8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer

The 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer was a Waffen-SS cavalry Division during World War II. It was formed in 1942 from a cadre of the SS Cavalry Brigade which was involved in anti partisan operations behind the front line and was responsible for the extermination of tens of thousands of the civilian population.

About 40% of the division were Volksdeutsche from Siebenbürgen (Transylvania) and Banat (Serbia). The Training and Replacement Battalion of the 8th SS Cavalry Division was involved in suppressing the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

In March 1944, it was named after Florian Geyer (1490–1525), the Franconian nobleman who led the Black Company during the German Peasants' War.

The Division was destroyed during the fighting in Budapest in early 1945.

Deployment
The newly created division was soon sent back to the Eastern Front and fought in the Rzhev and Orel sectors in central Russia until the spring of 1943. The division was then moved to the area around Bobruisk, on internal security and anti partisan duties until September 1943. In September the division was moved again to the Southern front and took part in the German retreat to the Dnieper river.

The division was then sent to Hungary in October 1943, where the Panzerjager and Sturmgeschütz Battalions were combined and the Reconnaissance Battalion became a Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion. Following this reorganization the division was posted to Croatia. In April 1944, they returned to Hungary and took part in the fighting in Transylvania after the Romanian front collapsed.

The Division was trapped in Budapest with the IX SS Mountain Corps when the Russians surrounded the city in December 1944. The 8th SS Cavalry Division was then involved in the fierce fighting to hold the city often engaged in hand to hand combat and fighting house to house. The Division was destroyed in the fighting for Budapest and by the end of the siege of the 30,000 men of the SS Corps only about 800 survived to reach the German lines.

Commanders

 * SS-Brigadeführer Gustav Lombard, (March 1942 - April 1942)
 * SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, (April 1942 - August 1942)
 * SS-Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Bittrich, (August 1942 - 15 February 1943)
 * SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Freitag, (15 February 1943 - 20 April 1943)
 * SS-Brigadeführer Gustav Lombard, (20 April 1943 - 14 May 1943)
 * SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, (14 May 1943 - 13 September 1943)
 * SS-Gruppenführer Bruno Streckenbach, (13 September 1943 - 22 October 1943)
 * SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein, (22 October 1943 - 1 January 1944)
 * SS-Gruppenführer Bruno Streckenbach, (1 January 1944 - 14 April 1944)
 * SS-Brigadeführer Gustav Lombard, (14 April 1944 - 1 July 1944)
 * SS-Brigadeführer Joachim Rumohr, (1 July 1944 - 11 February 1945)

Order of battle

 * SS-Cavalry Regiment 15
 * SS-Cavalry Regiment 16
 * SS-Cavalry Regiment 17
 * SS-Cavalry Regiment 18
 * SS-Artillery Regiment 8
 * SS-Panzerjäger Battalion 8
 * SS-Reconnaissance Battalion 8
 * SS-Signals Battalion 8
 * SS-Pionier Battalion 8
 * SS-Flak Battalion 8
 * SS-Reserve Battalion 8
 * SS-Sturmgeschütz Battalion 8
 * SS-Radfahr Reconnaissance Battalion 8
 * SS-Ski-Battalion
 * SS-Verwaltungsstruppen 8
 * SS-Medical Battalion 8
 * SS-Veterinary Company 8
 * SS-Field post troop
 * SS-Kriegsberichter platoon (mot) 8
 * SS-Feldgendarmerie-Troop 8
 * SS-Krankenkraftwagen platoon