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Daley Barracks - The History
From 1951 until 1991, thousands of American soldiers and
their families called Daley Barracks and Bad Kissingen home. The
forty year story of these men and women is largely written in
English and spans the immediate post World War era, the
Constabulary period, then the long Cold War and finally the end
of the Soviet threat. But the opening chapters for the Kaserne
on the hill and the modern updates are stories told in German.
Before American olive drab, there was German Feld Grau. After
American woodland camouflage, there were bright colors of German
red, gold and black, Bavarian blue and white. It’s a colorful
and fascinating history.
I was at Daley from 1978 - 1981 and like many soldiers, I
wondered about the history of the area. I recall standing in
formation one day and noticing how rainwater had pooled in the
deeply worn granite steps that led into each barracks building.
How many thousands of now nameless and faceless soldiers had
stepped and turned to reach for the door handle to produce such
wear? All I really knew was that the 2/14th ACR preceded the
Eaglehorse, that some sort of German military unit was there
during WW II and that cut into the stone monument by the cavalry
dining facility were the words "Manteuffel Kaserne" .
A further investigation of the story would have to wait for
some years but now, time and resources allow a closer study.
Trying to understand the past of the barracks and the units once
stationed there is an on going process, fragments of the story
turn up in books, on the Internet and on long rolls of
microfilm. Here is our most current version of both the history
of Manteuffel Kaserne - Daley Barracks and some of the
significant units that called this barracks home.
The Pre-World War II period
In the middle and late 1930s, the German military was rapidly
expanding. The post World War I restrictions on size and
composition were first violated in secret, then openly as new
units, fighting doctrine and equipment were rapidly developed.
The city of Bad Kissingen had no long standing military
tradition, however, in the mid 1930s, as Germany tried to shake
off a massive economic depression, every new source of income
was explored.
To support the rapid growth of the military, new Kaserne were
built throughout Germany. In late 1934, the Lord Mayor of Bad
Kissingen proposed that his city be considered for a new
barracks and a detailed plan including two parcels of land was
submitted. The plan was accepted and a civil construction
operation under the loose control of the German Army began work
on the barracks site in August 1936. By late November, the walls
and roofs of the buildings were up and, in keeping with German
traditions, a Richtfest celebration was held to honor the
workers. The Saale Zeitung provided an interesting insight into
both the construction and the mood of the times and as the
project went forward,
the town knew who
the first military occupant would be.
In late Spring the following year, as construction neared
completion, additional land and funds were allocated to add the
“Officer Heim und Kasino“ to the plan. This building, the
officer's barracks and mess, we remember as the NCO club. The
total footprint was fifty acres and free use of a small field
training area was granted by the nearby village of Reiterswiesen.
The troop capacity for the two mess halls, six barracks
buildings and motor shops was put at 1800 men. The Kaserne was
named in honor of Baron Freiherr von Manteuffel of German
cavalry and political fame from the previous century.
Tracing the history of the units assigned to Manteuffel
Kaserne can be a somewhat confusing task. Particularly in the
late 1930s, units of the German Army moved frequently as far
flung regiments were grouped into divisions, units left one
barracks to draw new equipment and then returned to a different
garrison. Large scale maneuvers testing the new Blitzkrieg
doctrine led to wholesale changes in unit staffing plans.
The first unit assigned to Manteuffel Kaserne was the
Kradschutzen ( motorcycle infantry ) Battalion #2. It moved from Eisenach to Bad Kissingen
arriving in the early Summer of 1937 as the units comprising the
2nd Panzer Division were pulled geographically closer
together. A very good site that discusses the evolution of the
German Kradschutzen, mechanized infantry and Panzergrenadier
units may be found
here
The official arrival of this unit was a day marked with much
military pomp, circumstance and perhaps a trace of irony. A
modern writer might have reported the story with the lead line,
“ the sky was brilliant blue, the soldiers wore gray and the
city dressed in black “; 1 June of that year marked the
traditional Memorial Day to German war dead and the town was
decorated in black bunting as the motorcycle columns road
through the streets. There was a major parade with a host of
visiting dignitaries and a detailed but somewhat misleading
recollection of the event was saved in the Bad Kissingen Stadt
Archiv as part of the
Annual Report by the City Administrator. The article leaves
the impression that 1 June was the actual arrival date. In
reality, the Kradschutzen probably arrived a day or two earlier,
occupied the Kaserne and then participated in the formal opening
captured in both print and photographs.
There is some conflicting information stating that the unit
may have first had a brief stay in Coburg prior to moving into
the new Kaserne. At the time, the 2nd Panzer Division HQ was
located in Wurzburg, along with the engineer and communication
battalions. Artillery was at Bamberg and Meiningen, the
reconnaissance battalion was located at Kornwestheim and the
tank regiments were at Schweinfurt and Bamberg. To the north, in
Meiningen, was the HQ of Schutzen Brigade #2 with two truck
motorized infantry battalions. The motorcycle battalion moving
to Bad Kissingen was a part of this brigade. The division
commander during this period was Heinz Guderian, the father of
armor fast attack and exploitation doctrine. To learn more about
the pre Bad Kissingen history of this motorcycle infantry
battalion, please follow the link:
Eisenach.
Motorcycle Battalion #2 was a large unit, the authorized
strength was over 1000 men, divided into three motorcycle
companies, a separate machine gun company, a combat support
company and the headquarters company. Each line company had
fifteen light and medium duty trucks as well as 56 motorcycles
with sidecars. The 207 man unit was supported by 18 medium
machine guns. A company was commanded by a captain, the xo and
one platoon leader were lieutenants. The other two platoons were
led by senior NCOs.
to see the TO & E strength, personnel and equipment, of a
Kradschutzen battalion.
