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| 1st Paratroop Panzer Division Hermann Göring | |
|---|---|
| Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. Hermann Göring | |
 Divisional insignia | |
| Active | 1933–1945 (in General) June 1943–8 May 1945 (as a Panzer Division) |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  Luftwaffe |
| Type | Fallschirmjäger Panzer |
| Role | Airborne forces,Armoured warfare |
| Size | Regiment Brigade Division Corps |
| Patron |  Hermann Göring |
| Colors | White |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Walther von Axthelm Paul Conrath Wilhelm Schmalz Hanns-Horst von Necker Max Lemke |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol | Fallschirm-Panzer-Div 1HG |
| Cuff title Hermann Göring |  |
TheFallschirm-Panzer-Division 1.Hermann Göring (1st Paratroop Panzer DivisionHermann Göring – abbreviated Fallschirm-Panzer-Div 1HG) was a German eliteLuftwaffearmoured division. TheHG saw action inFrance,North Africa,Sicily,Italy and on theEastern Front duringWorld War II. The division began as a battalion-sized police unit in 1933. Over time it grew into a regiment, brigade, division, and finally was combined with theParachute-Panzergrenadier Division 2 Hermann Göring on 1 May 1944 to form aPanzer corps under the nameReichsmarschall. It surrendered to theRed Army nearDresden on 8 May 1945.
Its personnel was initially recruited from volunteers fromNazi organizations such as theHitler Youth, later receiving intakes from theHeer (especiallypanzer troops) andconscripts of the Luftwaffe. The unit was stationed inBerlin in the newly built Hermann Göring barracks (today'sJulius Leber Barracks ) and inVelten; being named after the 'Reichsmarschall' andCommander-in-Chief of the LuftwaffeHermann Göring. This naming was intended to establish a close connection betweenWehrmacht units andNational Socialism, while at the same time documenting the domestic power within theparty hierarchy. Among its combat missions, theHermann Göring maintained guard forces, such as a guard in theReichsmarschall's estate atCarinhall and theFlak defense ofHitler'sheadquarters andpersonal train.
The division, during its time in Italy, committed a number of war crimes, and, together with the16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS, was disproportionately involved in massacres of the civilian population, the two divisions accounting for approximately one-third of all civilians killed in war crimes inItaly.[1]
WhenHitler, of theNational Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), was appointedReich Chancellor on January 30, 1933,Captain Hermann Göring was appointed thePrussianMinister of the Interior in February 1933. This gave him the supreme command of the entire Prussian police and ageneral's rank.[2]
On February 24, 1933, Göring established thePolizeiabteilung z. b. V. Wecke (z. b. V. meaning "for special use").[2] His intention was to create a police association that was loyal to the NSDAP regime. The outfit was named after its commanderMajor der SchutzpolizeiWalther Wecke, a veteran of theFirst World War and a member of the NSDAP.[2] Numbering 400 men, it was stationed in theKreuzberg district ofBerlin, a notoriouslyleft-wing working-class area.[2]
The battalion soon became notorious for its brutal practices. In cooperation with theGestapo, which was also under Göring's control, the Special Duties Police Battalion was involved in many attacks againstCommunists andSocial Democrats and was responsible for the arrest of opponents of the regime.
In June 1933, Göring enlarged the battalion and placed it under the command of the state police (Landespolizei), becoming theLandespolizeigruppe Wecke z. b. V. (Special Duties State Police Group Wecke), and thenLandespolizeigruppe General Göring in January 1934. In the same month, under pressure from Hitler andHimmler, Göring gave Himmler'sSS control of the Gestapo. To reinforce the position of his remaining unit, Göring increased its size and instituted a military training program. During theNight of the Long Knives, Hitler resorted to both Göring's state police group and Himmler'sLeibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, who executed manySturmabteilung (SA) leaders, thus removing the formation as a threat to the NSDAP.
In 1935 Göring was appointed Commander-in-Chief of theAir Force. Since he wanted to keep control of his "favorite unit", it was transferred to the Luftwaffe in September 1935 and renamed theRegiment General Göring.
