junkerschule.tolz@btinternet.com

The Division's first year closely paralleled that of the Hohenstaufen division, mostly being taken up by formation and training in various locations in southern and western France. In October 1943 the formation of a new VII SS-Panzerkorps was ordered, grouping Frundsberg together with another new formation the 17^th SS-Panzergrenadier Division Gotz von Berlichingen.
In March 1944, as part of II SS-Panzerkorps, the incomplete Frundsberg was sent along with Hohenstaufen to the Eastern Front to counter the Soviet advance which had steamrolled over Army group Centre and threatened the Polish frontier, trapping German forces - including 1^st  SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte  Adolf Hitler and a battle group from 2^nd  SS-Pz Div Das Reich - in the area around Tarnopol. Still without the PzKw V Panthers of its Panzer regiments I Abteilung, the division assembled with the rest of II SS-Panzerkorps, and went into action for the first time in early April. Fierce fighting achieved a breakthrough at Buczacz on the 6th April, and Frundsberg linked up with their beleaguered Waffen-SS comrades of 1 Panzerarmee. Frundsberg remained in the line, seeing heavy combat on the Seret (Strypa) river and in the Tarnopol region.  The division then spent some weeks in static defensive actions on the Bug River. On 12 June, II SS-Panzerkorps was withdrawn from the Russian Front and rushed west to respond to the Normandy landings, its personnel and equipment filling 67 trains.

The division arrived in France on 18 June. But the difficulties of daylight movement under skies ruled by the allied air forces delayed its arrival at the Normandy front. Five days later Frundsberg was thrown into action to halt the British 2nd Army’s Operation ‘Epsom’; the division saw intense combat around the strategic Hill 112, suffering heavy casualties.

A British operation codenamed ‘Jupiter’, tasked with the recapture of high ground around Hill 112, was launched on 10 July and made some initial progress before being driven back by Tigers from the II SS Panzerkorps heavy tank battalion SS-Panzer Abteilung 102. The British threw in a further attack and took the summit once again. But at nightfall the British tanks withdrew, leaving the infantry unsupported, to be thrown back yet again by a German counterattack undercover of darkness.

On 15 July, as Hohenstaufen was withdrawn into reserve, Frundsberg was left to cover the entire sector, and was driven off part of Hill 113, just north of Evrecy, by units of the Scottish Division. They were brought under heavy fire from Tiger tanks on Hill 112, and the reappearance of Hohenstaufen made the British position even more tenuous. Nevertheless, they hung on to the area they had seized on Hill 113 while the Tigers of SS-Pz Abt 102 and a battalion from SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 21 remained firmly in control of Hill 112, until finally relieved by the army’s 271st Infantry Division. Frundsberg, having now lost well over 2,000 men since the beginning of July, was then withdrawn for a brief period of rest.

On 2 August the division was back in action, when a Kampfgruppe successfully held most of Hill 188 against a British attack and destroyed 20 tanks in the process. The next day the remainder of the division arrived, threw back the British units that had established a foothold on Hill 188, and took nearby Hill 301 to form a defence line between the two high points. Frundsberg was almost immediately ordered to disengage, and on 6 August the division was committed to an attack on the British. They seized two prominent high points, Hills 242 and 224, only to be driven back by shellfire and air attacks.

Moving thereafter to Mortane on the American front, Frundsberg was to become the corps reserve for XLVII Panzerkorps. Elements had to be committed to action almost immediately, however, to block American probing attacks. Instead of being committed to a counter-offensive, Frundsberg found itself being pushed eastwards as the Germans pulled back to defend Argentan. By 19 August the division was in the middle of the Falaise Pocket. It was comparatively fortunate in being one of the formations which did manage to escape before the rapidly narrowing gap at Chambois was finally closed. The division then retreated north-east to the River Seine, crossing between 25 and 27 August by means of two bridges it had seized.

From the Seine crossings Frundsberg moved on to the Somme and took up positions around Bray. There it took up defensive fighting against the advancing British until the division pulled back into Holland to a rest area between Arnhem and Nijmegan. It had been intended that Hohenstaufen be returned to Germany for a full refit, handing over its heavy equipment to Frundsberg to make up some of the latter’s combat losses but the arrival of the British 1st Airborne Division on 17 September quickly sent the division back into action. While Hohenstaufen was tasked with holding Arnhem and blocking the advance of the British airborne troops from the west, Frundsberg was given the mission of defending the Waal Bridge at Nijmegan and blocking the Allied overland attack from the south.

On 18 November 1944 the Frundsberg Division, by this time reduced to a battle group after its losses in Normandy and at Arnhem, was withdrawn to Aachen in Germany for rest and refit, During December its strength was built up once again to around 15,500 men – about 75 percent of establishment. In December 1944/January 1945 it saw action around north-east of Aachen. In January it was committed along the upper reaches of the Rhine as part of Heeresgruppe Niederrheim, and was earmarked for use in the reserve forces for ‘Nordwind’. Mid-January saw Frundsberg cross the Rhine and attack in the direction of Gambsheim. Anticipating stiff resistance the division moved very cautiously, not realizing that the US units facing them made a tactical withdrawal. On 24 January Frundsberg crossed the Moder River and captured the high ground. Despite being at near full strength after its recent refit, the division met such fierce resistance that its advance faltered, and the following day orders arrived withdrawing it from the line for immediate transfer to the Eastern Front.

On 10 February 1945 the division arrived at the front as the situation became ever more critical. It was committed to a German counter-offensive codenamed “Sonnenwende” on 16 February as part of III SS-Panzerkorps, and for a month saw heavy combat before being pulled back across the Oder into Stettin for a brief respite. It then joined Heeresgruppe “Weichsel” as part of the Army Group Reserve.

At the end of March the divisional commander Heinz Harmel, was recalled from the front for hospital treatment in Berlin. Around this time Frundsberg was ordered to move to Dresden area, but while still en route was diverted back to the front to counter a Soviet breakthrough on the Oder front.

In April Frundsberg was encircled by Soviet forces. The division was fragmented, but despite its perilous position, orders were received for Frundsberg to close the gap in the German lines by immediately attacking. Harmel realized that carrying out these orders would be suicidal; he decided instead to break out the encirclement and move towards German forces massed to the south of Berlin. The break-out was achieved, but only at the cost of further fragmentation of the remnants of the division. Some did manage to reform and take up defensive positions north-west of Dresden. Harmel’s refusal to obey the insane order to attack led to his being ordered to report to Generalfeldmarschall Schorner, a fanatical Nazi, who relieved Harmel of his command.

Under 4th Panzerarmee of Army Group Centre, the remnants of the division were led by SS-Obersturmbannführer Franz Roestel in the last few vain fights against the advancing Russians, but to no avail. The Frundsberg Division moved west to avoid capture by the Soviets, Some managed to reach the relative safety of US Captors, the rest surrendered to the Red army.

Georg von Frundsberg

Born Sept. 24, 1473, Mindelheim Castle, near Memmingen [Germany]
died Aug. 20, 1528, Mindelheim Castle
Frundsberg also spelled  Freundsberg, or Fronsberg   German soldier and devoted servant of the Habsburgs who fought on behalf of the Holy Roman emperors Maximilian I and Charles V.