104th Jäger Division (Wehrmacht)

104th Jäger Division was an infantry division of the Germany Army in World War II. It was formed in April 1943, by the redesignation of the 704th Infantry Division, which was itself formed in April 1941. The division served in German occupied Yugoslavia in May 1941 where it took part in anti-partisan and security operations in the Independent State of Croatia. In April 1943, it was reorganized and redesignated the 104th Jäger Division and took part in the Battle of the Sutjeska in June 1943.
Following the Italian surrender, elements from the division took part in the murder of thousands of Italians from the 33 Infantry Division Acqui in September 1943,[1][2] on the Greek island of Cefalonia in one of the largest-scale German atrocities to be committed by German Army troops instead of the Waffen SS.[3]

104th Jäger Division
Divisional insignia of the 104th Jäger Division
Active1941 – 1945
Country Nazi Germany
AllegianceAdolf Hitler
BranchInfantry
SizeDivision
EngagementsWorld War II

The division surrendered to the Yugoslav Army at Celje in Slovenia in May 1945.[4] Many of the division's survivors, including the commander General Friedrich Stephan, were executed by the Yugoslavs after they had surrendered.[5]

Background

The main purpose of the German jäger divisions was to fight in adverse terrain where smaller, coordinated formations were more facilely combat capable than the brute force offered by the standard infantry divisions. The jäger divisions were more heavily equipped than the mountain divisions, but not as well armed as larger infantry formations. In the early stages of the war, they were the interface divisions fighting in rough terrain and foothills as well as urban areas, between the mountains and the plains. The jägers (it means hunters in German), relied on a high degree of training and slightly superior communications, as well as their not inconsiderable artillery support. In the middle stages of the war, as the standard infantry divisions were downsized, the Jäger structure of divisions, with two infantry regiments, became the standard table of organization.[6]

Commanders

Area of operations

Order of battle
  • Jäger Regiment 724
  • Jäger Regiment 734
  • Reconnaissance Battalion 104
  • Artillery Regiment 654
  • Pionier Battalion 104
  • Panzerjäger Battalion 104
  • Signals Battalion 104
  • Reserve Battalion 104
  • Versorgungseinheiten 104 [4]
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References

Notes
  1. "Massacres and atrocities of WWII". Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2009. Almost unknown outside of Italy, this event ranks with Katyn as one of the darkest episodes of the war" also "The German 11th Battalion of Jäger-Regiment 98 of the 1st Gebirgs (Mountain) Division, commanded by Major Harald von Hirschfeld, arrived on the island and soon Stukas were bombing the Italian positions
  2. "Rizospastis" (in Greek). 3 September 2000. Retrieved 3 April 2009. Πρέπει να σημειωθεί πως τα βιβλία για τη σφαγή των Ιταλών στρατιωτών της Κεφαλονιάς (η μεγαλύτερη σφαγή αιχμαλώτων του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου), εκτός αυτού του Μπερνιέρ, είναι το ένα καλύτερο από το άλλο. Translation: It must be noted that the books about the massacre of the Italian soldiers in Kefalonia (the biggest massacre of prisoners of war in WWII), except the one by Bernier, are one better than the other.
  3. "Mörder unterm Edelweiß – noch immer unter uns ("Murderers under the Edelweiss – still among us")" (in German). Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  4. Wendal, Marcus. "104 Jager Division". Axis History. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  5. Mitchum, p. 251
  6. Mcoy, Breaker (2009). German Army 101st Light Division, 101st Jager Division 1941 – 42. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2009.

Bibliography
  • Shepherd, Ben (2012). Terror in the Balkans: German Armies and Partisan Warfare. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-04891-1.

Further reading
  • Mitchum, Samuel W (2007). German Order of Battle: 291st-999th Infantry divisions, named infantry divisions, and special divisions in World War II. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-3437-4.
  • Rudy D'Angelo – Cefalonia 1943: Massacre of the Royal Italian Acqui Division (in The Military Advisor, Vol 8 No 2)
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