The regimental order of battle:[3]
At the beginning of 1936 the regiment was ready to fight again. At that time all organized resistance against the NSDAP had been eliminated. During this time, the regiment served Göring as a personalbodyguard and covered Hitler's headquarters with itsanti-aircraft guns. During this time theI. (Jäger-) Bataillon/RGG and the 15th Pioneer Company (15. Pionier-Kompanie) were assigned to the Döberitz Aviation School forparachute training; at the end of 1937 these units were renamedI.Fallschirmschützen-Bataillon (Parachute Rifle Battalion).[3] The battalion was separated from the regiment in March 1938, sent to the training grounds ofStendal and transformed into theI./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 1, the firstparatrooper unit of theWehrmacht.[3]
The regiment participated in the so-calledBlumenkrieg (Flower Wars), taking part in the annexation ofAustria (Anschluss); being among the first units to cross the border. Two companies landed byJunkers Ju 52/3m transport planes at Aspern Airport nearVienna. The unit remained in-country for several weeks on duty inWiener Neustadt.[3] The Regiment General Göring was also involved in the occupation of theSudetenland in October 1938 and theoccupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939; after which, the regiment undertook guard duties at the strategically importantSkoda vehicle works.[4]
The Regiment General Göring intended for its ranks to be filled with selected personnel to square off with its competitors, theArmy's éliteInfanterie-Regiment "Großdeutschland" and theWaffen-SSLeibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler. Among the criteria for acceptance in the regiment:[4]
During the wars years a further requirement was added: the volunteer would have to sign up for 12 years service. Those conditions were much the same as those demanded for ingress into the Großdeutschland and the Leibstandarte. As the war progressed and the scale of combat losses mounted, such restrictive criteria could not be sustained in any of these élite formations. ManyLuftwaffe personnel would simply be drafted into the Hermann Göring from other units to replace combat losses.
With high caliber recruits, the regiment occupied a brand new purpose-built barracks complex at Berlin-Reinickendorf, which was constructed to the highest standards and with the most modern of facilities. The complex boasted over 120 buildings and included gymnasia, outdoor and indoor swimming pools, sports areas and its own post office. The smartly dressedGeneral Göring soldiers, in their distinctive uniforms with white collar patches and special unit cuffband (Ärmelstreifen), became a regular sight on the streets of Berlin.
By 1939, the regiment had grown considerably. Troops of the regiment took part in many of the great pre-war parades through Berlin. They provided guards forReichsmarschallHermann Göring's own headquarters, the changing of the guard often being performed with all due ceremony including the presence of the regiment's own military band. The regiment also undertook guard duties at Göring's private retreat, the sumptuousCarinhall estate - named after Göring's deceased first wife,Carin Axelina Hulda Göring.
The regimental order of battle on the eve of WW2 was:[4]
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During the attack onPoland, which marked the beginning ofWorld War II, only a small part of the Regiment General Göring (RGG) was involved in the fighting. Most of the unit remained in Berlin to protectGöring's headquarters and theReichshauptstadt.[5] During thePhoney War parts of the regiment formed an infantry battalion[6] and took part inOperation Weserübung againstDenmark andNorway in the spring of 1940; with the largest part of the RGG relocated to the west on the German-Dutch border under the camouflage designations "Flak-Regiment 101" and "Flak-Regiment 103".
In April, a detachment underHauptmann Kluge was sent toDenmark.[5] Composed of a company of the Wachbataillon, a2cm self-propelled Flak-Batterie and a Kradschützen-Kompanie, it took part in the seizure of the airfield and radio station atEsbjerg and the securing of the coastline ofJutland.[5] The detachment was then transferred by sea toOslo, inNorway, being engaged alongside the Army first in the advance toTrondheim, then north up into theArctic Circle to take the port ofBodo and relieve the pressure on the beleaguered éliteGebirgsjäger further north atNarvik. At first the German forces were pushed back by the Allies, with GeneralEduard Dietl making a fighting retreat and retiring alongBeisfjord. WithFall Gelb initiated, the Allies evacuated Norway to concentrate onFlanders, leavingNarvik to the Germans. After completing its mission, Kluge's detachment was sent back home to Berlin.[5]
As part of theWestern campaign, the RGG took part in the invasion of theNetherlands andBelgium. During the campaign theEben-Emael fortress in Belgium was taken byparatroopers under CaptainWalther Koch, many of whom had previously served in the Regiment General Göring - including Koch himself. The RGG took part in the crossing of theMaas and the advance into eastern Belgium. There it crossed theAlbert Canal against stiff resistance and took part in the capture ofBrussels.
