Hello to all, I would like to know what are the specialized equipment, weapons that was carried by the German Pioneer of WW2. Is there a chance of pioneers in the luftwaffe? Lastly, any good websites and reenactment gruppen about them? Thanks * Alvin *
Is there much of a demand for German army reenactment groups in Singapore ? What types of people attend your shows ? This is a new idea to me.
Try these books... Blitz Assault Through Fire and Water. A truly unique compilation of the exploits of German assault engineers in action early in World War II. Often times at the very forefront of the Blitzkrieg spearhead, the engineers were called on to do some of the toughest and most dangerous work on the battlefield. Chapter headings include Capture of Fort IX at Warsaw, Panzer Engineers through Belgium and France, and Loire Bridging Operations. Includes maps. (Galago) ISBN 0-85420-123-8, Cloth, 81 pages, $24.95. Deutsche Originalversion: Deutsche Pioniere im Einsatz 1939 - 1946 The German engineer troops developed out of a branch that only developed into a fighting service arm by World War II. Thus in addition to the special engineers, there also arose designations such as assault engineers, armored engineers, etc. The last war demanded a tremendous lot of these troops in terms of technical ability and the combat involving it, what with the technology that developed more and more quickly. From this wide field, the volume at hand shows approximately 300 photographic documents - including rare photos of bridgelaying tanks in action, mine removal and the unimaginable construction of makeshift bridges. It was possible to gain outstanding support from former engineers of all ranks, so that I was able to assemble several hundred original photos and put this volume together. I would especially like to call attention to the mine-listening company, a special unit for clock-regulated radio remote-control ignition over great distances. The bridge over the Asopos (Greece) with its pillars ninety meters high is also of particular interest. All in all, a pictorial volume such as never before existed for this multitalented service arm has come into existence. This from Eagle19... The success of Fall Gelb relies on us Strategic objectives had to be taken to allow the advancing German 6th Army to pass un-hindered into Belgium as part of Fall Gelb (case yellow). These objectives were three bridges over the Albert Canal at Veldvezeldt, Vroenhoven and Kannes and the fortress of Eben Emael. This fortress was built in 1932 and completed in 1935 at a cost of 24 million francs. It was a well situated, well armed and well defended strongpoint built into the side of the Albert canal with the natural defences on one side and an anti-tank ditch and barbed wire defences on the other. Eben Emael was considered to be virtually impregnable due to its location. It measured approximately 700m east to west and 900m north to south. It had a formidable arsenal of sixteen 75mm and two 120mm artillery pieces in 4 casemates and 3 revolving turrets. The field of fire from these guns allowed them to cover Maastricht to the north and Vise to the south as well as the 3 bridges across the Albert canal that were also to be taken.The two 120mm guns were encased in a huge rotating steel dome. All the artillery positions were connected by 4.5km of corridors, stairs and lifts and officers even used bicycles to move around the complex. 500 Belgian artillery troops manned the large guns with an additional 500 men manning the immediate defences on the flat roof of the fortress, consisting of 60mm AA guns, searchlights and heavy machine guns. Two heavy machine gun bunkers sat atop the surface. Eben Emael also had dummy installations to fool any attacker. The only downside to Eben Emael was the lack of surface trenches and defences against infantry attack. It was decided that a parachute assault was out of the question due to the limited space at Eben Emael and the chance of some men missing the drop zone. It would have to be carried out in light assault gliders. The assignment went to Hauptmann Walter Koch who was to form a Para Assault Detachment (Sturmabteilung Koch) from men of his 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment and Leutnant Rudolf Witzig’s pioneer company from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment. This detachment totalled 11 Officers and 427 men, 42 of which were glider pilots who were also Infantry and Engineer trained. They immediately started intensive training at Hidelsheim, carrying out attacks on wooden mock-ups of the fortress. The Glider pilots practised their landings in confined LZ’s and even used barbed wire wrapped around the landing skids to slow the landing of the DFS230 gliders