18th SS Mountain Police Regiment

The 18th SS Mountain Police Regiment (German: SS-Polizei-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 18) was initially named the 18th Mountain Police Regiment (Polizei-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 18) when it was formed in 1942 from existing Order Police (Ordnungspolizei) units for security duties in Occupied Europe. It was redesignated as an SS unit in early 1943.

18th SS Mountain Police Regiment
Country Nazi Germany
BranchSchutzstaffel
TypeSecurity
SizeRegiment
Garrison/HQWehrkreis XVIII
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Hermann Franz

Formation and organization

The regiment was ordered formed in July 1942 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Mountain Police Battalion 302 (Polizei-Gebirgsjäger-Batallion 302), Mountain Police Battalion 312 and Mountain Police Battalion 325 were redesignated as the regiment's first through third battalions, respectively. The regiment was transferred to Slovenia shortly after formation.[1] Colonel (SS-Standartenführer) Hermann Franz became the first regimental commander and remained in command until August 1943[2] when he was relieved by Lieutenant Colonel (Oberstleutenant der Polizei) Hösl. He was killed by a German landmine in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, on 19 October 1944.[3]

All of the police regiments were redesignated as SS police units on 24 February 1943, but this was strictly honorary. It was in Northern Finland by March 1943 and Greece by October before it retreated north through the Balkans in late 1944–45. While it was stationed in Greece, an artillery battalion was assigned to the regiment.[4]

Notes
  1. Arico, pp. 389–90, 439, 498; Tessin & Kanapin, p. 623
  2. Yerger, p. 92
  3. Muñoz, p. 342
  4. Tessin & Kannapin, pp. 557, 570, 623

References
  • Arico, Massimo. Ordnungspolizei: Encyclopedia of the German Police Battalions, Stockholm: Leandoer and Ekholm (2010). ISBN 978-91-85657-99-5
  • Muñoz, Antonio J. Hitler's Green Army: The German Order Police and Their European Auxiliaries, 1933–1945, Volume 2: Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Bayside, New York: Europa Books (2006) ISBN 1-891227-67-X
  • Tessin, Georg & Kannapin, Norbert. Waffen-SS under Ordnungspolizei im Kriegseinsatz 1939–1945: Ein Überlick anhand der Feldpostübersicht, Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag (2000). ISBN 3-7648-2471-9
  • Yerger, Mark C. Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units and Leaders of the General SS, Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing (1997) ISBN 0-7643-0145-4
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.