1st Mountain Division (Wehrmacht)

The 1st Mountain Division (1. Gebirgs Division) was an elite formation of the German Wehrmacht during World War II.

It was created on 9 April 1938 in Garmisch Partenkirchen from the Mountain Brigade (Gebirgs Brigade) which was itself formed on 1 June 1935. The division consisted mainly of Bavarians and some Austrians.

Poland and France
The 1st Mountain Division fought in the Invasion of Poland as a part of Army Group South and distinguished itself during fighting in the Carpathians.

It subsequently took part in the Battle of France and was selected to take part in the planned operations against the United Kingdom (Operation Sea Lion) and Gibraltar (Operation Felix) but both operations were cancelled. With Felix cancelled, the division took part in the Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 as part of the 2nd Army.

Eastern Front
The 1st Mountain Division participated in Operation Barbarossa, (the invasion of the Soviet Union). On 30 June, the division captured Lvov. There, the Germans discovered several thousand bodies of prisoners who had been executed by the NKVD, as they could not be evacuated. As the news spread, a large-scale anti-Jewish pogrom broke out, in which the town's Ukrainian population participated, stirred up in part by German and 'Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists' (OUN) posters and proclamations calling for revenge against the "Jewish Bolshevik murders".

The 1st Mountain Division continued its advance into the Soviet Union, participating in the breakthrough of the Stalin Line and the advance to the Dniepr and Mius rivers. In May 1942, the division fought in the Second Battle of Kharkov and then participated in the offensive through southern Russia and into the Caucasus (Operation Edelweiss).

In a symbolic propaganda move, the division sent a detachment to raise the German flag on Mount Elbrus on 21 August. Although the feat was widely publicized by Goebbels, Hitler was furious at this. After the Caucasus campaign the division was posted to Greece and later Serbia where it took part in anti- partisan operations. But by late 1944 the division, as part of Army Group E, had been withdrawn to Hungary from the Balkans.

It was renamed ''1. Volks-Gebirgs-Division'' in March 1945. Its final major operations were near Lake Balaton (Operation Spring Awakening) against the 3rd Ukrainian Front. Two months later the shattered division surrendered to the Americans in Austria.

War crimes
During the Invasion of Poland, soldiers from the division assisted in the round-up of Jewish civilians from Przemyśl for forced labour. This event was documented in the divisional photographic album. Picture captions demonstrate strong anti-semitism by the authors. Photos 7 and 8 themselves.

On 6 July 1943 a unit from the division attacked the village of Borova in Albania. All of the village houses and buildings were completely burned or otherwise destroyed. 107 inhabitants were massacred including 5 entire families. The youngest victim was an infant of only 4 months, the oldest – a woman of 73. On 25 July 1943, soldiers from the division attacked the village of Mousiotitsa in Greece following the discovery of a cache of weapons nearby, killing 153 civilians. On 16 August 1943, the village of Kommeno was attacked at the order of Oberstleutnant Josef Salminger, the commander of GebirgsJäger Regiment 98, a total of 317 civilians were killed. Elements from the division took part in the murder of thousands of Italians from the 33 Acqui Infantry Division in September 1943 on the Greek island of Cefalonia following the Italian surrender. Soldiers from the division took part in the murder of 32 officers and an estimated 100 soldiers from the Italian 151st Perugia Infantry Division in Albania after the Italian surrender.

Following the killing of Oberstleutnant Josef Salminger by Greek partisans, the commander of XXII Gebirgs-Armeekorps General der Gebirgstruppe Hubert Lanz issued an order of the day on 1 October 1943 calling for a “ruthless retaliatory action” in a 20 km area around the place were Salminger had been attacked. In the village of Lingiades 87 civilians were killed, a total of at least 200 civilians died.

The Division's war crimes are described in H. F. Meyer's book Bloodstained Edelweiss: The 1st Mountain Division in the Second World War.

Commanders

 * General der Gebirgstruppen Ludwig Kübler (1 Sept 1939 – 25 Oct 1940)
 * General der Gebirgstruppen Hubert Lanz (25 Oct 1940 – 1 Jan 1942)
 * General der Artillerie Robert Martinek (1 Jan 1942 – 1 Dec 1942)
 * Generalleutnant Walter Stettner Ritter von Grabenhofen (1 Dec 1942 – 10 Oct 1944)
 * Generalleutnant Josef Kübler (10 Oct 1944 – 10 Mar 1945)
 * Generalleutnant August Wittmann (10 Mar 1945 – 8 May 1945)

1939

 * 98. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 X Battalions


 * 99. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 x Battalions


 * 100. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 x Battalions


 * 4. Panzerabwehr (anti-tank) Battalion


 * 79. Mountain Artillery Regiment
 * 4 x Battalions


 * 54. Signals Battalion


 * 54. Pioneer Battalion


 * 54. Supply Troops


 * Service Troops

1941

 * 98. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 x Battalions


 * 99. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 x Battalions


 * 54. Field Medical Battalion


 * 44. Panzerabwehr Battalion


 * 79. Mountain Artillery Regiment
 * 4 x Battalions


 * 54. Signals Battalion


 * 54. Pioneer Battalion


 * 54. Supply Troops


 * Service Troops

1943

 * 98. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 x Battalions


 * 99. Mountain Infantry Regiment
 * 3 x Battalions


 * 44. Panzerjäger Battalion


 * 79. Mountain Artillery Regiment
 * 4 x Battalions


 * 54. Mountain Jäger Battalion


 * 54. Reconnaissance Battalion


 * 54. Mountain Signals Battalion


 * 79. Mountain Field Medical Battalion


 * 54. Mountain Pioneer Battalion


 * 54. Mountain Pack Mule Battalion


 * 54. Supply Troops


 * Service Troops

Notable members

 * Ferdinand Schörner The last living German Field Marshal, holder of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
 * Wego Chiang son of the Chinese leader General Chiang Kai Shek served in I./Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 98 in 1937 – 1939, reaching the rank of Leutnant before returning to China at the outbreak of war.