Schwimmwagen Battalion

A proposal from 1942

The reconnaissance regiment proposed by Paul Hausser in November 1942

On 1 November 1942, Paul Hausser, then commanding a mechanized corps of the Waffen SS, proposed a change to the organization of the armored and motorized divisions of that service. In particular, he argued that each of these formations ought to replace their existing reconnaissance battalion with much a larger unit - a reconnaissance regiment that included, among other things, an infantry battalion mounted in amphibious Volkswagens (Schwimmwagen).