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  HITLER’S BRANDENBURGERS

  Brandenburger troops searching for Greek guerrillas in the Balkans in 1944

  HITLER’S BRANDENBURGERS

  The Third Reich’s Elite Special Forces

  Lawrence Paterson

  Foreword by David R. Higgins

  Hitler’s Brandenburgers: The Third Reich’s Elite Special Forces

  Greenhill Books, c/o Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

  47 Church Street, Barnsley, S. Yorkshire, S70 2AS

  For more information on our books, please visit

  www.greenhillbooks.com, email [email protected]

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  Published and distributed in the United States of America and Canada by the

  Naval Institute Press, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5043

  www.nip.org

  Text copyright © Lawrence Paterson, 2018

  Foreword copyright © David R. Higgins, 2018

  The right of Lawrence Paterson to be identified as the author of this work has been

  asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  CIP data records for this title are available from the British Library

  Library of Congress Cataloging Number: 2018932808

  Greenhill Books ISBN 978-1-78438-228-5

  Naval Institute Press ISBN 978-1-68247-372-6

  eISBN 978-1-78438-230-8

  Mobi ISBN 978-1-78438-229-2

  Contents

  List of Plates

  Foreword by David R. Higgins

  Introduction

  Glossary and Abbreviations

  Comparative Rank Table

  Prelude The Concept Behind the Brandenburger Regiment

  1 Baptism of Fire

  2 Operation ‘Weserübung’ and ‘Case Yellow’: Scandinavia and the West

  3 The Regiment Brandenburg

  4 Declared and Undeclared War in the Balkans

  5 Hitler Turns East: The Invasion of the Soviet Union

  6 War in the Desert

  7 Rebuilding

  8 ‘Case Blue’/Operation ‘Braunschweig’: The 1942 Summer Offensive in the Soviet Union

  9 Regeneration, 1943

  10 Partisan Warfare in the Balkans

  11 Metamorphosis, 1944–1945

  Appendix Major Decorations Awarded

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Plates

  1Kampforganisation Jablunka photographed before the attack on Poland

  2A second photo taken at the same time

  3Theodor von Hippel

  4Officers of the Deutsche Kompanie in their Slovakian base at Sliač, August 1939

  5Hauptmann Hans-Jürgen Rudloff inspecting his men of the 3rd Baulehr Kompanie z.b.V. 800

  6A bridge over the Juliana Canal, captured by Leutnant Hermann Kürschner’s West Platoon

  7The Gennep railway bridge after its capture by Oberleutnant Uwe-Wilhelm Walther’s 4th Baulehr Kompanie z.b.V. 800

  8The Nieuport bridge after its capture by Leutnant Siegfried Grabert’s assault group on the night of 27 May 1940

  9Grabert’s original drawing of the new regiment’s insignia

  10Siegfried Grabert

  11Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess greeting Knight’s Cross holders

  12Not all bridges were captured intact; this one over the Drava River was successfully destroyed by retreating Yugoslavian troops, 1941

  13Uwe-Wilhelm Walther

  14The raising of the flag over the Acropolis in Athens by Brandenburgers

  15Oberstleutnant Paul Haehling von Lanzenauer and Major Friedrich Wilhelm Heinz

  16Ukrainian troops of the Nachtigall Battalion in training at Neuhammer

  17A destroyed Brandenburger vehicle next to a disabled Soviet BT7 light tank

  18Brandenburger troops in Soviet uniform during the opening day of Operation ‘Barbarossa’

  19The sheer volume of Soviet prisoners taken during ‘Barbarossa’ was staggering

  20Feldwebel Willi Hein and Leutnant Oskar Schatz in full Soviet disguise

  21Casualties within the regiment were relatively heavy

  22A Fallschirmjäger wearing an early pattern army belt buckle

  23The grave Leutnant Hermann Lütke and his fellow Fallschirmjäger

  24Oberleutnant Hans-Wolfram Knaak

  25The grave of Knaak and four of his men

  26Nachtigall troops on the streets of Lviv at the end of June

  27Checking a dusty Russian road for mines

  28An officer of the ‘Azad Hid Fauj’ (Free India Army) at Regenwurmlager

  29The Free India Army was raised in Germany and trained as part of the Brandenburgers

