Published: 18 December 2010Last Updated: 28 July 2013
The 10. SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg was mainly formed from conscripts, many them from the ReichsArbeitsDienst (RAD), the national labour service.
It first saw action at Tanopol April 1944 where it took part in rescuing German troops from the Kamenets-Podolsk pocket. It was sent to Normany to fight the Allied landings. It retreated into Belgium before being sent to rest near Arnhem where they soon had to fight the Allied paratroopers who landed there.
After rebuilding it fought in the Alsace in January 1945 before being sent to the Eastern front where it fought the Red Army in Pomerania and later in Saxony.
See also Fred Koenig: A SS Grenadier from Chicago USA.
Lineage
SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 10 (Feb 1943 – June 1943)
SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 10 Karl der Grosse (June 1943 – Oct 1943)
SS-Panzer-Division 10 Frundsberg (Oct 1943)
10. SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg (Oct 1943 – May 1945)
Commanders
SS-Standartenführer Michael Lippert (? Jan 1943 – 15 Feb 1943)
SS-Gruppenführer Lothar Debes (15 Feb 1943 – 15 Nov 1943)
SS-Gruppenführer Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld (15 Nov 1943 – 27 Apr 1944)
SS-Gruppenführer Heinz Harmel (27 Apr 1944 – ? Apr 1945)
SS-Obersturmbannführer Franz Roestel (? Apr 1945 – 8 May 1945)
Chief of Staff
SS-Obersturmbannführer Braun (? Feb 1943 – ? Mar 1943)
SS-Obersturmbannführer Hans Lingner (? Mar 1943 – ? Aug 1944)
? Büthe (? Sep 1944 – ? Oct 1944)
SS-Sturmbannführer Hans-Joachim Stolley (? Nov 1944 – 1 Mar 1945)
Quartermaster
SS-Sturmbannführer Georg-Waldemar Rösch (? Mar 1943 – 1 Mar 1945)
Area of operations
France (Jan 1943 – Mar 1944)
Eastern front, southern sector (Mar 1944 – Apr 1944)
Poland (Apr 1944 – June 1944)
France (June 1944 – Sep 1944)
Belgium & Netherlands (Sep 1944 – Oct 1944)
Western Germany (Oct 1944 – Feb 1945)
Northeastern Germany (Feb 1945 – Mar 1945)
Eastern Germany & Czechoslovakia (Mar 1945 – May 1945)
Manpower strength
Dec 1943 19.313
June 1944 13.552
Dec 1944 15.542
Honor titles
Georg von Frundsberg (24 Sept. 1473 – 20 August 1528), somewhat one of the forefathers of modern infantry, was an Imperial military commander and leader of the Landsknechte under Maximilian I. and Karl V, who led his troops against the French, the Swiss, the Venetians and in the Low Countries. After having distinguished himself through bravery in the battle at Regensburg in 1504, the Emperor knighted him on the scene. Among others, von Frundsberg achieved victories at Bicocca (1522) and Pavia (1525).
From April 1943 to early November 1943, the division was named “Karl der Große” (Charles the Great, see 33rd division), but due to objections from Hitler, who did not count this emperor among his favorite historical personalities, it was re-named on 20 November 1943.
