SS-Jagdverband Mitte

Militärische Objekte und Anlagen des 2. Weltkriegs (und 1933-1945)
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eucmh
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SS-Jagdverband Mitte

Beitrag von eucmh » 01.01.2019 15:50

Ich suche eine paar photos (800 pix wide min) uber Unternehmen Landfried.
Danke
Gunter

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(You can add any relevant informations to the text and you'll be cited at the end)


Headquarters United States Forces Austria
OSS Austria, APO 777, US Army
SCI/Unit A – September 15 1945
Salzburg, Austria LSX-54

Subject :

SS-Obersturmführer Walter Girg, Commander of the VI-s Mission ‘Landfried’ in Romania and member of the SS-Jagdverband MITTE.

1 – SS-Obersturmführer Walter Girg was arrested by the CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps), in Salszburg, Austria.

2 – Walter Girg was one of the first members of the SS. His valor as an enlisted man and officer during the Russian campaign earned for him the Knight’s Cross with oak leaves.

3 – Walter Girg’s extreme patriotism made him volunteer for dangerous and exciting missions and early he was assigned as an officer of the Jaeger Battalion 502, and later, to the SS-Jagdverband Mitte. Before his service with Otto Skorzeny, he conducted a long range intelligence mission planned by the VI-s Section of the RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt) (Reich Main Security Office) behind the Russian lines in Romania, Mission Landfried.

4 – This report contains a short biography of the Mission Landfried and various notes on the establishment of the SS-Jagdverband, the Schutzenkorps Alpenland (a last ditch defensive operation in the Alps against Russians), the Kampfgeschwader 200, the Flusskampfschwimmer, and the Total Einsatz (SS Suicide Missions). The entire report was written by Walter Girg with the help of Capt Konig of the SCI/A.

5 – Walter Girg was extremely willing to impart all he knew concerning the SS-Jagdverband and kindred organizations. It is recommended that Walter Girg be forwarded for continued internment and any further interrogation deemed necessary.

E.P. Barry.
Major, MI
CO, SCI/A.


Statement of SS-Obersturmfürer Walter Girg, Commander of the VI-S Million ‘Landfried’ in Romania and member of the SS-Jagdverband Mitte.

(Biography)

1. I was born in Hamburg, Germany, on August 13 1919 as the son of the Engineer Franz Girg and his wife Olga Girg, née Blunder. My permanent address is Olsdorf near Gmunden in upper Austria. I am a Roman Catholic. My father transferred in 1925 to Pressburg where I attended the local Volksschule. I finished my secondary studies in a boarding school in Fullenbach near Vienna. Again my father was transferred, this time to Wimpassing in lower Austria. There I received employment as a technician in a machine factory in Gloggnitz.

2. On May 1 1938, I entered the Waffen SS because I could not provide for myself. There was no question of an established political credo at that time. I was first a motorcyclist, then an infantryman, and was in a short time promoted to classes I, II and III. With the same unit I participated in the Western campaign of 1940 and the Balkan campaign of 1941. After having passed successfully the SS-Non-Commissioned officers school I became a sergeant. My regiment (the 3.) was dissolved after having suffered heavy casualties in the East (February 20 1942).

3. I was then assigned to a new fighting group with which I stayed until summer of 1942. Here I received the Eisenerkreuz II Class (Iron Cross 2nd Class) and the Silber Infantry Sturmabzeichen (Silver Infantry Assault Badge).

4. In July 1942, we were sent back to Germany to be re-formed. There I was assigned to the 2.Panzer-Regiment and received some special training. I was soon appointed tank commander and Panzer Officer Candidate. In the month of December 1942 we were sent to Russia in the vicinity of Kharkov, where I received the Eisenerkreuz I Class (Iron Cross 1st Class).

5. On May 7 1943, I was sent to the Fahnen Junkers Schule des Heeres in Winnsdorf. I received my nomination as Panzer Leutnant with special laudatory comments and stayed in the school as an instructor. When the military situation became worse, I decided to volunteer for special missions. The Russians were continuously threatening many of my comrades with imprisonment or death through their never-ending envelopment. I thus conceived the plan of assembling groups of German volunteers and members of our allied armies who would execute long-range intelligence missions and thus enable the German High Command to be on its guard against Russian surprise attacks and give it time to retreat.