After the surrender of theNetherlands, the regiment was divided into several small combat groups (Kampfgruppen), which were assigned to thepanzer divisions that spearheaded the attack on France. The anti-aircraft troops were particularly noted for their efficacy, with the superb8.8cm anti-aircraft of the heavy batteries often used to fight tanks and the 3rd and 5th batteries of the RGG destroyed 18French tanks atpointblank range during a battle in theForest of Mormal, breaking theircounterattack; the crews of the guns Casar and Dona kept firing at the French heavy tanks at 15 meters.
The Regiment General Göring was rewarded for its excellent performance by forming part of thehonour guard of theFührer-Begleit-Kompanie (Führer's Escort Company) for the formal armistice atCompiègne on 21 June 1940.[7] After thecapitulation of France, the RGG provided Flak defences inbunkers on theChannel coast as well as contributing to the anti-aircraft defence ring aroundParis.[7] The new regimental commander was ColonelPaul Conrath in June 1940, who was to lead the regiment and the later division until 1944. At the end of 1940 the regiment was transferred back to Berlin to resume its old job as a bodyguard andair defense unit.
Göring had been appointedReichsmarschall in 1940. At the beginning of 1941 the unit was motorized and renamedRegiment (mot.) Hermann Göring. When Germany joined hostilities in theBalkans in April 1941, the motorized regiment was sent toRomania for intended attachment toGeneraloberstWilhelm List's12.Armee; instead it was held in reserve and placed in the air defense of the strategic oil fields atPloesti.[7] In preparation for the invasion of theSoviet Union in June 1941 the regiment had been moved into positions along theRiver Bug, the dividing line between the German and Sovietoccupation zones of Poland; forming partII. Flak-Korps ofPanzergruppevon Kleist.
Organization as of 15 June 1941:[8]
DuringOperation Barbarossa, the regiment was attached to the11th Panzer Division, a part ofArmy Group South. The regiment saw action in the initialbreakthrough and the advance viaRadziechów, where the Flak crews once again showed remarkable performance againstenemy tanks.[7] The unit then drove towardsDubno, fighting in the tank battle ofBrody inUkraine, against SovietT-34 andKV tanks; with the 11th Panzer Division being momentarily cut-off by Soviet armoured forces. The regiment then took part in the encirclement ofKiev and theBattle of Bryansk. These battles were hard-fought and the regiment took significant losses, albeit reinforcing the unit's growing reputation for steadfastness in combat. At the end of 1941, the regiment was moved back to Germany for rest and refitting, with theSchützen-Bataillon Hermann Göring remaining at the front until May 1942. At the same time, a newly formedII.Schützen-Bataillon was sent to the Eastern Front, where it was all but decimated in extremely heavy-fighting aroundJuchnow and Anissowo-Goroditsche.[7]
At the end of theBattle of Uman, the encircled Soviet forces attempted a desperate breakout by night, running into the 16th batterie of the Flak Regiment Hermann Göring, underOberleutnant Karl Rossmann (akaBatterie Roßmann) and with a handful of infantry including troops from theSS-Division "Wiking" between Uman and Slatopol near the town of Swerdlikowo. The Rossman's formation held out for 14 hours against all attacks, thus playing a major role in ensuring the destruction of Soviet6th,12th and elements of the18th Armies. For this action Rossmann received theKnight's Cross on 12 September 1941.[9][10]
Back in Germany, the Flak elements in the Reich took positions inMunich where they contributed to the city's air defence for a short period, before being moved near Paris, remaining there into the spring of 1942.[7]
In May–July 1942 the regiment was expanded tobrigade size and renamedBrigade Hermann Göring, underGeneralmajor Paul Conrath and during this period undertook generaloccupation and security duties in France.
