In the previous part, we began to consider the deployment of the German headquarters of the associations, which will concentrate on the Soviet-German border by 22.6.41. It was shown that in the intelligence materials (RM), German formations were indicated, most of which could not be located in the indicated places. Such "accurate" RM could be provided only by the German command, using false insignia on the shoulder straps of servicemen.
To determine the belonging of military personnel to units, already in 1939, our scouts used visual observation of the signs on their shoulder straps:
There is no information on the numbering of air units. Discovered individual soldiers with the number 58 on yellow shoulder straps belong to the air units (there was no information about the existence of such an air squadron).
In this part we will go back a little and talk briefly about the military districts of Germany. Of all the districts, we are interested in the 1st, on whose territory a part of the German invasion group will be concentrated by June 22. Consider the actual location of military formations in East Prussia and former Poland in 1939-1940, as well as the available intelligence information about them.
Military districts of Germany
By August 1939, Germany had 15 military districts numbered I through XIII, XVII and XVIII. The district consisted of a primary and a backup component. In the event of the outbreak of hostilities, the main components were part of the field army and became the headquarters of the corps, and the reserve ones came under the command of the deputy commanders of the districts. The tasks of the reserve components included: mobilizing and training the assigned personnel, recruiting existing units and forming new ones (including headquarters), managing military schools and military facilities, etc.
Some of the headquarters of the military districts turned into the headquarters of the armies. For example, in the 1st military district, due to the Sudeten crisis in 1938, the headquarters of the 3rd army was created on the basis of the district headquarters. After the end of the crisis, the division of headquarters was abolished. In August 1939, in preparation for the invasion of Poland, the headquarters of the 1st district and the army were again separated.
After the conquest of Poland, two new districts appeared: XX and XXI. In the rest of the territory of former Poland, there were no military districts before the start of the Great Patriotic War. The border of the Third Reich with the Soviet Union passed through the territory of former Poland, and after the entry of the Republic of Lithuania into the USSR, along the border of the Lithuanian SSR.
In 1939-1942, German divisions sent to the front left one battalion in the place of permanent deployment, which served as a reserve: he trained recruits and sent them to his division at the front. Therefore, in the places of permanent deployment of divisions, there could be large groups of servicemen with the designation of the numbers of the regiments that were on different fronts. It is possible that our intelligence sources mistook these units for full-fledged regiments.
As part of the reserve battalions on the territory of the 1st military district, there could be servicemen of the following divisions (existed before 22.6.41): 1st, 11th, 21st, 61st, 161st, 206th, 217th, 228th, 291st and 714th Infantry Divisions (pd), 1st Cavalry Division, Division No. 141 (reserve division).
Headquarters of the Eastern Group of Forces
Our intelligence regularly marked the headquarters of the Eastern Group of Forces: 15.6.40 and 17.7.40 - in the city of Lodz, 21.6.41 - in the city of Tomaszow. The headquarters of the Eastern Group, located in the town of Spala, is mentioned several times in the Republic of Moldova in 1941. The distance from Spala to Lodz is 52 km, and from Spala to Tomaszew - about 8 km.
The post of the Commander-in-Chief of the East was determined in the decree of the Fuehrer from 25.9.39:
“… In the previously occupied Polish territories, the commander-in-chief of the ground forces, on my instructions, creates a military administration. The military administration is headed by the Commander-in-Chief of the East, Colonel-General von Rundstedt, with headquarters in Spala ….
General Rundstedt took office on October 3, 1939. In addition to the troops of his army group "South" and the troops located in the territory of former Poland, Poznan and West Prussia, they began to obey him.
On October 20, Colonel-General Blaskowitz is appointed the new Commander-in-Chief of the East, who remains in this post until 15.5.40. The rank of the post itself is downgraded, since during this period it is planned not to leave a single command of an army group, not a single army or army headquarters. housing. For the organization of the corps headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief, units of the headquarters of the command of the border section "Center" were involved. This is partly due to the fact that, in accordance with the decree of 19.10.39, the issue of management in the new governor-general had already been resolved, and from that day the management of the military administration ended.
