To Africa

The Brandenburger Afrika Company under von Koenen went to Africa in early 1941 to provide special reconnaissance for Deutsches Afrika Korps. Rommel initially prohibited the Brandenburgers from engaging in their trademark special operations, as being too ungentlemanly for the honorable war he was waging against the British. He relented after the British Long Range Desert Group began its own unconventional operations. Thereafter, the Brandenburgers operated behind enemy lines, for harassment and sabotage. Back in Germany, the Brandenburgers trained two special companies for desert operations: SV 287 (also known as SV "Desert") and SV 288. (SV stands for Sonderverband, "Special Unit.") Both were intended for insertion into Iraq, in support of the pro-Axis Iraqi coup, but the coup collapsed before the units were ready. The units were diverted elsewhere and eventually became regular Army units. SV 287 became the "German-Arab Legion," with elements operating in Africa, in the Balkans, and in the USSR against partisans. SV 288 went to Africa, where it initially was used for reconnaissance. When the Germans got the French to release many German citizens from the French Foreign Legion, the ex-legionnaires were integrated into SV 288. The unit expanded and assumed a regular combat role, eventually becoming Panzergrenadier Regiment Afrika in the 90th Light Africa Division.

Victories in the East

Outside Africa, the Brandenburgers prepared for the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Balkans campaign proved a brief diversion, with II/800 (II Battalion of Regiment 800) going there, securing the Iron Gate (an important communications choke point on the Danube), operating in Yugoslavia, and being the first Axis unit to enter Athens.

The Balkans adventure did not disrupt preparations for Barbarossa. As before, the Brandenburgers planned to infiltrate the enemy front by any means possible and seize key objectives to aid the German advance. They were aided in their plans by the results of a curious chapter in German-Soviet relations: the German Resettlement Commission. The secret deal in 1939 that split eastern Europe between Germany and the USSR had left many Volksdeutsch in the Soviet sphere, and both countries agreed that these Germans could emigrate to Germany for settlement there. (Settlement "in Germany" typically meant German colonization of Poland, with the Polish inhabitants of an area forcibly removed.)

In 1940-41, the German Resettlement Commission was thus allowed to range throughout the Soviet-annexed territories of the Baltic States, eastern Poland, Bessarabia, and Bukovina, looking for Volksdeutsch to resettle. Further, the commission was allowed to contact ethnic German communities in the Ukraine and in Russia itself. The Abwehr took advantage of the commission to gather as much information about the Soviets as possible, which the Brandenburgers used to great effect.

From the opening hours of Barbarossa, the Brandenburgers operated highly successfully, seizing bridges and other points, committing acts of sabotage, and sowing confusion behind the Soviet front. As part of the effort, the Abwehr reactivated the Nightingale group and used them in the Ukraine. The Nightingales in quick succession took the ancient fortress city of Premysl, captured an important bridge across the San River, and by 26 June took the major city of Lviv. There, they seized a radio station and declared the creation of an independent Ukraine. The German high command, needless to say, had no intention of allowing this--the Nightingales were rounded up and sent back into action. They continued to operate with success, such as helping to organize anti-Communist guerrilla units behind Soviet lines in the Ukraine, but the Germans, suspecting their loyalty, disbanded them in late 1941. (in Fire in the East, the IV/800 Battalion represents the Nightingales.)

The Abwehr also organized anti-Communist elements in Estonia as anti-Soviet guerrillas. The guerrillas made a number of small-scale attacks on retreating Red Army forces and otherwise helped Army Group North secure the country.

In all, the Brandenburgers operated across the entire front in the USSR. From the Arctic Circle to the Black Sea, they infiltrated Soviet lines by all means: on foot and skis, via gliders, parachutes, and boats, and even by driving through NKVD border posts in Soviet trucks captured by the Finns in the Winter War. The Brandenburgers, after sustainibg heavy losses, were eventually withdrawn from the Soviet Union to refit and reorganize in their home stations. In the autumn of 1941, the Brandenburg regiment expanded again, forming its V battalion.

Brandenburgers

1939: Origins and Early Operations
1940: Triumphs and Expansion
1941: To Africa and Victory in the East
1942-1943: Operations and Re-organization
1944-1945: Eclipse and Defeat
Europa Order of Battle