6. On August 1 1944, I was at last transferred to the school of the 502.Jaeger-Battalion. My commander was SS-Sturmbannfürher Otto Skorzeny to whom I was presented. There I received again special training in intelligence work together with many other training courses. As I learned wery quickly, I received by August 26 1944, my orders for my first mission. This was a Reichsauftrag (mission from the Supreme Command), transmitted to me by Skorzeny (Mission Landfried). I left with 7 airplanes and 50 members of the 502.Jaeger-Battalion for the area of the Siebenbuergen. During my mission I was taken prisoner but was able to escape execution at the last moment. I suffered some wounds and with a pierced left foot I marched 20 kilometers until I reached the front lines. I was told that my reports saved a whole German unit from encirclement by the enemy. After hospitalization the commander handed me the Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross). Soon after that I was given a new mission, to make the same reconnaissance with tanks. It was very difficult assignment and I had almost no support. I made arrangements but the large Russian offensive in the spring of 1945 frustrated my plans.

7. On January 25 1945, I looked around for new volunteers, recruited them and left on February 1 1945, after having conferred with the commander of the Second Army. I crossed the lines and marched with my men about 1000 kilometers, doing constant reconnaissance under the most difficult conditions. I returned on March 17 1945 to the fortified position of Kolberg, losing my W/T set while crossing the Vistula River. In Kolberg I was not identified as a German and was condemned to death, but after one day of imprisonment I was finally correctly identified as a German by an officer and liberated. We had to fight immediately with the occupants of the fortified position, continuing the engagement until the enemy cleared the area and left. I received the Silber Nahkampfspange (Silver Close Combat Clasp) and was promoted to Hauptsturmführer. On April 1 1945, I was given the oak leaves to my Knight’s Cross.

8. Notwithstanding the desperate situation I began planning a new mission. It was my intention to land in the upper Tatra Mountains. Training for this mission was to take place in the Alps. My men and my W/T sets were transported in the neighborhood of Lofen (near the Steinere Mann). Shortly before the German collapse I was given a new mission. I was to occupy certain areas of the Alpenland and fight the eastern enemies with small resistance groups (SS) in the manner of Tito’s bands. This area was occupied by the Western Allies. My men were all arrested, discharged by me and sent to Allied POW camps. All my equipment and my provisions were completely taken over by the American troops after my arrest.


Operation Landfried was a German commando operation by three special force groups of SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny’s SS-Jagdverband ‘Mitte’ (ex SS-Sonder-Lehrgang zbV ‘Friedenthal’ and ex 502.SS-Jäger-Bataillon) to hold the key passes in the Romanian end of the Carpathian mountains at Braşov, Sibiu and Karlstadt, and to destroy nearby road and rail bridges (August/September 1944).

(Mission Landfried)

9. On August 26 1944, I received from my immediate commander, SS-Sturmbannführer Skorzeny, a top secret order for the Mission Landfried.

10. The plan of the mission was as follows : I was to leave with 6 airplanes and 55 men and land in the area of Temesburg. I had plenty of extra weapons and was to distribute them among the civilian population, to organize them and thus establish a defensive line between Temesburg and Kronstadt. This was supposed to halt the advance of the Russians and Romanians until German troops would relieve me.

11. The equipment was very defective and the time for preparation was very short. I traveled by rail with my men and equipment and arrived in Vienna, where SS-Obersturmbannführer Wineck, of Section VI-E of the RSHA gave me further orders. My airplanes were standing ready at the Vienna airdrome. I worked one day in the offices of the VI-E Section and evaluated all reports concerning the positions of the enemy. The situation changed every day – it was such that my old mission was no longer possible because Temesburg was already occupied by the enemy. I decided to arrange a new mission. Someone wanted to take away my 6 airplanes and I had to act quickly. I received the permission to start and with my men and forty German-Romanians, whom I had recruited from the SS-Frontleitstelle Vienna, flew to Neuburg via Debrecen. Here my men were transported by trucks to a small frontier village. Fortunately, I met there SS-General Pfleps who commanded an army in this particular area and who agreed completely with my plans, which were not markedly changed during my interview with him.

12. The Mission was now as follows : there were to be three reconnaissance and sabotage groups : (a) the eastern troop, under the command of SS-Oberscharführer Fritsch, which was to commit sabotage in the passes about 70 kilometers south of Kronstadt, do reconnaissance work and then come back with the remainder of the men; (b) the central troop, under my command, operating from Hermannstadt up to the Rotenturm Pass with the same mission, sabotage and long-range reconnaissance; (c) the western troop, under the command of SS-Oberscharführer Hahn, who would operate as far as Klausburg and 20 kilometers to the south with the identical mission. We were to avoid all direct contact with the enemy. We planned to start without radio and report over W/T as soon as we had any intelligence. The time allotted for the entire mission was fourteen days. Rations were taken along for three days the rest of the time we were to live off the land. All information was to be obtained from the population. The strength of each troop was one commander and 25 SS men; equipment consisted of hand weapons, demolition material and maps.

