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| Heinrich Himmler, center, reviews troops of the 14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (Ukrainische nr. 1), 3 June 1944. |
by Steve Kane
To this day the history of World War II in southeastern
Europe remains shrouded in obscurity. Nonetheless, the Balkan theater is worthy
of observation in that a large number of Waffen-SS units were involved in the
various campaigns that occurred there.
The following is a list of all Waffen-SS units known to have
served in the Balkans. The dates shown are the “tour of duty” time period for
each unit in question. A very brief combat history accompanies each unit.
Those formations which were Wehrmacht (i.e., not Waffen-SS) units, are
presented since they represent interesting and little-known foreign
formations.
All SS corps, divisions, and smaller independent units known
to have spent time in the Balkans are listed here with the following three
exceptions:
all SS corps troops as listed in
Bender and Taylor, Vol. II;
all ad hoc kampfgruppes formed
from existing SS units such as the 7th Mountain Division for temporary
battlefield use; and
all SS police/security regiments.
Most, if not all, of these last were attached to the local
Hitler SS and Police Leader in the appropriate area as opposed to Wehrmacht
control, although such regiments did, in fact, participate in military
operations against the partisans.
By definition the Balkans include Yugoslavia, Albania, and
Greece as they existed before April 1939. No account will be given here of
Hungary, a country where nearly a dozen of the best Waffen-SS divisions served
in the last six months of the war.
Corps
III. (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Felix
Steiner
September-December 1943
This corps (containing “Nordland” Division and “Nederland”
Brigade) was sent into the Balkans at the time of Operation Konstantin
primarily to disarm the Italians in the Zagreb area. The corps later undertook
limited anti-partisan operations in eastern Slovenia and northwestern Croatia.
At the end of 1943 the corps (accompanied by “Nordland” and “Nederland”) was
transferred from Croatia to the Leningrad front near Narva.
V. SS Mountain Corps
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Artur
Phelps, killed in September 1944 and replaced by SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Friedrich
Wilhelm Kruger
July 1943-December 1944
The V SS Mountain Corps was activated in July 1943 and
spent the next eighteen months of its existence in the
Mostar-Sarajevo-Dubrovnik mountain triangle in Bosnia and Montenegro
controlling the 7th SS Mountain Division and a number of Wehrmacht
units in numerous anti-partisan drives launched against Tito’s forces. Toward
the end of 1944 the corps was shifted into Croatia and in January 1945 the
corps headquarters was transferred from Yugoslavia to the Oder front and
Himmler’s newly created Army Group Vistula.
IX. SS (Croat) Mountain Corps
SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS K. G.
Sauberzweig
June-December 1944
The IX Corps was established in June 1944 to control the 13th
and 23rd Bosnian Moslem SS Mountain Division, although at this time
only the former existed. The corps served as a part of Army Group F east and
northeast of the Sarajevo area. Minor operations were conducted against the
partisans in this region throughout the summer and autumn of 1944. In October
the corps briefly directed its attentions eastward against the advancing
Soviets and took command of the “Knehiwein” and “Böttcher” kampfgruppes
containing Wehrmacht personnel. In December 1944, Sauberzweig was replaced
with the elderly Austrian police general von Pfeffer-Wildenbruch. During this
month the corps headquarters was moved into Hungary to take control of various
SS and Wehrmacht forces near Budapest, where the corps would soon gain everlasting
fame for the seven week defense of that city under siege by the Soviets.
XV. SS Cossack Cavalry Corps
SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Hellmuth
von Pannwitz
December 1944-May 1945
This unique corps was officially established on 27 December
1944 to take control of the 1st and 2nd Cossack Cavalry
Divisions and the Cossack Plastun (infantry) Brigade. At this time the corps’
troops were located northeast of the Zagreb-Brod area, essentially manning the
line of the Drava River with help from the 1st Croat Storm Division.
The corps continued to hold this area until early March 1945, when it was
replaced by the LXXXXI Army Corps in time for the Frählingserwachen offensive.
The corps fell back under partisan pressure later in the spring and took
control of the newly formed 3rd Cossack Infantry Division as well
as temporary Wehrmacht assignments such as the 11th Luftwaffe Field
Division. In May 1945 the corps, with most of the surviving Cossacks and their
families in tow, retreated in southeastern Austria to surrender to the Western
Allies. Shortly thereafter the Cossacks were forcibly repatriated to the USSR
to face torture, imprisonment, and execution.