  30Friedrich ‘Fritz’ von Koenen

  31Brandenburgers of the 13th Company using captured Allied vehicles

  32Rittmeister Conrad von Leipzig

  33Brandenburger troops in North Africa

  34An LWSI of the Tropical Company during rehearsals with Kampfgruppe Hecker

  35Tobruk finally fell to Rommel’s forces in June 1942

  36Hauptmann Count László Almásy and Major Nikolaus Ritter

  37Ritter and Almásy brief Luftwaffe pilots for the disastrous flight into Egypt during June 1941

  38Brandenburger troops returning to German lines

  39Odo Wilscher

  40Light vehicle of the 13th (Tropical) Company, equipped with a single 20mm flak cannon

  41Car emblazoned with the emblem of Sonderkommando Blaich

  42A soldier of the ‘Free Arabia Legion’

  43Brandenburger recruits for the Kustenjäger Abteilung

  44Identity card of a Soviet prisoner of war recruited into the Brandenburger Regiment

  45 Admiral Wilhelm Canaris on a visit to Brandenburg units at the front lines in Russian, October 1941

  46Leutnant Trommsdorf and Finnish troops

  47Brandenburgers kayaking towards the Murmansk railway line, August 1942

  48Adjusting the small outboard motor aboard one of the Brandenburgers’ kayaks

  49Brandenburgers in Finland used a mixture of German, Soviet and Finnish uniform and equipment

  50 Fritz Babuke

  51 Chief instructor Leutnant zur See Alfred von Wurzian and Gebirgsjäger Hauptmann Fritz Neitzert (middle) was the Abteilung’s first commander

  52The Brandenburger Meeresjäger Abteilung on parade in Piazza Dante, Valdagno, 1944

  53‘Case Blue’, the advance into the Caucasus in pursuit of oil, spearheaded by Brandenburger units

  54Alexander von Pfuhlstein with Generalmajor Karl von Graffen

  55Admiral Canaris inspecting Brandenburger troops with Friedrich Wilhelm Heinz and Alexander von Pfuhlstein

  56An NCO briefing during the advance of ‘Case Blue’

  57Cooperation between Brandenburg and Romanian forces had begun before the invasion of the Soviet Union

  58Siegfried Grabert’s death in action announced in the newspaper Die Bewegung

  59Adrian Baron von Fölkersam

  60Fighting for the oil transport depots in the Caucasus, 1942

  61The bridge over the Bjelaja named after Leutnant d.R.Ernst Prochaska

  62Oberleutnant Karl-Heinz Oesterwitz

  63Kurt Konrad Steidl

  64The huge stone eagle that guarded the entrance gate to the Regenwurm training camp

  65Personnel in training at Regenwurmlager

  66The brutality of anti-partisan warfare became an increasingly common theatre of action for the Brandenburgers

  67Brandenburgers were used in the inhospitable forests and marshes that surrounded the Prip’yat’ River to fight Soviet partisans in 1944

  68Jäger of the Brandenburger Div
ision receiving fresh winter clothing

  69Men of the Kustenjäger Abteilung at sea on the Adriatic aboard a heavy Sturmboot

  70Leutnant Helmut Demetrio and his French men of the 8th Company, II Battalion

  71An Italian soldier of the Blackshirt III ‘M’ Assault Battalion ‘9 September (Pontida)’

  72Brandenburger troops were committed to searching for and fighting Greek guerrillas

  73Brandenburgers and Chetniks, uneasy allies of convenience – most of the time

  74Brandenburgers question captured Yugoslavian Partisans

  75Well armed, disciplined and well organised, the communist Partisans that followed Marshal Josip Broz Tito were formidable adversaries

