Theodor von Hippel Dr . Theodor von Hippel ( born 19 January 1890 , date of death unknown ) was the German army and intelligence officer responsible for the formation and training of the Brandenburgers commando unit . As a Hauptmann ( Captain ) , von Hippel had served under General Paul von Lettow - Vorbeck during the First World War in the East African theatre , where Lettow - Vorbeck had conducted a brilliant guerrilla campaign against Allied colonial troops . At the same time in the Middle East , T . E . Lawrence was enjoying great success employing similar guerrilla style hit - and - run tactics against Germany ' s Turkish allies . World War II . Inspired by these examples , von Hippel proposed that small , élite units , highly trained in infiltration and sabotage and fluent in foreign languages , could operate behind enemy lines , wreaking havoc on the enemy ’ s command , communication and logistical chains . He approached the Reichswehr , with his unconventional idea but it was rejected by the traditionalist Prussia n officers . Von Hippel then approached the Abwehr ( German intelligence service ) and its commander Admiral Wilhelm Canaris . Canaris approved and put von Hippel to work turning his vision into a reality . Von Hippel was promoted to " Oberstleutnant " ( Lieutenant Colonel ) and appointed head of " Section II " the Abwehr branch dealing with clandestine operations . Within weeks Hippel had organized a force of carefully selected men . Since the project was deemed top secret , this crack outfit was designated " Special Duty Training and Construction Company " ( " Lehr und Bau Kompagnie " ) to mask its true function . The unit ' s missions would be determined by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ( OKW ) . The company was headquartered at Stendal in the old Prussian province of Brandenburg from whence it would derive its name . Here , at an old country estate on the city ' s outskirts , von Hippel ' s commandos were taught the techniques of stealth and self - sufficiency ; how to move silently through the woods , to live off the land and navigate by the stars . They also learned to handle kayaks , skis and parachutes , and even how to create explosives from potash , flour and sugar . The Brandenburgers did make one concession to the old , Prussian chivalric code , however - they never attacked without first revealing their true uniforms , which they wore underneath their disguises . Though not always practical , this did give them the advantage , if captured , of being treated as uniformed enemy combatants rather than spies and thus being summarily executed . After achieving impressive early results in their training exercises , the company was expanded into a battalion , which was code named " Ebbinghaus " . The Brandenburgers ' first real test would come in mid - 1939 . Small teams of these commandos , disguised as miners and laborers , sneaked into Poland to begin infiltrating key factories , mines and power stations . The Germans now had a large , covert force of saboteurs deep behind Polish lines . The X - Day for Case White was set for September 1 . On the evening of August 31 , a team of the Brandenburgers in civilian disguise prepared to go into action at Danzig . At 4 : 17 local time , they surrounded and attempted to seize the city ' s post office . A shootout then commenced between the commandos and armed postal workers which would last all day . This was , in effect , the opening engagement of the Second World War . Around the same time the old German battleship Schleswig - Holstein , supposedly in port on a " goodwill " visit , began shelling the city at point - blank range . There remains some debate on whether the war ' s first shots were fired by the Holstein , the Brandenburgers or by Polish Postal Workers . But regardless , by nightfall on X - Day both the city and its post office had fallen to the Germans . Simultaneously , the saboteur teams began to blow up their target facilities where they had been , up until then , employed . Meanwhile , other Brandenburgers slipped across the frontiers , infiltrated behind Polish defensive positions and seized crucial bridges across the river Vistula . At 5 : 00 AM local time on X - Day , the Panzer spearheads of five German armies would charge across these bridges . But von Hippel ' s Brandenburgers themselves had been the real spearheads for this first blitzkrieg operation . Poland was unprepared not only for the conventional war but for the unconventional one which had preceded it . Within 27 days , a nation of 33 million would become the first , and perhaps most unfortunate , of the Third Reich ' s conquests . Von Hippel ' s commandos had passed their first test with ruthless efficiency . Although " Bataillon Ebbinghaus " was disbanded at the end of the Polish campaign , they had performed well enough to be reconstituted , under their old " Lehr und Bau Kompagnie " codename , as a regiment in time to serve with distinction in the 1940 campaign in France and the low countries . By this time , Admiral Canaris had begun to push von Hippel aside and take a direct role in the Brandenburgers ' operations himself . The unit continued to grow from a single regiment into one of the most feared and effective division s fielded by Germany in World War II , participating on every front and in nearly every important campaign . Von Hippel was captured in 1943 by American troops , while commanding a German - Arabic unit in Tunis .