Living History Gallery

The ‘Panzer-Füsilier-Regiment Grossdeutschland’ was formed during the spring of 1942 on the Wandern training grounds in Germany. Provisionally titled ‘GD2’ (re-named Füsilier Regiment in October 1942) this unit was to be the second of two motorised infantry regiments contained within the newly created Grossdeutschland Motorised Infantry Division.

‘GD1’, (the original Infantrie Regiment [mot.] ‘GD’ which had marched into Soviet Union in June 1941) had meanwhile been pulled from the frontline for a much-required refit, and was to remain in Russia until joined by its new brother regiment plus the rest of the Division (tank battalion, reconnaissance battalion, artillery regiment etc) to participate in the June 1942 offensive towards the Don and Volga Rivers.

Few men were handed over from ‘GD1’to the new ‘GD2’ except a handful of officers and the few survivors from the old 17. Kompanie, remembered for having to remove their cuff titles in disgrace during the bitter winter fighting of 1941 southwest of Moscow. This lack of continuity between the units meant that ‘GD2’ had no reason to carry any of the traditions of ‘GD1’, a legacy that resulted in a rivalry that would eventually see officers being sacked.

Largely relying on suitable volunteers, personnel for ‘GD2’ were accepted from all over Germany to fill out the companies and battalions. Mounted in what were then state of the art lorries and cross-country cars, the Regiment conducted parades, exercises and combat drills to hone the recruits in the ways of modern war. The Regiment first saw action during the summer advance of 1942 (operation Blue), and was later bled almost white in the autumn battles around Rzhev and subsequent winter battles around Kharkov.

By early summer 1943 the Regiment was re-equipped and reinforced in time for the Kursk offensive. It had also officially taken on the title ‘Panzer-Füsilier’ in line with the Division’s renaming as a ‘Panzer-Grenadier Division’. The Regiment participated in all of the Division’s subsequent actions in Orel, Karachev, Kremenchug, Krivoi Rog, Kirowograd, Iassi and Targul Frumos.

In July 1944 the 1st Battalion left behind their lorries and were sent to Germany to retrain on Sd Kfz 251/d SPW, a move that finally gave the Panzer-Füsilier-Regiment the armour to go with the name. Suitably equipped, the Battalion went into the fighting in Lithuania in early August 1944 with such gusto that they soon earned the name the ‘lions’. Legend has it that a symbol of a lion was to be painted on their SPW, but to date no evidence of this practice has ever been found.

Along with the battered Division, the Regiment soon became trapped in the Baltic port of Memel, only to be evacuated by sea as late as December 1944. Moving into the Rastenburg area, it is not clear how badly knocked about the Füsilier Regiment was. Either way, it was plundered by OKH to supply Korps units for the new GD/Brandenburg amalgamation of early 1945.

This part-completed combination of two of Germany’s best-known units was abruptly shattered in January 1945 by the Soviet drive to clear the Baltic coast in preparation for their final assault on Berlin. GD as a whole was bulldozed into the Baltic via Koenigsberg, evacuating to Pillau on the Samland in makeshift ferries with all heavy weapons destroyed. In April 1945, the last few survivors of the once proud Panzer-Füsilier Regiment were evacuated to Denmark.

The picture on the left was taken sometime in 1943 and shows men of 2. Kompanie. On the right is Gefreiter Leopold ‘Poldi’ Poschusta, fellow Austrian and close comrade of Alfred Novotny. Already a bearer of the 1941/2 winter campaign ribbon, Infantry assault in silver, and both 2nd and 1st classes of the Iron cross, Poschusta was awarded the RitterKreuz for his defence of an airstrip on 6th October 1943.

Witnesses from the adjacent 23. Panzer Division, who watched as he led an attack against an enemy force gathering into jump off positions, made the recommendation for the award. Within two days of the action he was promoted to Unteroffizier and platoon commander. Four weeks later, on his birthday 6th November 1943, he was killed. The bestowal ceremony was due the following day.