on touch down. Then Gliders and men trained together on mock-ups of the fort to perfect the assault. They were organised into 4 assault groups, each of which had a specific objective. They were each given a codename. Granite were to take Eben Emael itself, Steel to take and hold the Veldvezelt bridge (Maasricht-Antwerp road), Concrete to take and hold the Vroenhoven bridge (Maastricht-Brussels road), Iron to take and hold the Kannes bridge (Maasricht-Liege road). Witzig’s Group Granite who were to take the Fortress until relieved by men of the army's 51st Engineer Battalion, consisted of 2 Officers (Lt Rudolf Witzig & Lt Egon Delica) and 83 men, 11of which were Glider pilots. Group Granit's 11 gliders and their JU-52 tows took off from two airfields outside Cologne at 0430 on the morning of 10th May 1940, following a flare path made up of single searchlights spaced 20km apart, with a group of 3 searchlights at Aachen on the German border to indicate the tow release point. There they were released at 7000ft still inside German territory and were left to glide to their target. Only 9 gliders landed atop Eben Emael, the first carrying the men of Troop 8 landed at 0524, closely followed by Troop 5 who landed directly on top of a machine gun nest, taking the first Belgian prisoners of the operation. Two gliders including Witzigs, which contained the reserve troop, had to abort shortly after takeoff and landed back near Cologne, the second glider to abort landed near Düren. Witzig managed to arrive at 0830 to re-take command after commandeering another glider and tow. The men from the second glider managed to link up later in the day after getting there on foot under heavy fire. Unaware that their commander was not with them, the men of Group Granite (now under the temporary command of Hauptfeldwebel Wenzel from Troop 4, as Leutnant Delica was unaware of Witzig's absence) started to carry out their assigned objectives aswell as those of the missing Para’s. Within 10 minutes they had successfully knocked out 9 of the casemates and pillboxes, using 2lb, 25lb and massive 110lb hollow charges, as well as flamethrowers. The small 2lb charges were used for destroying observation and sighting equipment, the 25lb charges were used for spiking gun barrels and destroying pillboxes and the 110lb hollow charges were used for smashing the thick concrete of the casemates and embrasures. At 0542 a radio message went out to Hauptmann Walter Koch "objective achieved, everything in order". They met sometimes quite stiff resistance from the Belgian defenders, who had even resorted to firing shells set with the minimum fuse settings. At one stage Leutnant Delica called in Stukas to bomb the stubborn objectives. The stukas did not succeed in destroying the targets but forced the gunners to keep their heads down whilst the engineers went to work placing their charges. One by one their objectives were destroyed and they held out until 1000 on the morning of the 11th when they linked up with men of the 51st Pioneer Battalion. Together they started to sweep the last of the resistance from the fort and made way for the Motorised Section of the Engineer Battalion to get through and relieve the Para assault group. Knowing the battle was lost; the Belgian commander Major Jottrand, surrendered the Fortress at midday on the 11th May and 1000 Belgian prisoners of war went into captivity. Group Granite suffered 6 dead and 20 wounded during the battle. 3 of the dead were a patrol sent into the maze of galleries within the Fortress and were ambushed by Belgian troops, 1 of them was killed at the Kannes bridge when the troop from the downed glider tried to cross. The Belgians suffered 23 killed and 59 wounded during the battle. Gruppe Granit Objectives, Truppführer's und LS Piloten Objective 16, Dummy Cupola. Oberjäger Heinemann - Trupp 7 - Uffz Scheidhauer Objective 14, Dummy Cupola. Oberjäger Harlos - Trupp 6 - Uffz Zille Objective 17, Canal Nord 60mm AT gun. Oberjäger Harlos - Trupp 6 - Uffz Zille Objective 19, Mitte Nord MG turret. Feldwebel Wenzel - Trupp 4 - Uffz Bräutigam Objective 13, Mitte Sud MG turret. Oberjäger Neuhaus - Trupp 9 - Uffz Schulz Objective 12, 3x75mm guns. Oberjäger Arendt - Trupp 3 - Uffz Sapper Objective 18, 3x75mm guns. Feldwebel Niedermeier (along with Delica) - Trupp 1 - Fw Raschke Objective 24, 2x120mm guns. Oberjäger Maier - Trupp 2 - Uffz Brendenbeck Objective 29, 4xAA MG's. Feldwebel Haug - Trupp 5 - Uffz Lange Objective 31, Cupola Nord 2x75mm guns. Oberjäger Unger - Trupp 8 - Uffz Distelmeier Objective 26, 3x75mm guns. Oberjäger Hübel - Trupp 10 - Uffz Kraft (Trupp 11 - Oberjäger Schwarz with Leutnant Witzig - LS Piloten Uffz Pilz) (reserve trupp) Five minutes before the gliders landed on