Brigade order of battle:[11]
In October 1942, when the brigade was still being reformed inBrittany, it was decided to expand the HG todivision size, entitledDivision Hermann Göring, whereby it should be structured according to the guidelines of a tank division of the army. Göring arranged for experienced army tank crews to be assigned to his division and reinforced the infantry with up to 5,000 paratroopers - including remnants of theFallschirmjäger-Regiment 5 (FJ-Regt 5), decimated in the airborneBattle of Crete.[11] The formation of the divisional elements was carried out at numerous locations in France, Holland and back at regimental depot in Berlin. A number of Luftwaffe personnel was detached to the Army for training with Panzer units.
The FJ-Regt 5 was set up in May 1942 on the training area ofGroß-Born with 3 battalions, with the staff and the 1st battalion newly formed, the 2nd and 3rd battalions formed by the 2nd and 3rd battalions of theLuftlande-Sturm-Regiment 1 (also calledSturm-Regiment Koch); coming back from theEastern Front and being augmented by replacements. In July 1942 theI. andIII. Bataillonen were sent to theMourmelon military training area for further training, southeast ofReims. The 2nd Battalion was subordinated to theRamcke Parachute Brigade[12] under MajorFriedrich Hübner for use innorthern France.
Paper strength of main divisional combat units:[11]
This expansion was interrupted by the sudden Allied landings inFrench North Africa inOperation Torch, withNazi Germanyinvading the French Free Zone in November 1942. At the time, the bulk of the division was located in the area aroundMont-de-Marsan, where it continued its training and working up. Those sub-units nearest to being fully formed were gradually moved down intoItaly while the remainder stayed insouthern France.
From 10 November 1942, the paratroopers being transferred from FJ-Regt 5 were moved by train toItaly and by plane viaSicily toTunisia, being assigned to support the10th Panzer Division. Immediately after landing, the regiment was moved to defensive positions west and south-west ofTunis and occupied the important bridges over theMadjerda River.[13] Around 20 November 1942, the regiment was engaged in heavy fighting against the tank-led attacks by the Americans coming from Algeria atMedjez El Bab. Those were beaten back until the superior enemy pressure forced the regiment to give up the position on 25 November.
The bulk of the Hermann Göring Division, still not fully organized, was despatched piecemeal to Tunisia in February–March 1943 forming a combat group numbering 7,000-11,000 thousand men under command of ColonelJoseph Schmid; who was promoted toGeneralmajor shortly after. ThisKampfgruppe Schmid was committed into battle dispersed and attached to various Army units, and they quickly earned a reputation for aggression in the attack and reliability under fire.[14] Under the title ofDivision Hermann Göring, the combat group was commended in official Wehrmacht communiqués in April 1943 for their "exemplary fighting spirit and intrepid valour".[14]
When Axis forces surrendered on 12 May 1943, almost all of the remainder of theKampfgruppe was taken into captivity, including its most experienced veterans. Some 400 Hermann Göring soldiers werekilled in action in Tunisia.[14]
General Joseph Schmid and a few of his men escaped to mainland Italy, on Göring's express orders, before the surrender.[14] These survivors would join the newly reformed division entitledPanzer-Division Hermann Göring.Generalmajor Schmid was awarded the Knight's Cross on 21 May 1944 for his leadership of the HGKampfgruppe in Tunisia.[15]
The new division, meanwhile, was built around those scattered elements still working up in France, the Netherlands and Germany, which now gathered in theNaples area. Efforts to mould these troops into a cohesive fighting force went ahead urgently, as the Germans expected an Allied invasion of Sicily. Over the next few weeks, HG troops would cross over to the island; this new extremely powerful armoured division being ready in June 1943, taking positions aroundCaltagirone.[14]The divisional order of battle in Sicily was:
Operation Husky was initiated on 10 July 1943, and saw the Hermann Göring and the15th Panzergrenadier divisions surrounded by mostly third-rate Italian units, geared to coastal defense and equipped with 38 obsoleteFiat 3000light tanks. The only Italian mobile division was the4th Mountain Infantry Division Livorno, supported by the Italian Mobile Group E equipped with 12Renault R 35 light tanks under CaptainGiuseppe Granieri; they were joined on the afternoon of the first day by 9,000 troops of the Panzer-Division Hermann Göring with 46Panzer III and 32Panzer IV medium tanks coming from Caltagirone, and reinforced with a battalion of the 15th Panzergrenadiers (III. / Panzergrenadier-Regiment 129).
