18th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Horst Wessel

The 18th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Horst Wessel was formed in 1944 around a cadre from the 1 SS Infantry Brigade and included mainly Hungarian ethnic Germans or Volksdeutsche (Volksdeutsche is a historical term which arose in the early 20th century to apply to Germans living outside of the German Empire). The 8th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade France was led by a former Foreign Legionnaire, Obersturmbannführer Paul Marie Gamory-Dubourdeau. The 1st battalion of about 1000 men was attached to SS Division Horst Wessel and sent to Galicia to fight the Soviet advance. In fierce fighting the battalion suffered heavy casualties. It was used for anti-partisan duties until it was sent to the Eastern front, with the exception of one regiment that fought the Slovak National Uprising in August 1944. It later fought as a single unit in Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia where it was destroyed.

The Division was named after the SA or (Sturmabteilung) hero Horst Wessel, a German Nazi known for being the author of lyrics to the song "Die Fahne hoch" (Horst Wessel Lied) and for being glorified by the Nazi regime as a martyr of the early years of the Nazi party.

Commanders

 * Brigadeführer Wilhelm Trabandt (25 January 1944 – 3 January 1945)
 * Gruppenführer Josef Fitzthum (3 January 1945 – 10 January 1945)
 * Standartenführer Georg Bochmann (10 January 1945 – March 1945)
 * Standartenführer Heinrich Petersen (March 1945 – 8 May 1945)

Knight's Cross with Swords

 * Georg Bochmann

SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 40

 * Julius Riepe

SS Flak Battalion 18

 * Hans Lipinski

Battles

 * Hungary (January 1944 – July 1944)
 * Eastern front, central sector (July 1944 – October 1944)
 * Poland & Czechoslovakia (October 1944 – May 1945)

Order of battle

 * 39th SS-Panzer Grenadier Regiment
 * 40th SS-Panzer Grenadier Regiment
 * 18th SS-Artillery Regiment
 * 18th SS-Panzerjäger Battalion
 * 18th SS-Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion
 * 18th SS-Panzer Battalion
 * 18th SS-Sturmgeschütz Battalion
 * 18th SS-Flak Battalion
 * 18th SS-Signals Battalion
 * 18th SS-Pionier Battalion
 * 18th SS-Administration Battalion
 * 18th SS-Wirtschafts Battalion
 * 18th SS-Supplies Troop
 * 18th SS-Instandsetzungs Battalion
 * 18th SS-Feldgendarmerie Battalion
 * 18th SS-Reserve BattallIon
 * 18th SS-Sanitäts Battalion