Military unit
The
Fuhrerbegleitbrigade
(also spelt
Fuhrer-Begleit-Brigade
[1]
: 150
; abbreviated
FBB
;
Fuhrer escort brigade
) was a German armoured
brigade
and later an armoured
division
(
Panzer-Fuhrerbegleitdivision
), in
World War II
. It grew out of the original
Fuhrer-Begleit-Battalion
formed in 1939 to escort and protect
Adolf Hitler
at the front. It was formed in November 1944 and destroyed in April 1945.
The
Fuhrer-Begleit-Battalion
(FBB), 1939?1940
[
edit
]
Before the 1 September 1939 attack on Poland,
Adolf Hitler
's personal military bodyguard came from two distinct, independent units based in Berlin: the Chancellery Guards, originally assigned by the army, and then the
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
(SS bodyguard regiment Adolf Hitler; LSSAH), which replaced the Chancellery Guards.
[2]
When hostilities started, Hitler ordered the LSSAH to participate in the campaign against Poland, leaving him with no large military type of bodyguard formation (a small contingent of the
Leibstandarte
, remained stationed in Berlin).
By that time, an army infantry instructor,
Erwin Rommel
, came to Hitler's attention. Rommel was promoted to
Generalmajor
on 23 August 1939 and Hitler saw to it that Rommel was appointed in charge of a new battalion being organized to function as his personal escort to the front.
[3]
This led to the formation of the FBB in 1939. It had the task of protecting Hitler's military headquarters and accompanying him when visiting battlefronts. It also was responsible for all luggage that travelled with Hitler and his staff.
[4]
[5]
Prior to the invasion of
France
and the
Low Countries
, Rommel left the FBB to take command of the army's
7th Panzer Division
.
[6]
The
Fuhrerbegleitabteilung, Panzergrenadierdivision
"
Großdeutschland
"
[
edit
]
With the expansion of the elite
Großdeutschland
Infantry Regiment
into a division on 3 March 1942, the number of subunits under its control was expanded. Among these subunits was a new
Fuhrerbegleit
-unit, as well as another unit with
Fuhrer
in its name, the
Fuhrergrenadierabteilung
.
[
citation needed
]
. Although the new
Fuhrerbegleit
-unit had practically the same purpose as the original and still-existing
Fuhrerbegleit
battalion, and was approximately the same size, it was different from the FBB in that it was motorized. The newer unit was further distinguished by nomenclature: it was known as the
Fuhrerbegleitabteilung
(FBA:
Fuhrer
escort detachment). This is because battalion-sized
Wehrmacht
(and even
Waffen-SS
) ground units were designated according to class, with
Abteilung
for motorized, mechanized, armoured, or self-propelled battalion-sized units controlled by a battalion headquarters, and
Bataillon
for infantry units.
As a result of its transfer to the
Großdeutschland
(GD) division, the detachment?by now incorporating a heavy battery from
Flak-Regiment
"Hermann Goring",
First Paratroop Panzer Division Hermann Goring
?was moved to the eastern front, with headquarters in Hitler's
Wolfschanze
. Parts of the GD were used to expand the FBA until it eventually served as GD's replacement and reserve battalion.
The FBA saw action along with the rest of
Großdeutschland Panzer-Grenadier-Division
in its campaigns on the eastern front. Although not permanently attached to the division and composed mainly of an
ad hoc
collections of several units, the FBA and its successors would retain the traditional helmet insignia of its parent division, and when sub-units of the
Großdeutschland
division were being expanded to bring GD to corps strength (
Panzerkorps
Großdeutschland
), the FBA was enhanced to brigade strength as well.
While the FBA was being refitted for service on the eastern front, Hitler ordered it to head west in 1944, along with most of its vehicles and personnel, to prepare for the
Ardennes
counter-offensive, for which it would be expanded into a brigade.
Fuhrerbegleitbrigade
[
edit
]
Otto Ernst Remer in 1945
Radically upgraded for the Ardennes Offensive ("Operation
Wacht am Rhein
") to provide
General der Panzertruppe
Hasso von Manteuffel
's Fifth Panzer Army with additional firepower, the
Fuhrerbegleitbrigade
was formed from elements of the FBA,
Panzerkorps Großdeutschland
, Hitler's personal army guard detail, and the mobile artillery from Hitler's
Wolfschanze
headquarters. This unit was placed under the command of Oberst (colonel)
Otto Remer
as a reward for his successfully foiling of a critical part of the
20 July 1944
assassination attempt of Hitler and attempted military coup against the Nazi leadership in Berlin.