The Germans and Italians engaged in counter-attacks at the amphibiousBattle of Gela on 10 and 11 July, being forced back by heavy Allied naval bombardment. On 11 July 1943, after a 10-minute artillery preparation, the ItalianLivorno Division attacked theUS Rangers in three columns from the west side of the Gela River, supported by obsolescent Renault R 35 light tanks, while the Hermann Göring Division attacked the1st Infantry Division beachhead on the east side of the Gela River. The attack was contained and then abandoned. The Germans reinforced Sicily with the29th Panzergrenadier Division, a veteran ofStalingrad flown in from mainland Italy, and the1st Fallschirmjäger Division brought from France.[16] The HG Division then engaged into heavy street fighting from 2–4 August with the BritishBattleaxe Division in the city ofCenturipe, retreating toMessina afterward. The Allies steadily pushed the Axis back and the Hermann Göring formed part of the rearguard, providing cover to German units being evacuated to mainland Italy; being one of the last German units leaving Sicily.[16] Surprisingly, despite the heavy fighting in which it had been involved, and the intensive bombing of the port of Messina through which it was being withdrawn, the bulk of the HG troops and most of its heavy equipment were successfully evacuated.[16]
The division was stationed near Naples to rest and refit but was almost immediately put into alert due to theArmistice of Cassibile.[16] On 3 September 1943, the British landed inCalabria and five days later theItalian government surrendered to the Allies. Berlin quickly implemented a contingency plan to occupy strategic points in the peninsula and to disarm Italian troops -Operation Achse. The following day, on 9 September, theUS 5th Army landed inSalerno and successfully established abeachhead. German efforts to destroy said beachhead lasted for nine days. The Hermann Göring Panzer Division fought in GeneralHube'sXIV Panzer Corps beside16th Panzer and 15th Panzergrenadier divisions, fighting hard but being progressively pushed back by the Allies under heavy naval and air firepower. The HG pulled back into Naples, where it held on tenaciously until finally giving up the devastated port on 1 October, withdrawing to positions on theVolturno-Termoli line.[16]
In this new positions, the Hermann Göring and the 15th Panzergrenadier put up a spirited defence, gaining essential time for the main defences of theGustav Line to be prepared.[16] This defensive network ran fromGaeta on the west coast toOrtona on the east, with its western end blocking theLiri Valley - the gateway toRome. The retreating Germans employed highly successful delaying actions:sappers destroyed bridges,mined roads and demolished buildings while infantry, artillery and panzers fought stubborn rearguard actions. Those measures ensured the Allied advance to be slow and costly, gaining time for the arrival of winter and the stabilization of the front. With the coming of the autumn rains the bulk of the HG was then pulled back to rest in new reserve positions aroundFrosinone.[16] Elements coming mostly from the Flak and Panzer-Artillery regiments remained at the front and were involved in heavy winter fighting until relieved in January 1944.[16]
With the Allies pushing further north, the ancientBenedictine monastery ofMonte Cassino was facing almost certain destruction of countless priceless treasures; its strategically dominating position as the western anchor of the Gustav Line would necessarily place the abbey amid the heavy fighting for the possession of the terrain. The commander of the division's repair workshop battalion,OberstleutnantJulius Schlegel, approached theabbot to offer his assistance in transporting the treasures to safety in theVatican.[17] A cultured man endowed with great artistic feeling, in the interwar period Schlegel had run a bookshop in Vienna, his hometown. After much persuasion and with the sounds of battle drawing ever nearer, the monks agreed to Schlegel's offer, and the division's vehicles were used to secure the works of art, including paintings byLeonardo da Vinci,Titian andRaphael, and the remains ofBenedict of Nursia, inCastel Sant'Angelo in Rome. In this way they escaped destruction when the abbey was attacked in theBattle of Monte Cassino.
