Servus Heinz.heinz kling wrote:I have this question about the Gebirgstruppe, which is supposed specially trained troops. Most of the time they were either serving in inactive fronts like Norway/Finland, or fighting partisans in the Balkans. The only time they were really contributing to the war effort was in the drive for the Baku oilfields and climbing Mount Elbrus ( in addition to their part in Kreta) in 42/43. Was that a waste of troops?
I think there is the need to correct your view towards the Gebirgstruppe. Take for example the "odyssey" of the 3. Geb.Div, Dietl's old austrian unit he commanded since after the Anschluss:
The division saw first action in 1940 during the "Weserübung" operation, taking part in the fightings for Trondheim and Narvik, the hotspots of the war in Norway. In 1941 the "Third" was fighting in the summer offensive against Murmansk in a dreaded environment. During fall 1942 it took part in the battle between Mga and Lake Ladoga and it was spearhead towards pocket of Gaitolowo. Then the division was split up: One combat group was used for a relief attack towards the encirceled Welikije Luki, the second defended Nowossokolniki for weeks and the third was fighting after the breakthrough of the sowjet armies in the Don-area at Millerowo. After heavy winter fightings for Woroschilowgrad, the re-merged unit fought under the command of the 6th Army in the defence of the Donez-delta, brutal delaying fightings followed while retrating through the South-Ukraine, holding Gendelberg as the most eastern unit against 10:1 odds and defended the bridgehead of Nikopol successfully for 100 days. Winter battles followed between Dnjepr and Ingulez and the struggles between Bug, Dnjestr and Pruth. Romania, Hungary and Slovakia were the next stations. The end came in the area of Deutsch Brod. For the mass of the men years of captivity in the USSR had begun.
38 members of the division were recipients of the KC. One of these was the most successful sniper of the german army, Obergefreiter Mathäus Hetzenauer from Tirol.
Four were awarded with the oak-leaves.
Source: Karl Ruef; Odyssee einer Gebirgsdivision - Die 3. Geb.Div. im Einsatz.