The horse in the German Army

[jhv 41]

This topic came up in another thread and I was able to get a hold of what might be the most exhaustive report on use - both the good/bad.

The report is huge at close to 700 pages (English) and put together by the US Army Europe and authored by an array of German Army personnel which would lend a credibleness as to the accuracy.

For anyone that has an interest in this report, I will leave this link up for a few days for download:

http://jmp.sh/SG6lDkS

 

[gummipuppe]

Wow! I skimmed through it and it looks really interesting. Thanks!

 

[tjg79]

Wow is right! jhv posts some of the most interesting stuff.

I think the US Army looked at the German war machine under a microscope. I wonder how may other studies are out there waiting to be discovered.

Good thread.

 

[BerlinerLuebecker]

Thanks for sharing! Other relevant sources from the Foreign Military Studies group include:

D-096 The Veterinary Service During the Campaign in the East
D-097 Horses in the Russian Campaign
D-098 Horse Diseases During the Eastern Campaign
D-099 Remounts, Acclimatization, and Breeds
D-100 Army Veterinary Service

The original German transcripts are available at AHEC.

 

[Markwart]

@jhv 41
This is really interesting! Thanks for this reference.

@BerlinLuebecker
What is AHEC? Can I get there the German version? Also in Germany?
Sorry a lot of questions.

I know the existence documents from a source book.

 

[jhv 41]

The coordinator of this research paper, Generaloberst Franz Halder, is lucky he escaped a firing squad or noose by Hitler. Per the Wikipedia page, he is one of the few and probably most senior staff officer that survived from Adolph's purge of suspected/known plotter's.

Doesn't appear he was a Nazi, but took the oath to Hitler serious enough not to get too involved in some of the plots. Lived on until 1972 (87 years old) and appears to have worked on a lot of these historic research projects for the US Army.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Halder

 

[BerlinerLuebecker]

@BerlinLuebecker
What is AHEC? Can I get there the German version? Also in Germany?
Sorry a lot of questions.
View attachment 112776

AHEC is the Army Heritage and Education Center, which shares a campus with the Army War College in Carlisle, PA. The Foreign Military Studies were a program sponsored by the US Army, in which German POWs (and, later, former German soldiers) wrote on their experiences to assist US military education. At first, the focus was on the western front and Africa, in order to write a better official history of the war. But the mission soon changed to include many studies on the East, as the Cold War got going.

Many (most?) of the studies were translated into English for use at the War College and the military academies, but AHEC retained the original German documents for most of them (some others are scattered at other archives). I think you can get in touch with them and have copies made for a fee, but I'm not certain - you can definitely email them and they will get back to you quickly.

If you shoot me a PM with your email address, I can send you the finding aid, so you can take a look. It gives you all the English titles, the names of the authors, and the number of pages for the translated documents. The originals are always slightly longer.

 

[BerlinerLuebecker]

The coordinator of this research paper, Generaloberst Franz Halder, is lucky he escaped a firing squad or noose by Hitler. Per the Wikipedia page, he is one of the few and probably most senior staff officer that survived from Adolph's purge of suspected/known plotter's.

Doesn't appear he was a Nazi, but took the oath to Hitler serious enough not to get too involved in some of the plots. Lived on until 1972 (87 years old) and appears to have worked on a lot of these historic research projects for the US Army.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Halder

Absolutely right - he wrote quite a bit for the project himself, but also served as a general editor for the studies group. Interesting character, for sure.

Another noteworthy name in the FMS group is Gotthard Heinrici, who wrote a 20+ chapter, thousands of pages long history of the war. It's been used in part by various historians, but I don't believe it's ever been published in full.

 

[Markwart]

If you shoot me a PM with your email address, I can send you the finding aid, so you can take a look. It gives you all the English titles, the names of the authors, and the number of pages for the translated documents. The originals are always slightly longer.

Thank you very much for your efforts.
You get the PM

 

[jhv 41]

Franz Halder's war diary is also available online (8 pdf files in English and a little bit of a pain as you have to download each one):


http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/...of Franz Halder/field/title/mode/all/conn/and

 

[Markwart]

riding into the Twilight

I will draw your attention to an excellent book printed in USA about the issue of this thread here.

“Riding into the Twilight”








I have got the permission from the publisher to present the pages in an other forum. But its deactivated.

 

[jhv 41]

I will draw your attention to an excellent book printed in USA about the issue of this thread here.

“Riding into the Twilight”

I have got the permission from the publisher to present the pages in an other forum. But its deactivated.[/SIZE]

That looks like a good book, I will have to track it down.


