Fronts launched a major attack on the north, central and southern flanks of Army Group South, and GD moved to Kirovgrad, bolstering weak parts of the line until withdrawn to Rovnoye to the southwest. On 16 March the division began the move to the Dniester River, and by the end of March had entered Romania.

In April 1944, GD. as a part of LVII.Panzerkorps. fought defensive battles near Iaşi, slowly retreating to Târgul Frumos in Moldavia. Fighting for the town raged for over a month. A renewed Soviet offensive began on 2 May, aimed at breaking through GD and onto the Romanian oil fields. The defensive action at the Battle of Târgul Frumos was the focus of several NATO studies during the Cold War.

In mid May, the infantry and reconnaissance components of the division were equipped with Schützenpanzerwagen and other armoured vehicles. The Füsilier regiments were downsized from four battalions to three. The division was then sent back to the front, where it was involved in the fighting around Podul. After a brief rest in early July, the division was again committed to heavy fighting in northern Romania.

In late July, the division was transferred to East Prussia. Over the next months, "Großdeutschland" was involved in heavy fighting in both East Prussia and the Baltic States, suffering immense casualties in both men and materiel. The division was virtually annihilated during the battles in the Memel bridgehead.

Panzerkorps "Großdeutschland"

In November 1944, while the division retained its status as a Panzergrenadier division, several attached units were expanded to divisional status, and the Panzerkorps "Großdeutschland" was formed.

The Corps was made up primarily of two Divisions - "Großdeutschland" and the "Brandenburg" Division, which had a lineage which was strongly linked to the "Großdeutschland".

By March 1945, the Panzergrenadier Division "Großdeutschland" had been reduced to around 4,000 men. These escaped by ferry from the collapsing Memel bridgehead. They landed at Pillau and were put straight back into combat. By 25 April 1945, the division ceased to exist, having been completely destroyed in the battles around Pillau. Of the few survivors a few hundred were able to make their way to Schleswig-Holstein and surrendered to British forces. The majority of the men were left behind and were forced to surrender to the Russians where they were to face an often fatal and indefinite amount of time in Russian Forced Labor Camps (Gulags).

Panzergrenadier Division "Kurmark" had been created out of "Großdeutschland" remnants in early 1945 and had fought throughout the last months of the war. Men of both the Brandenburg and Kurmark units were entitled to wear "Großdeutschland" insignia.

"Großdeutschland" Insignia

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Oberst Köhler
1 Apr 1942 - 1 Dec 1942 (Killed in Action)
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Oberst Karl Lorenz
1 Dec 1942 - 14 Dec 1942
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Oberst Kurt Moehring
14 Dec 1942 - 14 Jan 1943
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Oberst Karl Lorenz
14 Jan 1943 - 1 August 1944
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Major Hugo Schimmel
1 August 1944 - August 1944
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Major Harald Kriegk (?)
October 1944
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Major Wolfgang Heesemann
November 1944 - Feb 1945 (Killed in Action)
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Major Krützman
Feb 1945 - War's End
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colspan="2"
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Oberst Eugen Garski
1 Apr 1942 - 30 Sep 1942 (Killed in Action)
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Oberst Erich Kahsnitz
21 Oct 1942 - 3 July 1943 (fatally wounded and died of wounds on 29 July 1943 in Germany)
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Oberst Schulte-Heuthaus
7 July 1943 - 4 Sep 1943 (Wounded in action)
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4 Sep 1943 - 18 Sep 1943
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Major Wack
18 Sep 1943 - 15 Oct 1943
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Oberst Horst Niemack
16 Oct 1943 - 24 August 1944
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Oberst Heinz Wittchow von Brese-Winiary
3 Sep 1944 - 13 Feb 1945 (Dismissed, captured 18 Feb 1945)
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Oberstleutnant Maxemilian Fabich
13 Feb 1945 - May 1945

War Crimes

The book "German Army and Genocide" (ISBN 1-56584-525-0) mentions the following incident, from the invasion of Yugoslavia:

:"When one German soldier was shot and one seriously wounded in Pancevo, Wehrmacht soldiers and the Waffen SS rounded up about 100 civilians at random...the town commander, Lt. Col. Fritz Bandelow conducted the Court's Martial...The presiding judge, SS-Sturmbannführer Rudolf Hoffmann sentenced 36 of those arrested to death. On April 21, 1941, four of the civilians were the first to be shot...On the following day eighteen victims were hanged in a cemetery and fourteen more were shot at the cemetery wall by an execution squad of the Wehrmacht's Grossdeutschland regiment." (Page 42)

Part of the photographic presentation for the book included the photo at right. The GD cuff title on the officer is clearly visible. The official GD history by Helmuth Spaeter mentions only that "Draconian measures were occasionally required to halt looting by the civilian population" in Belgrade. The events of 21 April in Pancevo are not discussed directly, though many references are made to "security duties" in Yugoslavia.