Divisions
SS-Division “Reich”
April 1941
Operating under the XLI Panzer Corps, this division participated
in the blitzkrieg campaign in the Balkans in April 1941. Although the German
invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece officially began on 6 April, the “Reich”
Division did not begin its advance from the Temesvar region of Rumania until 11
April. Suffering more from mechanical breakdowns and faulty traffic control
than from Yugoslav resistance, the division rolled westward across the Banat
toward Belgrade. On the evening of 12 April the mayor of Belgrade surrendered
the city to Hauptsturmführer Klingenberg, who sailed up the Danube in a motor
boat into the Yugoslav capital. Shortly afterward the Yugoslav Army capitulated.
“Reich,” which had suffered negligible casualties in the campaign, was soon
transferred to Army Group Center in Poland to participate in the
soon-to-be-launched Operation Barbarossa.
SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division “Prinz Eugen”
October 1942-October 1943
Formation of this unit began in spring 1942. Some officers
were drawn from Austrian Reichdeutsche, while the bulk of the division’s personnel
were recruited from Volksdeutsche inhabiting German settlements in Serbia,
Rumania, and the Banat. In October 1942 the division was sent into
southwestern Serbia for its baptism of fire against the Yugoslav guerrillas.
Later in the year the “PE” was shifted north to Uzice and eventually into
Croatia near Zagreb. In January 1943 the unit participated in Operation Weiss
against Tito’s partisans in northwestern Bosnia. Moving southward toward the
Dalmatian coast, the division again saw extensive action in May-June 1943 in
Operation Schwarz, a drive designed to destroy the partisan bastion in
Montenegro and southern Bosnia. In mid-summer “PE” was moved to Mostar to
relieve the Italians there. The division was involved in very heavy fighting in
September, both in disarming stubborn Italians near Split and in battling
Tito’s partisans along the Neretva River. In October 1943 the division was
officially given the number “7.” (See 7th SS Division.)
Russiches Schutzkorps Serbien
September 1941-end of war
This unit was founded in Belgrade in September 1941. Its
personnel were essentially second-generation Czarist and White Russians whose
parents had been welcomed into Serbia by the Yugoslav government in the years
following the Russian Revolution. Initially formed in battalion strength, the
RSS was quickly expanded into a 15,000-man mixed infantry and cavalry division
by early 1942. The men were uniformed and equipped with Royal Yugoslav Army
surplus, although some German material was received late in the war. The RSS
spent the first three years of its existence in Serbia. The division’s primary
responsibility was protection of the Belgrade-Nis railroad, although on numerous
occasions during the 1941-44 period the RSS did undertake limited anti-partisan
operations in conjunction with the Serb collaborator forces of General Nedić,
Bulgarian Army units, various bands of Chetniks friendly to the Axis cause, and
a few German security units. The Germans never placed much confidence in the
military ability of the RSS, but the émigré Russians did in fact perform
surprisingly well on the battlefield—this despite the fact that the Czarist
flavor of the RSS was somewhat diluted from 1942 onwards by the use of regular
Soviet POW’s captured during the 1941 advance into Russia as replacements. In
late 1944, the RSS saw action against the advancing Soviet Army in Serbia and
fought bravely. The division eventually fell back with the retreating Germans
into Croatia and Bosnia during the 1944-45 winter. Toward the end of the war
the bulk of the RSS retreated in good order into Austria, where they
surrendered to the Americans. Promised fair treatment, the Russians were all
eventually handed over to the Soviet government for prompt execution. The
balance of the RSS remained in Yugoslavia as the “General Stefan” Division
(Lieutenant General Boris Aleksandrovich Shteyfon) and fought on to extinction
against the advancing partisans in Slovenia in April-May 1945.
1. Kosaken-Kavalleriedivision der SS
November 1943-May 1945
This division arrived in the Balkans in November 1943. For
about a year it served in Croatia southeast of Zagreb. Missions carried out
during this period included security duty along the vital Sisak-Brod railway
as well as frequent anti-partisan sweeps in the Sava valley north of that
river. Given the increased unreliability of the regular Croat forces
(Domobrans) in 1944, the Cossacks provided the Germans with their only completely
dependable combat force in this region. Because of the fervent anti-Communist
attitude of the division’s personnel, the Cossacks proved quite effective in
combating Tito’s partisans and soon became a unit much feared by the Yugoslav
guerrillas. In late autumn 1944 the unit was relieved by troops of the German
Second Panzer Army retreating from Dalmatia and moved north toward the Drava
River. United with the newly-created 2nd Cossack Division into the
XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps at this time, the Cossacks beat back a combined
Soviet-Bulgarian attempt to cross the Drava from Hungary on Christmas Day 1944.
