10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg

The 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg or 10.SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg was a German Waffen SS panzer division. The division was formed at the beginning of 1943 as a reserve for the expected Allied invasion of France. However, their first campaign was in Ukraine in April 1944. Afterwards, the unit was then transferred to the west, where it fought the Allies in France and at Arnhem. The division was moved to Pomerania, then fought south east of Berlin in the Lausitz area until the end of the war.

History

Initially, the name Karl der Große (Charlemagne) was used for the Division for some time in 1943. However, French volunteers in the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS used the name Charlemagne (33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French)), so instead the honor title Frundsberg was chosen, which refers to the 16th Century German landsknecht commander Georg von Frundsberg. The division was mainly formed from conscripts. It first saw action at Tarnopol in April 1944 and later took part in the rescue of German troops cut off in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket.