Any idea what is "Front Aufklarungs Commando 202"

[StefanM]

Hi,

Any ideas what Gen. Guderian and documents signed by him and marked "Front Aufklarungs Commando 202" might refer to—what is Front Aufklarungs Commando 202? There is also a connection with Maj.Gen. Reinhard Gehlen to these papers. Google doesn't throw up anything of note?

I don't have any scans as this reference is in a memoir account and it just states "Front Aufklarungs Commando 202" along with the information above.

Any thoughts very much appreciated

[AKbear]

Dose it have dates?

[StefanM]

Dose it have dates?

No but my guess is that it was in the months just before Hitler removed Guderian from his command on 28th March 1945 and Gehlen had already made contact with military intelligence units of the Western Powers. I am pretty sure it is January-February 1945.

There is also a connection between taking these "Front Aufklarungs Commando 202" documents by soldiers of the Polish NSZ (Narodowe Siły Zbrojne) to Berlin and their attempt to make contact with the of H.Q. of R.O.A.("Rossiejskaja Osvobozdiennaja Armada"- "Russian Liberation Army") in Berlin.

[AKbear]

Ummmm...................................... I will have do some research and help with the quest.

[StefanM]

Ummmm...................................... I will have do some research and help with the quest.

Thanks AKbear anything you can discover about "Front Aufklarungs Commando 202" will be most welcome as I have no idea where else to look?

[Redgemak]

4th

Front Aufklärungs Kommandos are part of the German Abwehr
Think in the line of Brandenburgers and Otto Skorzeny
These troops fought behind enemy lines, sabotage and clandestine operations.

This is their Feldpostnummer:

10127: (1.8.1943-23.3.1944) Abwehr-Trupp 202
...........(24.3.1944-6.11.1944) Frontaufklärungs-Trupp (Abwehr) 202


Jean

[StefanM]

4th

Front Aufklärungs Kommandos are part of the German Abwehr
Think in the line of Brandenburgers and Otto Skorzeny
These troops fought behind enemy lines, sabotage and clandestine operations.

This is their Feldpostnummer:

10127: (1.8.1943-23.3.1944) Abwehr-Trupp 202
...........(24.3.1944-6.11.1944) Frontaufklärungs-Trupp (Abwehr) 202


Jean

Many thanks Jean

What is the difference between:

Frontaufklärungstrupps (FATs) — front reconnaissance troops

and:

Frontaufklärungskommandos (FAKs) — front reconnaissance commandos

Any ideas on which German archive might hold documents related to Frontaufklärungs-Trupp (Abwehr) 202 ?

[Redgemak]

It is not easy to explain, but here is a very short try

FAT follows the front line troops and interrogate captured russian soldiers, search dead soldiers for papers and maps even civillians etc.
from this intel the FAK react and go fight the partisans.
this is a very brief explanation.

Jean

[AKbear]

After doing more research Redgemak is right about it being German Abwehr and SS Brigadeführer Walter Schellenberg (1944–1945). However I have over 20 different books on Otto Skorenzy and this particular commando group has never been mentioned. Therefore I am sure, thanks to Redgemak, that this particular group was involved with gathering intel behind enemy lines on the Russian front.
On a side note, it would be fascinating if this group was also involved with the crushing the Coup on July 20th with Gen. Guderian and German Abwehr

[StefanM]

I
FAT follows the front line troops and interrogate captured russian soldiers, search dead soldiers for papers and maps even civillians etc. from this intel the FAK react and go fight the partisans. this is a very brief explanation. Jean

Hi Jean, Many thanks your explanation is perfect

After doing more research Redgemak is right about it being German Abwehr and SS Brigadeführer Walter Schellenberg (1944–1945). However I have over 20 different books on Otto Skorenzy and this particular commando group has never been mentioned. Therefore I am sure, thanks to Redgemak, that this particular group was involved with gathering intel behind enemy lines on the Russian front.
On a side note, it would be fascinating if this group was also involved with the crushing the Coup on July 20th with Gen. Guderian and German Abwehr

Thanks AKbear

What I find intriguing is the fact of having two intelligence officers of the Polish NSZ being given Abwehr intelligence documents—apparently authorised by Gehlen and countersigned by Guderian—to take with them to Vaslov's Russian Liberation Army in Berlin???

The other part of the two NSZ intel officers' mission in Germany was to visit various POW and labour camps to release (with German co-operation) a list of Polish resistance figures from the AK, NSZ as well as other 'political' prisoners into their custody.

All of which they appear to have done successfully in the final months before the end of the war in Europe!

Now all I need to do is try and trace some actual official records to confirm this story! Any thoughts on German archives to find Abwehr documents or would they all have taken back to US/Britain/Russia after the war ??

* * * *

Just found a good example of the kind of operation FAK 202 was involved in:

"... The report by Hauptmann und Kommando-Führer Kirn, commander of FAK 202, attached to Heeresgruppe "A" (Army Group), dated November 27, 1944, speaks of the activities of a reconnaissance party behind Soviet lines. The seven-man team made a raid into enemy territory, traversing 180 km behind front lines. The raid began on October 6 and ended on November 7, when Captain Kirn's group arrived by special plane in Cracow, allegedly accompanied by two representatives of UPA command. Contact was made with an UPA-unit on October 16 and almost two weeks were spent gathering intelligence. Members of the UPA-unit were trained in various methods of maintaining liason. Kirn regards the raid a success and feels others like it could be carried out if appropriate preparations were made. The group sustained some losses, but the fact that it spent some time behind enemy lines and fought alongside an UPA-unit Kirn considers important, particularly since it was well-received by both the local UPA command and the population. Kirn also mentions that several hundred German soldiers (Versprengte - dispersed troops) are being well-treated by the UPA and could receive supplies or be removed from the area by air."