In May 1940, on the basis of the corps headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the East, the headquarters of the 9th Field Army was formed, which departed to the West on May 14. The new headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the East will be formed on the basis of the headquarters of the command of the border section "South". It was not possible to establish exactly who will become the new Commander-in-Chief, but the rank of this post has dropped again …
The headquarters of Army Group B, which will command all German troops on the Soviet-German border from August 1940, will be redeployed initially to the territory of East Prussia. For a long time, our reconnaissance will take the third-rate headquarters as the headquarters of the Army Group (the headquarters of the Eastern Group of Forces), which could well play at that time the role of the fictitious headquarters of the Army Group …
In conclusion, I would like to say a few words about General Blaskowitz, who expressed his categorical protest against the atrocities of the police and SS Sonderkommandos in Poland. He reported this to the Fuehrer, which irritated him … 15 days after the appointment of Blaskowitz as commander of the 9th Army, he will be removed from office and sent to the reserve of the High Command. Only 24.9.40, he will be appointed commander of the 1st Army. Frank was appointed Governor-General of Poland. During the conflict between the leadership of the Wehrmacht and the SS, he would support Himmler, recommending to Hitler to transfer the inconvenient Blaskowitz from Poland, which he later regretted many times. K. Frank is the only one of those sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Tribunal who fully admitted his guilt and repented of what he had done …
German troops in Poland and East Prussia
6.10.39 the war in Poland ended. In October-November, German formations and formations began to redeploy to the West and to Germany. After the redeployment of large headquarters in Poland and East Prussia, only the 5th Army remained, which in November will be reorganized into the 18th Army and sent to the West.
By checking the location of all existing Wehrmacht divisions, it was possible to find those stationed in East Prussia and Poland. The date of their departure from these territories is not always indicated in the sources. Most often, the dates of their appearance elsewhere are indicated.
161st pd - in December 1939 and January 1940 was in East Prussia, and in May is in Germany. Also in East Prussia is the 141st reserve division, which was reorganized from the 151st division.
On the territory of the General Government there were:
- 1st, 12th, 46th, 61st, 68th and 258th front - until December 1939. In December they are celebrated in Germany and in the West;
- 197th and 223rd frontline - in December 1939 and January 1940 they are celebrated in Poland, and in March 1940 they are in Germany;
- 198th front - 12.39 and 1.40, and in April - in Germany;
- 50th, 217th, 218th, 221st, 228th and 239th front line - 9.39 and 1.40, and in May - are in Germany;
- 231st front - 11.39, and 5.40 - in Germany;
- 255th front - 9.39, and 5.40 - in the Netherlands;
- 206th and 213rd pd - from 9.39 to 1.40, and in June - in Germany;
- 209th front line - from 19.9.39 to June 1940, and in July - in Germany.
In addition, the formation of ten new PDs was started.
301st PD - began to form on 6.10.39 in East Prussia (Konigsberg). However, the division was disbanded immediately after the formation began.
311th front - began to form on 1.11.39 in East Prussia. On March 8, the division was reorganized and on 9.6.40 was sent to a training camp in Germany, and on 7.8.40 it was disbanded.
358th front door - began to form 10.3.40 in East Prussia. On June 1, the division was transferred to Germany and on 23.8.40 was disbanded.
395th front line - reorganized from the 521st Infantry Division (Austria) and on 16.3.40 redeployed to East Prussia, and on July 22 it was disbanded.
399th PD - began forming 15.3.40 in East Prussia, and on August 8 was disbanded.
351st PD - started forming on 10.3.40 in Poland (Czestochowa). On June 1, it was redeployed to Germany, and on 21.8.40 it was disbanded.
365th front - started forming on 10.3.40 in Poland (Tarnow). In July it was redeployed to Germany, and on August 1 it was disbanded.
379th front line - started forming 15.3.40 in Poland (Lublin). On July 10, it was redeployed to Germany and was disbanded at 15.8.40.
