German cavalry units in World War II, though secondary to the Wehrmacht’s emphasis on mechanized and armored forces, retained importance especially on the Eastern Front due to challenging terrain, fuel shortages, and the need for mobile reconnaissance and security forces in areas unsuited to vehicles. Prior to and at the start of the conflict, most of the army’s 18 pre-war cavalry regiments were disbanded or converted into bicycle and reconnaissance battalions integrated into infantry divisions, leaving only the 1. Kavallerie-Brigade which was expanded in October 1939 into the 1. Kavallerie-Division; this formation, consisting of multiple Reiter-Regimenter along with horse artillery and support elements, participated in the Invasion of Poland, the Battle of France where it advanced through the Netherlands and Belgium into central France, and Operation Barbarossa in the central sector before growing to six regiments and being converted into the 24. Panzer-Division in late 1941. Across the entire war the German Army depended overwhelmingly on horses for logistics, employing a total of approximately 2.75 million horses and mules to pull artillery, supply wagons, and sustain infantry divisions, with an average of over one million animals in service at any time and each infantry division often relying on thousands for its trains. Dedicated cavalry formations saw a resurgence in the Waffen-SS starting with the SS-Kavallerie-Brigade raised in 1940–1941 for rear-area security and "Bandenbekämpfung" anti-partisan operations in the occupied Soviet Union, particularly in the Pripet Marshes, before being reorganized in 1942 into the 8. SS-Kavallerie-Division “Florian Geyer” which conducted extensive security duties, scorched-earth withdrawals, and combat support until its destruction in the Siege of Budapest in early 1945; this was supplemented by the 22. SS-Kavallerie-Division “Maria Theresia” raised from Hungarian Volksdeutsche volunteers. In the Heer a parallel revival occurred from 1943 onward when three independent cavalry regiments—Kavallerie-Regiment Nord, Mitte, and Süd—were formed under Army Group Center for reconnaissance, screening, and anti-partisan roles, later reorganized in 1944 into the 3. Kavallerie-Brigade and 4. Kavallerie-Brigade, each typically built around two two-battalion Reiter-Regimenter and reinforced with limited armored cars or assault guns; these brigades were upgraded to full divisions in February 1945 and operated within the I. Kavallerie-Korps alongside the Hungarian 1. Kavallerie-Division, seeing heavy defensive fighting such as repelling Soviet breakthroughs between the Bug and Narew rivers. Foreign auxiliaries further augmented German cavalry strength, notably the 1. Kosaken-Kavallerie-Division formed in 1943 from Soviet defectors and later expanded into the XV. SS-Kosaken-Kavallerie-Korps. By early 1945 German and SS cavalry had reached a wartime peak of six divisions plus supporting corps headquarters, participating in final offensives such as the Lake Balaton operation before the remnants retreated into Austria and surrendered, often still accompanied by thousands of horses.
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3. KAVALLERIE-BRIGADE
Oberst
Georg Freiherr von Boeselager (1915-1944) was a German nobleman and
Wehrmacht cavalry officer born on 25 August 1915 near Kassel who was
killed in action on 27 August 1944 near Łomża in German-occupied Poland
at the age of 29. As Oberleutnant and Chef of the
1./Divisions-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 6 he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des
Eisernen Kreuzes on 18 January 1941 for his actions during the Battle of
France, when on 9 June 1940 he and a small group of men from his
Schwadron swam across the Seine near Les Andelys to establish a
bridgehead on the far bank which he then expanded by seizing the village
of Villers, and on 16 June 1940 he led his Schwadron in a decisive
flank attack that captured a French battery impeding the advance of the
Vorausabteilung. Promoted to Rittmeister, he received the Eichenlaub zum
Ritterkreuz on 31 December 1941 for his outstanding performance during
Operation Barbarossa, most notably on 4 October 1941 when his Schwadron
together with attached bicycle elements ruthlessly advanced to capture
the locality of Komarj and secured a bridgehead over the Lebasmuna
stream, thereby blocking the Bjeloj-Cholm road and obstructing the
Soviet withdrawal route from the Bjeloj area toward the Dnieper
positions, in addition to his consistent excellence in reconnaissance
and river crossings earlier in the campaign. As Oberstleutnant and
Führer of the 3. Kavallerie-Brigade he was posthumously awarded the
Schwerter zum Ritterkreuz on 28 November 1944 for the brigade’s
distinguished success in the heavy defensive fighting between the Bug
and Narew rivers during August 1944, where it excelled through
relentless attack momentum and hardness under his leadership at the
front; he met his death while personally leading an assault against a
heavily fortified Soviet position near Łomża on the Narew River.
Source :
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/wwii-german-cavalry-horses-of-the-blitz/
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