13. I marched with my troops up to the Hungarian frontier village of Zuckermandl. Because we lacked the time I was not able to use my machines for a preliminary reconnaissance flight. We crossed the border on August 31 1944 without having met any enemy units. Without further contact, we crossed the Grosser Kockel River. The lines were so thinly occupied that we could march even during the day. Our uniforms were sufficiently inconspicuous that we traveled by train from Agnetenn up to Hernstadt. There I divided my men in three small sections and ordered them to move separately towards the castle of Heltau. My own group pitched our tents in a small garden near Michelsberg.

I waited for two days for the others; finally just two man arrived, who had become separated from the others. By September 4, we had collected 6 men and marched towards the Rotenturm Pass. Until now we had found out the following intelligence : the strength of the Romanian forces marching towards Agnetenn, and also the strength of the Russian units operating around the Rotenturm Pass.

We arrived there after a ten-hour mountain climb. Here, we intended to spend the night and begin gathering information from the Romanians. We put up guards but two hours after dark we were surprised by a Russian unit and surrounded. After a heavy fight we managed to escape without any casualties. Back in Heltau we observed the advance of the Sixth Russian Army and marked its progress on our maps for future reference. These Russian troops were in the best of fighting condition. Discipline and order reigned throughout. We observed many new armored units.

14. During the night of September 9, we again traveled by train in the direction of the front. Here (Schaerszburg) we marched for 35 kilometers towards the main line of resistance, constantly in the immediate vicinity of the Russian advancing columns. We advanced so quickly that we arrived in Nades, a Romanian depot. As we were weaker than they, we tried to talk it over with them. We asserted that we were Romanian stragglers who had left our German units. They began searching our equipment and found our weapons. One of my man managed to escape then and there. We had to lie down in the grass and were not well treated. Soon the Russians arrived and we were condemned to death immediately. We had to stand against a small tree and 20 Russians in front of us were ordered to execute us. It was a tight spot but I managed to flee, receiving a head wound, and while on the run my foot was perforated by another shot.

Notwithstanding my wounds I marched 20 kilometers, reached the German lines, and made all my reports. All my comrades were shot. I was brought immediately to the army commander, to whom I made a more complete report comprising political, military and social intelligence. I had found out through my reconnaissance mission that the Russians intended pushing over Klausenberg with fresh armored troops and with anti-tank artillery. Because the armor commander was informed of this news he was able to form his lines and avoid one encirclement.

15. The eastern troop saved a German army corps from complete encirclement and brought back 200 German soldiers who had been left behind. It also was able to destroy completely the water mains of the city of Kronstadt. The west troop came back with valuable reconnaissance intelligence. 17. We had suffered about 40% casualties during this mission. Some of the men of the mission who had been left behind in Romania finally joined on March 30 1945 a W/T intelligence group operating in Romania and were working for them. They had been declared missing in action since October 1 1944. This group consisted of one NCO and eight men. This W/T intelligence group had been dropped in Romania during the last days of the war and never returned home.

(Appendix to Mission Landfried)

The three troops were equipped with uniforms which looked very much like those of the Allied paratroopers. Troop ‘Mitte’ was dressed in civilian clothes. One troop was sub-divided in four sections of six men each. The equipment received by the men consisted of a light uniform and a rucksack. This rucksack contained civilian clothes, similar to those worn in the area, handkerchiefs, a map, first aid equipment, concentrated foods and ammunition for the sub-machine gun and pistol. (When the men wore civilian clothes, the sub-machine gun was carried in the rucksack.) The men also carried with them paper, pencil, compass, a watch, a first aid packet, hand grenades, a pistol, a camouflage net, a dagger, a flashlight, matches, and a garotte. The arms were the 7.65 pistol and the British Sten
sub-machine gun.

The entire group was further provided with a large amount of explosives (Nipolitplastic). The commander of the group carried a complete collection of maps and a demolition kit. The entire Mission Landfried was equipped with two W/T sets (quartz geraet ME 109) and airplane recognition panels.

(Long-Range Recon & Harassing Troops)

It happened very often during the ever-changing tactical situation that German soldiers or oven small units came back to friendly lines after having been separated from the main body as much as 200 kilometers. On their return they were questioned by the intelligence officer of the division. It had been proved that many of those observations were of great tactical value.

