1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring
The Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. Hermann Göring (1st Paratroop Panzer Division Hermann Göring - abbreviated Fallschirm-Panzer-Div 1 HG) was a German Luftwaffe armoured division. The HG saw action in France, North Africa, Sicily, Italy and on the Eastern Front during World War II. The division began as a battalion-sized police unit in 1933. Over time it grew into a regiment, brigade, division, and finally was combined with the Parachute-Panzergrenadier Division 2 Hermann Göring on 1 May 1944 to form a Panzer corps under the name Reichsmarschall. It surrendered to the Soviet Army near Dresden on 8 May 1945.
1st Paratroop Panzer Division Hermann Göring | |
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Fallschirm-Panzer-Division 1. Hermann Göring | |
Divisional insignia | |
Active | 1933–1945 (in General) June 1943–8 May 1945 (as a Panzer Division) |
Country | Nazi Germany |
Branch | Luftwaffe |
Type | Fallschirmjäger Panzer |
Role | Airborne forces, Armoured warfare |
Size | Regiment Brigade Division Corps |
Patron | Hermann Göring |
Colors | White |
Engagements | Prior to World War II
World War II
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Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Walther von Axthelm Paul Conrath Wilhelm Schmalz Hanns-Horst von Necker Max Lemke |
Insignia | |
Identification symbol | Fallschirm-Panzer-Div 1 HG |
Cuff title Hermann Göring |
Its personnel was initially recruited from volunteers from Nazi organizations such as the Hitler Youth, later receiving intakes from the Army (especially panzer troops) and conscripts of the Luftwaffe. The unit was stationed in Berlin in the newly built Hermann Göring barracks (today's Julius Leber barracks) and in Velten; being named after the Reichsmarschall and Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring. This naming was intended to establish a close connection between Wehrmacht units and National Socialism, while at the same time documenting the domestic power within the party hierarchy. Among its combat missions, the Hermann Göring maintained guard forces, such as a guard in the Reichsmarschall's estate at Carinhall and the Flak defense of Hitler's headquarters and personal train.
The division, during its time in Italy, committed a number of war crimes, and, together with the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS, was disproportionately involved in massacres of the civilian population, the two divisions accounting for approximately one-third of all civilians killed in war crimes in Italy.