1st Ski Division (German: 1. Skijäger-Division) was a mountain infantry unit of the German Waffen-SS/Army trained to use skis for movement during winter. It was created on the Eastern Front in the autumn of 1943 in preparation for upcoming winter operations. It was enlarged into a full division in the summer of 1944. The division fought exclusively on the Eastern Front as part of Army Group Centre, including an approach to the Vistula river and during the retreat into Slovakia, southern Poland and the Czech lands (now the Czech Republic), where it surrendered to the Red Army in May 1945.
History
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Skijäger-Brigade in 1944.
The American writer and publisher George Nafziger states that the 1st Skijäger Division was formed on 2 June 1944 by expanding the 1st Skijäger Brigade, which had been initially formed in September 1943. As was usual for German formations at this point in the war, the division was formed around existing units which were strengthened with new recruits. Elements of the 19th Panzergrenadier Brigade, the 65th Heavy Artillery Regiment, the 152nd Panzerjäger Battalion and the 18th Werfer (Rocket) Battalion with the 615th Flak (anti-aircraft) Battalion which was used to expand the brigade into a division.
On 1 January 1945, the 1st Ski Division (then under Army Group Heinrici of Army Group A) had a strength of 12,014 men.[1]: 504
Here’s an interesting thought – what if they made the FG-42 in 8x33mm Kurz? Well, they actually did, in very small numbers. The rifle’s designer, Louis Stange, actually thought it was a really good idea, and the Heereswaffenamt office converted a handful of first model FG42s for testing, although it never went farther than that. The Army was very much in favor fo the 8x33mm cartridge in the MP43/44 for a variety of reasons, but the Luftwaffe was determined to issue its own unique rifle in the full 8x57mm cartridge.
After the war, there was one further addendum to this idea – Waffenfabrik Bern in Switzerland made a couple experimental patterns of what was essentially the FG42 in 7.5mm Kurz (7.5x38mm). These were tested as part of Switzerland’s move to a self-loading rifle, but ultimately lost out to SIG’s design in the full 7.5x55mm.
