Let's Build: II. SS-Panzerkorps

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[tigre]

Hello to all ; a little more.............................

II. SS-Pz Korps -The withdrawal - Sep 1944.

On Sep 3, 1944 the 10.SS-Pz Div.Frundsberg got an order to march towards to Maastrich and the 9. SS-Pz Div. Hohenstaufen with Corps' HQ to the Belgian City of Hasselt. Next day Bittrich received a new order, both divisions were to march to Arnhem and Appeldoorn. But Bittrich also left behind two kampfgruppen, Kampfgruppe Segler (SS-Hohenstaufen) and Kampfgruppe Heinke (SS-Frundsberg) subordinated to a mixed force under Oberst Walther. Kampfgruppe Segler was commanded by SS-Hauptsturmführer Dr.Karl Segler and was composed of a reinforced battalion of panzergrenadiers and a battery of artillery (4 x le.FH 18).

Sources: Arnheim: Der Kampf um die Brücken über den Rhein 1944. By Antony Beevor
https://www.geldersarchief.nl/bronnen/a ... &milang=nl

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more.............................

II. SS-Pz Korps -The withdrawal - Sep 1944.

But let's see what happened later with the II. SS-Panzerkorps when it broke contact with the enemy, Model, convinced that there would be no fighting north of Nijmegen, made two decisions:

1. He himself, together with his operational staff of Army Group B, moved to the quiet town of Oosterbeek, separated from the enemy by three wide rivers. Here he felt as safe as in the heart of Germany.
2. He sent the II. SS-Panzerkorps to the peaceful area north of Arhem for rehabilitation. Two days later, on September 5, he also ordered that Bittrich Command to move to that area.

Bittrich received the order just as he had reached the Liège area. Model ordered his new HQ to be at Doetinchem, east of the Yssel River. The SS-Hohenstaufen Division was billeted north of Arhem along the Yssel River; the SS-Frundsberg Division was billeted between the Yssel River and the German border. The SS Corps was left as a general reserve under the direct command of Model. However, on September 10, the OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) changed that plan and now only one division would be rehabilitated in the Netherlands behind the front, the other would be transported to Germany.

As the SS Frundsberg Division had been reinforced, Bittrich decided to keep that division in the Netherlands and to send the SS-Hohenstaufen Division to Germany. As a consequence of this decision, it was ordered that the Hohenstaufen cede to the Frundsberg all units, vehicles and weapons still ready for use.

On 13 September the rail transport of the 9. SS-Pz Div. Hohenstaufen to Siegen in Westphalia began. The remaining kernels received the order to form alarm units and had to be prepared to resist an eventual popular uprising. Commanders and their reduced staff would move last, meanwhile new units would begin to form in Siegen.

Sources: https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... /9SSPD.htm
https://www.geldersarchief.nl/bronnen/a ... &milang=nl
Arnheim: Der Kampf um die Brücken über den Rhein 1944. Antony Beevor

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; a little more.............................

The II. SS-Panzerkorps - Location of the SS-Hohenstaufen Alarm Units 1944.

British reports that followed the Battle of Arnhem mentioned that they had encountered heavy enemy resistance, but here's what actually lay behind the German resistance line. According to Harzer, the deployment was as follows:

1. Beekbergen: reduced staff of the division. Defense company 120 men. A troop of the Feldgendarmerie (field gendarmerie) 60 men. Mixed company of the SS-Nachrichten Btl. 9, 80 men to maintain basic communications.
2. Apeldoorn: Logistics company 9, maintenance company, 70 infantrymen and technical personnel.
3. Wormen (south of Apeldoorn): one anti-tank company, 120 men without guns.
4. Hoenderloo: SS-Aufkl. Abt 9 with three companies, 500 men with 30 schützenpanzerwagen (AFV Sd.Kfz. 251) and spähwagen (armored recce car).
5. Zutphen: two alarm companies (without guns) of SS-Pz Gr Regt 19.
6. Brummen: company of sappers, 60 men.
7. Dieren: two alarm companies (without guns) of the SS-Pz AR 9, employed as infantry.
8. Rheden: two alarm companies (without guns) of SS-Pz Gr Regt 20.
9. Velp: two sanitary companies.
10. Arnhem: two alarm companies of the SS-Pz Regt 9 (only in the military barracks northeast of the city).
11. Oosterbeek: SS-Sturmbannführer Sepp Krafft's (training and replacement) battalion, originally not with SS-Hohenstaufen.
The total of these troops reached 2,500 men.

According to Harzer, while the German leadership was aware of the possibility of small drops behind the front, they were completely unaware of the mass drop of three Allied divisions. This is so because the transport of the SS-Hohenstaufen Division continued until the evening of September 17, 1944.

Sources: https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... /9SSPD.htm
https://www.geldersarchief.nl/bronnen/a ... &milang=nl
Arnheim: Der Kampf um die Brücken über den Rhein 1944. Antony Beevor

Cheers. Raúl M .