Order of Battle Direlwanger units
The Table of Organisation of this infamous unit.
Starting with a company sized group of under a hundred poachers in 1940 it grew to a full sized division of nearly 6000 by 1945. Its ORBAT and TOE is detailed below.
Table of Organisation and Order of Battle of the Dirlwanger units 1940-1945
Lineage
Wilddiebkommando Oranienburg (15 June 1940 - July 1940) consisted of 84 men of whom 79 (94%) were poachers. The unit was equipped with standard German army weapons and SS combat uniforms.
SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger (July 1940 - 1 Sep 1940) 300 men, two thirds of them minor criminals from penal units.
SS-Sonderbataillon Dirlewanger (1 Sep 1940 - Sep 1943) 700 men, mostly from military prisons, the original poachers almost completely wiped out.
SS-Sonderregiment Dirlewanger (Sep 1943- Dec 1944) 2000 men split roughly into one third foreign volunteers, concentration camp inmates, and hardcore military penal convicts. The foreign volunteers were typically polish and Russian criminals who were wiped out in combat and not replaced. The equipment and armament of the unit was mainly cast off Italian and Soviet gear. During this time it wasn’t uncommon for the troopers to carry out their tasks while masked.
SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger (19 Dec 1944 - 20 Feb 1945) 4000 men of whom, roughly 40% were inmates and another 40% from penal units.
Attached units of the Brigade
- SS-Regiment 1
- SS Regiment 2
- Artillerie-Abteilung
- Füsilier-Kompanie
- Pioneer-Kompanie
- Nachrichtren-Kompanie
36. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS, (20 Feb 1945 - May 1945) 6000 men of whom 40% were from penal units, 15% concentration camp inmates, and 45% were regular German army. This divisional unit was formed on February 20th, 1945 while at the Oder front from the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger and from parts of a number of homeless regular Army (not SS) units. It was a division in name only, and was considered by far the worst unit in the SS. Quality and quantities of armaments, training and leadership varied greatly not only from regiment to regiment but from platoon to platoon.
Attached units of the Division:
- 72.Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS
- 73.Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS
- Panzer-Abteilung Stansdorf I
- Artillerie Abteilung 36
- Füsilier Kompanie 36
- 687.Pioneer-Brigade
- 1244. Grenadier-Regiment- Grenadier-Regiment 1244 was made up a mix of men from various sources, about half of them were students from NCO schools and about a quarter came from the Volkssturm.
- 681.Panzerjaeger-Abteilung
Sources
Thomas L. Jentz - Panzertruppen Vol 2: 1943-1945
French L. MacLean - The Cruel Hunters: SS-Sonder-Kommando Dirlewanger Hitler's Most Notorious Anti-Partisan Unit
George F. Nafziger - The German order of battle: Waffen SS and other units in World War II
Hans-Peter Klausch - Anti-faschisten in SS Uniform: Schicksal und Widerstand der deutschen politischen KZ-Haeftlingen,
Zuchthaus-und Wehrmachtsgefangenen in der SS-Sonderformation Dirlewanger
36.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS at www.feldgrau.com
Hans-Peter Klausch - Anti-faschisten in SS Uniform: Schicksal und Widerstand der deutschen politischen KZ-Haeftlingen,
Zuchthaus-und Wehrmachtsgefangenen in der SS-Sonderformation Dirlewanger
Rolf Michaelis - Das SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger: Ein Beispiel deutscher Besatzungspolitik in Weißrussland