The division spent several weeks in this region, although by early March the
Cossacks were replaced by German troops and sent westward. The final Yugoslav
attack to liberate their country began on 20 March and the Cossacks were once
again involved in heavy fighting. Tito’s Third Yugoslav Army took on the
division as the Communists tried to smash forward between the Drava and Sava
Rivers. Fighting continued to rage on throughout April as the Cossacks
suffered severe losses. Falling back through Slovenia, in May the 1st
Division was sent into the Drava River valley in southeastern Austria. Here
occurred the same tragic fate as befell the other Russian units in this area:
initial surrender to the Western Allies and subsequent betrayal and slaughter
when forcibly returned to the Soviets.
2. Kosaken-Kavalleriedivision der SS
November 1944-May 1945
The 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division arrived in
Slovenia and Croatia in November 1944. Shortly thereafter both Cossack
divisions were united into the XV. SS Corps. The division performed the dual
role at this time of manning portions of the Drava River front and providing
security to the rear areas east of Zagreb where isolated partisan bands were
beginning to make their presence felt. The 2nd Division, like the
remainder of the XV. SS Cossack Corps, suffered grievous losses once Tito’s
March offensive was launched. It was vital for the Cossacks to hold the line
at all costs north of the Sava, for large numbers of German troops in the Balkans
were still defending in and around Sarajevo as late as 6 April 1945. For the
Cossacks to fall back past Zagreb too soon would mean the annihilation of all
German forces still stationed deep in southern Bosnia. The Cossacks gave
ground only sparingly at this time, allowing the German XXI. Mountain Corps to
conduct a fighting retreat all the way from Sarajevo to Banja Luka and finally
into Croatia. Once this retreat had taken place, the 2nd Division
fell back to the Drava valley in Austria. There it suffered a fate identical
to that of the 1st Cossack Division.
3. Kosaken-Grenadierdivision der SS
March-April 1945
This short-lived unit was officially formed on 29 March 1945
by expansion of the Cossack Plastun Brigade. Unlike the other Cossack divisions,
the 3rd Division was an infantry (i.e., not cavalry) formation.
The unit was built around the 7th and 8th Don Cossack
Infantry Regiments and the Wehrmacht 360th Cossack Grenadier
Regiment. A few horsed Cossack elements may have been attached to the division
after its creation. The 3rd saw action in northeastern Croatia and
Slovenia in April and like the other Cossack divisions was badly mauled in the
process. The division was detached from the XV. SS Corps late in the month and
marched into Austria while the 1st and 2nd Divisions remained
engaged against Tito’s partisans. The surrender to British troops arriving
from Italy was followed by “resettlement” of the Cossacks to death camps and
firing squad walls in the USSR.
4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division
September 1943-November 1944
Advance elements of this division began arriving in
Yugoslavia in late summer 1943 from training camps in Bohemia and Moravia.
The division had been undergoing conversion from a police infantry into a panzergrenadier
division in the quiet of the Protectorate. As the training of divisional
elements continued, those portions of “Polizei” which had completed the
transition to armored infantry were sent into Serbia south of Belgrade to
form a mobile reserve in the event of an Allied invasion of the Balkans. Very
little activity was necessary against the guerrillas in Serbia during this
period since the partisan movement in that portion of Yugoslavia had been
destroyed during the 1941-42 winter and was still in the process of rebuilding.
Toward the end of 1943 elements of the 4th SS began moving into
northern Greece while the last divisional sub-units completed their training
and reorganization near Prague. By March 1944 the entire division (minus a small
kampfgruppe still near Leningrad on the Russian front) was in Greece. It was
decided to concentrate the division near Salonika to calm Bulgarian fears of
an Allied landing here similar to the World War I invasion. The bulk of the
division’s armor was retained in this location, although other units of
“Polizei” were strung out as far west and south as Florina, Kozani, and Larisa.
