Mounted Cavalry

Re: last cavalry charge in the war. The 1st Cavalry Brigade of the Polish People's Army charged and overran a German antitank gun position near Berlin in 1945. Can't remember the exact location off-hand.

The people who laugh at the Polish use of cavalry in 1939 seem to miss the point that all sides used cavalry on the eastern front for the entire war. It wasn't a romantic anachronism; the horse mounted troops were kept in service because they were exceedingly useful in the vast spaces of the eastern front. The Germans still had horse cavalry divisions until the last days of 1945 as did the Polish LWP and the Soviets. One should also note that just because the troops rode horses doesn't mean that they fought while mounted. Normal tactics were to dismount for combat; in this sense, these units were closer to being dragoons than true cavalry.

Cheers

BW

 

AFAIK the German and SS cavalry units were generally considered second line troops while the soviet were first line if not actually elite, IIRC only a couple of cavalry divisions made it to "guards" status.
It's interesting to note that Guderian in Panzer Leader quotes a cavalry charge against tanks by the Pomosrska brigade on 3/9/939, the book was written after the war but he should be in a position to know what actually happened as he was the German corps commander.

 

Re: Guderian. Perhaps, but considering the spotty accuracy record of postwar memoirs by German generals, I'd rather see other sources before I'd be convinced of it. Also, I think the brigade's name was Pomorska. I wonder if he isn't confusing dates in his memoir as the Pomorska was the unit involved at the already-mentioned Battle of Krojanty on 1 September 1939, the characteristics of which were strongly distorted by Italian and German propagandists into a "cavalry charge against tanks".

Do you have any sources for the assertion that German cavalry units were considered second-line?

On the Guards status of Soviet cavalry divisions. It depends on what period of the war one is considering. By January 1945, most were Guards divisions and all but one of the cavalry corps were Guards. See ?????? ?????? ????????? ????? ?? 1 ?????? 1945 ?. for the Soviet order of battle on 1.1.1945. An example entry from this document is "1 гв. кк (1, 2 и 7 гв. кд)", which translates to "1st Guards Cavalry Corps with 1st, 2nd, and 7th Guards Cavalry Divisions". The other cavalry corps are similar with respect to Guards status.

Cheers

BW

 

My typo but the date error is confusing, I find the charge against infantry and countercharge by tanks much more believable than an attempt to attack AFVs with sabres.

Only my memories of the actual usage, after the first Cavalry division was disbanded to form 24 panzer there are no large cavalry formations in the Army. The SS had 8 Floryan Geyer and 22 Maria Theresa that were used mostly for anti partisan duty as were the brigade sized army formations.
The soviet cavalry "divisions" were more brigade sized but were grouped in corps and operated alongside the tank corps and performed long range raids when the terrain or a breaktrough permitted it, apart from 1 Cav up to Smolensk I can recall no similar employment of German units, and rear area security is what you use second line troops for.
Another possible explanation of the disappearance of cavalry units from the German front line is that after the winter 1941 losses, available horses were barely enough for supply and towing the artillery of the infantry divisions and this may explain why the SS, with their altenate procurrement channels, still had them.
Italian and Rumanian units acted more like the soviets, basic employment was as mounted infantry but charges did occasionally happen, Italian units were "elite" in the sense that they had better quality recruits and I suspect the Rumanian were as well.

I didn't check a late war order of battle and was mostly thinking of the early campaign, you're right here.

 

Hi TiredOldSoldier,

My take on the German cavalry units is that the units you mention spent more time in the front line than out of it. I'll check their assignments and get back to you, since your comments have made me less certain about this. As far as this goes, I would agree with your assessment if the unit in question is the XV SS Cossack Corps, definitely used as an anti-partisan outfit in Yugoslavia.

Re: Axis cavalry -- we should also mention the Hungarian 1st Hussar Division, another "front line" unit.

Cheers

BW

 

3rd Cavalry Brigade - created Mar 1944 from the reinforced Cavalry Regiment Mitte.

