SS-Jagdverband Mitte

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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

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

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