Feldgendarmerie
Encyclopedia
The Feldgendarmerie were the uniformed military police
units of the armies of the German Empire
(including the Wehrmacht
) from the mid 19th Century until the conclusion of World War II
.
After World War I all military police units were disbanded and no police units existed in the post-war Weimar Republic
. Garrison areas were patrolled by regular soldiers functioning as military police.
When Adolf Hitler
came to power in 1933, Feldgendarmerie were reintroduced into the Wehrmacht
. The new units received full infantry training and were given extensive police powers. A military police school was set up at Potsdam
, near Berlin
to train Feldgendarmerie personnel. Subjects included Criminal code, general and special police powers, reporting duties, passport and identification law, weapons drill, self-defence techniques, criminal police methodology, and general administration.
All prospective candidates served at a Feldgendarmerie command after the first term of examinations. Courses lasted one year and failure rates were high: in 1935 only 89 soldiers graduated from an initial intake of 219 candidates. Feldgendarmerie were employed within army divisions and as self-contained units under the command of an army corps. They often worked in close cooperation with the Geheime Feldpolizei
(Secret Field Police), district commanders and SS and Police Leader
s.
Feldgendarmerie units were generally given occupation duties in territories directly under the control of the Wehrmacht
. The 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 crime
s in occupied areas. Author Anthony Beevor explores some well-documented cases of their participation in his book Stalingrad
.
But by 1943 as the tide of war changed for Nazi Germany, the Feldgendarmerie were given the task to maintain discipline in the Wehrmacht
. Many ordinary soldiers deemed to be deserters
were summarily executed by Feldgendarmerie units. This earned them the pejorative Kettenhunde (chained dogs) after the gorget
they wore with their uniforms.
The arbitrary and brutal policing of soldiers gave them the other nickname Heldenklauer (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.
The Feldgendarmerie also administered the Strafbattalion
(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 Strafbatallionen.
The SS-Feldgendarmerie wore the same uniform and gorget as their Heer 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 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 and the SS for desertion, defeatism and other duty violations.
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). More than 12 months after the official end of the Second World War, the Feldgendarmerie became the last German units to surrender their arms in July 1946.
The Feldgendarmerie was under the direct control of the German High Command O.K.H (Oberkommando des Heeres
). A Feldgendarmerie General Major , who was in charge of all Feldgendarmerie personnel attached to the Wehrmacht, was directly subordinated to the Generalquartiermeister. He was responsible for postings and personal 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 NCO's and 20 enlisted men. They would operate in Kübelwagen, trucks and motorcycles (with sidecar
s).
4x4 and 3 ton Opel Blitz
lorries
and a small number of armoured vehicles as a means of transport.
both of which were favoured by officers whereas the Luger PO8 and Walther P38 were used by other ranks. Automatic machine pistol
s were carried by NCOs and the Mauser
Karabiner 98k
rifle was issued but was not widely used. The MG34 and MG42
were used as vehicle mounted armament for defending road blocks or vehicle checkpoints.
in 1955, many of its branches of service were given names that would at least nominally distinguish them from their logical Wehrmacht
equivalents. Thus, military police in the modern Bundeswehr
were not called Feldgendarmerie. In fact, the original intent was to call the MPs Militärpolizei, literally military police. However, state officials protested as the law enforcement function in the brand new German constitution had been given primarily to the states, not the federation. The word Polizei (Police) was jealously guarded by the states, so the Federal Defence Ministry searched for a new designation and adopted Feldjäger
which was a traditional Prussia
n regiment with some military police type functions.
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
units of the armies of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
(including the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
) from the mid 19th Century until the conclusion of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Early history
Early incarnations of the Feldgendarmerie came into being on an ad-hoc basis through mobilizations of the German army as a whole, most notably in the wars of 1866 and 1870. At the outbreak of the First World War the Feldgendarmerie comprised 33 companies. They each had 60 men and two NCOs. By 1918, the number of companies had been expanded to115 units.After World War I all military police units were disbanded and no police units existed in the post-war Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
. Garrison areas were patrolled by regular soldiers functioning as military police.