[7]
The new FBB was essentially a restructured tank brigade, with units created from whatever excess personnel were available. Its combat strength included long-barrelled
Panzer IVs
and the turretless assault guns of the
Sturmgeschutz
-Abteilung
200, two organic
Panzergrenadier
(
mechanized infantry
) battalions, the 928th Bicyclist Battalion, and a self-propelled artillery battalion with 105-millimeter
Wespe
and 150-millimeter
Hummel
artillery pieces.
Committed to the front on 18 December 1944 as part of
Fifth Panzer Army
's XLVII.
Panzerkorps
, the FBB saw heavy action.
On 26 January 1945 the FBB was ordered to expand and form the
Fuhrerbegleitdivision
.
Fuhrerbegleitdivision
[
edit
]
When the
Großdeutschland
Division was expanded to
Panzer
Corps
Großdeutschland
, its subordinate units were expanded to bring GD to
corps
status.
As part of this drastic reorganization, the FBB was detached from army control, expanded by incorporating elements of the FGB and
Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland
, and redesignated the
Fuhrer-Begleit-Division
(FBD); at the same time, its sister formation, the
Fuhrergrenadierbrigade
, was also upgraded to divisional status and renamed the
Fuhrer-Grenadier-Division
(FGD). Both "
Fuhrer
" divisions were put in the OKH (
Oberkommando der Heere
: the army high command), reserve until committed to the eastern front.
Commanded by Otto Remer, now a major general, the FBD and FGD served in local counterattacks and later assumed fire-brigade roles for attempts to prevent major Soviet breakthroughs.
The FBD and FGD were sent to the eastern front to help defend the
Vistula
front against massing
Red Army
forces during the
Upper Silesian Offensive
.
[8]
It was trapped and finally destroyed in the Spremberg pocket in April 1945, the survivors surrendering to the Americans.
Orders of Battle
[
edit
]
Fuhrerbegleitabteilung, Panzergrenadierdivision
Großdeutschland (1941)
Fuhrerbegleitbrigade, Operation Wacht-am-Rhein
(December 1944)
Brigadestabskompanie
(headquarters company)
- Stabszug
(headquarters platoon) - Sd.Kfz. 251/1 armoured cars
- Aufklarungszug
(reconnaissance platoon) - Armed with
MP-40
and
StG44
- Sd.Kfz. 250/1 armoured cars
- Aufklarungszug
(reconnaissance platoon) - as above
- Volkswagen
and
Kubelwagen
cars
- Flakzug
(anti-aircraft platoon) - 3 x 37mm
Flakpanzer IV Ostwind
self-propelled flak vehicle
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Tessin, Georg (1977).
Die Waffengattungen - Gesamtubersicht
. Verbande und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 (in German). Vol. 1. Osnabruck: Biblio Verlag.
ISBN
3764810971
.
- ^
Cook, Stan & Bender, R. James.
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
, R. James Bender Publishing, 1994, pp. 9, 17, 19.
- ^
Butler, Daniel Allen.
Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel
, Casemate, 2015, pp. 142, 144.
- ^
Hoffmann, Peter.
Hitler's Personal Security: Protecting the Fuhrer 1921?1945
, Da Capo Press, 2009, p. 59.
- ^
Felton, Mark.
Guarding Hitler: The Secret World of the Fuhrer
, Pen & Sword, 2014, p. 41.
- ^
Butler, Daniel Allen.
Field Marshal: The Life and Death of Erwin Rommel
, Casemate, 2015, p. 151.
- ^
Kershaw, Ian.
Hitler: A Biography
, W. W. Norton & Company, 2008. pp. 837?839.
- ^
Gunter, Georg.
Last Laurels, The German Defense of Upper Silesia Jan-May 1945
, Helion & Company, 2002.
ISBN
1-874622-65-5
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Tessin, Georg (1980).
Verbande und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen?SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939?1945
[
Units and Troops of the German Military and Waffen-SS in the Second World War 1939?1945
] (in German). Vol. 14: Die Landstreitkrafte: Namensverbande / Die Luftstreitkrafte (Fliegende Verbande) / Flakeinsatz im Reich 1943?1945 (Ground forces: Named units and formations / Air forces (Flying units and formations) / Anti?aircraft service in the Reich 1943?1945). Osnabruck: Biblio.
ISBN
3-7648-1111-0
.