386th front - started forming on 1.4.40 in Poland (Warsaw). In July, it was redeployed to Germany and on 13.8.40 was disbanded.
393rd pd - started forming on 10.3.40 in Poland (Warsaw). It was redeployed to Germany in July and was disbanded on August 1.
As can be seen from the materials presented, the number of divisions on the territory of Poland and East Prussia by June 1940 was extremely small. There was not a single field army headquarters or army corps.
It should be noted that during the period under review, divisional headquarters were reorganized: 16.1.40 z.b. V.422 - into headquarters z.b. V. 401 (Konigsberg), 1.2.40 z.b. V.424 - to the headquarters of the 379th Infantry Division (Poland), 1.6.40 z.b. V.425 - to the headquarters of spare parts command 100 (Poland).
When considering the German formations, regiments and battalions (not part of the divisions) that could be located in the indicated territories were not considered.
According to the 5th Directorate of the Red Army, as of 15.6.40, there were up to 27 pd … It can be seen that in the RM the number of German divisions was greatly overestimated.
RM on German troops in January-June 1940
Let's consider several intelligence reports and assess the reliability of the information contained in them.
Special message 5th Directorate of the Red Army (January 1940):
Taking into account the divisions located in the territory of the former Poland and in East Prussia (up to 28 divisions, of which 22 divisions in the territory of the former Poland) …
In fact, on the territory of East Prussia and Poland in January 1940 there are 16 infantry divisions and one division in the stage of formation. Perhaps the reconnaissance also discovered the reorganization of two divisional headquarters … If we take into account all the indicated divisions and headquarters, then the data differ from the information in the RM by only 9 divisions. It is likely that intelligence did not track the departure of part of the German divisions until December 1939, or mistook the spare parts for the presence of divisions.
The difference in data in nine divisions over a large territory with numerous movements of troops in all directions in the fall of 1939 is a fairly good result. It is possible that during this period the Germans just started to play with our intelligence, using fake shoulder straps in some cases. In the spring, the volume of disinformation increases.
Special message Of the 5th Directorate of the Red Army (3.5.40): … According to a noteworthy source, on April 11 from the Zamoć region, 209 infantry divisions departed to the Western Front, instead of which 110, 210, 219 and 88 divisions arrived (No. they are included, not installed) …
When rechecking RM, the author found:
1) The 209th Infantry Division was indeed in Poland until June 1940 and then departed for Germany. She did not go to the Western Front, since it was disbanded in July. RM was confirmed: the division was in Poland. However, she left the general government completely only after 1, 5 months;
2) 88th Infantry Regiment (nn) was part of the 15th Infantry Division, which in January 1940 was in Germany and Luxembourg, and since June in France. It is unlikely that in the interval between the two marks this regiment arrived for some reason in Poland … Perhaps it was a fictitious formation arriving;
3) the 110th subdivision is part of the 33rd subdivision, which has been located in Belgium and France since January 1940. In November 1940, the division will return to Germany and will be reorganized into the 15th division;
4) 210th and 219th PP - PPs with such numbers never existed in the Wehrmacht …
Information about the presence of the 210th and 219th PP is disinformation, and the indication of their exact numbers indicates the deliberate throwing of such information by the German special services. This is understandable. In May, an offensive of German troops in the West is expected and everything that can be transferred there and as reserves to German territory. Perhaps that is why ten divisions are being formed, which will be disbanded in the summer.
Special message 5th Directorate of the Red Army (11.5.40):
According to the KOVO intelligence department, 46, 77 and 134 infantry regiments, the 18th cavalry regiment, … units of the 25th and 84th infantry regiments …
In 1940, the Cavalry Regiment No. 18 did not exist.
The 46th subdivision of the 30th subdivision could not be in Poland. The 30th Infantry Division from 10.10.39 to May 1940 is located in the Netherlands, in May it moves to Belgium and then until 1941 is deployed in France.
The 77th subdivision of the 26th subdivision also cannot be located in Poland. The 26th Infantry Division is in Germany, in May 1940 it leaves for Luxembourg and further to Belgium.