  76Brandenburgers in action in Yugoslavia, 1943

  77Brandenburger Fallschirmjäger rowing ashore on Levitha

  78Brandenburger troops during the fighting for Leros, November 1943

  79Troops of the 1st Company, Kustenjäger Abteilung on Monte Racchi, Leros

  80Relaxing once the fighting had ended on Leros

  81Brandenburgers displaying an interesting mix of uniforms, Leros, 1943

  82Wilhelm Walther with Oberleutnant Max Wandrey and General der Flieger Helmuth Felmy

  83Brandenburger troops boarding a Marinefahrprähme in the Dodecanese, 1943

  84Oberleutnant Werner Lau, II Battalion, 4th Regiment ‘Brandenburg’

  85Major Karl-Heinz Oesterwitz

  86Friedrich ‘Fritz’ Kühlwein

  87Brandenburger PaK40 of the 2nd Regiment in action against Yugoslavian Partisans

  88Otto Skorzeny in Budapest, 1944

  89Dawn on the Eastern Front.

  90The Brandenburg cuff title

  Photos 27, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 58, 69, 73, 83, 84, 90: Author’s collection

  Photo 70: ECPA Paris

  Photo 9: John Edward DeMicoli

  Photo 43: U-Boot Archiv, Altenbruch

  All other photos: Bundesarchiv

  Foreword by David R. Higgins

  For all the attention production numbers, vehicle firepower and tactics receive as factors in achieving battlefield success, such results were often contingent on the covert, unconventional actions of small teams of specially selected, highly-trained and motivated, and largely unsung warriors. Whatever quality of arms and quantity of material a modern army possesses, its reliance on a host of arguably unglamorous necessities – such as logistics and manufacturing, or less tangible assets like security, morale and sleep – to function effectively can become targeted as a vulnerability or liability. For all the effort allocated to protecting these valuable resources and services, the need for human beings in the mix, with all their insecurities, fears, greed, obedience to authority, and a host of other potentially exploitable attributes, can represent a military’s greatest weakness given the right circumstances and psychological incentives. With the right combination of leadership, planning, audacity, creativity and cunning, a determined adversary conducting effective covert missions involving long-range reconnaissance, sabotage, assassination, propaganda, infiltration and other similar tasks can cumulatively disrupt an enemy’s ability to sustain itself in the field, impede its command and control, and undermine resolve. If implemented correctly, such behind-the-lines actions can produce decisive outcomes out of all proportion to initial expenditures.

  Considering that ‘All warfare is based on deception,’ Sun Tzu’s further postulation that ‘The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting’ encapsulates the potential of the indirect, unanticipated attack as the foundation upon which victory is achieved. Typically, asymmetrical warfare has been associated with insurgency or guerrilla forces. Due to their comparative inferiority to a conventional, established adversary, the use of hit-and-run strikes and attacking targets of opportunity offer a cost-effective way to sow confusion, achieve a degree of battlefield parity, and generally wage war – provided sufficient time and resolve exist to achieve a positive political solution. Although irregular actions have always been a combat fixture, during the Second World War several nations established what were collectively called commandos, a designation derived from the teams of Dutch Afrikaner fighters that fought the British during the Boer Wars. Historically, militaries have contained an often considerable number of internal elements resistant to deviation from established, conventional solutions to contemporary battlefield problems, whether due to their unproven potential, inherent risks, or simply an aversion to bending or breaking recognised laws of combat or what may be seen as ‘unsportsmanlike’ actions. Officially integrating unconventional assets into the ranks, and keeping numbers relatively small to maintain high-quality personnel and peak combat effectiveness, offered a considerable combat asset. While the First World War’s victorious nations were free to develop post-war unconventional forces unhindered, their collective branding of Germany as the conflict’s aggressor resulted in a host of punitive measures designed to leave the country militarily and economically prostrate. Forced to rebuild its military in secret, what became Germany’s first special forces group originated within the Ministry of Defence’s Abwehr section responsible for sabotage.