The 4th SS, accompanied by the 7th Bulgarian Infantry
Division (stationed north and east of Salonika) were organized into the
“Salonika-Aegean Administrative Area” at the time. This command was
reorganized into the LXXXXI Army Corps in August 1944. “Polizei” launched
various small-scale anti-partisan drives during the first eight months of 1944
but was hampered in such activity since its vehicles were less than useless in
the trackless high mountains of the Epirus. The primary enemy fought during
this period were several thousand guerrillas of ELAS, the Greek Communist partisan
army. In July 1944 clashes broke out between the 4th SS and members
of EDES, the Greek royalist-republican resistance group that had arranged a
cease-fire with the Germans in spring 1943. In August, Guderian, the head of
OKH, demanded that “Polizei” be moved northeastward to restore the position of
the Reich’s crumbling Balkan alliance-first to Bucharest to bolster the waning
Rumanian war effort and protect the Ploesti oil fields, then to Sofia to
recover a force of eighty-eight PzKpfw. IV’s and fifty assault guns recently
shipped to equip a Bulgarian armored division. In the end, events moved too
rapidly for either movement to be put into effect, but by the end of August
elements of the division had begun pulling out of Greece. The movement
northward was slowed drastically by Yugoslav partisans and a concentrated
Allied bombing raid that had knocked out large stretches of the
Belgrade-Salonika railroad. Finally arriving in central Serbia, the division
was thrown into action against the advancing Soviets about 40 miles south of
Belgrade in late September. Although suffering heavy losses, the 4th
SS’s stubborn defense west of Turnu Severin and the Iron Gate slowed the
advance on Belgrade considerably and enabled the battered survivors of the 1st
Mountain Division to escape encirclement and almost certain destruction
elsewhere in the Morava valley. Fighting continued in Serbia during October,
although once Belgrade fell on the 20th of that month the Soviets
sent most of their forces into Hungary. After a brief rest, the 4th
SS itself moved into Hungary in November, the beginning of a six-month odyssey
that would end on the banks of the Elbe River in May 1945.
7. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division “Prinz Eugen”
October 1943-end of war
Following its numbering and absorption of captured Italian
equipment, the “PE” Division remained near Mostar and Split on the Dalmatian
coast. Elements of the division cleared several Dalmatian islands of partisans.
In December 1943 the division participated in Operation Schneegestober against
Tito near Sarajevo. From January to September 1944, “PE” was involved in
numerous anti-partisan operations throughout Bosnia and northern Montenegro.
In October the division was transferred to the Nis area in Serbia to stop the
advancing Soviets. “PE” fought very well in these battles but lost many veteran
troops in doing so. In November the division moved south into Macedonia where
more heavy fighting occurred. During this month the 7th SS had to
contend with Soviets and Bulgarians to the east and Communist partisans to the
north, west, and south. The division’s firm defense of the Vardar valley here
was partly responsible for the successful evacuation of Lohr’s Army Group E
from Greece and the Aegean Islands into Skoplje and through the Uzice-Kraljevo
bottleneck toward Bosnia. The 7th SS’s last six months of the war
can best described as one continuous nightmare of a delaying action. Shifted to
the Osijek-Vukovar area in January 1945, “PE” was moved back to its old battlegrounds
near Sarajevo in March. The division participated in the Xenophon-like retreat
of the XXI. Mountain Corps in April and was eventually pushed out of Bosnia
after increasingly bitter battles with the partisans. The 7th SS
finally capitulated to Tito’s guerrilla army on 10 May near Cilli in Slovenia.
Thousands were subsequently massacred. A handful of stragglers from the
division are reported to have fought on with the 181st Infantry
Division to annihilation near Slovenska Bistrica during the period 11-15 May.
8. SS-Kavallerie-Division
December 1943-March 1944
This division (named “Florian Geyer” in March 1944) arrived
in the Balkans at the end of 1943. Although probably coincidental, the
movement of the 8th SS into the southeastern theater is noteworthy
in that it was practically the only unit (either Waffen-SS or Wehrmacht) sent
there with extensive prior experience in anti-partisan warfare. The division
had spent long months prior to its Balkan commitment battling Soviet guerrillas
in the Pripet Marshes and elsewhere to Army Group Center’s rear during
1941-43. The 8th SS spent its three months of duty in the Balkans
almost exclusively in Croatia. Initially the division cleared partisans out of
the Bilo Gora north of Brod and was later moved to the area near Sisak
southwest of the 1st Cossack Division. Throughout its brief stay in
Croatia the division divided its attention between small-scale anti-partisan
operations and refitting efforts. In March 1944 the deteriorating political
situation in Hungary forced the Germans to launch Operation Margarethe. The 8th
SS accompanied other Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht units during the occupation of
Budapest and other vital areas throughout the country. On paper the division
remained a part of Weichs’ Army Group Southeast until September 1944, but after
Margarethe it did not again serve directly on Yugoslav soil.
11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division “Nordland”
September-November 1943
For the account of this division’s experience against the
partisans in western Croatia in autumn 1943, see Siegrunen, No. 15 (July 1979), “Soldiers of Europe, Part I.”
13. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS “Handschar”
(Kroatische nr. 1)
February-December 1944
Although established in summer 1943, the “Handschar”
Division was not committed to the Balkan theater until February 1944. The
division moved into the Brcko sector along the Sava River and was responsible
for the security of northeastern Bosnia and eastern Croatia. The unit spent
most of 1944 in this region and participated in numerous anti-partisan drives,
although for several reasons achieved only indifferent success. In August 1944
the division was to have been relieved by the SS “Kama” Division and sent south
to Sarajevo to assist the 7th SS in Operation Räbezahl, but “Kama”
was at this time unprepared for combat. In September several sub-units of
“Handschar” were converted into headquarters troops for the newly-created IX.
SS Mountain Corps, established to control the two Bosnian Moslem SS mountain
divisions. Small elements of the 13th SS are reported to have been
sent east and involved in fighting with the Soviet 46th Army between
Subotica and Belgrade. In October there occurred an equipment crossover with
the remnants of the 1st Mountain Division. Also during this month
“Handschar” was reinforced by a 3,000-man Wehrmacht force evacuated from Crete.
By November a part of the 13th SS was holding the Duna River line in
Hungary and Croatia against combined Soviet-partisan attacks. In December the
division was relieved along the Duna and sent into Hungary. New evidence shows
that the Moslem personnel in “Handschar” were not jettisoned at the time and
continued to fight on south of Lake Balaton until the end of the war. Thus
Haussers’s statements in his Waffen-SS im
Einsatz regarding “our brave Mujos” appear to have been correct after all
despite years of scholarly belief to the contrary.
14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (Ukrainische nr. 1)
February-April 1945
This division was ordered to proceed to Slovenia in January
1945, although the movement from Slovakia to the Maribor area was carried out
quite slowly. By the end of February units of the division straddled both sides
of the pre-1941 Yugoslav-Austrian frontier. Sporadic fighting took place
between the Ukrainian SS and Tito’s northern partisans for a few weeks. In
late March the division was transferred from Slovenia to Austria in Army Group
South reserve. It was also ordered at this time for the 14th SS to
turn over its heavy and surplus weapons to the newly-created 10th
Parachute Division. The oversized Ukrainian SS replacement regiment had followed
along during the move to Slovenia. This unit lingered on in Yugoslavia until
about mid-April and fought a few skirmishes against Tito’s partisans. It
eventually joined the main body of the 14th SS Division in Austria.
21. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS “Skanderbeg”
(Albanische nr. 1)
July-October 1944
For a brief history of this division’s role in the Balkan
theater during the summer and autumn of 1944, see Siegrunen, “The 21st SS Mountain Division.”
23. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS “Kama” (Kroatische
nr. 2)
August-November 1944
This Bosnian Moslem SS division was created in August 1944
by expansion of the “Kroatien” Legion coupled with the transfer of a sizeable
cadre from the 13th SS Mountain Division. “Kama” spent most of its
brief career in the Sava valley east of Brod. Most of the division’s time was
spent in slowly readying itself for combat as opposed to actually undertaking
any major anti-partisan operations against Tito’s guerrilla forces. Elements of
the division may have been involved in fighting the advancing Soviets near
Belgrade, but the bulk of the division remained west of Sabac to fill the
vacuum left by the transfer of several Wehrmacht and SS units from Croatia and
Bosnia into Serbia. Morale among the Bosnian rank and file (never high to begin
with) took a marked turn for the worse following the desertion of the
division’s iman (religious/spiritual leader) in November. At this point it was
decided to disband “Kama.” Some of the reliable German and Moslem personnel in
the division were sent to join “Handschar” while the remainder were eventually
incorporated into the newly-created 31st SS “Batschka” Division.
24. Waffen-Gebirgs-Karstjäger-Division der SS
November 1944-end of war
The 24th SS was established in November 1944 by
expansion of the SS Karstwehr Brigade. The division contained numerous
Volksdeutsche recruited from the South Tyrol, the area annexed by Italy from
Austria-Hungary after World War I. “Karstjäger” spent the last six months of
the war fighting partisans in Istria between the Tagliamento and Soca Rivers,
although occasional expeditions were launched into the Dolomite and Julian
Alps in the Alto Adige and Slovenia respectively. The division was hindered by
the fact that it was essentially the only formation available to combat the
guerrillas in these areas. On the other hand, despite the numerical superiority
of the bandits in the rugged alpine regions, the Italian and Yugoslav
Communists were violently at odds as to who would possess Istria in a post-war
Europe and thus did not cooperate against the Germans. Throughout its history
(as battalion, brigade, and division) the 24th SS was not a
component of the regular Wehrmacht command chain of either Army Group C in
Italy or Army Group F in Yugoslavia. Instead, “Karstjäger” served under the
control of the Senior SS and Police Leaders Karl Wolff (North Italy) and Odilo
Globocnik (Trieste and Adriatic) at various points during its brief career.
