Fallschirmjäger Battlegroup Hartung in Arnheim 1944 Documents

[Baltic]

Hi Gents,
we got this nice grouping a few days ago and we are looking for more Information on Kampfgruppe Oberst Hartung.....
Thanks
Regards
Trave Militaria

[Brian R]

Fought the Americans near Nijmegen bridge. Appears to have been a smorgasbord of, mostly, reservists.

[Baltic]

Thanks for the Information Brian

Regards
Trave Militaria

[Brian R]

The best guy to ask is Scott from http://www.defendingarnhem.com/. He is Revelations on this site.

He may have a better idea of this unit's actions and whereabouts as they retreated.

[Floris]

Oberst Gunther Hartung.
One source says he was commander of a group Landesschutzen.
Another source says he commanded an Erdkampfschule der Luftwaffe.
It Took part in the battles around Nijmegen in september 1944 during Opration Market Garden.
His battlegroup fought at Lent wich is north of Nijmegen and the Waal river.

But Because this man was awarded and Erdkampf Abzeichen he must have belonged to an Luftwaffe unit.
So most likely he was commander of an Erdkampfschule der LW.

[Revellations]

Hi all,

Brian - thank you for the kind comments. You have set high expectations that I am knowledgeable about this battle - so I better not disappoint.

Kampfgruppe Hartung (named after the Commander) was a training school for Officers and NCOs that were transferring from other sections of the Luftwaffe. It was directly under command of Fallschirm AOK. The students were trained to infantry section standard!!! and then sent off to FJ combat units in the Western Front. About 2-3 courses were run concurrently and each course had about 30 students. The school was located in Pont-à-Mousson but it was moved towards the end of August and found itself around Nijmegen. Here is formed into a Kampfgruppe under the command of Oberst Günther Hartung.

As Floris correctly points out - it was Luftwaffe - there is no question of that. They fought around Nijmegen and Lent and they disappear off the Orbat in October - assume the 'school' was disbanded and the men sent to different combat units.

In the book The Battle of the Bridges: The 504 Parachute Infantry Regiment in Operation Market Garden by Frank van Lunteren has a bit of information about Hartung and his responsibilities in the defence of Nijmegen. Worth the read if you are interested in this. Your officer is not mentioned in the book. From a variety of sources I have 12 officers in my files from this unit but I didn't have Marufke either.....I wish I knew what he did.

I hope I didn't disappoint Brian

Cheers

Scott

[Willi Z.]

Very interesting grouping.

Great website and information Scott!