Hello Mad Dog !
This is what I was able to find on the origin and background of the units you mentioned :
When 159. Res.Div. started its withdrawal from the area of Bordeaux around 26th of August, 1944,
it formed 3 march groups. Group III was led by
Oberst Gustav Seiz, who had been Kommandant
of Gross-Bordeaux from 30.6.1942 onward and later in 1944 was promoted to Gen.Maj. [according to Keilig].
March group III ( ~ 10,000 men in total, with Sich.Rgt. 197, 3 Marine-Rgt., Anti-Air personnel (mostly from RAD))
moved north of the Dordogne over Montendre - Archiac and arrived ca. 10 km south of Cognac in the night
from 29th to 30th August [this and the following info is from
FMS-A960].
At that time Oberst Seiz was ordered to pass over command to an Admiral Weber, who was ordered to reach the area
of Poitiers with his march group as soon as possible.
At the same time, the plan of Armee-Grp. G (Blaskowitz) was, to establish a solid bridgehead in the area of Dijon,
which should then take up the units, withdrawing from the south and southwest. To secure this bridgehead, some
more mobile troops had to be brought up to that area of Dijon as soon as possible [Ludewig, Der dt. Rückzug, p. 209].
Therefore, 159. Res.Div. restructured its units into 3 new march groups :
- one motorized march group (A)
- one mobile on bicycles (B)
- one mobile by foot (C)
Oberst Seiz was given the command on all bicycle-mobile units (B), which were sent to him from the
3 former marchgroups. They assembled in the area southeast and east of Poitiers.
This newly formed marchgroup (possibly designated as
Radfahr-Brigade Seiz) had the following Gliederung :
- Rgt. A :
-- Staff & 1 reinforced Btn. Sich.Rgt. 197
-- 1 Btn. Marine personnel
-- 1 Btn. Luftwaffe personnel
in total about 2,000 men
- Rgt. B :
-- Staff & 3 battalions RAD (former antiaircraft Bordeaux)
in total about 3,000 men
The brigade was armed with rifles and MG only, no heavy weapons.
It had an additional motorized radio section.
The newly formed Radfahrbrigade Seiz started its march on 2:00 a.m., Sept. 1st, 1944 and arrived east of Dijon
on Sept., 5th without major enemy interference. There the brigade was dissolved the next day. The RAD personell
was sent to Belfort, while the other units were transferred to the area of Besancon.
In the book : Die Geschichte d. HGru G, D. Bettinger, p. 113, some infos can be found on those latter parts :
On Sept., 8th,
Radfahr-Rgt. Gieß (former part of [Radfahr-]Brigade Seitz (should be Seiz)) arrived in the
area north of Besancon and was subordinated to Gen.Kdo. Dehner.
At that time,
Radfahr-Regiment Gieß consisted of
- I. Btl. (ex I./Sich.Rgt. 197)
-- 3 Schützen-Kp.
-- 1 schwere Kp.
in total = 480 men
- II. Btl.
-- 200 men from the Marine (Navy)
(almost no infantry-training and poorly equipped)
I would assume that Radf.-Rgt. Gieß consists of the main body of the former Rgt. A of Radf.-Brigade Seiz,
but there is no further information on any changes in the composition between the arrival near Dijon,
and its deployment at Besancon. Could you have a look to what date the 19th army strenght report refers to ?
Hope that helps
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
,
best regards,
hero
.