The subject of Grossdeutschland's complicity in war crimes was the subject of the book by Omer Bartov "The Eastern Front, 1941-45, German Troops, and the Barbarization of Warfare" (1986, ISBN 0-312-22486-9). The link, however, between GD's and atrocities is never fully realized. A complete discussion is available at the [http://members.shaw.ca/grossdeutschland/crime.htm GD for CM website] .

Bibliography

Printed references

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*de Lannoy, François and Jean-Claude Perrigault "La division Grossdeutschland" ("The Grossdeutschland Division from Regiment to Panzerkorps 1939-1945") French edition, Editions Heimdal

*Lee, Cyrus A. "Soldat: The World War Two German Army Combat Uniform Collector's Guide (Volume V: Uniforms and Insignia of Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland 1939-1945)" (Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Missoula, MT, 1993) ISBN 0-929521-76-5

*Lucas, James "Germany's Elite Panzer Force: Grossdeutschland " (MacDonald's and Jane's, London, 1978) ISBN 0-354-01165-0

*cite book | author=McGuirl, Thomas & Remy Spezzano | title=God, Honor, Fatherland: A photo history of Panzergrenadier Division "Grossdeutschland" on the Eastern Front. 1942 - 1944| publisher=Southbury (Connecticut, USA)| year=1997 | id=ISBN 0-9657584-0-0

*Novotny, Alfred "THE GOOD SOLDIER: FROM AUSTRIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY TO COMMUNIST CAPTIVITY WITH A SOLDIER OF PANZER-GRENADIER DIVISION "GROSSDEUTSCHLAND" (The Aberjona Press, 2002.) ISBN 0-9666389-9-9

*Quarrie, Bruce "Panzer-Grenadier Division "Grossdeutschland" (VANGUARD series book, Osprey Publishing Group, London, UK. 1977. US version published in 1978 by Squadron/Signal Publications, Warren, MI.) ISBN 0-85045-055-1

*Scheibert, Horst (Bruce Culver Editor) "Panzer Grenadier Division Grossdeutschland" (English version by Squadron Signal Publications, Carrollton, TX, 1987) ISBN 089747061

*Sharpe, Michael and Brian L. Davis "GROSSDEUTSCHLAND: Guderian's Eastern Front Elite", Compendium Publishing Ltd, 2001 ISBN 0-7110-2854-0.

*Solarz, Jacek. "Division/Korps "Großdeutschland" 1943-1945 Vol. I and II". (Polish/English edition by Wydawnictwo "Militaria", Warsaw, 2005) ISBN 83-7219-237-5

*

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Web resources

*Dorosh, Michael. " [http://members.shaw.ca/grossdeutschland/ Grossdeutschland for "Combat Mission"] ". Retrieved April 8, 2005.

* Pipes, Jason. " [http://www.feldgrau.com/gross2.html Panzergrenadier-Division "Großdeutschland"] ". Retrieved April 8, 2005.

* " [http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Panzergrenadierdivisionen/PGDGD.htm Panzergrenadier Division "Großdeutschland"] ". German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. (Follow links for Infanterie Division "Großdeutschland" (mot).) Retrieved April 8, 2005.

* Brandenburg Historica (2006). " [http://www.brandenburghistorica.com/grossdeutschland-cd.html "Grossdeutschland: Von der Wachtruppe zum Panzerkorps"] ". Updated May 8, 2006.

* Wendel, Marcus (2005). " [http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=1064 Panzergrenadier Division "Großdeutschland"] ". Retrieved April 8, 2005.

*Großdeutschland USA, Living History Group. " [http://www.grossdeutschland.com/ .

Notes

# Spaeter, Helmuth. "History of the Panzerkorps Großdeutschland Volume I." Page 290
# Sharpe, Michael and Brian L. Davis "Grossdeutschland: Guderian's Eastern Front Elite", p.39