It is not certain to which HSSuPF. command the 24th SS belonged to
near the end of the war, but if Wolff it is certainly ironic that a unit
directly under his command would disregard his order to stop fighting once
Wolff had completed negotiations for the surrender of all Axis forces in Italy
and southern Austria. “Karstjäger” continued to fight partisans during and
after the surrender talks and is noted for resisting elements of the British
Eighth Army at Villach in southern Austria on 6 May 1945. The division, much
weakened by the end of the war, was scattered throughout the Carnic Alps and
thus small battlegroups were forced to capitulate to whichever enemy was
closest: Italian partisans, the British, or Tito.
Brigades and Independent Kampfgruppes
Leibstandarte SS “Adolf Hitler” Motorized Brigade
The premier Waffen-SS formation played an important role in
the attack on the Balkans beginning 6 April 1941. Attached to the XXXX Panzer
Corps, the LAH brigade blitzed its way across Macedonia and south past the Monastir
Gap. Fighting splendidly against both mountainous terrain and a skilled, determined
enemy, the SS smashed through the Klidi Pass toward Kozani. Particularly
fierce resistance was encountered during this battle from the 6th
Australian Division. Once the Aliakmon River defense line had been shattered,
the brigade began rolling south through the Pindus Mountains of north central
Greece. In what may have been Sepp Dietrich’s finest hour, General Tsolakoglou
surrendered the entire Greek Epirus Army of 16 divisions to the LAH on 20
April. Later the brigade began a rapid advance from Ioannina across the Gulf of
Corinth to the Peloponnesus, trapping several thousand British and Anzac troops
at Kalamai. Following the evacuation of the IEF (Imperial Expeditionary
Force), the LAH was moved first to Brno in Slovakia for a quick refitting and
then to southern Poland for the great attack on the Soviet Union. (For a brief
but no-nonsense account of the Leibstandarte’s role in the Balkan blitzkrieg,
see Weingartner, pages 49-57.)
SS-Kampfgruppe “Ameiser”
September-October 1944
The “Ameiser” force consisted of the 17th and 52nd
SS Cavalry Regiments from the newly-created 22nd SS “Maria Theresa”
Division. Sent into the Seven Mountains region of Rumania in late August, the
kampfgruppe saw action at Timisoara against the Soviet 46th Army.
Elements of “Ameiser” were later drawn into the fighting for the Banat and the
Backa near the Tisza River north of Belgrade. The kampfgruppe fought alongside
elements of the 4th SS and (it would appear) the 13th SS
Divisions in this area. In October 1944 the SS cavalry group was moved north to
participate in the rapidly escalating battle for eastern Hungary.
SS-Panzergruppe “Mühlenkamp”
September-October 1943
This battlegroup spent its brief Balkan tour of duty as
part of Steiner’s III. SS Panzer Corps.
SS Karstwehr Mountain Brigade
May 1944[?]-November 1944
The brigade was formed by expansion of the SS Karso Scouts
Mountain Battalion. It spent its time as the battalion had done: battling both
Italian and Yugoslav partisans in the mountains of Istria north of Trieste.
Little else has surfaced so far concerning this unit.
Cossack Plastun (Infantry) Brigade
November 1944-March 1945
This force arrived in the Balkans shortly after the 2nd
Cossack Cavalry Division in November 1944. The brigade appears to have served
in the same area as the 2nd (and 1st) Cossack Divisions:
in Croatia between Zagreb and the Drava River line and in the Bilo Gora. In
late March 1945 the brigade became the 3rd Cossack Infantry
Division.
Russian SS Forces
Waffen-Gebirgs-Brigade “Krim” (tartarische Nr. 1)
Osttürkischer Waffen-Verband der SS
Kaukasischer Waffen-Verband der SS
Late 1944
To date very little has appeared concerning the history of
these three brigade-sized Russian SS units, but it would appear that all three
spent brief periods in the Balkans during the latter half of 1944. It is likely
that the forces were deployed in Slovenia and Croatia to gain unit combat
experience against the partisans. By spring 1945 all three brigades had been
transferred to other fronts.
4. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier Brigade “Nederland”
September-December 1943
Like “Nordland” and the Mühlenkamp Panzergruppe from
“Wiking,” this brigade was a part of the III. SS Panzer Corps operating in
Slovenia and Croatia.
16. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division “Reichsführer-SS”
Kampfgruppe
October 1943-March 1944
Although portions of the brand-new 16th SS
Division were being formed at depots in Austria and Italy in the autumn of
1943, a considerable force of the division was established at Ljubljana. The
partisans in Slovenia at this time had suffered heavy losses from drives launched
by the III. SS Panzer and LI. Mountain Corps, but a sizeable force remained
intact not far from Ljubljana itself. Despite this enemy presence the contingent
of the “RFSS” in Slovenia does not appear to have had its training/
reorganization seriously disturbed at any time. Although the 16th SS
battle group did eventually experience some fighting with partisans, this was
on a local basis only. The main German anti-guerrilla effort in Slovenia
during the 1943-44 winter centered around the 367th and 371st
Infantry Divisions, like “RFSS” newly-created units. In March 1944 the 16th
SS force in Slovenia was transferred to Hungary with the 8th SS,
100th Jäger, and 367th Infantry Divisions as Operation
Margarethe was put into effect.
18. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Division “Horst
Wessel” Kampfgruppe
January-June 1944
The 1st SS Motorized Brigade was transferred
from Russia to the Zagreb area in Croatia in January 1944 to undergo
reorganization into the 18th SS Division. Originally it was planned
to form the division from SA volunteers but when this proved unfeasible it was
decided to raise the bulk of the rank and file from Hungarian Volksdeutsche instead.
As a result, the cadre was moved into the Backa region, a territory of the
Voivodina awarded to Hungary after Yugoslavia was dismembered in 1941. There
followed a confusing period with elements of the forming division deployed in
the Backa, Austria, Croatia, and various locales in Hungary after Margarethe
had taken place. The partisan movement never got off the ground in the Backa,
but those portions of the 18th SS in Croatia saw limited action
against the guerrillas between March and June 1944. Part of the division
fought near Zagreb, while a battalion served with the 1st Cossack
Cavalry Division further to the southeast. By early summer all anti-partisan
operations involving “HW” troops ended as the division moved to new depots in
Hungary, Rumania and the Backa.
Regiments
SS-Kroatien-Legion
March-August 1944
This force was created in March 1944 due to an unexpected
influx of Bosnian Moslem volunteers willing to fight for the German cause. The
regimental-sized unit served in the same general area as the 13th
SS Division but it is not noted for participating in any notable anti-partisan
operations during this time. In August 1944 the legion was expanded into the
23rd SS “Kama” Division.
Serbisches SS-Freiwilligenkorps
May 1944[?]-end of war
The SFK was formed in late spring 1944 as a direct result of
Dr. Ernst Kaltenbrunner’s efforts to establish more pro-German regimes in
Serbia and Albania in lieu of the vacillating policies of the Bulgarian
politicians in Sofia. The regiment was formed from the more reliable
personnel of General Nedic’s forces (Serbian State Guard, Border Guard, etc.)
and other volunteers. Little is known of the SFK’s combat history, but the regiment
is believed to have spent a considerable period operating with the RSS force.
Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS (Bulgarische nr. 1)
October 1944-January 1945
Although Hitler had hopes of raising two anti-Communist
Bulgarian divisions, the lightning advance of the Soviets to Sofia prevented
this plan from ever getting off the drawing board. In the end only a small
number of pro-German Bulgarian military personnel were able to flee their
country before the Soviets arrived. Some of these men, combined with a few
loyal Bulgarian soldiers from the Fifth Army occupation force in Serbia,
Macedonia, and Belomorie were formed into the Bulgarian SS Regiment. The
formation fought in Macedonia and northern Greece with General F. W. Muller’s
corps (11th Luftwaffe Field and 22nd Airborne Divisions)
in the attempt to hold open the Vardar valley escape route for the remainder of
Army Group E. The Bulgarian SS did not appear to particularly distinguish
themselves in these battles. Eventually falling back with the rest of the
German Army in Macedonia, the regiment was transferred to the Oder front in
January 1945. It may have accompanied the V. SS Mountain Corps headquarters on
this journey north.
Regimentgruppe 21.SS-Gebirgsjäger “Skanderbeg”
October 1944-end of war
For a brief history of this regiment (not to be confused
with “Frundsberg’s” 21st SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment), see “The 21st
SS Mountain Division,” in Siegrunen.
