(XIII. žestra bojna)
by H.L. deZeng IV

Formed 14 September 1942 in Vinkovci to guard the railway line between Zagreb and Zemun, and between Bosanski Brod and Sarajevo. The Battalion was 100% Croatian Volksdeutsche age 32 and older with no ethnic Croatians assigned to it. (1)

Dec 42: Bn. HQ now in Stara Pazova/31 km NW of Belgrade in Syrmia.
May 43: Bn. HQ in Stara Pazova under Railway Security Sector C - assigned to guard the track section northwest from Zemun in Syrmia.
Sep 43: HQ in Stara Pazova with 1st - 4th Co. assigned to Railway Security Sector C. Said to be at 94% of its authorized strength.
9 Dec 43: Battalion removed from German – Croatian military authority this date and placed under the control of SS-Gruppenführer Kammerhofer’s German-Croatian police organization. It was formally incorporated into German Schutzpolizei and never returned to either Croatian or German military control.
Mar 44: Battalion became a component of German Police Volunteer Regiment 3 Kroatien, which came under the authority of the Höherer SS-u.Polizeiführer Kroatien.

Commanders

Nadsatnik Knobloch (? - ?) Aug 1943

Footnotes

1. NARA WashDC: RG 242 (T-315 roll 2270/1005-06); occasional references in other German documents and in the [Vojnoistorijski institute] - Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodnooslobodilačkom ratu jugoslovenskih naroda series and in [Vojnoistorijski institute] - Hronologija oslobodilačke borbe naroda jugoslavije 1941-1945.

Reference material on this unit

- None known at this time -