10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg
| 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg | |
|---|---|
 Insignia of 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg |
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| Active | 2 January 1943–8 May 1945 |
| Country | Nazi Germany |
| Branch | Waffen-SS |
| Type | Panzer |
| Size | Division |
| Engagements | Operation Epsom Operation Market Garden Operation Nordwind |
The 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg or 10.SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg was a German Waffen SS panzer division. The division was formed at the beginning of 1943 as a reserve for the expected Allied invasion of France. However, their first campaign was in the Ukraine in April 1944. Highly motivated after combat success in Ukraine the unit was then transported back to the west where they fought the Allies in France and at Arnhem. The division was later transported to Pomerania then fought south east of Berlin in the Lausitz area to the end of the war.
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History
Originally, the name Karl der Große (Charlemagne) was used for some time in 1943, but French volunteers in the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS used Charlemagne (33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)), so the honor title Frundsberg was chosen, which refers to 16th Century German landsknecht commander Georg von Frundsberg.
The division was mainly formed from conscripts and it first saw action at Tarnopol in April 1944. It took part in the rescue of German troops cut off in the Kamianets-Podilskyi pocket. [1]
It was then sent to Normandy to counter the Allied landings. It and its "twin" Division, the 9th SS Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, played an important part in holding the British Forces back in Normandy, particularly during Operation Epsom. [1] It retreated into Belgium before being sent to rest near Arnhem where they soon had to fight the Allied parachute assault during Operation Market Garden at Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, at which time it, along with the 9th SS Panzer, constituted the II SS Panzer Corps. [1] After rebuilding it fought in the Alsace in January 1945 before being sent to the Eastern Front where it fought against the Red Army in Pomerania and later in Saxony. [1]
Günter Grass
In August 2006, German writer and Nobel laureate Günter Grass admitted to having been an assistant tank gunner with the division after having been conscripted into the Waffen-SS at the age of 17 in November 1944. As Grass had always been an outspoken critic of Germany's treatment of its Nazi past, his surprise admission caused a great stir in the press. [2]
Commanders
- SS-Standartenführer - Michael Lippert: (March, 1943 - February 15, 1943)
- SS-Gruppenführer - Lothar Debes: (February 15, 1943 - November 15, 1943)
- SS-Gruppenführer - Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld: (November 15, 1943 - April 27, 1944)
- SS-Brigadeführer - Heinz Harmel: (27 April 1944 - April 28, 1945)
- SS-Obersturmbannführer - Franz Roestel: (April 28, 1945 - May 8, 1945)
Order of Battle
- SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 21
- SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 22
- SS Panzer Regiment 10
- SS Panzer Artillery Regiment 10
- SS Motorcycle Regiment 10
- SS Sturmgeschütz Battalion 10
- SS Panzerjäger Battalion 10
- SS Flak Battalion 10
- SS Pionier Battalion 10
- SS Panzer Signal Battalion 10
- SS Verwaltungs Troop 10
- SS Instandsetzungs Battalion 10
- SS Medical Battalion 10
- SS Nachschub Troop 10
- SS Field post department 10
- SS War reporter platoon 10
- SS Feldgendarmerie troop 10 [1]
Area of operations
- France, (January 1943 - March 1944 on formation)
- Eastern Front, Southern sector (March 1944 - April 1944)
- Poland, (April 1944 - June 1944)
- France, (June 1944 - September 1944)
- Belgium & Holland, (September 1944 - October 1944)
- West Germany, (October 1944 - February 1945)
- Northwest Germany, (February 1945 - March 1945)
- East Germany & Czechoslovakia, (March 1945 - May 1945)
- Surrender and disbanded
See also
- List of Knight's Cross recipients 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg
- List of German divisions in WWII
External links
- The Combat History of the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg Available on line [1]
- lexikon der wehrmacht in German.
References
- ^ a b c d e axis.history. "10 SS Division". http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=1967. Retrieved on 2009-13-03.
- ^ "Günter Grass is my hero, as a writer and a moral compass". The Guardian. 2006-08-19. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1853745,00.html. Retrieved on 2006-08-19.
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