Brandenburgers
Leutnant Freiherr von der Reserve Foelkersam Adrian , winner of the Knight ( Ritterkreuzträger ) of the most famous Brandenburg Division , which eventually transferred to the SS unit under Otto Skorzeny
Oberleutnant Siegfried Grabert , other Ritterkreuzträger of Brandenburgers
Oberleutnant Wilhelm Walther . Scar on his cheek Mensur dueling possibility is former college that fits into the tradition of German students ( until now was still running ! )
Unternehmen Leopard : This is a photograph taken in the ship Kriegsmarine after successful military operations in Leros , in the morning of 18 November 1943 . From left to right : - shore assault troops Brandenburg ( note the standard steel helmet ) , Kriegsmarine sailors , soldiers of the 15th Brandenburg ( parachute ) Coy , and Fallschirmjager from I/FJR2 , which is under the leadership of Martin Kühne in this operation ( he himself received the Knight's Cross )
Photos are quite popular : Two men in uniform Brandenburgers Assault - Gun , and medals Fallschirmschützenabzeichen des Heeres . One of them wore uniforms very rare version . This photo was taken after losing the status of Brandenburg Division commandos and later changed into a Panzer - Grenadier Division of the ordinary. Two former paratroopers was apparently decided to stay afloat in their division and not follow in the footsteps of many other Brandenburgers members transferred into Otto Skorzeny 's men in the SS - Jagdverbände or - SS - Fallschirmjager Bataillon . People on the left wearing a Luftwaffe belt
This is a photo taken at the port of Leros . Of the face , these people seem to have suffered heavy days . In the first view (you with song A. Rafik ! ) , We definitely think that this is Fallschirmjager troops : the instructions located in their Heer belt !
Brandenburgers in operation on the island of Leros Milite . Here they fought shoulder to shoulder with the troops Fallschirmjager
If we now know what the so-called special forces or commandos , it is not regardless of what used to be known as a secret regiment Brandenburg Germany . These forces are regarded as the forerunner of today's special forces . Unit Brandenburg is a brilliant idea bacillus Admiral Walter Wilhelm Canaris (1887-1945) , leader of the German military intelligence service or the Abwehr .
Brandenburgers is one of the elite German forces during World War 2 , but they did not get the publicity of Fallschrimjäger or SS .
Brandenburgers formed by Theodore Von Hippel veteran of World War I in front of Africa under the leadership of Paul von Lettow - Vorbeck a guerrilla leader who was great ( maybe more brilliance than other insurgent leaders like Tito or Nguyen Giap , but not too well known for the African front world War I was less exposed ) . The idea of forming a special force is delivered to the Wehrmacht but firmly rejected by the generals that most people are very traditionalist military , but Theodore is not easy to give up , he handed the proposal to the Abwehr ( German Intelligence ) under Admiral Wilhelm Canaris and he approved the establishment of the division this particular .
Ebbinghaus Battalion formed by Hippel , 1939 consisting of the German Army who could speak Polish , when they were assigned to the invasion of Poland Polish first entered the area and cause damage and chaos to control and destroy the railway and main road . Despite the success of this Battalion was disbanded
The new battalion was formed with the name Lehr und Bau Kompanie zbV 800 ( his training and construction No. 800 ) to search / recruitment Hippel for this division is not looking for people who Aryan Race but slavic people , Polish and other ethnic because they have to move behind enemy lines and moves among their enemies . Another requirement is a master at least one language well , so many people who are recruited can speak two or three other languages . Learning the local customs are also important so that the enemy is not suspected . The Battalion Battalion Brandenburg named according to their training ground
The Battalion returned to shine during the invasion of the Netherlands , Belgium and Luxemburg , the famous One action is to master the Meuse bridge at Gennep Netherlands , the Dutch police posing as they can master the Post and the bridge but they were pressured by the Dutch army gunfire . Leutnant Wilhelm Walther was the clothes policemen standing and walking across the bridge , because the police abaju Dutch army was hesitant to shoot and be able to beat the other team members can be controlled bridge .
Members of the Brandenburger has many and varied expertise , in addition to foreign language also parachute , demolition , small unit tactics of war , sabotage pilots , communication , counterfeiting money , there are some that also consist of skier reliable , they are specially trained to fight in northern Russia are very cold .
Unique from Brandenburger is if they are enemy soldiers disguised so they always wore German uniforms in it so if it will start to fight , they get changed they will not start shooting his uniform if they have not seen .. so they declared themselves as soldiers not spy ( rules of war if the army caught confirms it should be respected as a prisoner of war , but if the spy was arrested he could immediately put to death ) , even though they always carry cyanide pills to commit suicide .
But their most shining in Ostfront . They can destroy the enemy's lines of communication and control of supply lines . August 1942 a Brandenburger unit consisting of 62 people from the Baltic and South Germany headed by Adrian von Foelkersam NKVD soldiers disguised as a Russian master Maikop oil fields , on the way there they met a Russian soldier who wanted to desert . Freikop also catch them and bring them to the Maikop through soviet area easily .. entering the Maikop area with uniform Foelkersam major desertion NKVD troops to bring the Soviet commander , Soviet commander was congratulated and given a "tour " of the city and the layout and position of the Soviet defense ( must be listened to carefully by Foelkersam ) . After the German army approached , leaders Foelkersam undercover forces using grenades and damage the Maikop communication system , and inform the Soviet commander that " we attacked artillery and no orders to retreat ! " Because there is no means of communication to make sure while the only source of information that exists only come from Foelkersam , so therefore the Soviet army retreated , Maikop was occupied by the Germans without the slightest resistance from the Soviet army .
Brandenburg Division is also active in Yugoslavia for anti- partisan duties and assault to Kos and Leros in the border Turkey to fight the British and Italian troops there with Fallschirmjager .
During this time there under the command Brandenburger Abwehr and disliked Himmler and the SS , so after Canaris put to death because the accused involved with Valkyrie Stauffenberg Brandenburger in cs then moved to the SS and used as a motorized infantry and sent Ost Front usual , but many also transferred to the special forces asked his SS Jagverbande . This division eventually fight against unbeaten after Pillau soviets in Russia , many are surrendered to the British in Schleswig - Holstein but many also disguise was so expert move just disappeared !
After World War 2 many people moved to the Brandenburger ex French foreign legion or so military advisers developing countries