4.44 - being organized with 2nd Army
5.44 to 7.44 - with XX Corps, 2nd Army
8.44 to 9.44 - with Cavalry Corps, 2nd Army
10.44 - with XXXXI Corps, 4th Army
11.44 to 12.44 - with Cavalry Corps, 4th Army
1.45 - with XXII Corps, 2nd Panzer Army
2.45 to 3.45 - with I Cavalry Corps, 6th Army
3.45 - (becomes 3rd Cavalry Division)
4.45 to 5.45 - with I Cavalry Corps, 2nd Panzer Army

4th Cavalry Brigade - created May 1944 from Cavalry Regiment Süd.

6.44 - being organized with 2nd Army
7.44 - with KG Harteneck, 2nd Army
8.44 to 9.44 - with Cavalry Corps, 2nd Army
10.44 - with 4th Army
11.44 to 12.44 - with Cavalry Corps, 4th Army
1.45 - with Cavalry Corps, 6th Army
2.45 - with IV SS Corps, 6th Army
3.45 - with VIII Hungarian Corps, 6th Army
4.45 to 5.45 - with I Cavalry Corps, 2nd Panzer Army

8th SS Cavalry Division (original name was simply SS Cavalry Division)

10.42 - LIX Corps with AG Mitte
11.42 - with 9th Army
12.42 - with XXX Corps, 9th Army
1.43 to 2.43 - with XXXXI Corps, 9th Army
3.43 - with XXXXVII Corps, 2nd Panzer Army
4.43 to 5.43 - recovering near Bobruisk
6.43 to 8.43 - Anti-partisan operations
9.43 - with XXXXII Corps, 8th Army
10.43 - with LVII Corps, 1st Panzer Army
11.43 to 12.43 - with XXII Corps in Hungary
1.44 to 3.44 - in Hungary
4.44 to 7.44 - rebuilding in Croatia
8.44 - rebuilding in Hungary
9.44 - with 6th Army
10.44 - with XXII Corps, 8th Army
11.44 to 12.44 - with III Corps, 6th Army
1.45 to 2.45 - with IX SS Corps, 6th Army -- destroyed in Budapest

22nd SS Cavalry Division

7.44 to 8.44 - organizing in western Hungary
9.44 - Kampfgruppe with commander of Army Group Südukraine
10.44 - Kampfgruppe with III Corps, 6th Army
11.44 to 12.44 - with III Corps, 6th Army
1.45 to 2.45 - with IX SS Corps, 6th Army -- destroyed in Budapest

Source for this information is Tessin. My take is that these were mostly front line assignments, although it seems the 8th SS was explicitly on anti-partisan duties for three months and spent several months out of the line in early 1944.

Cheers

BW

 

These German late war cavalry units are actually pretty interesting. The cavarly regiments (Nord, Mitte, Süd) actually saw quite alot of combat in the East. I have a history of Cavalry regiment Süd in my collection.
By 1944 they were roughly the mounted equivalent of a Volksgrenadier infantry regiment backed by a assault gun company or two and a couple of batteries of artillery.

The Cossack cavalry division that later was put into the SS and became a defacto "corps" is another unique unit. This unit was raised from various cossack factions among Soviet POW's and peoples living within captured German territory. The division had two regiments of three squadrons each. The individual squadrons were made up uniformly (more or less) of either Don, Kuban, or Terek tribe cossacks.
Their uniforms included parts of traditional cossack clothing and head dress along with German uniforms. The unit was commanded by Oberst Helmuth von Pannwitz, an outstanding horseman in his own right. The cossacks soon took him as one of their own and he was almost placed in a position where this division would listen to him and no one else.
Sent to Yugoslavia the division almost mutunied over the movement. They thought they should be fighting the Soviets in the East to free their homelands. But, von Pannwitz managed to smooth things over and in Yugoslavia they proved singularly effective at rooting out and destroying Tito's partisans in areas they operated.
By early 1945 this division was now in Northern Germany in Pomerania and fighting its last battles of the war. On March 7 1945 the 1st Don Cossacks mounted a charge against a Soviet line leading a breakthrough of the division which eventually made their way west to surrender to the British.
The reminants of the division were sent to Spittal (about 1500 men) where they were disarmed and then ammassed with other ethnic peoples from the East numbering about 20,000 at a camp near Lienz. A couple of weeks later the whole mass was handed over to the Soviets who promply shipped them to gulags across Siberia and Russia where their deaths were eventually assured.

