German Units - TheHistoryFiles.com

Flying Circus

Richthofen’s Flying Circus, by Nicolas Trudgian An elite German fighter unit in World War I. World War I was the first time aircraft were used in combat against each other. Before then the United States had used aircraft in scouting roles, and when World War I broke out, it was scouting that was the primary […]

German Units

Albert Ernst and 512th Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion

On 21 March, the battalion was assigned to LIII Corps and committed to the Battle of Remagen. By the end of the month it was reduced to a strength of 13 Jadgtigers. During April, the 1st and 2nd companies were destroyed in the Ruhr Pocket, while the 3rd Company was lost during fighting in the […]

AFV, German Units

Initial Heavy Tank Battalions Organisation

Heavy Tank Company, K.St.N. 1176d Dated 15 August 1942. Heavy Tank Battalion, Organization D, 1942-43. While the Army ordnance department was developing the heavy tank, the Army General Staff made plans to field heavy tank companies when production began. Initially, the plan for the heavy tank company included three platoons, each with three Tigers, for […]

German Units

Heavy Tank Battalion 503 in Hungary

Koeingstiger Heavy Tank, sPzAbt 503, Autumn 1944. After completing operations in Budapest, Heavy Tank Battalion 503 was ordered to move southeast to support the 4th SS-Police Panzer-Grenadier Division and the 24th Panzer Division. Due to a shortage of the special railway cars required for transporting Tigers, only one company at a time was able to […]

German Units, SpecForce

Grenzschutzgruppe 9

A GSG 9 exercise in 2005 West German counterterrorism group. Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG-9) was formed in reaction to the killing of eleven Israeli athletes by Black September terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics. The German handling of the situation drove home the point that the Federal Republic needed an organization specifically trained for counterterrorism and […]

German Units, SpecForce

Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK)

AGF (Aufklärungs- und Gefechtsfahrzeug) Serval LIV SO Serval (Light Infantry Vehicle Special Operations) used by German Army Kommando Spezialkräfte KSK German Army Special Forces are called Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK). These units are patterned after the British SAS. One term must be served as Falschirmjägers or Fernspähtruppen. This unit was not formed until 1990. One […]

Air Warfare, German Units

Detachment Kuhlmey

Kurt Kuhlmey Detachment Kuhlmey’s actions in Finland during 16 June and 21 July 1944 was hugely influential in the final outcome of the offensive and of the Continuation War. Together Finnish Air Force units and Detachment Kuhlmey made 1,020 bombing sorties against the Soviet troops and armour. The Soviets lost some 300 tanks, 120-280 […]

German Units

Hessen Troops in Mid-18th Century Wars

F1: Grenadier, Leibgarde zu Fuss, 1760 The Leibgarde zu Fuss could trace its unbroken lineage back to the Regiment von Geyso that fought at Lützen in 1632. After the Thirty Years’ War it first became the Kassel Palace Company, and then, when the Landgraf Karl formed his standing army in 1684, the Leibgarde zu Fuss. […]

German Units

AFRIKA KORPS “Deutsches Afrika Korps (DAK).”

A Sperrverband originally comprising one German light infantry division and a single Panzer division. It was formed on Adolf Hitler’s order in February 1941 and deployed in haste to Tripoli starting in March. Hitler never regarded the Mediterranean as a primary theater of operations for the Wehrmacht. The DAK was assembled from scratch and rushed […]

German Units

26. Panzer-Division

Panther Ausf.D’s of the 26th Panzer Division advancing towards the front between Anzio-Nettu photo was taken February 16th 1944. Italian Campaign, March 1944: under a pouring rain a column of 7,5 cm Sturmgeschütz 40 Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 142/1) and Panther tank of the 26th Panzer Division (Panther I./Pz-Reg 4) briefly parked on the borders of […]