Feldgendarmerie

Feldgendarmerie operating in occupied Russia, July 1941. The sign says ""Partisanen-Gefahr von Welish nach Ußwjati. Einzelfahrzeuge halt! Waffen bereithalten." / "Partisan danger from Velizh to Usvyaty. Single vehicles Stop! Weapons at the ready."

Feldgendarmerie units were generally given occupation duties in territories directly under the control of the Wehrmacht. Their duties policing the areas behind the front lines ranged from straightforward traffic control and population control to suppression and execution of partisans and the apprehension of enemy stragglers.

When combat units moved forward out of a region, the Feldgendarmerie role would formally end as control was then transferred to occupation authorities under the control of the Nazi Party and SS. But Feldgendarmerie units are known to have assisted the SS in committing war crimes in occupied areas. Author Antony Beevor explores some well-documented cases of their participation in his book Stalingrad. Also, Felgendarmerie units took active part in Jew hunting operations, including in Western Europe.

But by 1943 as the tide of war changed for Nazi Germany, the Feldgendarmerie were given the task of maintaining discipline in the Wehrmacht. Many ordinary soldiers deemed to be deserters were summarily executed by Feldgendarmerie units. This earned them the pejorative Kettenhunde (English: chained dogs) after the gorget they wore with their uniforms. The arbitrary and brutal policing of soldiers gave them the other nickname Heldenklauer (English: hero-snatcher) because they screened refugees and hospital transports for potential deserters with orders to kill suspected malingerers. Rear-echelon personnel would also be checked for passes that permitted them to be away from the front.

Feldgendarmerie guard a food truck in the Netherlands in 1945.

The Feldgendarmerie also administered the Strafbattalion (English: Penal Battalion) which were Wehrmacht punishment units created for soldiers convicted by court martial and sentenced to a deferred execution. During the final days of the war, as the Third Reich crumbled, recruits or soldiers who committed even the slightest infraction were sent to Strafbatallione.

Like many other elements of the German Army, the Feldgendarmerie was involved in the Holocaust. For instance, in August 1942 Feldgendarmerie units rounded up Jews in the Occupied Zone of France as part of a mass deportation operation.[1] The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies states that there is a need for further research into the role of the Feldgendarmerie during the Holocaust.[2]

The SS-Feldgendarmerie wore the same uniform and gorget as their Army counterparts but had an addition cuff title indicating they were military police. Generally they conducted the same policing role, such as controlling rear areas but they also conducted counter-insurgency and extermination operations with Einsatzgruppen against Jews, partisans and those deemed to be "enemies of the Reich". These SS units had a severe reputation for being strict enforcers of military law. Nicknamed Kopf Jäger (Head Hunters), they also tracked down and punished those deemed to be deserters. From 1944 onwards, former members of the Ordnungspolizei serving with the Waffen -SS, were also given military police powers and duties. These special SS-Feldgendarmerie were denoted by a diamond polizei-eagle insignia worn on the lower sleeve.

In January 1944 as the Red Army began to advance on the Eastern Front, the power of the Feldgendarmerie was superseded by the creation of the Feldjägerkorps. Answering only to the German High Command (OKW), its three regiments were founded to maintain discipline and military cohesion in all branches of the Wehrmacht (including the Feldgendarmerie). Feldjägers were recruited from decorated, battle-hardened officers and NCOs. They had the military authority of the OKW to arrest and execute officers and soldiers from either the Wehrmacht or the SS for desertion, defeatism and other duty violations. Every unit of the Feldjäger had command of a "Fliegendes Standgericht" (flying drumhead trial/flying court martial), which comprised three judges.[3]

Despite the surrender of all German forces in May 1945, some Feldgendarmerie and Feldjägerkorps units in the western zones of occupied Germany were allowed to keep their weapons by the Allies because of the number of POWs that required guarding and processing. For example, the British VIII Corps based in Schleswig-Holstein used an entire regiment of volunteers from the Feldgendarmerie to maintain discipline at its demobilisation center at Meldorf. Re-activated military police, who received extra rations as pay, were identified by an armband stating Wehrmachtordnungstruppe (Armed Forces Order Troop). In June 1946, more than 12 months after the official end of World War II, the Feldgendarmerie became the last German units to surrender their arms.

A Feldgendarmerie Kübelwagen on the Eastern Front in June 1943.

The Feldgendarmerie was under the direct control of the German High Command O.K.H. (Oberkommando des Heeres). A Feldgendarmerie major general who was in charge of all Feldgendarmerie personnel attached to the Wehrmacht, was directly subordinated to the Generalquartiermeister. He was responsible for postings and personnel administration, monitoring the performance of the police units, allocation of tasks, traffic regulations and training. His immediate subordinate was a staff officer attached to each Oberkommando Army who commanded the one or more Feldgendarmerie battalions attached to each Wehrmacht formation. The staff officer was responsible for maintaining order and discipline, traffic control during large scale troop movements and maintaining transport routes. Each Feldgendarmerie battalion also had support personnel such as cooks, clerks, and armourers.

A battalion was subdivided into smaller-sized Truppen which were attached to each division or corps. A Gruppe, a section sized unit, were then assigned to specific field or local commands. Feldgendarmerie sections would also be temporarily assigned to special operations, such as anti-partisan duties. A typical Truppe attached to an Infantry or Panzer Division would have up to three officers, 41 NCOs and 20 enlisted men. They would operate in Kübelwagen, trucks and motorcycles (with sidecars).

These battalions were equipped with motorcycles and sidecars, Kübelwagen, field cars such as the Horch 4x4 and 3 ton Opel Blitz lorries and a small number of armoured vehicles as a means of transport.

Personal weapons consisted of small arms such as the Walther PP which was designed as a civilian police pistol (PP Polizei-Pistole) or the Walther PPK both of which were favoured by officers whereas the Luger P08 and Walther P38 were used by other ranks. Machine pistols were carried by NCOs and the Mauser Karabiner 98k, the MP40 was issued but was not widely used. The MG34 and MG42 were used as vehicle mounted armament for defending road blocks or vehicle checkpoints.