SS-Jagdverband Mitte

File:Skorzeny with officers of the SS-Jagdverband Mitte defending the bridges at the river Oder in February 1945.jpg

SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny with officers (in front: SS-Sturmbannführer Sigfried Milius from the 600th SS-Parachute Battalion) of the SS-Jagdverband Mitte defending the bridges at the river Oder (Oderfront) in February 1945

SS-Jagdverband Mitte was an SS unit formed from foreign volunteers, the troops of the 502nd SS Jäger Battalion, troops of the Sonder-Einsatzabteilung z.b.V. (Probationary Special Assignments Detachment) and vast parts of the Brandenburgers (mostly for Jagdverband "Ost" and Jagdverband "Südost").

Structure

• Sonderlehrgang z. b. V. Oranienburg (18 April 1943 – 16 June 1943): The Waffen-SS' equivalent of the Brandenburgers of the Abwehr
• Sonderverband z. b. V. Friedenthal (16 June 1943 – 17 April 1943): The heros of Operation Oak
• SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502 (17 April 1944 – 10 November 1944): Unternehmen „Panzerfaust“
• SS-Jagdverband Mitte (10 November 1944 – 8 May 1945): SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Fucker was responsible for organizing and leading the Jagdverband
  • 150. SS-Panzer-Brigade (November 1944 – 25-28 December 1944)
  • Division Schwedt Kampfgruppe/Sperrverband Skorzeny (31 January 1945 – 3 March 1945)

Mission

It took part in the Ardennes offensive as a part of Panzer-Brigade 150 wearing American uniforms and using American Equipment (Operation Greif). After the Close failure in the Ardennes the men received a brief leave before being sent to fight the Red Army (Division Schwedt) on the outskirts of Schwedt/Oder. In April 1945 it was sent to Austria to fight in the Alpine Redoubt and it ended the war in Linz. Otto Skorzeny and the rest of his men surrended to the Americans on the 20 May 1945.

At least two volunteers from Ireland fought in SS-Jagdverband Mitte, SS-Uscha James Brady (aka de Lacy) and SS-Mann Frank Stringer (aka Le Page). Many more fought as agents and elite soldiers of the Abwehr and later of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) alongside hundreds of thousands of foreign soldiers.

See also

• Jäger (German military)
• Otto Skorzeny: Commander of all Jagdverbände (hunting units)
• Operation Oak: The rescue of Benito Mussoline
• Walter Girg (de): Leading Panzer officer of the Jagdverband Mitte, awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves (1 April 1945)
• Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts

Literature

• Karl Fucker: An der Seite Skorzenys, Aula Graz (2009), ISBN 978-3900968106
• Terence O'Reilly: Hitler's Irishmen, Mercier Press (2008), ISBN 978-1-85635-589-6.
• Antonio Munoz: Forgotten Legions: Obscure Combat Formations of the Waffen-SS, Axis Europa Inc (1991), ISBN 978-0739408179

External links

• SS-Jagdverband Mitte
• Sonderlehrgang z.b.V. Oranienburg
• SS-Sonderverband z.b.V. Friedenthal
• SS-Jäger-Bataillon 502
• The rescue of Mussolini (original footage)
• The History Channel: Operations of Skorzeny und the SS-Sonderverband z.b.V. „Friedenthal“
• Otto Skorzeny: The Scar-Faced Commando