The 502.Jaeger-Battalion then decided for the first time to establish a number of larger troops which would do long range reconnaissance and combine such missions with sabotage activities. These troops were purely military units which did not have the missions given to an intelligence agent who was to establish himself in a certain place and operate from there. The troops generally camped in the woods and stayed there usually for three or four weeks. For better camouflage they were dressed in civilian clothes or in enemy uniforms. They used the language of the area. They were never stronger than 25 men and consisted entirely of German and foreign volunteers in the proportion of two Germans to one foreigner.

They worked in the following manners : the troop was divided into four sections of six men each, working independently and were to meet at previously designated rendezvous point. They roamed through a certain part of the area, made their reconnaissance missions, and delivered their messages at the rendezvous where the messages wore transmitted over the air to the army command. Their radius of operation behind the lines was not deeper than 200 kilometers. When a larger target was to be destroyed, the entire troop was mobilized for the task. The intelligence missions were generally facilitated by contacts with the local population who acted as informers. Every such contact with civilians was to be executed by means of the letter-box system. Every troops was directed to new targets by means of radio. When the SS-Jagdverband were established, these missions continued to be executed and perfected by the different sub-sections.

(Establishment of the SS-Jadgverband)

When SS-Hauptsturmführer Skorzeny liberated Benito Mussolini in 1943 he received the additional assignment of establishing a battalion of German volunteers who were to be used for special missions. Every man was to receive a very special and varied training. For instance, horseback riding, driving of all kinds of vehicles, airplane flying, parachute jumping, etc. The constitution of this battalion was made in the castle Friedenthal in Sachsenhausen. The training itself began slowly. The battalion was placed directly under Amt VI of the RSHA, where Skorzeny was chief of sub section VI-S.

Until the summer of 1944 there was really no battalion 502 but only a staff company, a 1.Company and a 2.Company. The companies themselves consisted of cadre men from the Waffen-SS. Then in October 1944, the SS-Jagdverbands were established, parts of the 502.Battalion were assigned to the new group, and recruiting of new members was taken up throughout the entire Wehrmacht. Skorzeny had received permission to recruit as many as 5000 men. The 502.Jaeger-Battalion became the SS-Jagdverband Mitte. By the erd of 1944 it had its complete complement of men. The Jagdverbands East, Southeast,-Northwest and Southwest were about 70% complete at this time. The only things which were lacking were a sufficient number of weapons and equipment. At the end of 1944, the battalion was about 400 men strong.

The equipment of the Jagdverband (motorized and equipped) consisted of approximately the following elements :

Staff-Company
– Signal Section with a 70 watts transmitter and receiver
– and a sufficient number of agents
– WT sets
– Motorcycle Section
– Supply & Transport Section
Company #1
– Three sections armed with the MP-44 Sturmgewehr
– One section of 75-MM light artillery
– Squad of Engineers
– Squad with Flame-throwers for each section
Company #2
– Three sections armed with the MP-44 Sturmgewehr
– One section of 75-MM light artillery
– Squad of Engineers
– Squad with Flame-throwers for each section
Company #3
– Three sections armed with the MP-44 Sturmgewehr
– One section of 75-MM light artillery
– Squad of Engineers
– Squad with Flame-throwers for each section
Company #4 (motorized)
– Armored Recon Section with two heavy and four light armored cars
– Amphibian Engineer Section (Floater Stoss-troop) equipped with demolition
– materiel and Flame-throwers
– A heavy mortar section in armored cars
– AT Section 75-MM guns (on tractors or trucks)

Apart from the ordinary Frontaufklaerungstrupp there were a certain number of groups who were to undertake long-range reconnaissance, special missions and sabotage operations. These special groups were commanded by one staff and were collectively designated as the SS-Jagdverband. They consisted of the following units : 502.Jaeger-Battalion, 500.Fallschirmjaeger-Battalion, Parts of the Brandenburg-Regiment, Part of the 500.Kampfgeschwader, Parts of the Meereskampfschimmer. The constitution of the SS-Jagdverband had been ordered on October 1 1944 and his composition was has follows :

Staff :
– Location : Sachsenhausen near Berlin
– Commander : SS-Obersturmbannfürer Skorzeny
– Chief of Staff : SS-Obersturmbannfürer Walter
– Signal Unit : A detachment of the SS-Jagdverband Signal Unit.
– Supply Unit : A detachment of the SS-Jagdverband Supply Unit.

(SS-Jagdverband Center ‘Mitte’)
– Location : Sachenhausen near Berlin
– Commander : SS-Obersturmführer Fucker
– Composition : 3 Companies of 100 men each (only German Volunteers) and 3 SS Officers each

(SS-Jagdverband East ‘Ost’)
– Location : Hohensalza in Warthegau
– Commander : Major Auch
– Composition : Volunteers who spoke very good Russian, Polish, Latvian, Finnish, and also Ukrainians, Latvians, Finns and Poles

(SS-Jagdverband Southeast ‘SuedOst’)
– Location : Near Krems in, Oberdonau
– Commander : Major Benesch
– Composition : German volunteers speaking the following languages fluently : Slovakian, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian and also nationals of the above named countries.