Battalions
Deutsch-Arabische Legion
July 1941-end of war
The DAL (also known as the 845th Infantry
Battalion) was formed in early summer 1941 following the establishment of a
German “sphere of interest” in southern Greece during 1941-43, dividing its
duties between police security and guarding stretches of the Larisa-Athens
railroad. Although the Arab Legion is not noted for participating in any
sizeable actions against the fledgling Greek guerrilla armies, it is possible
the battalion cooperated in “police actions” with the Sonderverband 287, a
Wehrmacht unit of Brandenberg commandos training in southern Greece for
eventual deployment in Iraq. During the 1942-43 period the 845th’s
Middle East Arabs were joined by a few hundred North African Arabs (from
Morocco, Algeria, etc.) friendly to the Axis cause. In September 1943 the
legion seems to have assisted the German XXII. Mountain Corps in disarming the
Italians on Corfu and other Ionian Sea islands. At the beginning of 1944 the
force was shipped off to help garrison Rhodes and other strategically important
islands in the Dodecanese. The Arab Legion sat out the remainder of the war
here and marched into British-Greek captivity after the Reich’s final surrender
in May 1945.
500. SS-Fallschirmjäger-Battalion
May-June 1944
Formation of this battalion began in September 1943 from
volunteer officers and men from the SS disciplinary (penal) camps for minor
offenders. Trained as an airborne unit, the battalion was landed by parachute
and glider on Tito’s mountain headquarters near Drvar in the mountains of
northwestern Bosnia on 25 May 1944 as part of Operation Rosselsprung. The
elusive partisan leader managed to slip out of his cave moments before the SS
paras arrived. The Germans did, however, manage to capture partisan
headquarters as well as Tito’s trousers. The battalion subsequently suffered
almost 70% casualties in holding off vicious partisan attacks for three days
until the link-up with German ground troops was secured. In June the survivors
of the battalion were transferred from Bosnia to Hungary where they were soon
reorganized into the 600th SS Parachute Battalion.
SS Karso Scouts Mountain Battalion
August 1943-May 1944[?]
This battalion was created along the lines of the four
Wehrmacht high mountain (hochsgebirge) battalions formed to undertake military
operations in the especially rugged mountainous areas of occupied Europe.
The SS battalion, composed of picked German and Austrian personnel from the
remote alpine regions, received special training in scaling and fighting
amidst the karst, peculiar rock formations that comprised extensive portions
of the Dinaric, Julian, and Carnic Alps. The Karso Scouts took part in the
disarming of Italian troops in the Udine area during Operation Konstantin in
early September 1943. The battalion may have been attached to the Wehrmacht
“Döhla” Mountain Brigade at this time. Battles then were fought for several
months against both Italian and Yugoslav partisans in Istria, where the
underground resistance movements had flared into open rebellion in the wake of
the Italian surrender.
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| Soldiers of the 13th SS Division with a brochure about "Islam and Judaism", 1943. |
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| Haj Amin al-Husseini, alongside SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen SS Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig, reviewing Bosnian SS volunteers from the 13. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS "Handschar" (kroatische Nr. 1) during their training in November 1943. |
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| Members of the 13. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS "Handschar" (kroat. Nr. 1) during their training, 1943. |
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| Members of the 13. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS "Handschar" (kroat. Nr. 1) on operations during May 1944. |
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| Bulgarian Waffen-SS soldiers. |
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| SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Felix Steiner. |
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| SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Artur Phelps. |
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| SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Hellmuth von Pannwitz. |
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| Soldiers of SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division “Prinz Eugen” with captured partisan. |
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| Soldier from the Russiches Schutzkorps Serbien. |
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| Oberfeldwebel Nicolas Balanowski of the 1. Kosaken-Kavalleriedivision der SS. |
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| Members of the 21. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS “Skanderbeg” (Albanische nr. 1) with SS-Standartenführer Karl von Krempler somwhere in Kosovo in November 1943. |
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| Formation of the 23. Waffen-Gebirgs-Division der SS “Kama” (Kroatische nr. 2). Members of the 2nd Company, 56th Regiment, posing on a small hill near the Hungarian village of Kunbaja, during the division's training in Bačka. Standing in the front row in a light shirt is the company commander, SS-Untersturmführer Alfred Berger. |
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| The SS-Freiwilligen-Karstwehr Battalion of the 24. Waffen-Gebirgs-Karstjäger-Division der SS conducting artillery training. |
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| Swearing in of troops of the Serbisches SS-Freiwilligenkorps. |
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| A black soldier of the Deutsch-Arabische Legion in Greece on 23 September 1943. |
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| Soldiers of the Deutsch-Arabische Legion distributing hand grenades in Greece. Note the original Sonderverband 287 arm-patch on the German NCO. |
