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8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
8th SS Division Logo
Insignia of 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
Active 1942 - 1945
Country Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Branch Flag Schutzstaffel Waffen-SS
Type Cavalry
Engagements Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Siege of Budapest
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Gustav Lombard
Bruno Streckenbach
Hermann Fegelein

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.[1]

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

Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Bueschel-069-31, Russland, Kradfahrer der Waffen-SS

SS Cavalry, Russia, June 1942

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.[2]

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.[2]

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.[2] 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.[2]

Commanders

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1991-0205-510, Sowjetunion, SS-Reiter bei Mosyr im Einsatz gegen Partisanen

SS Cavalry Division on anti partisan sweep May 1943

Order of battle

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-715-0213A-25, Ungarn, Jagdpanzer "Hetzer"

Panzerjäger "Hetzer" from 8th SS Division Hungary 1944

  • 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

See also

  • List of Knight's Cross Recipients 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer

References

  1. Hennes, War of Extermination, p.136
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mitchum, German Order of Battle, Volume 3. p 150
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