 

These German late war cavalry units are actually pretty interesting. The cavarly regiments (Nord, Mitte, Süd) actually saw quite alot of combat in the East. I have a history of Cavalry regiment Süd in my collection.
By 1944 they were roughly the mounted equivalent of a Volksgrenadier infantry regiment backed by a assault gun company or two and a couple of batteries of artillery.

The Cossack cavalry division that later was put into the SS and became a defacto "corps" is another unique unit. This unit was raised from various cossack factions among Soviet POW's and peoples living within captured German territory. The division had two regiments of three squadrons each. The individual squadrons were made up uniformly (more or less) of either Don, Kuban, or Terek tribe cossacks.
Their uniforms included parts of traditional cossack clothing and head dress along with German uniforms. The unit was commanded by Oberst Helmuth von Pannwitz, an outstanding horseman in his own right. The cossacks soon took him as one of their own and he was almost placed in a position where this division would listen to him and no one else.
Sent to Yugoslavia the division almost mutunied over the movement. They thought they should be fighting the Soviets in the East to free their homelands. But, von Pannwitz managed to smooth things over and in Yugoslavia they proved singularly effective at rooting out and destroying Tito's partisans in areas they operated.
By early 1945 this division was now in Northern Germany in Pomerania and fighting its last battles of the war. On March 7 1945 the 1st Don Cossacks mounted a charge against a Soviet line leading a breakthrough of the division which eventually made their way west to surrender to the British.
The reminants of the division were sent to Spittal (about 1500 men) where they were disarmed and then ammassed with other ethnic peoples from the East numbering about 20,000 at a camp near Lienz. A couple of weeks later the whole mass was handed over to the Soviets who promply shipped them to gulags across Siberia and Russia where their deaths were eventually assured.

 

The number of large German cavalry units in the East is very small compared to the other armies operating there, apart from the disbanded 1st cavalry we have 3 Army regiments/brigades and 1 SS division as the other was formed in 44 and so operated mostly outside the USSR proper. That's smaller than the Rumanian cavalry forces, the Italians fielded one cavalry division out of a 9 division Army and the Hungarians had a cavalry unit as well. So we have only very small numbers to consider when looking for how they were actually used.
My source (an osprey book on the W-SS) quotes the time spent by 8th SS with 9th Army in 1942 as mixed line and security duty, also before becomming a division it operated as SS-Kavallerie-Regimente under
Kommandostab Reichfuhrer SS in security duties. The "out of the line" early 1944 period is reported as anti partisan duty in the Balkans.
So probably the unit was used as much behind the lines as in line and 8th SS was the largest German cavalry unit after 1941 (barring the Cossacks).
The regiments/brigades (Nord, Mitte, Sud) look like Army level troops raised for limited operations where cavalry was well suited or as mobile reserves, they were much too small for anything else on an east front scale and that makes me believe they spent a lot of the time ouside the frontlines, but a "fire brigade" is a first line unit.
Either the Germans had very little cavalry or most of it was in small detachments for rear area duty, cavalry is well suited to fight lightly armed partisans on foot.

 

TiredOldSoldier,

True enough that there is not much of a statistical sample to look at here.

Certainly they were used at times for anti-partisan operations, perhaps in areas where the SS-Polizei and local security detachments required heavier support. From the standpoint of the authorized equipment of the cavalry units, they are equipped like regular combat troops. For example, in 1942, the SS Cavalry Brigade (forerunner of the 8th SS CD) was authorized 15-cm howitzers and 8.8-cm Flak guns as well as 5-cm antitank guns -- weapons not really required for anti-partisan operations -- and, in stark contrast to units like the SS Polizei regiments who were dedicated to anti-partisan operations. The SS-Polizei units typically had light weaponry such as 7.5-cm infantry guns. As well, the 3rd and 4th Brigades were authorized armored reconnaissance battalions -- hardly necessary for anti-partisan work.

The final duty of the 8th and 22nd SS divisions was very much front-line -- resisting the siege and assault on Budapest.

So, I think their mission orientation lies somewhere in the middle of our ideas, but looking at their subordination record and authorized equipment, I lean more to the idea of them being regular combat forces.

