Richard Anderson wrote: ↑17 Feb 2022, 21:15
Some of the locations I have found, apparently based on British PW interrogation, were as of 9 September (also see my posts as "richto90" from earlier in this thread):
II./Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment Herman Göring 1 at Cava de Tirreni on the Vietri sul Mare-Nocera Road. PGR HG 1 was only present as the Regiments-Stab and Regiments-Einheiten and the II. Batallion, which was formerly the Feldersatz Batallion HG and was motorized. Ist (O/B/U/M) was 41/4/258/985. III. Batallion and 13. and 14. Kp. did not exist, 9. Kp had six towed 15cm sIG (mot), 10. Kp. had four 15cm sIG (Sfl), 11. Kp. was supposed to be sPak (Sfl) but evidently had no guns? The battalion had three sPak (mot). Thus, this is part of KG Haas.
Aufklärungs-Abteilung Herman Göring at Chiunzi Pass on the Maiori Road. Also KG Haas. It consisted of:
1. Kp. (PSW) nine 2cm PSW
2. Kp. (PSW) not operational
3. Kp. (Inf. (mot))
4. Kp. (Inf. (mot)) not operational
5. Kp. (Inf. (SPW) three sPak
6. Kp. (Pak (Sfl) reforming, one Sfl in repair
Panzer-Grenadier Batallion Herman Göring (?) at Cava di Tirreni. The only possibility for this unit is I./Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment Herman Göring 2 of the division reserve KG v. Corvin, which went to KG Haas the night of 11/12 September. Otherwise, PGR HG 2 was present only as the Regiments-Stab and Regiments-Einheiten and the I. Batallion, which was at least partly equipped with SPW. Ist was 26/5/173/705. Neither the II. Batallion (which was planned to be reformed) or III. Batallion existed, nor did a 13. or 15. Kp. 9. Kp. had six towed 15cm sIG (mot), 10. Kp. had four 15cm sIG (Sfl), 11. Kp. had four sPak (Sfl), of which three were operational. The battalion had three sPak (mot) and three 7.5cm KwK auf SPW.
IIRC, Batallion Reggio (24/4/133/824) was south of Naples defending the Amalfi coast and Sorrento from the advance of Darby's Rangers. KG Maucke was in support of KG Haas to the north and east, along with Steuer's Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 129, extending east to the hills around Sant Angelo and Piegolelle.
Elements of 1. FJD joined the division c. 10/11 September and were organized as KG Becker.
So KG Haass was most likely the KG in the area at this time(am I understanding this correctly)? Photos show up in Vietri of what many think to be III. 1FJR (KG Becker?) in jump smocks and marching boots, unless the Pz Grnd Rgt. were also equipped like this? On page 1 of this thread the 1st photo shows what looks to be PzGrnd in SS smocks and tropical uniforms. I know 16 Pz (Heer) had observation posts in the area which could account for the units seen in Heer tropical uniforms.
- © IWM NA 7099 26 German prisoners being escorted through the town of Vietri, 24 September 1943.
- 273001683_643867470096757_673743708488800456_n.jpg (43.68 KiB) Viewed 848 times
Here is a quote from the below article-
"The author would like to share an incident concerning the battle at Dragone with others. It came during the counter-attack made by the Commando. A group of four men, including two walking-wounded, found themselves in a narrow cobbled alley which passed for the main street of the hamlet and saw two German paratroopers, with weapons slung across their backs, attempting to carry a wounded comrade to safety. The No. 2 boys knew that they were paratroopers because of the bulbous trousers and distinctive, rimless helmets. The paratroopers turned and found themselves looking at our four with weapons pointing in their direction. The N.C.O. leading our group said: ‘No firing lads!’ and motioned with his arm for the Germans to keep going and get their wounded man out of there. One paratrooper raised his arm in acknowledgement and they vanished around the corner of the alley. It seemed to this author that, at that moment, humanity had arrived to reassert itself in his world."
http://www.commandoveterans.org/Salerno ... ILtpIvhx64
At this point you would probably have to find an order dating 12- 13 September specifically outlining units used for the attack. Conjecture- but it very well could of been a mixed KG from various KG elements ready at Cava. Cava seems to be the staging point for HG operations in the first week of Op Avalanche.
In the above article- he mentions Grenadiers and Paratroopers, now this could be post war injections or a indication of both types of units being present. Given the structure of HG at the time and the very nature of the German KG could this be plausible?
The division as a whole was badly understrength after its losses in Tunisia and Sicily, as mentioned, the two Panzergrenadier "regiments" were actually only strong battalions and the rest of the division was brought up to strength by the attachment of various Heer and non-HG Luftwaffe units.