Eben Emael, Group Concrete, comprising of 96 men in 11 gliders commanded by Leutnant Schacht, landed near to their objective after receiving heavy AA fire from Maasricht. Belgian defenders were well dug in on the approaches to the Vroenhoven bridge, but were quickly attacked and overcome. The destruction of the bridge was prevented by a quick thinking corporal who charged the bridge bunker and separated the ignition connectors. Within minutes the bridge was in German hands and at 0530 a radio message was sent out,"objective taken, bunker blown up, bridge stands". The gliders of Group Iron, under the command of Leutnant Martin Schächter with 90 men in 10 gliders, landed near the Kannes Bridge under a hail of fire. This was an important objective as it gave access to Eben Eamel from the landward side and was the route to be taken by the 51st Engineer Battalion and 151st Infantry Regiment. They dropped straight into a ensuing firefight between the Belgian defenders and an advance column of German Infantry which were way ahead of their schedule, Schächter was seriously wounded in the battle and replaced by Leutnant Joachim Meissner. The bridge was blown up by Belgian troops, which delayed Group Granite's relief. At 0540 a radio message was sent out,"objective reached, resistance great, bridge blown up, still passable with preps from engineers". The combined German units resisted Belgian counter attacks all day until they were relieved later on in the evening of the 10th. Group Steel landed the same time as Witzigs group at 0524 near the Veldvezeldt Bridge under the command of Oberleutnant Gustav Altmann with 92 men in 9 gliders. They met slight AA fire on approach and resistance on the bridge. The defenders in the surrounding trenches were quickly overcome and the concrete bunker on the opposite side put out of action. A machine gun bunker was built into the western pillar of the bridge, this was destroyed with grenades along with its 15 man crew. At 0535 Altmann signalled that "objective reached". The struggle for the bridges on the Albert canal left many casualties. The Belgian defenders lost 400 killed in action. Parachute Assault Detachment Koch suffered 37 dead and 100 wounded, Group Steel lost 8 men, Group Concrete lost 7 men and Group Iron lost 22 men. By the afternoon of the 11th May all the objectives had been successfully secured and the doorway to the west was open for the advancing Wehrmacht Army Groups with only the loss of a handful of men. The first tactical use of gliders had been a complete success. Eben Emael had become the only successful engineer assault carried out from the air, with 54 out of 85 men taking the fortress, out of this number, 2 troops of paras attacked dummy installations and were not involved in the actions against the dangerous objectives. SS-Para engineers from /www.eliteforces.freewire.co.uk... There is some confusion to the history of this formation with some sources claiming it was made up entirely from disgraced Waffen SS personnel and officers. This claim has been categorically denied by veterans of the battalion who claim it was made up from experienced Waffen SS combat troops who had volunteered for this parachute unit on their own accord. The idea for a parachute unit within the Waffen SS was nothing new however for as early as 1937 members of the SS-VT had volunteers for a parachute unit but these plans came to nothing. In 1943 the idea was reintroduced with volunteers from existing Waffen SS units and SS penal units allowed to come forward (this is probably where the confusion arose as to the origin of volunteers). These penal volunteers had disgraced themselves in battle or committed other misdemeanours and were now being given the opportunity to redeem themselves. They were restored to their original rank and incorporated into the unit. It was not a penal unit in itself but was designed to give the disgraced officers and personnel (which made up only a percentage of the units numbers) a chance to redeem themselves in action. Theses men came from the brutal SS-military prison at Danzig-Matzkau, or the punishment- section for SS personnel at Dachau. Their crimes ranged from refusing direct orders, assaulting superiors, or men who were serving long terms in military jail for non-military criminal or political offences, such as rape or black-marketeering, speaking out against National Socialism or the Führer himself. The unit was formed in Chlum, Czechoslovakia in October 1943 under the command of SS-Sturmbannführer Herbert Gilhofer, of SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt 21 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg". Their parachute training took place at Mataruska-Banja, near Kraljevo in Serbia and at the newly