32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division

32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "30th January"
Divisional insignia (Tyr rune)
ActiveJanuary – May 1945
Country Germany
Branch Waffen-SS
TypeInfantry
SizeDivision
Part of
Engagements

The 32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "30th January" (German: 32. SS-Freiwilligen Grenadier-Division „30. Januar“) was formed in January 1945 at the SS Training Area Kurmark, Jamlitz, from what remained of the staff and trainees of SS schools and various other troops. The Kurmark Recruit Depot became the division's 87th Volunteer Grenadier Regiment.[1] The nucleus of the division was Kampfgruppe Schill (Combat Group Schill), which had fought against the Slovak National Uprising in 1944,[2] and it became the 86th Regiment.[1] The division's other units were formed from the SS Artillery Training and Replacement Regiment in Prague and the Pioneer School.[1] A significant cadre came from Hungarian and Romanian fascists who had joined the SS, but their numbers are unknown.

The division fought as part of the V SS Mountain Corps, on the Oder front, just north of Fürstenberg (now part of Eisenhüttenstadt) [3] and in the Battle of Berlin. The division was destroyed in the Halbe pocket, but parts of the unit surrendered to the Americans at Tangermünde.

The division's name referred to 30 January 1933, the date that Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.[4]

The division's insignia was a Tyr rune, denoting a spear.[5]

Commanders

Order of battle

  • SS Volunteer Grenadier Regiment 86 Schill[6]
  • SS Volunteer Grenadier Regiment 87 Kurmark
  • SS Volunteer Artillery Regiment 32
  • SS Panzerjäger Battalion 32
  • SS Füsilier Battalion 32
  • SS Flak Battalion 32
  • SS Pioneer Battalion 32
  • SS Signals Battalion 32
  • SS Supply Regiment 32

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Tessin, Georg (1977). Verbände 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. 5: Die Landstreitkräfte 31–70 (Units 31–70). Osnabrück: Biblio. p. 22.
  2. ^ Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007). The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. p. 216. ISBN 978-0-8117-3371-7.
  3. ^ Zhukov at the Oder By Tony Le Tissier, p.132
  4. ^ Rikmenspoel, M. (1999:197). Soldiers of the Waffen-SS: many nations, one motto. Canada: J.J. Fedorowicz.
  5. ^ "Symbolism and Regalia of the Black Order - Himmler's SS: Loyal to the Death's Head". erenow.org.
  6. ^ Nafziger, George (2001). The German Order of Battle: Waffen SS and other units in World War II. Conshohocken, PA: Combined Publishing. p. 132.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.