Cheers

BW

 

Yes, quite a colorful outfit. One question -- are you sure about the "northern Germany" location ? I thought they broke through to British 8th Army lines in NE Italy / S Austria.

Cheers

BW

 

Your evidence is pretty convincing, armoured cars and obsolete tanks were used in anti partisan operations but PAK and 88mm guns are unsuited to anti partisan work and unlikely to be issued to rear area units when there was a shortage of good AT guns in most first line units.

 

Thank you for the discussion. For a "TiredOldSoldier", you certainly made me dig through my duffel bag of books!

 

More on German cavalry at German Horse Cavalry and Transport, U.S. Intelligence Bulletin, March 1946 (Lone Sentry)

Cheers

BW

 

Couple of nice pics.
Soviet Maxim M1910 on its horse drawn portee
View attachment 5548
Soviet Cavalry parade note the sabres and the PPSh41 tradition and technology
View attachment 5549

 

Hey guys,

My first post in here and I hope I can find some information through this.

Im searching information about the tactics of WWII-era cavalry troops. I know that swords were widely issued, but they also had rifles/sub-machine guns. Did they have any tactics that enabled them to use those guns from mounted position, or were they reserved to situations where troops had to unmount their horses?

Also, were the rifles always the same as for infantry or were they issued regularly the shorter version of the rifles, for example M38/44 in Russia.

 

The vast majority of mounted cavalry in WW 2 acted more like dragoons than traditional cavalry. That is they were more like mounted infantry than true horsed troops. I have seen photos of mounted troops firing from horseback and also using swords in the very occasional times where they mounted a traditional horsed attack.

But, the norm became for them to act as mounted infantry using their horses for greater tactical and operational mobility.

 

The German Cavalry - and the Horse Platoons of the Infantry Regiments and Mounted Squadrons of the Recce Battalions as well - wore their sabers until early 1941. It is said that smaller formations used it 1939 in Poland as well as their Polish enemies.
In early December 1941 the 44th Mongol Cavalry Division of the Red Army - 3000 men and horses strong - rode an attack over an open plain against an German light howitzer battery in an open position. The artillery opened fire with kind of shrapnel and shot the Mongols to pieces. No German suffered any harm during this action. The only tactical gains for the Russians were a reduced ammunitions supply of the German artillery and a little time.
The successfull night attack of German Cossack Cavalry happened during the night of 22th to 23th March 1945 in Hungary. The German General Officer Commanding the Cossacs, the last Field Ataman of the Free Cossacs, General von Pannwitz, was a descendant of an old Prussian Officers family, whose ancestors had already served under Frederick the Great.
The re-formed German Army Cavalry Brigades were indeed regarded as élite and privileged in receiving modern equipment such as assault rifles and camouflage clothing. They had their own assault gun companies, but, at this time, every infantry division should have had 10 to 14 assault guns. After being united to a Cavalry Corps, they had often not only the Hungarian Hussar Cavalry Division, but also Armoured Divisions assigned. The founder and commanding officer of one of the new Cavalry Regiments was Oberstleutnant Georg von Boeselager. He was killed in action at the head of his regiment. In the Bundeswehr, the Armoured Recce Battalions compete every year for the Boeselager Trophy, named after him. His brother Philipp, who died a few years ago, was involved in some failed plots to kill the Führer. Last week, Defense Minister Jung named a Kaserne (Barracks) after him.

 

Has anyone of You ever seen the Polish movie "Lotna" from the famous Director Andrzej Wajda? The movie recounts the fate of an Uhlan Squadron in September 1939. Lotna is the name of a wonderful white horse they acquire on an estate, although they know that it is completely unsuitet for modern warfare because of its color. It is owned in succession by the Captain, the Lieutenant and the Ensign, bringing none of them good luck. There is also a love story, ending tragically, the Ensign making his wife a widow after a few days of marriage. In the movie the Squadron rides a successful attack against German forces, as described by Triple C, but gets then caught by German Tanks (in the movie disguised T-34's) and decimated. Until now, I didn't know that the movie insofar followed the real tide of the events in September 1939.

 

My grandfather was US calvalry and served with horses and mules during the war. He was based in the Panama Canal Zone, and would supply the jungle training center. Although vehicles were used there were apparently some areas where resupply was impractical with anything but critters.