  The force was at first under the experienced and creative leadership of men like Theodor von Hippel and Helmuth Groscurth, who were both as committed to defending Germany as they were to the fight against Communism and Hitler’s regime. Initially established in company strength just after the 1939 Polish campaign, the Brandenburgers were incrementally expanded in size to manage additional roles and responsibilities, as they operated not only within the battlezones of conventional ground forces, but well beyond, in areas including Afghanistan, Iraq and South Africa. Many Brandenburger operations proved unsuccessful, due either to their own actions or orders from men outside the organisation, including Hitler. Those who achieved their goals greatly facilitated friendly efforts in several major campaigns, especially in France and the Soviet Union. For such undertakings only volunteers were suitable, as fear, pain and coercion were poor incentivisers to get soldiers to achieve the impossible on the battlefield. With many members having come from regions subjected to the brutalities of Soviet occupation, vengeance and payback were frequently key motivators in the east.

  Considering the secretive nature of the Brandenburgers and their operations – not to mention that so many documents and other related primary material were destroyed by Allied strategic bombing or regime personnel attempting to eradicate incriminating evidence, or were simply lost – the production of such an authoritative work is remarkable. This book goes a long way towards clarifying a complex, often murky, subject, and treats the reader to in-depth coverage of the formation’s origins, organisation and actions. Too often the victors write the history books, resulting in varying degrees of bias and a desire to highlight the positive and minimise the negative. To history’s benefit Lawrence Paterson avoids any such disservice and provides a very informative, enlightening, and balanced account of what is an early example of a modern special forces organisation that provided a framework from which future such formations would benefit, especially during wartime. As an early example of a modern special forces organisation, the Brandenburgers provided a framework from which subsequent formations would benefit, especially during wartime.

  Ever since I was a kid I’ve had a great interest in military history, an itch I scratched by reading books from the weekly neighbourhood bookmobile, building and painting model tanks, ships and aircraft, and family vacations that regularly included visits to American Civil War battlefields. Over the years something that bothered me was that many books seemed to slant in favour of one particular side, to the exclusion of pertinent facts. While it is understandable that the victors would desire to present their adversaries as two-dimensional characterisations, such a complex subject as warfare is never black and white. With the passage of time old resentments and attitudes tend to mellow, which, in combination with the uncovering of new source material, can present a revised, more accurate asse
ssment of the subject. A case in point was the access to Soviet archives in the years following the USSR’s collapse – an unfortunately limited window of opportunity.

  As a student of military history and technology, in particular the Second World War in Europe, I found the literature authoritative and insightful, but also effectively disseminated, crafted, polished and presented. I know how difficult it can be to reach the truth of a matter, particularly when it involves the chaotic, complex nature of combat. A non-fiction book’s narrative should fit the facts, and not the other way around; every effort must be made to get to as close to the truth of a matter as possible, and any attempt to cherry-pick and selectively present information should naturally be treated as suspect. The process of tracking down pertinent primary material on esoteric subjects, especially that which can be verified by other reliable sources, is time-consuming and often tedious, but when real gems are uncovered and a quality product such as Hitler’s Brandenburgers results, such considerable efforts are eminently worthwhile for both author and reader. As an author of military history and technology books and articles and a television contributor on armoured vehicles, what matters most to me is that I have been given an opportunity to preserve and present the deeds of men who have confronted the horrors of war and for a variety of reasons and motivations continued to perform their duties. Having written about the Brandenburgers and their audacious 1942 mission into the Northern Caucasus that infiltrated the front line to secure valuable Soviet oil resources and undermine resistance ahead of the German advance into the area, I feel I have particular insight into both subjects.

  Perhaps best known for his engaging books on often under-reported U-Boat, Kriegsmarine, and Luftwaffe maritime subjects, and the insightful coverage of related technologies, Lawrence Paterson has more recently directed his detective talents towards early modern special forces. In addition to covering the fledgling British SAS and their participation in the Second World War’s first commando operation (Colossus), his work on Germany’s Brandenburgers brings the same high standards and balanced coverage to an all-too-neglected subject. Examining the organisation from its rather ad hoc beginnings as Battalion Ebbinghaus, through the much more professional, effective and determined Brandenburg iteration to its transition to a conventional fighting formation, the book represents a fitting tribute to Germany’s clandestine warriors, and a guarantee that their extraordinary efforts have not been relegated to comparative obscurity or entirely forgotten.