Within a few days of the annihiiation of the 8th, 22nd, and 33rd Waffen-SS Kavallerie Divisions in Budapest on February 12, 1945, Reichfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler authorized the established of a new formation to carry on the SS cavalry tradition that had been started more than a decade before in the SS-Verfugungstruppe.

The 170 survivors of the 8th and 22nd Divisions who had managed to escape from Budapest were ordered to Bratislave, Slovakia, where the new SS cavalry unit was to be formed. Along with them came support troops and other members of the two divisions who had not been trapped in Budapest.

This initial group of SS-Kavallerie men, several hundred in all, was designated "SS-Kavallerie- Gruppe Ameiser," under the command of SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer Anton Ameiser, a regimental commander in the 22nd SS Division "Maria Theresa," who had escaped from the Budapest cauldron.

Rank Equivalents (For SS ranks used in text)

SS-Strumbannfuhrer - Major
SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer - Lt. Colone
SS-Standarterofuhrer - Colonel
SS-Oberst-Gruppenfuhrer - Colonel General

By early March, 1945, the new SS-Kavallerie unit had been designated titular Division and given the title "Lutzow", after a heroic figure in Germanic Military history. The Division was supposed to consist only of Germans and ethnic Germans (Volksdeutch) from Hungary and Slovakia, but such was not the case.

While some Volkdeutch recruits were added to the veteran cavalry cadre, the bulk of the Divison's troons came from depleted and decimated Hungarian Army units.

Hundreds of Hungarian Honved (National Guard) troops, many of whom had survived Budapest, were added along with some small bicycle and horse units. These soldiers brought "Lutzow's" peak strength to perhaps 4,000-7,000 troops, the majority of whom were former members of the Hungarian Army. Early in March, SS-Standartenfuhrer Geselle, was named Divisional commander of "Lutzow". Geselle had previously commanded the Sturmbrigade "Reichfuhrer-SS" in Corsica and Italy.

"SS-Kav.-Grp.-Ameiser" was reformed into "Kamnfgruppe Ameiser" when "Lutzow" was commited to battle, and may have remained a sub-unit of the Division throughout the rest of the war. It still contained the veterans of the "Florian Geyer" and "Maria Theresa" Divisions, all of whom were permitted to retain their former unit insignia.

Only a few weeks were allotted for organizing and training the new Division, since most of the personnel were veterans and the military situation was critical. Therefore, in mid-March 1945, "Lutzow" was assigned to the Sixth SS Panzer Army under the command of SS-Oberst-Gruppenfuhrer Sepp Dietrich.

On March 6th, the SS Panzer Armee had launched a desnerate last-ditch offensive in Hungary, advancing deep into Russian lines on both the north and south shores of Lake Balaton in west-central Hungary. But within a week the fuel supplies were exhausted and the motorized SS Divisions were mired in spring-thaw mud. The situation had changed abruptly; the advancing SS troops were in serious danger of being trapped by the Red Army.

Dietrich quickly turned his attention to extracting his prized armored formations to keep them from becoming "sitting ducks" for the Russians. As the 6 SS Panzer Armee began its withdrawal from Hungary, the "Lutzaa" Division arrived and was promptly thrown into battle. The SS-Kavallerie troops found themselves fighting a covering engagement, while the bulk of SS Armee headed for the Austrian frontier.

The combat action was severe and heavy. Indeed some 60 fully manned and equipped Red Army Divisions were assaulting the ten or 12 depleted Divisions of the 6 SS Armee. Within days, "Lutzow" had been reduced to a small regiment in size and was heading for Vienna in full retreat. For withdrawing his troops from Hungary, Dietrich had received a severe rebuke from Hitler, which in turn compelled him to ignore any further "Fuhrer" directives and put all his efforts into preserving 6 Armee.

By the time 6 SS Armee reached Austria, Vienna was on the verge of being enveloped by the Soviets. A token effort was made to defend the city, and SS troops, including elements of the "Lutzow" Division, were sent into the Austrian capital. Once the defensive positions became untenable however, and the spector of another Budapest raised its head, Dietrich pulled back his troops from Vienna, in direct disobedience of Hitler's "Hold Fast" orders.

The "Lutzow" Division again covered the retreat and was engaged in extremely heavy action in the region northwest of Vienna. The element of the unit designated as "Kampfgruppe Ameiser" seems to have been separated from the Divison at this point and was fighting independently. The presence of "Kampfgruppe Ameiser" apart from the "Lutzow" gave rise to speculation that a reactiviated and reformed 8th SS-Kav-Div "Florian Geyer" was now attached to 6 SS Armee. Since cuffbands from that unit were still being worn, but this assumption was false.

By late April 1945, "Lutzow" had been split into several small elements most of which were completely destroyed in action Oberst-Gruppenfuhrer Dietrich, now convinced that the war was totally lost, thought only of saving his soldiers, so he ordered 6 SS Armee to retreat westward into the Alps.

Eventually most of 6 SS Armee made it to the American lines, where it surrendered on May 8th, 1945 in Styer, Austria. Also capitulating to the Americans was the headquarters staff of "Lutzow" and its handful of survivors. In two short months the last of the four Waffen SS Kavallerie Divisions had all but disintegrated.

Divisional Order of Battle

Nomenclature: "SS Kavallerie Gruppe Ameiser", February 1945.
Activated: Late February 1945
Surrendered: May 8th, 1945.

Commanders: SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Anton Ameiser, Feb.-March, 1945.
SS Standartenfuhrer Gesselle, March-May 1945.

Regiments: SS Freiwilligen Kavallerie RGT. Nr. 92, March-May 1945
SS Freiwilligen Kavallerie Rgt. Nr. 93, March-May 1945
SS Freiwilligen Artillery Rgt. Nr. 37, March-May 1945. (rgt. was understrength)

Battalions: SS-Feld Ersatz Bat. Nr. 37 (existance is doubtful but an auxiliary battalion seemed to have been authorized).

Battlegroups: "Kampfgruppe Ameiser" or "SS Kempfgruppe Ameiser". Feb. 1945 (as a Kavallerie Gruppe) and April-May 1945. It is not certain whether this unit was actually in existence.

Divisional Insignia

1. Collar patches: SS-Sig-Runes and Karstflower of the 22nd SS-Frei. Kay. Div.
2. Divisional Shield: Large Letter "L" Crossed vertically by a sword.
3. Sleeve stripe-Cuffband: "Lutzow" cuff-band has never been authenticated, although post-war counterfeits exist. One possible pattern shows the lettering: "37 Lutzow FV. "Florian Geyer" cuffbands worn by some elements in the Division.
4. Specialty emblems: SS sleeve diamond for farriers was worn by horse attendents in the Division. The Design displayed a silver horseshoe on a black field.