Kriegsmarine Gebirgsjäger?

[Panzermahn]

I was surfing at the Merriam Press website and i found this book

http://www.merriam-press.com/journal/j_009.htm


it mentioned something about the Kriegsmarine Gebirgsjäger..

what is Kriegsmarine Gebirsgjager? does anyone heard anything about this Naval mountain troops?

[Leo Niehorster]

If memory serves correctly, this honorific was given to the destroyer crews fighting as infantry alongside Dietl's mountain troops in and around Narvik after their ships were sunk by the Royal Navy in 1940.

Leo

[Juha Hujanen]

Yep,most likely they were the 2600 sailors of Commodore Paul Bonte's destroyers.Dietl formed them as 5 "mountain marine" battalions after their ships were sunk by RN.

Cheers/Juha

[Michi]

From an old post, some years ago:

Posted by Björn from ti531210a000-0135.dialup.online.no (130.67.160.135) on Sunday, January 27, 2002 at 07:08:36 :

In Reply to: Re: The last of the last (Kampfgruppen) May 1945... + more questions posted by Michi from 535a.jkh.uni-linz.ac.at (193.171.41.237) on Sunday, January 27, 2002 at 05:46:51 :

Hello!
I am not sure about other Uboat aces, the only reason this sounded familiar, is that I am currently reading Cremers books!

As for Narvik, these ad hoc units were organised by 18/4-40, and are known as:

Abschnitt Narvik
Marinebatallion Erdmenger (sometimes referred to as "Marine-Regiment Erdmenger")
Marinebatallion v. Freytag

These two "batallions" had 2 companies each.

On the railway itself, same "Abschnitt", was Marine-Regiment Berger (Freg.Kpt Berger),w/ Mar.Btl Holtorf (3 coys), Mar.Btl Thiele (3 coys), Mar.Btl Zenker (2 coys) and Mar.Btl von Arnim.

Gruppe Windisch (at Bjerkvik)
Mar.Btl Kothe (3 coys formed from crewmembers from "Hermann Kühne".)

In German sources, the "batallions" sometimes are referred to as "Batallione", "Abteilungen", or "Kompanien". The men, about 2000, were mostly crew members of sunken ships, including U-64, and Coastal Artillery soldiers.

B.



-- Björn
-- signature 68szF.

Posted by Björn from ti531210a000-0135.dialup.online.no (130.67.160.135) on Sunday, January 27, 2002 at 07:13:37 :

In Reply to: Re: The last of the last (Kampfgruppen) May 1945... + more questions posted by Björn from ti531210a000-0135.dialup.online.no (130.67.160.135) on Sunday, January 27, 2002 at 07:08:36 :

I forgot this question: "Did this navy soldiers fight for alone at the front, or were DIETL's Gebirgsjäger attached to each navy unit, as a kind of stronghold??"

These naval units were mixed with Gebirgs,- and fallschirmjäger, except for the regiment at the railway. Positions did change rapidly, so some sailors ended up in the mountains - originally they were placed "as low as possible", guarding the shores etc.

B

-- Björn
-- signature 68szF.

MfG Michi

[Hardin]

Yes, I know, awaking a very dead thread... But, I was searching for something related to this.

I was browsing through one of my books, and found a photo of KM sailors offloading for food in a port. One of the sailors has his head turned and you can see insignia on his hat. At first glance it looks like a U-Boat pin, but with a closer look you can see it's an Edelweiss.

Is this something he put on there without permission? Were they awarded?

Anyone have any detailed information of the survivors of the 10 Destroyer crews that fought on land at Narvik?


Thanks,
Zach

[NilsCalvin]

Hey All -

Without seeing the picture, it is hard to definitively say, but the crew of U-124 wore the Edelweiss pin in honor and remembrance of being saved by General Dietl's Gebirgsjäger in Narvik in April 1940 when they were sunk in U 64. (The majority of the crew were the same in both boats) U 124 also wore this emblem.

The reference to Bonte's destroyer crews fighting alongside the mountain troops ashore is also accurate, though I don't have any information to indicate that they were given any status as mountain troops themselves, and there was no official edelweiss badge authorized in the Kriegsmarine. It is not uncommon, however, for unofficial emblems to find their way onto naval uniforms, especially for such circumstances.

Hope that is helpful!

Nils

[Simon Orchard]

Photographs do show some KM men wearing the edelweiss during\after Narvik. This was however clamped down upon subsequently. there were very strict rules about who was allowed to wear the edelweiss.