31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division

The 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division (German: 31. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division)[1] was a unit of the German armed forces during World War II. It was formed from the Hungarian Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans), mostly from the Bačka in September 1944. By November 1944 it was in action on the Hungarian Front.

31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division
Unit insignia
Active	1944 – 1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Waffen-SS
Type	Grenadier
Size	Division

In January 1945 it was sent to Austria and reformed as a type 45 Division, with only two battalions in each regiment and only three platoons in each company.[2] The division then joined the 17th Army in Silesia where it was surrounded by the Red Army; it surrendered near Hradec Králové in May 1945.[2]

Commander

• Gustav Lombard 1 Oct 1944 to April 1945
• Wilhelm Trabandt April 1945 to May 8, 1945 (?)

Order of battle

• SS Volunteer Grenadier Regiment 78
• SS Volunteer Grenadier Regiment 79
• SS Volunteer Grenadier Regiment 80 (this unit was destroyed and reformed using the Brizen SS Police Regiment in 1945)
• SS Artillerie Regiment 31
• SS Füsilier Battalion 31 (this unit was destroyed in Hungary and replaced using the 'Szálasi' Hungarian SS Grenadier Battalion in March 1945)
• SS Signals Battalion 31
• SS Nachschub Troop 31
• SS Panzerjäger Battalion 31
• SS Pionier Battalion 31
• SS Krankentransport Kompanie 31
• SS Vetinerary Company 31[2]

References

1. Official designation in German language as to „Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv“ in Freiburg im Breisgau, stores of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS.
2. German Order of Battle, Volume 3 By Samuel W. Jr Mitcham p.188