History
In mid-1942, the Waffen-SS formed a company intended for anti-partisan duties in the rugged and high-altitude border region between Italy, Austria and Yugoslavia known as the Karst. The idea of raising the unit came from a noted geographer and caving specialist, SS-Standartenführer (Colonel) Hans Brandt. The company was formed at the Dachau concentration camp on 10 July 1942 from soldiers of the supply services training and replacement battalion of the 23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Kama (2nd Croatian). It was expanded to battalion strength of around 500 troops in November 1942, and as the SS-Freiwilligen-Karstwehr Battailon, it spent the first six months of 1943 training in Austria. Following the Italian capitulation in September 1943, the battalion was tasked with disarming Italian troops around Tarvisio right on the border between the three countries. It then moved on to protective duties for nearby Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) communities. From October 1943 until June 1944, the battalion was based at Gradisca d'Isonzo in Italy, and participated in anti-partisan operations in the areas of Trieste, Udine and the Istrian peninsula. It quickly gained a reputation for shooting partisan suspects. While engaged in anti-partisan duties, the battalion grew to a strength of around 1,000. The unit drew its recruits mainly from Yugoslav Volksdeutsche and South Tyrol, with the officer cadre being drawn from SS geological detachments.
On 18 July 1944, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered that the battalion be expanded to divisional size, although the authorised strength was only 6,600 troops. The 24th Waffen-Gebirgs (Karstjäger) Division der SS was to be established by the Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer (Higher SS and Police Leader) for the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral, SS-Gruppenführer (Major General) Odilo Globocnik. The division was to consist of two gebirgsjäger regiments, with an artillery regiment, reconnaissance, panzerjäger and pioneer battalions, as well as replacement and supply troops. Between August and November 1944, the division continued performing anti-partisan duties in the same region, but its strength had only reached 3,000, less than half of its authorised establishment. As a result, in December 1944 the division was downgraded to a brigade. In early 1945, the Waffen Gebirgs (Karstjäger) Brigade der SS fought against British-supported partisans in the Julian Alps. In the final weeks of the war the brigade was part of a kampfgruppe commanded by SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS (Brigadier) Heinz Harmel, which was ordered to keep the Karawanken passes open between Yugoslavia and Austria. This task was critical in allowing German forces to withdraw from Yugoslavia in order to surrender to British forces. The kampfgruppe succeeded in its final task, and was one of the last German units to surrender, when it encountered the British 6th Armoured Division on 9 May 1945.
Read more about this topic: 24th Waffen Mountain Division Of The SS
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