Nazi Germany
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
came to power in 1933, Feldgendarmerie were reintroduced into the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. The new units received full infantry training and were given extensive police powers. A military police school was set up at Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
, near Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
to train Feldgendarmerie personnel. Subjects included Criminal code, general and special police powers, reporting duties, passport and identification law, weapons drill, self-defence techniques, criminal police methodology, and general administration.
All prospective candidates served at a Feldgendarmerie command after the first term of examinations. Courses lasted one year and failure rates were high: in 1935 only 89 soldiers graduated from an initial intake of 219 candidates. Feldgendarmerie were employed within army divisions and as self-contained units under the command of an army corps. They often worked in close cooperation with the Geheime Feldpolizei
Geheime Feldpolizei
The ' or GFP, was the secret military police of the German Wehrmacht until the end of Second World War. These units were used to carry out plain-clothed security work in the field such as counter-espionage, counter sabotage, detection of treasonable activities, counter-propaganda and to provide...
(Secret Field Police), district commanders and SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...
s.
Operations
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. The 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
SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...
under the control of the Nazi Party and SS. But Feldgendarmerie units are known to have assisted the SS in committing war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s in occupied areas. Author Anthony Beevor explores some well-documented cases of their participation in his book Stalingrad
Stalingrad (book)
Written by Antony Beevor, Stalingrad is a narrative history of the epic battle fought in and around the city of Stalingrad during World War II, as well as the events leading up to it and those which occurred after...
.
But by 1943 as the tide of war changed for Nazi Germany, the Feldgendarmerie were given the task to maintain discipline in the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. Many ordinary soldiers deemed to be deserters
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
were summarily executed by Feldgendarmerie units. This earned them the pejorative Kettenhunde (chained dogs) after the gorget
Gorget
A gorget originally was a steel or leather collar designed to protect the throat. It was a feature of older types of armour and intended to protect against swords and other non-projectile weapons...
they wore with their uniforms.
The arbitrary and brutal policing of soldiers gave them the other nickname Heldenklauer (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.
The Feldgendarmerie also administered the Strafbattalion
Strafbattalion
Strafbattalion were Wehrmacht penal units created from military prisoners during the final years of the Second World War. Soldiers sentenced to these units were poorly-armed and required to undertake dangerous high-casualty missions...
(Penal Battalion) which were Wehrmacht punishment units created for soldiers convicted by court martial and sentenced to a deferred execution
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
. During the final days of the war, as the Third Reich crumbled, recruits or soldiers who committed even the slightest infraction were sent to Strafbatallionen.
The SS-Feldgendarmerie wore the same uniform and gorget as their Heer 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 operations with einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
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
Ordnungspolizei
The Ordnungspolizei or Orpo were the uniformed regular police force in Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1945. It was increasingly absorbed into the Nazi police system. Owing to their green uniforms, they were also referred to as Grüne Polizei...
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
Feldjägerkorps
For the modern German Military Police see: FeldjaegerThe Feldjägerkorps was a military police organization in the German Wehrmacht during World War II. It was formed on 27 November 1943 from distinguished veterans and Patrol Service personnel...
. Answering only to the German High Command (OKW)
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...
, 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 and the SS for desertion, defeatism and other duty violations.
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
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
used an entire regiment of volunteers from the Feldgendarmerie to maintain discipline at its demobilisation center at Meldorf
Meldorf
Meldorf is a city in western Schleswig-Holstein, in the district of Dithmarschen, and straddling the Miele river. It was first mentioned in writing before 1250 ad, and it served as the capital of the Dithmarschen, a peasant republic with Allies in the Hanseatic league dating from 1468...