relocated Luftwaffe Fallschirm-Schule nr.3 and in Hungary in early 1944. With their training complete their first taste of action was near Tuzla in Bosnia- Herzegovina with further anti-partisan operations in Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. However their most famous action was to come during Operation Rösselsprung (Knight's Move)-the audacious attempt to capture the communist Yugoslavian Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito. In April SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Rybka took command of the battalion and prepared for the assault on the mountain base stronghold above the town of Drvar in western Bosnia. Their mission was to land within striking distance of the mountain citadel and either kill or capture Tito. Along with Fallschirmjäger Battalion 500, the 7th SS Gebirgs Division "Prinz Eugen" combined with Luftwaffe, Army, Brandenburg and Croatian troops as part of 2nd Panzer-Armee of Armeegruppe F were to attack the surrounding areas to support the assault. SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Rybka who would lead the attack on Tito's HQ in what would be the battalions most famous action. Rybka himself was severely wounded in the arm by a partisan grenade during the fierce fighting around Drvar. The attack was to go in on 25th May with 654 men to drop in the first wave with just under half going in by parachute and the rest by glider. They were to be split in separate units with Panther group consisting of 110 men to eliminate Tito's bodyguard and capture him. Greifer group consisting of 40 men to destroy the UK military mission. Sturmer group consisting of 50 men to destroy the USSR military mission. Brecher group containing 50 men to destroy the US military mission. Daufnanger group made up of 50 Fallschirmjäger, and 20 men of "Abteilung Svadil" - a special Brandenburg unit with additional Luftwaffe signallers and interpreters from 7.SS- Prinz Eugen Division who were tasked with destroying the partisan signals unit and seizing radio code books and signal intelligence references. Beisser group consisting of 20 men to seize a specific outpost radio station, and then assist group Greifer. Two SSFallschirmjäger disembark from their glider during Operation Rösselsprung. As partisan units went Tito's was much more organized than other resistance armies with almost total control of the countryside being afforded to them. Only the larger towns and cities were firmly held by the Germans with a constant drain on their resources being expended on the containment of these partisan units. Reprisals and counter reprisals took place during the mountain sweeps and virtually no quarter was given or expected by both sides. SS-Fallschirmjäger Battalion 500 during 21 May- 24 May transferred by trucks and railway from Kraljevo and Mataruska Banja to their airports in Zrenjanin, Banja Luka and Zagreb and on the 25th May the airdrop went ahead with fierce resistance being encountered almost immediately. The SS-Paras were pinned down almost from the start and entrance into the area of Tito's headquarters was extremely slow with several attacks were beaten back by determined resistance from the partisans. Opinion differs as to whether Tito was actually in the headquarters at the time with some sources claiming he had left well before the landing took place and others claiming he escaped by the skin of his teeth. Which ever source is correct one fact remains and that is that he had escaped the clutches of the SS Paras. SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Mertely The battle went on however with more partisan reinforcements being joined to the battle and a fierce firefight ensued, all the time other elements of paras and glider-borne SS troops were being dropped around the mountains of Drvar which was also being dive-bombed by Stukas. The fighting raged on all day in the hot summer heat and the SS casualties began to mount up with only one airdrop of ammunition and supplies coming that day. The partisan forces were eventually dispersed and Rybka's men entered Tito's mountain hideaway-only to find the partisan leader had long since left the fold. Tito barely escaped the assault. There was a secret tunnel through which he and his Deputy, Edvard Kardelj, escaped. The tunnel brought them up to the top of the cliff, and from there they were ushered away by a small contingent of bodyguards to a railway, in partisan hands, and subsequently to an airfield, and a flight to Allied occupied Italy. Tito's bodyguard battalion, one company of which was female, was left behind to fight and die, in order to buy him time. It worked and the only thing the Germans got their hands on was Tito's new Marshall uniform, specially made as