And you thought your hitch sucked…
Interesting article on “We Are The Mighty” about D-Day, and specifically the units who opposed the Allied landings on the beaches.
I imagine most of us have the same images, Rommel cruising the front beforehand, steely-eyed Germans atop the slopes dug in modern pillboxes, wielding MG-42 “Hitler’s Buzzsaws” with inexhaustible supplies of ammo. The reality was apparently a lot different than what we commonly see and hear.
Germany’s static divisions occupy a muddy place in history. Some members volunteered to fight for fascism, and screw those guys. But many were older or younger German conscripts or even Europeans from conquered countries forced to fight for Germany.
That’s because the static divisions were the lowest of the low when it came to resource requests. They often had few vehicles and a motley mix of captured equipment. So the average static soldier had to walk everywhere he needed to go rather than ride with the blitzkrieg, hence the name static. And in a serious fight, they couldn’t fall back or withdraw.
Germany did try to shine the turd, sometimes by referring to them as “fortress” units. You know, because fortresses don’t typically move but are relatively easy to defend.
But then, fortresses typically had top-quality weapons and sufficient vehicles to move their defenders around.
In an Imperial War Museums comparison between German army field divisions, Luftwaffe parachute divisions, and static divisions, IWM wrote:
The more numerous ‘static’ coast divisions were much less effective. These had little in the way of transport, and were merely expected to man fixed defences and hold their ground. They contained older troops, the medically unfit, and men recovering from wounds. Some also had contingents of Osttruppen, conscripts or volunteers from the Soviet Union and other eastern territories occupied by Germany. Many were former Soviet POWs and were generally regarded as having little value. The German Response to D-Day, IWM.org
When the Allies came ashore, nine divisions with months of preparations, naval superiority, and air superiority attacked three divisions, two static and one field infantry division. Only at Omaha Beach did a group of infantry from the 916th Grenadier Regiment seriously threaten to stop the Allied advance.
But with two static divisions taking the brunt of the hit, there weren’t enough mobile forces to push the Americans back even there. And so the Allied waves came on, overpowering German and other Axis defenders.
For the 716th Static Division, that meant they were quickly surrounded and fighting for mere survival.
But they did hold on until the afternoon when a sudden, concentrated counterattack by the 192nd Panzergrenadier Regiment made it all the way to the beach…and temporarily brought real firepower to defend the 716th.
But the German counterattack had worked by exploiting a seam in the Allied assault between Canadian and British forces. If the tanks turned left or right, they would expose their sides to naval gunfire and their rears to one Ally or another.
And so the old men, young boys, and conscripts of 716th saw a panzer regiment come to their rescue…and then turn around to head right back.
The 716th suffered mightily and limped out of Normandy. It was so badly battered that the Germans pulled it from the line on July 10. From 1944 to 1945, it was reconstituted and beaten multiple times before surrendering a final time in May 1945. WeAreTheMighty.com
Sounds a lot like being in a KGB battalion. And we complain… on the bright side though, in the long run I’m happy our fathers (and grandfathers for some of you) WEREN’T facing top-flight German troops. Imagine the carnage if, say, all of the defenders were Waffen SS. Be thankful.
Category: WWII
A fortress unit? Would that be like the battalion of paratroops the US had on the DMZ to act like a speed bump for the KPA? Are they still there?
If you’re talking about the Joint Security Area (JSA), there’s still a mixed South Korean / American battalion. One of the guys who showed up to my squad in Baghdad had just PCS’ed from there (hard to believe that was over 20 years ago). They were Infantry but wore MP brassards and carried M9 pistols due to the cease fire terms.
Yeah, that’s the unit. I visited there once while I was in the ROK, in 95. The place looked like a firebase from pictures of Vietnam. Bunkers, wire, cleared fields of fire. The bridge we crossed was clearly mined, the water was low and I could see the charges. It was a unique experience.
More like fortresses don’t retreat, so anyone who does gets shot or hung.
Most people think of the “Aryan Super Soldier” when they think of the German Army in WWII. Six-feet tall, blond hair, blue eyes, athletic, wearing the nicest uniforms with the best equipment. What they don’t think of is that the Germans might not be a Master Race, but they were masters at utilizing captured equipment and foreigners to fight for them. This is why you see Muslim SS divisions later in the war, and even Asiatic soldiers. The last time I went to the Battle of the Bulge reenactment at Fort Indiantown Gap, we had an Asian SS reenactor. It was odd to see but the guy was cool and I wish I remembered his name. The movie My Way (2011 film) – Wikipedia is a decent watch.
Czechoslovakia is well known for being a major contributor of weaponry for the Third Reich. I have both a vz24 and a G24(t), the latter of which was basically a vz24/Kar98k hybrid produced after Germany took over the country. People don’t consider the vast stores of French and other weapons captured and used during the war. I’ve read accounts of French Lebel, Austro-Hungarian Steyr-Mannlicher, and even older single shot rifles like the Gras being issued to second and third tier troops. If you’re assigned to a small contingent in Paris in 1943, you probably aren’t getting many MG42s, MP40s, and brand new Mauser rifles.
I’m no historian, but it’s interesting to read of exactly how poorly equipped, trained, and even manned the “fortress” units were. When you’re losing hundreds of thousands on the Ostfront and the Americans are coming up through Italy, which just decided to abandon you in the war effort, there’s probably going to be a shortage of equipment and manpower.