Holders of high awards
Holders of the German Cross in Gold (20)
Holders of the German Cross in Silver (2)
– Rösch, Georg-Waldemar, 18.04.1945, SS-Sturmbannführer, Ib 10. SS-Pz.Div. “Frundsberg”
– Schill, Gerhard, 24.11.1944, SS-Sturmbannführer, Div.Int. (IVa) 10. SS-Pz.Div. “Frundsberg”
Holders of the Honor Roll Clasp of the Heer (3)
– Gebhardt, Rolf, 00.00.1945, Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel, 1.(I.Zg)/SS-Pz.Rgt. 10
– Hummelberger, Hans, 27.06.1944, SS-Untersturmführer, 6./SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 21
– Küffner, Gottfried, 25.08.1944, SS-Hauptscharführer, 2./SS-Pz.Aufkl.Abt. 10
Holders of the Knight’s Cross (15, including two unofficial/unconfirmed)
Unit-Level Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army for Shooting Down Aircraft (1)
– SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 10
— Date/Place of Downing: 06.04.1944 bei Kurdwanowka
— Award Date: 01.08.1944 (517)
Order of battle
SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 21
SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 22
SS-Panzer-Regiment 10
SS-Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 10
SS-Kradschützen-Regiment 10
SS Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 10
SS Panzerjäger-Abteilung 10
SS Flak-Abteilung 10
SS Pionier-Abteilung 10
SS Panzer-Nachrichten-Abteilung 10
SS-Verwaltungs Truppen 10
SS-Instandsetzungs Abteilung 10
SS-Sanitäts-Abteilung 10
SS-Nachschub Truppen 10
SS-Feldpostamt 10
SS-Kriegsberichter-Zug 10
SS-Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 10
Notable members
Hermann Behrends (SS-Gruppenführer, Reichstag deputy, deupty head of the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle, VOMI, Höhere SS und Polizeiführer Serbien, Sandschack und Montenegro 1944)
Günter Grass (author and playwright (The Tin Drum, Cat and Mouse, Dog Years, Crabwalk, Peeling the Onion, etc.); winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999; served as a tank gunner in the division in 1945)
Sven-Erik Olsson (the only Swedish volunteer to recieve the German Cross in Gold making him the one to recieve the highest award)
Franz Riedel (usually credited with 40+ destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Officers serving in the Einsatzgruppen and Concentration Camps
Concentration Camps 20
(includes officers serving in the Einsatzgruppen or Concentration Camps either prior to or after service in this unit)
Insignia
The “Frundsberg” cuff title was authorized for this unit Oct 1943.
(Courtesy of Relics of the Reich)
In fiction
The 1977 movie “A Bridge Too Far”, based on the book by Cornelius Ryan, directed by Richard Attenborough tells the story of Operation Market-Garden.
The 2009 board game “Panzerblitz: Hill of Death” designed by Darren Emge and published by Multi-Man Publishing covers the fight for Hill 112 in Normandy (Operation Jupiter).
Sources used
John R. Angolia – Cloth insignia of the SS
Roger James Bender & Hugh Page Taylor – Uniforms, Organization and History of the Waffen-SS, vol 3
Georges M. Croisier – Waffen-SS (PDF)
Terry Goldsworthy – Valhalla’s Warriors: A history of the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front 1941-1945
Lars Gyllenhaal & Lennart Westberg – Svenskar i krig 1914-1945
Dr. K-G Klietmann – Die Waffen-SS: eine Dokumentation
Kurt Mehner – Die Waffen-SS und Polizei 1939-1945
Marc J. Rikmenspoel – Waffen-SS Encyclopedia
George H. Stein – The Waffen-SS: Hitler’s Elite Guard at War 1939-1945
Gordon Williamson & Thomas McGuirl – German military cuffbands 1784-present
Gordon Williamson – The Waffen-SS: 6. to 10. Divisions
Mark C. Yerger – Waffen-SS Commanders: The Army, corps and divisional leaders of a legend (2 vol)
Reference material on this unit
Stepahne Cazenave – Chronique de la SS-PZ-AA10
Ewald Klapdor – Die Entscheidung: Invasion 1944
Jean-Luc Leleu – 10. SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg
Rolf Michaelis – Die 10. SS-Panzer-Division “Frundsberg”
Rolf Michaelis – Frundsberg
Roman Ponomarenko – Пономаренко Р.О. 10-я танковая дивизия СС “Фрундсберг” (10 SS-Panzer Division “Frundsberg”) (Moscow, 2009)
Wilhelm Tieke – In the Firestorm of the Last Years of the War
Charles Trang – Frundsberg: France 1943