Over three weeks the HG trucks made the voyage to Rome. Then, an Allied radio broadcast accused troops of the Hermann Göring Division of looting the abbey.[17] Given Göring's reputation as aplunderer of Europe's art treasures, the suspicion was reasonable. Also, Schlegel had not informed his commander, Conrath, of the operation and the colonel's unauthorised use of military assets (vehicles and men) on a non-military matter, without direct relation to the war effort, could have resulted in hiscourt martial and even execution. A detachment of Waffen-SSFeldgendarmerie (field police) was dispatched to the abbey with the intention of arresting the "looters", and had to be persuaded by the monks that Schlegel was helping them - not robbing them.[17] After Schlegel admitted to General Conrath he was using 20 trucks for purposes unrelated to advancing the war and explained why, Conrath consented to the operation. Now with the full backing of Conrath, the remaining treasures were transported to safety (including the sacred relic of Saint Benedict). In gratitude, the monks of Monte Cassino held a special mass and awarded Julius Schlegel an illuminated scroll certificate inLatin which reads:
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Cassinians thank the illustrious and beloved officer Julius Schlegel, who saved the monks and property of the holy monastery of Cassino, with all their hearts and ask God for his continued well-being. SignedGregorius Dimare, O.S.B, Bishop and Abbot.
Conrath is described by a rather idiosyncratic translation of "Leader of a tank division" into Latin asDux ferreae legionis.
In July 1944, Lieutenant Colonel Schlegel was wounded in an air raid in theBologna region, losing one foot, and thus ending his participation in the conflict. Nevertheless, he was arrested by the Allies after the war on charges oflooting, and held in prison for over seven months before the personal intervention of BritishField MarshalHarold Alexander.[17]
By saving the art treasures and the library as well as the construction plans, the reconstruction of the destroyed monastery was later possible. Schlegel was found byPope Pius XII in the early 1950s and invited to a special audience. There is also a memorial plaque dedicated to the Austrian at Pokornygasse 5 in Vienna, and a memorial not far from it in Wertheimstein Park in the Vienna district ofOberdöbling on a natural slope towards theDanube Canal.
As the Allies kept pushing against the mountainous defences of the Gustav Line, the HG left the reserve and moved south against the British8th Army on theGarigliano River. On 22 January 1944, the US Army landed atAnzio and Nettuno, north of the Gustav Line's western end, taking the Germans completely by surprise.[18]GeneralfeldmarschallAlbert Kesselring despatched units to block the beachhead, among them elements of the Hermann Göring. The beachhead was successfully contained and put under such pressure the Allies had to shift reserves from the Cassino sector.[18]
The division fought in theBattle of Cisterna, on the German left flank, facing the US3rd Infantry Division and the1st and3rdRanger battalions.[18] After a night infiltration, the Rangers were counterattacked by the HG and715 Infantry divisions, resulting in 700 US prisoners being captured. The HG was then retired toTuscany to reform.[19]
In February 1944, the Hermann Göring was redesignatedFallschirm-Panzer-Division (Parachute Armoured Division).[18] The new designation was merely honoric, involving minimal alteration to the unit's structure or capability.[18] On 14 April, General Conrath stepped down, the command passing toGeneralmajorWilhelm Schmalz.[18][19]
In May 1944, the Allies managed the break-out of the Anzio-Nettunobridgehead and captured Monte Cassino after its outflanking by theFrench Expeditionary Corps, and started advancing up the Liri Valley. With Rome threatened and the10. Armee retreating, the Hermann Göring was ordered to march to theVelletri sector of the front, which was done in broad daylight despite the total Allied air superiority. The German columns were badly mauled by relentless attacks by fighter-bombers.[18] From June 4, the retreat passed through the Italian capital, which had been declared an "open city" in order to avoid its destruction.[20] Although the division was initially able to hold the Allied advance, it was eventually forced into retreat, pulling back to positions on theAniene River, east of Rome, in early June; being mentioned again in the official Wehrmacht communiqués by exemplary conduct in the face of overwhelming odds.[18] On July 4, the division carried out amassacre of residents of the town ofCavriglia, killing 180 civilians. By July the division had been forced back to positions south ofFlorence; being pulled out of Italy altogether on 15 July 1944.[18]
