Unit Profile
The Brandenburgers were a German commando unit during World War II. The unit was originally founded by Wilhelm Canaris of the Abwehr, and until 1944 was an OKW unit rather than a unit of the regular army (Heer, OKH).
The Brandenburgers evolved from the Abwehr's (German military intelligence) K-units and was used as a commando unit during the first years of the war. Initially, the unit consisted mainly of former German expatriates fluent in other languages. Some applicants had reached Germany through the British blockade to enlist.
The original formation, designated Bataillon Ebbinghaus was formed mostly from Volksdeutsche who were fluent in Polish. Despite the success of the Bataillon Ebbinghaus during the invasion of Poland, it was disbanded immediately after the campaign.
The commando regiment, the Baulehr-Kompanie zbV 800 Deutsche Kompanie, was founded officially on 25 October 1939. Command of a foreign language was a mandatory requirement. On 15 December they became the Bataillon Brandenburg (Brandenburg Battalion). The name was due to the fact that at first the unit was stationed in Brandenburg and trained there.
The original battalion consisted of four companies. The 1st company was formed from men from the Baltic countries; the 2nd from men who had lived overseas in Britain, the United States and Africa; the 3rd from Sudetenlanders; and the 4th from ethnic Germans from Poland. Later additions included paratroop and motorcycle platoons. On 12 October 1940, the battalion was enlarged into a regiment. Although the Branderburgers were part of the Abwehr, they fell under Wehrmacht command, which sometimes caused problems.
Brandenburger training included teaching of foreign languages, small unit tactics, parachuting, demolitions, covert operations, use of vehicles and aircraft, and familiarity with enemy weapons, including tanks. Some men were specifically trained as pilots or trained in forgery, demolitions or camouflage. One company, formed out of 127 German skiers, was trained to fight in the northern Soviet Union and was equipped with dog sleds.
The unit had stunning successes early in the war acting as advance units that captured strategic bridges, tunnels and rail yards in Poland and the Netherlands. They also trained for Operation Felix, the planned seizure of Gibraltar, and Operation Sealion.
In North Africa, Brandenburgers served as part of the Afrika Korps, and troops fluent in English and Arabic used captured British vehicles to infiltrate behind enemy lines in raids and reconnaissance missions. Originally Erwin Rommel frowned upon their tactics, but after the raid in which a group of British commandos tried to kill him, he accepted their methods. The unit was charged with disrupting British supply lines, but it was difficult to resupply them or provide transportation, so most men were either killed or captured.
As the battalion expanded further, it created more mixed units. The so-called Arabic Brigade was nominally connected to the Brandenburgers, took its orders from the German oriental mission, and was composed mainly of men from the Caucasus.
Between January and April 1943, the Brandenburgers were expanded to the size of a division, and specialized subunits for U-boat crews, air defense, artillery, tank, antitank and combat engineering were created. Men were transferred from the Afrika Korps and Kriegsmarine, and also Muslims from Yugoslavia and volunteers from India. It was later put under the orders of Army High Command. After the July Plot, when Admiral Canaris and the Abwehr fell out with Nazi command, all Abwehr operations were taken over by the SD.
In September 1944, the Brandenburgers were transferred from OKW to the Heer and reorganized as the Panzergrenadier Division Brandenburg, an ordinary motorized infantry division. 1,800 men joined the commandos of Otto Skorzeny. Towards the end of the war, the unit was used as a kind of fire brigade and rarely served in a commando function. After leading Operation Barbarossa and capturing many important objectives, the Brandenburgers were pressed into service as a counter-insurgent force designed to hunt down and destroy Soviet partisans. Morale plummeted as soldiers went on patrol after patrol. Eventually, the unit was expanded to a division and folded into the GrossDeutschland.
After the war, British commandos recruited a number of ex-Brandenburgers with a good command of English. When their service ended, many emigrated to African countries. Others joined the French Foreign Legion.
Mission
- Primary mission: Direct Action
Raised and Disbanded
- Raised: Bataillon Ebbinghaus
- Renamed: October 25th 1939, Lehr und Bau Kompanie z.b.V. 800
- Renamed: December 15th 1939, Bataillon Brandenburg
- Renamed: October 12th 1940, Regiment Brandenburg
- Renamed: January 1943, Division Brandenburg
- Renamed: September 1944, Infanterie-Division Brandenburg (mot)
- Renamed: November 1944, Panzergrenadier-Division Brandenburg
- Disbanded: May 5th 1945
Units
- Various Units
Headquarters
- Brandenburg, Berlin, Germany