The March 1946 Intelligence Bulletin includes a small article on the German Calvary Units:





Anyone that wants it can download here:

http://jmp.sh/98IA8NZ

 

[gummipuppe]

Thanks, Markwart. I just ordered the book on Amazon. Looks like it got excellent reviews. Can't wait to read it.

 

[Markwart]

@jhv 41
The first picture looks like Cossacks. The Cossacks will be duped at the end of the war from the winners. They had a cruel fate, because they would be hand to the Soviet Union.

 

[gummipuppe]

@jhv 41
The first picture looks like Cossacks. The Cossacks will be duped at the end of the war from the winners. They had a cruel fate, because they would be hand to the Soviet Union.

Lots of people got duped and royally screwed at the end of the war, including the people of eastern Europe and the Baltic countries, when their countries were handed over by the Western Allies to the Soviets.

One of my relatives was a citizen in a Baltic country. In the last years of the war, he was conscripted (forcibly volunteered) into the Waffen SS to fight on the Eastern Front. What was left of his regiment eventually ended up in Germany near the end of the war. His commander knew that the Soviets would kill them if they surrendered to them. So, he lead his men to the Americans to surrender. That was very lucky for them, because if they had surrendered to the British, they certainly would have been handed over to the Soviets, and that would have been the end of them. After the war, my relative's wife, who remained behind in their farm, was thrown in prison for several years by the Soviets just for being married to a Waffen SS soldier.

 

[Markwart]

The evolution of the riding manuals in the German army.

Imperial Era

Instruktion zum Reitunterricht für die Kavallerie from 1882
volume 1: 118 pages, size 19x12,5cm
volume 2: 244 pages, size 19x12,5cm



Instruktion zum Reitunterricht für die Kavallerie
Edition volume 1 with complements 1-61 from 1908, 128 pages besides 15 pages subject index, size 19x12,5cm
Edition volume 2 with complements 1-46 from 1904, 269 pages, size 19x12,5cm



D.V.E. 12, Reitvorschrift 29.6.1912, 338 pages, size 19,5x13cm




Weimar Republic

H.Dv. 12, Reitvorschrift Ausgabe 30.4.1926, 316 pages, size 19x13cm



H.Dv. 12, Reitvorschrift Neudruck 1932, 316 pages, size 19x13cm



Wehrmacht

H.Dv. 12, Reitvorschrift Entwurf 18.12.1934, 215 pages, size 14,5x10,3cm



H.Dv. 12, Reitvorschrift 18.8.1937, 204 pages, size 14,5x10,3cm




The H.Dv. 12 is down to the present day a important manual for education equestrian in Germany. The “Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung” based there fundamentals from the H.Dv. 12, especially from editions 1926 and 1937. Link: http://www.pferd-aktuell.de/grundausbildung/historie/historie

 

[Markwart]

After the WW I the army get lost as a trainings place for equestrian. The way out of this trouble for sports and most important for the army in event of war was the foundation of “ländliche Reit- und Fahrvereine” (translation?). The patron of this evolution was Gustav Rau.
So in the early and mid nineteen-twenties some books published for the civil riding training.

Early one but not common.

Kieckebusch 1924

The popular book from Fritz Lauffer
1925
the author of the book
instruction panel


1928

instruction panel fail

After the takeover from Adolf Hitler in 1933 all sports club or other clubs become an involuntary place in the NS organization. Than it existed SA and SS Reiterscharen. Gustav Rau tried before to get the riding clubs under control of the Wehrmacht but he failed. This was the reason that he lost his job as Oberlandstallmeister in 1934 raised by the NSDAP.
Consider now the equestrian wear a SA uniform.

1933

instruction panel


1934

instruction panel

 

[Markwart]

After WW II the first manual “Richtlinien für Reiten und Fahren” from 1954 is a successor but never more for the army.



Perhaps more interesting for K98k collectors.

H.Dv. 476/2 "Das allgemeine Heergerät Pferde- und Tragtierausrüstung" with the carbine carrier = Karabiner Tragevorrichtung

All the equipment for the horses you will find here. Some of these objects fall away in the time of war. Neither the carbine carrier in 1940. Then they carry the K98k across the back. Only the equestrian, bicyclist and biker carry the K98k from down left up too top right.

 

[gummipuppe]

I will draw your attention to an excellent book printed in USA about the issue of this thread here.

“Riding into the Twilight”

View attachment 112812

The book just arrived. It is wonderful! The visuals are fantastic. Just loaded with interesting, detailed information.

 

[Markwart]

I am very pleased to hear that!