Even looking at uniforms and equipment, as the war continued, they got simpler and easier to produce, while being supplemented by captured foreign gear. A 70-year-old Volksturmmann isn’t getting an StG44. If they’re extremely lucky, they might get a Volksturmgewehr dropped by their NCO when he’s taken out, but they might be lucky to get issued a Gewehr 88 and five rounds of ammo taken from a pre-WWI armory. After all, whether 16 or 60, by war’s end, they were expected to die for their Fuhrer, not carry the Reich forward into its thousand-year history.
Even the line units had poor transportation…I read once that the Germans were never better than 50% mech, the balance was horse-drawn.
‘Tis true. Germans were aware of it (and had started the Einheitsdiesel Lastwagen— Common Diesel Cargo Vehicle– program to motorize everything with a standard 2-1/2Tonne vehicle in mass numbers before the war) but priorities around 1940-ish forced a shift to other, sexier things.
WWII-buff Steven Spielberg uses one in the Indy-goes-under-the-truck scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark:
“People don’t consider the vast stores of French and other weapons captured and used during the war. I’ve read accounts of French Lebel, Austro-Hungarian Steyr-Mannlicher, and even older single shot rifles like the Gras being issued to second and third tier troops.”
Being the S-4 (Supply and Logistics Officer) in a unit like that must have been an absolute nightmare.
“Let’s see what we have in the bag here.Hans, you get some 8mm Lebel, Karl, you get a few rounds of 6.5, Fritz, we’ll give you some 7mm Mauser rounds….”
Speaking about the Aryan Super Soldier, Werner Goldberg a half Jewish half German Soldier showed face decked out in helmet and uniform which was featured was featured on the front cover of Berliner magazinewith the title of the Ideal German Soldier. Passed away in 2004. Check out crew members standing on U-Boot decks wearing British Coveralls that were left behind from the Brits leaving Dunkirk.
Fyi, Vz means “vzor” meaning ‘model’. The Germans used (t) to indicate ‘tschechisch” ( pronounced ‘checkish’) to mean Czech-made. The Vz24 was a license made copy of the model 98 – think it was the rifle (gewehr 98) and not the carbine (Karibiner? My German is weak) K98.
One of the homelier, largest, yet simplest .380s ever made was the Czech Vz38. The Germans usd it too, but since they already had a P38, they called it the P39(t).
The vz24 is very much a Karabiner, like its Karabiner 98 kurz (Kar98k) relative. Very true, though, that the Germans used the parenthesized letters to denote the country that weapons originated from (russisch, for example). I just found this, for what it’s worth: German designations of foreign firearms in World War II – Wikipedia
“These had little in the way of transport, and were merely expected to man fixed defences and hold their ground.”
In simpler terms, “die in place”.
The Allied Forces were very lucky in that The Little Corporal didn’t let his Commanders, Command.
Allies switched from trying to kill Adolf to inciting him to act stupidly when they realized that.
Saw that in Saving Private Ryan when the Czech conscript from one of the “Ost” (East) units tried to surrender and was killed by a Ranger in Capt. Miller’s company — he was even saying (in Czech) “I didn’t kill anyone, I’m Czech — not German!” Can’t imagine a worse position to find myself in during a war than conquered and conscripted.
Also read an interesting interview with one of them who said despite the high ground and a decent supply of ammo they were scared completely shitless seeing literally thousands of ships and tens of thousands of men approaching from offshore. I believe he was quoted as saying “for every American I saw fall, a thousand others appeared.”
I knew there was something about what he was saying. I didn’t recognize the language as German, but couldn’t place it.
I’ve had to wait 25 years to find out what that character said.
It adds even more to the senselessness of his death.
The judge showed us a picture of a beach as he was giving us potential jurors the speech about out duties as citizens. He asked us if we wouldn’t prefer to be on the beach than in the jury box. He then showed us a picture of the same beach, I think it was the same picture shown above. The judge stated there were worse places to be and we had our duty to serve as jurors.
I complained to the bailiff, I felt the judge was patronizing the veterans in the jury pool. Of course I wasn’t at Omaha beach on D-day; but that wasn’t my point. I said since I am a veteran, it wasn’t necessary and I wasn’t in the mood to be lectured about my duties as a citizen.
I was left wondering when I was the first one eliminated after the voir-dire.
The clerk likely whispered or said something to the judge or an attorney. Saying some comment to the clerk will likely be repeated to the judge. That is why I was taught by the attorneys I worked for to always establish rapport with the courtroom clerk. Clerks always have a direct pipeline to the judge.
Works the same all over the world. Always be nice to people, even the “little people”.
It was said that morale among the Germans plummeted when they ran out of Pervitin, a brand of speed issued to them and when they were on it, they seemed invincible to some. Yes, meth was issued to German troops. Anyone ever read the book “Blitzed”? I recommend it.
Pervitin– put the “blitzed” in Blitzkrieg…
During WWII morphine was issued to US troops. How times change.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrette
I believe the garrison troops were intended to do exactly what they did: hold the landing troops on the beach while mobile reinforcements were dispatched. Rommel was prevented from doing exactly that because Hitler was sure the Normandy invasion was a feint.
One of the fascinating things (to me) about combat is the impact of peripheral decisions that swayed the outcome of a battle. One or two people make a decision, and the outcome is decided. The US civil war is full of these.