The situation is the same with the 134th subdivision from the 44th subdivision, which was in Germany in December-January, and is observed in France in May. She will stay in France until March 1941.
Special message 5th Directorate of the Red Army (17.5.40): … According to a noteworthy source, the grouping of the German army on May 5 was as follows: - on the territory of former Poland - 20 infantry divisions and 2 tank divisions …
From December 1939 to June 1940, there were no tank divisions on the territory of Poland. Taking into account the 300th divisions being formed, the total number in Poland could have been about 16.
Special message 5th Directorate of the Red Army (June 1940): … During May and early June, the German command made significant transfers of troops to the western front from the territory of the former Poland, the protectorate, Austria and East Prussia. The following units were sent: 239th Infantry Division from the Sanok-Dubetsko-Krosno area in early May; about three infantry regiments from Tarnov from 13 to 16 May; 221, 375 and 360 infantry regiments from Lublin at the end of May; 161st and 162nd Infantry Regiments from Suwalki, Sejny 16 May …
The 239th Infantry Division in May 1940 could have been in Poland during the specified period. The 360th and 375th subdivisions of the 221st subdivision could also have been in Poland.
The 221st PP is absent from the list of the Wehrmacht infantry regiments.
161st subdivision of the 81st subdivision, which has been in France since May 18, and before that was stationed in Germany.
The 162nd subdivision of the 61st subdivision is in Germany in January, and in Belgium in May, and then in France.
50% true information and 50% untrue … The situation with numbered infantry regiments is the same as discussed above. Where information is visually recorded from the shoulder straps of military personnel, there is more disinformation.
On 20 June 1940, the first division, the 62nd Infantry Division, arrived in the border zone.
RM on German troops in July-September 1940
Special message 5th Directorate of the Red Army (27.7.40): … In the area of Sanok, Krasno, Duklya, Yaslo - 239 and 241 infantry units. divisions … In the area of Yaroslav, Przemysl 20.7. the arrival of up to four infantry is marked. regiments, two art. regiments and one tank regiment. In addition, the headquarters of the 4th and 7th infantry were marked in Krakow. divisions … Thus, in East Prussia on the territory of the former Poland by 23.7. installed - up to 50 infantry. divisions …
Four new infantry divisions appeared: 4th, 7th, 239th and 241st.
The 4th Infantry Division went to Germany in December 1939, where in August 1940 it was reorganized into the 14th Panzer Division.
7th Infantry Division - from October 1939 left Poland and was in the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France. From Northern France only 14.4.41, it will be sent to Poland.
239th Infantry Division - from September 1939 to 1.1.40 was in Poland. Then it was sent to Germany, and from 4.4.41 it will be sent to Bukovina and further to Slovakia. Only in June will she arrive at our border.
The 241st Infantry Division never existed in the Wehrmacht … Four new divisions are mentioned in the RM, and again all are fake …
It should be noted that the number of divisions 50 is excessively overestimated, since only by 1.11.40 they will be at the border of all 32 … In September, intelligence will count up to 83-90 German divisions at the border …
V Help The 5th Directorate of the Red Army as of 8.8.40 repeats information about the presence at our border of one army group headquarters (the headquarters of the eastern group) and two headquarters of the armies against ZAPOVO and KOVO.
Since the army numbers are known (note 2), these are the 1st Army (Warsaw) and 4th (Krakow). These armies were mentioned in the RM dated 20.7.40. The reliability of this information was carried out in the previous part.
The summary indicates that on the territory of Poland and East Prussia, intelligence found nine AK headquarters, of which six with famous numbers. In RM, the numbers of five AKs were previously named: 3, 7, 20, 21 and 32.
