| 1st Cossack Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1943 – 1945 |
| Country |  Nazi
Germany |
| Allegiance | Adolf Hitler |
| Type | Cavalry |
| Size | Division |
| Part of | XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Helmuth von Pannwitz |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |
 |
| Identification symbol |
Don Cossack insignia |
| Part of a series on |
| Cossacks |
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| Cossack hosts |
| Azov · Black Sea · Buh · Caucasus · Danube · Don · Volga · Ural · Terek · Kuban · Orenburg · Astrakhan · Siberian · Baikal · Amur · Semirechye · Ussuri · Zaporozhia |
| Other groups |
| Danube (Sich) · Tatar Cossacks · Nekrasov · Turkey · Jewish Cossacks |
| History |
| Registered Cossacks · Kosiński Uprising · Nalyvaiko Uprising · Khmelnytsky Uprising · Hadiach Treaty · Hetmanate · Colonisation of Siberia · Bulavin Rebellion · Pugachev's Rebellion · 1st Cavalry Army · Decossackization · Betrayal · XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps · 1st Cossack Division |
| Famous Cossacks |
| Bohdan Khmelnytsky · Petro Sahaidachny · Ivan Mazepa · Ivan Sirko · Yemelyan Pugachev · Stenka Razin · Andrei Shkuro · Pyotr Krasnov · Yermak Timofeyevich · Shokan Walikhanuli |
| Cossack terms |
| Ataman · Hetman · Kontusz · Papakhi · Plastun · Szabla · Shashka · Stanitsa · Yesaul |
The 1st Cossack Division (German: 1. Kosaken-Kavallerie-Division) was a Russian Cossack division of the German Army that served during World War II. It was created on the Eastern Front mostly out of Don Cossacks already serving in the Wehrmacht, those who escaped from the advancing Red Army and Soviet POWs. In 1945, the division was transferred to the Waffen SS.[1] At the end of the war the unit ceased to exist.
Contents |
Upon the formation of the unit in April of 1943 the Division was dispatched to Croatia, where they were placed under the command of the Second Panzer Army and were used to provide rear area security to the army.
The Division's first fighting engagement was on October 12,
1943, when the unit was dispatched against Yugoslav partisans in Fruška Gora
Mountains. In the operation the Cossacks aided by 15 tanks and 1
armoured car captured the village of Beocin with the partisan HQ.
Subsequently the unit was used to protect the Zagreb-Belgrade railroad and the Sava
valley. Several regiments of the division took part in several
anti-partisan operations and guarded the Sarajevo railroad against
the partisans. As part of a wide anti-partisan operation
Napfkuchen the Cossack division was transferred to Croatia, where it fought
against partisans and chetniks in 1944.
In 1944 the unit saw heavy action
in Yugoslavia and suffered losses when Siberian Cossacks 2nd Regiment was
surrounded by the partisans and held on for several days until
other Cossack regiments were able to provide relief and break the
encirclement.
The Cossacks' first engagement against the Red Army happened in December of 1944 near Pitomaca. The fighting resulted in Soviet withdrawal from the area. In January of 1945 the 1st Cossack Division together with the 2nd Cossack Division was transferred to the Waffen-SS. As 1. SS-Kosaken-Kavallerie-Division it became part of the newly formed XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps.[2]
At the end of the war Cossacks of the division found themselves in Austria and surrendered to British troops. Even though they were given assurances that they would not be turned over to the Soviets, they nevertheless were forcibly removed from the compound and transferred to the USSR. This event became known as the Betrayal of the Cossacks. Most of the Cossacks were executed for treason.
The 1st Cossack Division was created on August 4, 1943 by combining the Cossack Platow Cavalry Regiment of von Pannwitz with the Jungschults Cavalry Regiment. The 1st Cossack Division was composed of the following units:[1][3]
(under command of Colonel Wagner)
(under command of Colonel von Schulz)
The total numerical strength of the Division was 13.000 Cossacks and 4.500 Germans.[4]
   | XV SS Kosaken-Kavallerie-Korps - Axis History Factbook: XV. SS-Kosaken-Kavallerie-Korps |
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