Click here to see the TO &
E strength of a typical Kradschutzen company in the early war
years.
The separate machine gun company of the battalion contained
eight additional light machine guns and six 81 mm mortars. The
mortars were probably kept in battery to support the companies,
the machine gun sections might be cross attached as the
situation demanded. The combat support company contained the
supply and maintenance sections, a communications sections as
well as the anti tank platoon and light cannon platoon.
The battalion was configured and trained along the new
doctrine of the Schnelle Truppen (fast troops), highly mobile
forces designed to exploit the holes punched by the tank forces.
The motorcycle companies were the first into the gaps to seize
key terrain and hold until relieved by the following truck
mounted infantry. They also could perform reconnaissance
missions and provide flank screens. The Kradschutzen were, like
the US cavalry of decades later, an economy of force unit
capable of a self sustained fight in a fluid environment. On
October 17, 1937, the officers and men of Kradschutzen Battalion
#2 held a parade and open house for the residents of Bad
Kissingen. The following day, the Saale Zeitung, short on detail
but filled with the politically biased writing style of the
period, reported on the
event.
The man who commanded the battalion in both Eisenach and Bad
Kissingen was a distinguished career officer, Colonel Wilhelm
von Apell. In later assignments, he commanded a Panzer division,
rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and survived the war.
Dates of command and records of the men who commanded the 2
Kradschutzen Battalion may be seen at left.
Less than six months after the open house, the unit deployed
to Austria with the 2nd Panzer Division. War survivors would not
officially return to Bad Kissingen again until the 2 Panzer
Veteran‘s Association reunion was hosted by the town in 1968.
The first military unit assigned to Manteuffel Kaserne had
stayed for less than one year. To learn more about this
movement, their new home and activities of the battalion in
Austria, please follow the link:
Eisenstadt.
The 2 Kradschutzen Battalion would participate in most of the
major German campaigns of World War II including the bloodless
Anschluss ( union ) with Austria, the occupation of
Czechoslovakia, the invasions of Poland, France, Greece and the
Soviet Union. As tactics and the nature of the war evolved, the
2 Krad was merged with the 2nd Panzer Division
reconnaissance battalion while on the Eastern Front. The unit
then saw combat in France following the Normandy landings of the
Allies, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge and finally,
Germany, during the defense of the Reich.
The next sixteen months at Manteuffel lack specific detail
but the key facts are known. From the Summer 1938 until August
of 1939, the available documents indicate that the Motorcycle
Infantry Battalion # 1 of the 7th Reconnaissance
Regiment, part of the 2nd Leichte (light) Division was stationed
at Bad Kissingen. This unit had initially been built near the
city of Gera, north of Meiningen, and then moved south to the
now vacant barracks during the hectic days of 1938. A source
briefly also places two armored scout companies from this
regiment’s Battalion # 2 at Manteuffel; the balance of the scout
battalion was based at Meiningen. It was a fast paced and
confusing period.
The 2 Leichte Division took part in the war against Poland in
September 1939 and its Kradschutzen Battalion returned to Bad
Kissingen with a victory parade in October [see section at
left]. To learn more about the
and view images related to the period, follow this link.
Of note, the 2 Leichte Division, a pre war configuration of
armor, reconnaissance and infantry units, that had fought with
distinction in Poland was expanded into the 7th Panzer Division
in October 1939. At that point, the motorcycle infantry unit at
Manteuffel Kaserne was redesignated as the 7th Kradschutzen
Battalion. The division left its central Germany garrisons, to
include Bad Kissingen, in January 1940 for camps near the far
western Eifel border region. Erwin Rommel took command of the
7th Panzer on 12 February and that summer, led the division to
victory in France.
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Victory Parade in Bad Kissingen
Two images showing the victory parade in
Bad Kissingen following the return of the motorcycle infantry
battalion from Poland in late 1939. This unit was part of the 2
Leichte ( light ) Division which was redesignated at the 7th
Panzer Division shortly after these photos were taken. [Photos
courtesy of Norbert Ruckel]
In late 1939, the 2 Krad is long gone and after the fighting in
Poland, the recon BN of the 7th Recon Regiment, part of the 2nd
Light Division (2 Leichte) parade through Bad Kissingen.
Another view of the return from Poland parade. |
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Victory Parade in Meiningen
A rare
sequence of photos showing the victory parade as units of the 2
Leichte Division return to Meiningen after the defeat of Poland in
1939. The reconnaissance regiment of the division consisted of two
battalions, the motorcycle infantry unit stationed in Bad Kissingen
and the regimental headquarters and scout battalion located in
Meiningen. Seen here, the central square in Meiningen, the banner
sign reads ‘ We greet the victors - the homeland thanks you! ‘
A wide view of the scene showing the massed troops.
A close up
of the senior NCOs of the scout battalion in their black Panzer
uniforms and padded berets. Note that the boots are very dusty and
no one wears combat decorations. The parade shows the actual day the
unit returned to garrison after road marching out of Poland.
The
commander of the reconnaissance regiment leads the parade in his
heavy staff car followed by …
… the
commander of the scout battalion leading at least a portion of the
mechanized unit.
A military
band opposite the reviewing stand plays martial music as the scout
vehicles thunder by … an impressive collision of traditions.
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