(SS-Jagdverband Northwest ‘NordWest’)
– Location : Neustrelitz in Okermark
– Commander : SS-Hauptsturmführer Heuer
– Composition : Volunteers from Flanders (Belgium), Holland, and Denmark

(SS-Jagdverband Southwest ‘SuedWest’)
– Location : Stuttgart
– Commander : Major (?)
– Composition : Wallonie (Belgian) and French (France) Volunteers

(Combat Diver ‘Flusskampfschwimmer’)
– Location : Vienna, Austria
– Commander : SS-Untersturmführer Schreiber
– Composition : Consisted of about 100 German Volunteers

(Signal Unit)
– Location : With every SS-Jagdverband with the School located in the Harz Mountains
– Commander : SS-Haputsturmführer Streckfuss
– Composition : Only German Volunteers

The SS-Jagdverbands recieved their intelligence from the different sections of the Amts (Offices) Gruppe VI (Group VI) of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) and from different Army Groups.

Schutzkorps-Alpenland ‘SKA’)
The Schutzkorps Alpenland was founded on April 15 1945, with the aim of defending the Alpenland against any attacks from the Russians. During these operations more adherents were to be recruited among the civilian population. The mission was to be executed in such a way that the enemy was to be forced to recognize the Schutzkorps as an important opponent. The Corps Was to be commended by Skorzeny himself and the men were assigned from the SS-Jagdverband. The equipment consisted of weapons and all kinds of materiel necessary for the campaign. Rations for three months were distributed. Signal Communications with the CP were to be established by mean of 70 watts W/T sets and by couriers. The W/T communication central station was called the Brieftsube. The supply depot was established in Raastadt in the Tauern mountains.

The entire plan was scotched because the western Allies occupied the Alpenland. Its main mission had been to prevent the arrest and the transport of the local population by the Allies; the transfer of industrial material, cattle, etc. The day of surrender the men of the Corps were ordered to report to the German Army separation centers for formal discharge from the German Armed Forces.

(Kampfgeschwader 200)
In the summer of 1944 the Luftwaffe established a unit of volunteers who were ready to execute any Total Einsatz (Suicide Mission) by means of pursuit planes, which would ram into the enemy, torpedo planes, or dive gliders. The Kampfgeschwader 200 was formed to provide airplanes for the dropping of agents in the rear of the enemy lines. The torpedo planes were to be directed to their targets by means of search lights and navigational equipment. These planes were never used for a similar mission. The planes which would ram into other planes had been used successfully a few times. The dive gliders were already constructed but their missions were never realized. The lost experiment of the Kampfgeschwader 200 was the parachute ball, which contained two agents who would be dropped during a mission, and later it would be destroyed by the men when they arrived on the ground.

(Combat Divers ‘Flusskampfschwimmer’)
The German Navy established the first unit of Marine sabotage ‘Meereskampfschwimmer’ in 1943. The Volunteers were equipped with special, rubber suits and diving apparatus, with steel cutters and demolition loads with which they were to swim towards the target from a distance of about 20 kilometers. As soon as they arrived at the target, they were to attach the demolition equipment and its time fuses and leave as soon as possible.

The SS-Jagdverband had among their missions the execution of bridge demolitions in bridge heads. For that purpose the river sabotage groups ‘Flusskampfschwimmer’ were formed. The river of course traversed the German and enemy positions, which allowed the swimmers to execute their missions. The swimmers dragged with them a load of 1,2 kg of Nipolit (Sprengladung SK 1200). Such a group consisted of six men who could operate in the water for about ten hours and execute their mission by night if necessary. The training school of this group was in Vienna.

(Total Einsatz Group)
The Total Einsatz was known to us in this war through the Kamikaze of the Japanese. The Kamikaze idea became rather popular with us during the last years of this war. We had had different units where people who were volunteers for a Total Einsatz could enlist. The Jagdverband 540, the Jagdaverband 502, the Meereskampfschwimmer, the Kampfgeschwader 200. We did not have in Germany the Total Einsatz, i.e., there was a possibility of completing the dangerous mission and still saving their lives. But there were men who declared themselves ready to ride the one-man torpedo beyond its action radius and to explode themselves with the machine against the assigned target. There were others who volunteered to crash their torpedo or pursuit planes charged with explosives against terrestrial targets.
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