Soldiers of the Standarte Feldherrnhalle

[Bill Medland]

The "Feldherrnhalle" started the war as a Battalion in the Wehrmacht
and ended up as a Panzer Korps.
Wiped out several times and rebuilt from survivors. The unit had a
high morale and fighting spirit.
An all vollunteer unit, recruits came from the SA Storm Troopers,
who should have served at least 12 months in the Brownshirts.
Best regards,Bill Medland.

[Marcus]

Bill,

Nice images. What is the source for the recruitment poster?

/Marcus

[Karl]

I like those pictures Mr Medland. Where’d you get them and who did the drawing?

Very nice.

[Bill Medland]

All images in this thread come from the book by Erich Jainek,
himself a veteran of "Feldherrnhalle".
It is full of new information, for example, did you know that
Hermann Göring was the honourary regimental comander in
1938 and wanted to turn the unit into an airborne unit.
(Note:Göring was himself a former SA Leader).
In 1939 the Standarte was reduced to battalion strength
because Göring removed 70% of the troops to form the first
airborne units. As a result almost all of the paratroopers at
Eben Emael were former SA Brownshirts!
The book, which is in German, lists every holder of the Knights
Cross in the "Feldherrnhalle" Panzer Korps.
Bill.

[Wolfkin]

I was always under the impression that the "Feldherrnhalle" Panzergrenadier Division, and later Korps, was created from the renamed 60th Panzergrenadier Division and 13th Panzer Division. Is this correct? Or did they add the "Feldherrnhalle" Standarte when they renamed these units and hence the honorific "Feldherrnhalle" title?

Cheers,

Wolfkin

[Bill Medland]

Hi Wolfkin,
The make-up of Feldherrnhalle was very complicated due to the
fact it was split up over several divisions at the start. for example,
in the 93.Infantry Division it had a battalion, in the 60.Pz.Gren. Division
was the Artillery Regiment (Wespe and Hummel),Formed in Danzig from
the SA Brigade Eberhardt.
The Panzer Brigade was formed from the 13.Pz.Div.
To add further confussion "FHH" was also linked to the Fallschirmjäger,
and the Army 22.Air Landing Division.(Hermann Göring due to the fact
that he was an honourary SA chief, tried to take the unit over into
the Luftwaffe in 1938-39, the elements he was able to keep formed
the first Fallschirmjäger units).
Add to this the conections to the SA and the SA Stabschef!
"FeldherrnHalle" would make an interesting study in itself, one could
even say it was the Waffen-SA!
Bill.

[Wolfkin]

Thanks for the information Bill!

Clear as mud and twice as thick, eh?

Actually, you explain it very well. I never realized that the 60th Panzergrenadier's Artillery element was a part of Feldherrnhalle before the renaming of it as Feldherrnhalle. And I never realized that there were so many Feldherrnhalle units around, this unit has a whole history that I never realized. Thank you again for the info!

Cheers,

Wolfkin

[Juha Hujanen]

Good stuff Bill

Another good source to Feldherrnhalle units is:

Alfonso Escuadra Sanchez-Feldherrnhalle:Forgotten Elite.The Panzerkorps Feldherrnhalle and Antecedent Formations,Eastern and Other Fronts 1942-43.
ISBN 1899765662.

Cheers/Juha

[CHRISCHA]

Were the soldiers allowed to wear SA decorations on their field or parade uniform (ie. SA sports badge, etc).

[Marcus]

Another good source to Feldherrnhalle units is:

Alfonso Escuadra Sanchez-Feldherrnhalle:Forgotten Elite.The Panzerkorps Feldherrnhalle and Antecedent Formations,Eastern and Other Fronts 1942-43.
ISBN 1899765662.

It is a very good book, but the title is strange considering that it covers the whole war, not just 1942-43.

/Marcus

[heinz kling]

Die Panzer Brigade 106 FHH by Friedrich Bruns.

[wasp68]

Hi guys! Anyone orientated in the fate of Feldherrnhalle Sturmbanns in the end of the war, May 1945? V. Sturmbann, comanded by Adolf Franz Zimmermann, was involved in Prague. I found that there were some FHH parts in Kladno by Prague as well at the time, but, it´s impossible to find any details.