a birthday gift for him. Rybka who himself had been injured by a grenade was forced out of his new mountain position by renewed attacks by partisan and was forced onto the lower ground below in the valley around Drvar. SS-Para engineers during a lull in the fighting around Drvar May 1944. By night time they were pinned down in the town cemetery by accurate mortar fire from the partisans which lasted most of the night until the Aufklärungs-Abteilung of the Prinz Eugen Division linked up with Rybka and his men and relieved them. The assault can only be viewed as a failure due to the Partisan leader escaping but it did severely curtail partisan activity due to the need for reorganization. It has also been suggested that the leader of the British Military Mission in Drvar who at the time was Winston Churchill's son Randolph, was for a short while captured by SS paras who did not know the true identity of the man. The battalion later saw action in a further anti-partisan operation in Petrovac until finally they were withdrawn to barracks at Ljubljana for rest and reorganization. In June SS-Hauptsturmführer Siegfried Milius took over command of the greatly reduced in numbers battalion which had only 15 Officers, 81 NCO's and 196 enlisted men left from it's original compliment of 1000 men. In late June 300 men of the battalion were sent east for another mission which involved an assault-landing and the occupation of the Aaland Islands in the Baltic Sea before the Soviets did the same, however this plan was soon cancelled. After a brief stay in Estonia the 292 men were sent to Kaunas in Lithuania on the northern wing of Army Group Centre where they found themselves part of a Kampfgruppe belonging to I./Panzer-regiment Großdeutschland for the relief of the 11.Armeekorps, outflanked in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. A two week battle ensued with SSFallschirmjäger Battalion 500 helping to evacuate Vilnius as the Soviets entered the city and on towards the Baltic (creating the Kurland Pocket in the Process). In mid August along with Panzer-Brigade von Werthen and elements of 7th Panzer Div., 212th and the 252th Infantry Divisions, Fallschirmjäger Battalion 500 was involved in stabilizing the front around Raseiniai, north-west of Kaunus. By this time the battalions strength was down to 90 fit men who were then involved along with s.Pz.Jäger-Abteilung 731 in helping stop the advance of the Soviet 33rd and 11th Guards Armies. Later this unit fought alongside Großdeutschland and 39th Panzerkorps. This would eventually lead them to Memel which was besieged by the Soviet Army in October along with Großdeutschland Panzer Korps. The remaining SS-Paras were luckily sent to Ostmark in Austria for reorganization under the new name of Fallschirmjäger Battalion 600 which contained only volunteers. It is from this that some confusion remains to the correct title of the battalion-whether it was 500 or 600. The answer is both are correct. Fallschirmjäger Battalion 600 was used as a mobile "fire brigade" being rushed to plug gaps in the front as they appeared as well as spearheading offensives as they were launched. When it became evident that the Hungarian leader Admiral Horthy was about to throw in his lot with the Soviets SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny along with the newly formed SS-Fallschirmjäger Battalion 600 was sent to Budapest for Operation Panzerfaust which was to be an attempt to kidnap Admiral Horthy and restore Hungary's loyalty to Germany. The SS-Fallschirmjäger Battalion arrived in Budapest on 15th October 1944 and helped to bring the operation to a successful conclusion. After a few days rest in Budapest which also included a victory parade through the city they were sent to Neustrelitz , Mecklemburg where they underwent further training and were brought back up to strength with members of the Wehrmacht and Kreigsmarine who had been drafted into their ranks, swelling their numbers to around 1,000 men. Elements of the battalion served with Otto Skorzeny's Panzer Brigade 150 which was designed to cause panic and confusion among the American forces during the Ardennes Offensive being disguised in American uniforms. After the failure of the offensive they were sent east to block the Soviet thrust on the Oder front. On the eastern bank of the river at Schwedt, Fallschirmjäger Battalion 600 fought fought with Soviet forces until 1st April 1945 when it was pulled back to Northern Germany. It continued to fight until the war's end when the remaining survivors passed into American captivity. weapons...Try these... www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Waffen/ Bilderseiten/flammenwerfer-R.htm http://www26.brinkster.com/heinzbe/weapons3.htm