In July 1940, five AKs arrived at the border area: 3th, 17th, 26th, 30th and 44th. Of the five numbers, only one coincided - the 3rd AK! It seems that since June-July, our intelligence has faced mass disinformation using fictitious shoulder straps of military personnel …
Cavalry division intelligence counted two, a the only one in the Wehrmacht, the 1st Cavalry Division will arrive from the West only in September …
Infantry division headquarters counted 39, of which 24 are with well-known numbers. In the RM of 20.7.40, 11 division numbers were given. Of the 11 rooms, none could be on the territory under consideration. It turns out that during this period the German generals began to play big against our intelligence …
In the month of July, there is a fairly large movement of German troops to the border area. Arrives fifteen pd: 68th, 75th, 76th, 161st, 162nd, 168th, 183rd, 251st, 252nd, 257th, 258th, 291- me, 297th and 298th. In August, another one will arrive - the 23rd Infantry Division.
V message The 5th department of the GUGB NKVD dated 08.24.40 refers to 75 German divisions only in Poland:. Our intelligence also knows about the presence of 19 German divisions (16 infantry divisions and three tank divisions) in East Prussia. In total, there are 94 divisions at our border …
And only field divisions near our border seventeen! More will arrive in September seventeen: twelve infantry (1st, 2nd, 13th, 21st, 31st, 32nd, 50th, 56th, 217th, 262nd, 268th and 299th i) and five tank (1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th and 9th). Later, the 2nd and 13th infantry divisions will go to re-form. They will become the 12th and 13th Panzer Divisions.
Consider Summary Reconnaissance Directorate of the General Staff of the Spacecraft from 11.9.40:
The grouping of the German ground army at 1.9.40 …
In East Prussia, i.e. against the PribOVO and on the flank of the ZAPOVO, over 16 infantry divisions, up to three tank divisions are concentrated … This grouping makes up the army of Colonel General Kühler. Army headquarters (number not assigned) in Konigsberg …
The northern and middle parts of the General Government …, i.e. basically, over 21 infantry divisions, two tank divisions, up to one motorized division are concentrated against the Western Military District … This grouping is united into two armies, the headquarters of which are in Warsaw (headquarters of the 1st army) and, presumably, in Radom. The commander is Colonel General Blaskowitz …
The middle and southern parts of the General Government …, i.e. over 20 infantry divisions are concentrated against KOVO, up to two tank divisions, up to one motorized division … This grouping is united into two armies, the headquarters of which are in Krakow (headquarters of the 4th army) and in Lublin (presumably - 3 armies).
In the depths of the territory of former Poland, in the areas of Danzig, Thorn and Poznan, two army corps (at least five infantry divisions) are concentrated.
The commander of all German troops in the East (in East Prussia and in the territory of former Poland), presumably, is Field Marshal Rundstedt, with headquarters in Lodz.
In the Protectorate (Czech Republic and Moravia) and former Austria, up to 20 infantry divisions and up to two tank divisions are concentrated … Presumably, the army headquarters in Prague …
The grouping against the PribOVO and the flank of the ZAPOVO is - we are talking about the 18th Army, which from July 21 began redeploying to East Prussia.
Grouping against ZAPOVO. The 1st Army is in the West and has yet to be commanded by General Bleskovits.
Grouping against KOVO.
What four armies against the ZAPOVO and KOVO are in question is not at all clear. The redeployment of the 4th Army will begin only in October. Since the RM is talking about the non-existent 3rd army, which the intelligence will observe until 21.6.41 (inclusive) in the city of Lublin, it is likely that other armies are fictitious associations. Perhaps some of them are corps headquarters … Consideration of the headquarters of the armies and army corps awaits us in the next part.
The summary also says about the commander of the headquarters of the Eastern Group:
"The commander of all German troops in the East (in East Prussia and on the territory of former Poland), presumably, is Field Marshal Rundstedt, with headquarters in Lodz …"
Rundstedt during this period is the commander of the occupying forces in France and responsible for coastal defense in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Intelligence repeated in a somewhat distorted form the information from the Fuehrer's decree. Since there is no significant person at the post "", then this information is a clear disinformation. Our scouts do not know and do not know until the start of the war that in August 1940 the redeployment of the command of Army Group B to East Prussia began. This command will carry out the leadership of the troops on the Soviet-German demarcation line until the summer of 1941.