The Corps size Fallschirm-Panzerkorps Hermann Göring was created in 1944 through the combination of the unit with theFallschirm-Panzergrenadier Division 2 Hermann Göring. After the start of the Allied offensive,Operation Diadem, on 12 May, the division retreated towards Rome and then abandoned the city. The division arrived in Poland in late-July and fought alongsideSS Division Wiking,SS Division Totenkopf and the 19th Panzer Division on theVistula River betweenModlin Fortress and Warsaw. In August, its counter-attack against the Magnuszew bridgehead, defended by the 8th Guards Army, failed after heavy fighting. Between August and September 1944, the division used captured Polish non-combatant civilians ashuman shields when attacking the insurgents' positions during theWarsaw uprising. Following the destruction of the city, the division was attached to the newly formedArmy Group Vistula formed 24 January 1945, defending the ruins of Warsaw in what Hitler termed "Festung Warschau", or Fortress Warsaw. During theVistula-Oder Offensive, much of the division was broken in battle.[citation needed]
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In April, the remnants of theHermann Göring Panzerkorps were sent toSilesia, and in heavy fighting were slowly pushed back intoSaxony. On April 22, the Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1.Hermann Göring was one of two divisions that broke through the inter-army boundary of thePolish 2nd Army (Polish People's Army or LWP) and the Soviet 52nd Army, in an action nearBautzen, destroying parts of their communications and logistics trains and severely damaging the Polish (LWP)5th Infantry Division and 16th Tank Brigade (pl:16 Dnowsko-Łużycka Brygada Pancerna) before being stopped two days later.[21][22][23][24]
In early May, units of the corps attempted to break out towards the American forces on theElbe, but were unsuccessful. The corps surrendered to the Red Army on 8 May 1945.[citation needed]
According to aBritish Government report, theHermann Göring Division was involved in severalreprisal operations during its time in Italy.[1] One of these occurred in the surrounding area of the village ofCivitella in Val di Chiana on 29 June 1944 where 250 civilians were killed.[25][26] The division was also involved in a number of other massacres in Italy atCavriglia (173 victims),[27]Monchio, Susano and Costrignano (130 victims)[28] andVallucciole (107 victims).[29]
Soldiers of theHermann Göring Division used civilians as human shields in front of its tanks while clearing barricades during the Warsaw Uprising.[30][2] Around 800 soldiers from the division took part in fighting during the August–October 1944Warsaw Uprising in theWola district, where mass executions of civilians occurred in connection with Hitler's orders to destroy the city.[3] Units of the division were also involved in the excesses committed in the Dutch city of Putten, also called thePutten raid.The units were:
Structure of the division:[32]
| No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .jpg) | Axthelm, WaltherMajor Walther von Axthelm (1893–1972) | 13 August 1936 | 31 May 1940 | 3 years, 292 days |
| 2 | .jpg) | Conrath, PaulOberst Paul Conrath (1896–1979) | 1 June 1940 | 14 April 1944 | 3 years, 318 days |
| 3 |  | Schmalz, WilhelmGeneralmajor Wilhelm Schmalz (1901–1983) | 16 April 1944 | 30 September 1944 | 167 days |
| 4 |  | Necker, HannsGeneralmajor Hanns-Horst von Necker (1903–1979) | 1 October 1944 | 8 February 1945 | 130 days |
| 5 | | Lemke, MaxGeneralmajor Max Lemke (1895–1985) | 9 February 1945 | 8 May 1945 | 88 days |
Fallschirm-Panzer-KorpsHermann Göring
| No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | Schmalz, WilhelmGeneralleutnant Wilhelm Schmalz (1901–1983) | 4 October 1944 | 8 May 1945 | 216 days |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
