Kavallerie Regiment 5

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[Jan-Hendrik]

If you could help us in what time period you are interested ? Or mybe you contact the Traditionsverband of this unit , it still exists !

Jan-Hendrik

[Simon O.]

Horses, with a few motor vehicles thrown in. It was a cavalry regiment after all.


That being said i know that Kavallerie regiment Mitt included some armour and armoured cars in it's schwere abteilung. Kav.Rgt.5 was itself renamed from Kav.Rgt.Nord and i would imagine it too had some armoured vehicles. I don't know though if it would have lost those when it was used to form the 4 Kav.Brig. later division.

Carsten (LHR1) is the man to ask.

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[Simon O.]

Thanks. I am mainly thinking of when it was given the Feldmarschall von Makensen honor...so later in the war: 1944-45 time frame. Perhaps it was a Kavallerie Brigade late in the war?

I believe early on it could have had a lot of horse-born units, but I suspect it was never much of an armored recon outfit, if at all, else at some point it would have been : Panzer...Aufklarungs, or something similar in its title, etc. Thus, I am thinking it was a vehicle bore reconnaissance unit mostly during its existence and wearing of the Sonderbekleidung would have been rare or non-existent.

It was part of the 4 Kavallerie Brigade as i mentioned. That brigade later grew to division status in Feb '45.

It wasn't a vehicle borne recconnaissance unit it was cavalry, on horses. So the uniforms and equipment were those worn by mounted troops.

There's a good photo of members of the regiment taken in May '45 in the book 'cavalry of the wehrmacht 1941-45' showing the Mackensen cuff title in wear along with the 4 Kav.Div. arm patch\shield on the upper right arm.

Now, there were armoured elements within the brigade and division but i don't know think there were any within the regiment itself at the time of the introduction of the cuff title.

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[LHR1]

Scott,
I'm currently working on a book about German army cavalry from 1920-45. Here's more info (minus footnotes) about Kavallerie-Regiment Mitte and Kavallerie-Regiment Nord:

Kavallerie-Regiment Mitte: The March 1943 initiative to expand Reiterverband von Boeselager was agreed to by the OKH, which directed redesignation to Kavallerie-Regiment Mitte and the following organization:

– Staff and headquarters Schwadron (troop)
– Panzer-Jäger-Kompanie
– Nachrichten-Schwadron
– Three Abteilungen (squadrons), each with three horse Schwadronen
– Schwere Schwadron
– Mounted artillery Abteilung equipped with light, recoilless artillery pieces (Leichtgeschütze)

To effect this expansion, the regiment (also briefly numbered “105” ) received additional cavalry personnel from Aufklärungs-Abteilungen 16, 26, 120, 131, 134, 152, 186, 187, 330, Schnelle Abteilung 187, as well as individual replacements. The independent Panzer-Kompanie 221, alternately equipped with later-model Panzer IIs and IIIs and captured Soviet T-34s, was attached to the Kavallerie-Regiment Mitte by mid-summer. Shortly before its redesignation and expansion into the 3. Kavallerie-Brigade in March 1944, the regiment was made up of:

– Staff and headquarters Schwadron
– Three line Abteilungen (I., II., III.), with headquarters, four line, and one schwere Schwadron
– One motorized/mechanized schwere Abteilung (light armored reconnaissance, armored, anti-aircraft, and heavy-weapons assets)
– Leichte Artillerie-Abteilung (light field howitzers and heavy mortars), with three motorized troops (instead of “batteries”)
– Nachrichten-Schwadron
– Support Abteilung, with staff, two transport, and one supply troop
– Trompeterkorps (bandsmen from former Kavallerie-Regimenter 6 and 15)

Kavallerie-Regiment Nord: In tandem with the formation of Kavallerie-Regiment Mitte, the OKH directed that similar units be constituted by the other two German army groups on the Eastern Front. Formation of Kavallerie-Regiment Nord began in mid-May 1943 in Fellin, Estonia, and the unit was officially assigned to Heeresgruppe Nord order of battle on 1 June. As in the case of Kavallerie-Regiment Mitte, the new unit’s personnel were initially drawn from army group divisional reconnaissance squadrons. Thus, Aufklärungs-Abteilungen 1, 5, 11, 12, 18, 24, 32, 121, 122, 123, 158, and 161 supplied the regiment’s initial cadre. With fewer personnel, Kavallerie-Regiment Nord nonetheless achieved an organization (three squadrons including a motorized light cavalry field gun squadron) similar to that of its sister regiment by the end of 1943. Assigned to the 4. Kavallerie-Brigade in May 1944, Kavallerie-Regiment Nord was first redesignated Reiter-Regiment 42 and then Kavallerie-Regiment 5, and assigned the traditions of the prewar regiment. As an additional distinction, it was named “Feldmarschall von Mackensen” after its colonel-in-chief and received a distinctive cuffband in December.

Both cavalry brigades included a schwere Kavallerie-Abteilung (heavy cavalry squadron - numbered 3 and 4), which included assault guns and half-tracks. Although the armored force's black and field gray special uniforms were NOT organizational clothing for the squadrons, individual personnel likely wore them (I'll be interviewing a German cavalry veteran in February who'll confirm this).

All that said, personnel of Kavallerie-Regiment Nord/5 did NOT wear the armored force uniform nor was there any connection between that uniform and the "Mackensen" cuffband.

Hope this helps -

Carsten Fries

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[Jan-Hendrik]

Is that all not already listed in Klaus Christian Richters "Die Geschichte der deutschen Kavellerie 1919-1945" ? Cannot proove that at the moment because I borrowed my copy to a friend in Hungary.


Jan-Hendrik

[LHR1]

Jan-Hendrik,
As I hope you'll see by the end of 2006 (projected publication date), I'll be covering the subject much more in-depth and from different angles than Richter did in the 1980's. Also, the book will be published in both English and German. LTC Richter has been very supportive of my efforts.

Carsten Fries

[Jan-Hendrik]

OK , Carsten ! So you are the Man Mr.Richter told me about when I talked with him the last time, my best wishes for your book from Germany !

By the way , do you have infos about Major Helmuth von der Groeben, last Kdr. of KavErsAbt. 100 in 1945 , our "last Stolper Kavallerie Unit" ?

Best regards from Germany ,

Jan-Hendrik