Feldgendarmerie The Feldgendarmerie ( , German : Feldjäger ) were the uniformed military police units of the armies of the German Empire ( including the Wehrmacht ) from 1810 in Saxony until the conclusion of World War II . Early history . From 1810 to 1812 Saxony , Württemberg , Prussia and Bavaria founded a rural police force after the model of the Napoleonic French Gendarmerie . In Prussia the Gendarmerie staff were well - proven infantry and cavallry NCOs after serving their standard service time at the army and some COs . Officially they were still military personnel , equipped and paid by the Ministry of War , but in peacetime attached to the Ministry of the Interior , serving as normal or mounted as police . In case of a maneuver , mobilization or war 50 % of the Gendarmerie formed the core of military police of the army , called Feldgendarmerie . Should more manpower be needed , regular infantry and cavalry corporals and some COs were seconded to the Fieldgendarmerie under supervision of the former Gendarmerie NCOs / COs . At the outbreak of the First World War the Feldgendarmerie comprised 33 companies . They each had 60 men and two NCOs . By 1918 , the number of companies had been expanded to 115 units . After World War I all military police units were disbanded and no police units existed in the inter - war Weimar Republic era . Garrisons were patrolled by regular soldiers performing the duties of the military police . Nazi Germany . When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 , " Feldgendarmerie " were reintroduced into the Wehrmacht . The new units received full infantry training and were given extensive police powers . A military police school was set up at Potsdam , near Berlin to train " Feldgendarmerie " personnel . Subjects included Criminal code , general and special police powers , reporting duties , passport and identification law , weapons drill , self - defence techniques , criminal police methodology , and general administration . All prospective candidates served at a " Feldgendarmerie " command after the first term of examinations . Courses lasted one year and failure rates were high : in 1935 only 89 soldiers graduated from an initial intake of 219 candidates . " Feldgendarmerie " were employed within army divisions and as self - contained units under the command of an army corps . They often worked in close cooperation with the " Geheime Feldpolizei " ( ) , district commanders and SS and Police Leader s . World War II . Operations . " Feldgendarmerie " units were generally given occupation duties in territories directly under the control of the Wehrmacht . The duties policing the areas behind the front lines , ranged from straightforward traffic control and population control to suppression and execution of partisans and the apprehension of enemy stragglers . When combat units moved forward out of a region , the " Feldgendarmerie " role would formally end as control was then transferred to occupation authorities under the control of the Nazi Party and SS . But " Feldgendarmerie " units are known to have assisted the SS in committing war crime s in occupied areas . Author Antony Beevor explores some well - documented cases of their participation in his book " Stalingrad " . But by 1943 as the tide of war changed for Nazi Germany , the " Feldgendarmerie " were given the task to maintain discipline in the Wehrmacht . Many ordinary soldiers deemed to be deserters were summarily executed by " Feldgendarmerie " units . This earned them the pejorative " Kettenhunde " ( ) after the gorget they wore with their uniforms . The arbitrary and brutal policing of soldiers gave them the other nickname " Heldenklauer " ( ) because they screened refugees and hospital transports for potential deserters with orders to kill suspected malingerer s . Rear - echelon personnel would also be checked for passes that permitted them to be away from the front . The " Feldgendarmerie " also administered the " Strafbattalion " ( ) which were Wehrmacht punishment units created for soldiers convicted by court martial and sentenced to a deferred execution . During the final days of the war , as the Third Reich crumbled , recruits or soldiers who committed even the slightest infraction were sent to " Strafbatallionen " . The " SS - Feldgendarmerie " wore the same uniform and gorget as their Heer counterparts but had an addition cuff title indicating they were military police . Generally they conducted the same policing role , such as controlling rear areas but they also conducted counter - insurgency and extermination operations with " einsatzgruppen " against Jews , partisans and those deemed to be " enemies of the Reich " . These SS units had a severe reputation for being strict enforcers of military law . Nicknamed " Kopf Jäger " ( Head Hunters ) , they also tracked down and punished those deemed to be