. Re-activated military police, who received extra rations as pay, were identified by an armband stating Wehrmachtordnungstruppe (Armed Forces Order Troop). More than 12 months after the official end of the Second World War, the Feldgendarmerie became the last German units to surrender their arms in July 1946.
Organization
Oberkommando des Heeres
The Oberkommando des Heeres was Nazi Germany's High Command of the Army from 1936 to 1945. The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht commanded OKH only in theory...
). A Feldgendarmerie General Major , who was in charge of all Feldgendarmerie personnel attached to the Wehrmacht, was directly subordinated to the Generalquartiermeister. He was responsible for postings and personal 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 NCO's and 20 enlisted men. They would operate in Kübelwagen, trucks and motorcycles (with sidecar
Sidecar
A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, producing a three-wheeled vehicle.-History:A sidecar appeared in a cartoon by George Moore in the January 7, 1903, issue of the British newspaper Motor Cycling. Three weeks later, a provisional patent was...
s).
Equipment
These battalions were equipped with motorcycles and motorcycle combinations which were armed with MG34 machine guns, Kübelwagen, Field cars such as the HorchHorch
Horch was a car brand manufactured in Germany by August Horch & Cie, at the beginning of the 20th century.-History at a Glance:The company was established first by August Horch and his first business partner Salli Herz on November 14, 1899 at Ehrenfeld, Cologne. August Horch was a former production...
4x4 and 3 ton Opel Blitz
Opel Blitz
Opel Blitz was the name given to various German light and middle-weight trucks built by Opel between 1930 and 1975.During the years preceding the Second World War Opel was Germany's largest truck producer...
lorries
Lorry
-Transport:* Lorry or truck, a large motor vehicle* Lorry, or a Mine car in USA: an open gondola with a tipping trough* Lorry , a horse-drawn low-loading trolley-In fiction:...
and a small number of armoured vehicles as a means of transport.
Weapons
Personal weapons consisted of small arms such as the Walther PP which was designed as a civilian police pistol (PP-Police Pistole) or the Walther PPKWalther PPK
The Walther PP series pistols are blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols.They feature an exposed hammer, a double-action trigger mechanism, a single-column magazine, and a fixed barrel which also acts as the guide rod for the recoil spring...
both of which were favoured by officers whereas the Luger PO8 and Walther P38 were used by other ranks. Automatic machine pistol
Machine pistol
A machine pistol is a handgun-style, often magazine-fed and self-loading firearm, capable of fully automatic or burst fire, and normally chambered for pistol cartridges. The term is a literal translation of Maschinenpistole, the German term for a hand-held automatic weapon...
s were carried by NCOs and the Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
Karabiner 98k
Karabiner 98k
The Karabiner 98 Kurz was a bolt action rifle chambered for the 8x57mm IS/7.92×57mm IS cartridge that was adopted as the standard service rifle in 1935 by the German Wehrmacht. It was one of the final developments in the long line of Mauser military rifles...
rifle was issued but was not widely used. The MG34 and MG42
MG42
The MG 42 is a 7.9mm universal machine gun that was developed in Nazi Germany and entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1942...
were used as vehicle mounted armament for defending road blocks or vehicle checkpoints.
Postwar reorganization
With the creation of the BundeswehrBundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
in 1955, many of its branches of service were given names that would at least nominally distinguish them from their logical Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
equivalents. Thus, military police in the modern Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
were not called Feldgendarmerie. In fact, the original intent was to call the MPs Militärpolizei, literally military police. However, state officials protested as the law enforcement function in the brand new German constitution had been given primarily to the states, not the federation. The word Polizei (Police) was jealously guarded by the states, so the Federal Defence Ministry searched for a new designation and adopted Feldjäger
Feldjäger
For the German Military Police in WWII see: Feldjaegerkorps and FeldgendarmerieIn presence Feldjäger is the name of military police of the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces. The term Feldjäger, literally meaning field huntsmen or field Jäger, has a long tradition and dates back to the mid-17th...
which was a traditional Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n regiment with some military police type functions.