deserters . From 1944 onwards , former members of the " Ordnungspolizei " serving with the Waffen SS , were also given military police powers and duties . These special " SS - Feldgendarmerie " were denoted by a diamond polizei - eagle insignia worn on the lower sleeve . In January 1944 as the Red Army began to advance on the Eastern Front , the power of the " Feldgendarmerie " was superseded by the creation of the " Feldjägerkorps " . Answering only to the German High Command ( OKW ) , its three regiments were founded to maintain discipline and military cohesion in all branches of the Wehrmacht ( including the " Feldgendarmerie " ) . Feldjägers were recruited from decorated , battle - hardened officers and NCOs . They had the military authority of the OKW to arrest and execute officers and soldiers from either the Wehrmacht or the SS for desertion , defeatism and other duty violations . Despite the surrender of all German forces in May 1945 , some " Feldgendarmerie " and " Feldjägerkorps " units in the western zones of occupied Germany were allowed to keep their weapons by the Allies because of the number of POWs that required guarding and processing . For example , the British VIII Corps based in Schleswig - Holstein used an entire regiment of volunteers from the " Feldgendarmerie " to maintain discipline at its demobilisation center at Meldorf . Re - activated military police , who received extra rations as pay , were identified by an armband stating " Wehrmachtordnungstruppe " ( Armed Forces Order Troop ) . More than 12 months after the official end of the Second World War , the " Feldgendarmerie " became the last German units to surrender their arms in June 1946 . Organization . The " Feldgendarmerie " was under the direct control of the German High Command O . K . H ( " Oberkommando des Heeres " ) . A " Feldgendarmerie " Major General who was in charge of all " Feldgendarmerie " personnel attached to the Wehrmacht , was directly subordinated to the " Generalquartiermeister " . He was responsible for postings and personal administration , monitoring the performance of the police units , allocation of tasks , traffic regulations and training . His immediate subordinate was a staff officer attached to each Oberkommando Army who commanded the one or more " Feldgendarmerie " battalions attached to each Wehrmacht formation . The staff officer was responsible for maintaining order and discipline , traffic control during large scale troop movements and maintaining transport routes . Each Feldgendarmerie battalion also had support personnel such as cooks , clerks , and armourers . A battalion was subdivided into smaller - sized " Truppen " which were attached to each division or corps . A " Gruppe " , a section sized unit , were then assigned to specific field or local commands . " Feldgendarmerie " sections would also be temporarily assigned to special operations , such as anti - partisan duties . A typical Truppe attached to an Infantry or Panzer Division would have up to three officers , 41 NCO ' s and 20 enlisted men . They would operate in Kübelwagen , trucks and motorcycles ( with sidecar s ) . Equipment . These battalions were equipped with motorcycles and sidecars , Kübelwagen , Field cars such as the Horch 4x4 and 3 ton Opel Blitz lorries and a small number of armoured vehicles as a means of transport . Weapons . Personal weapons consisted of small arms such as the Walther PP which was designed as a civilian police pistol ( PP Polizei - Pistole ) or the Walther PPK both of which were favoured by officers whereas the Luger P08 and Walther P38 were used by other ranks . Automatic machine pistol s were carried by NCOs and the Mauser Karabiner 98k rifle was issued but was not widely used . The MG34 and MG42 were used as vehicle mounted armament for defending road blocks or vehicle checkpoints . Other Military Police Troops . Because the Feldgendarmerie did not have enough manpower to execute all of their tasks , the Wehrmacht established several military police like troops , some of them with limited authority . Postwar reorganization . With the creation of the " Bundeswehr " in 1955 , many of its branches of service were given names that would at least nominally distinguish them from their logical " Wehrmacht " equivalents . Thus , military police in the modern " Bundeswehr " were not called " Feldgendarmerie . " In fact , the original intent was to call the MPs " Militärpolizei , " literally military police . However , state officials protested as the law enforcement function in the brand new German constitution had been given primarily to the states , not the federation . The word " Polizei " ( Police ) was jealously guarded by the states , so the Federal Defence Ministry searched for a new designation and adopted " Feldjäger " which was a traditional Prussia n regiment with some military police type functions .