During Pavelić's visit to Hitler in September 1944, General Đuro Grujić, chief of Pavelić's Military Office, indicated to the Germans that it would be difficult to recruit another 5,000 men to complete the division after 5,000 had already been assigned. Many Volksdeutsche from the NDH and a few from Hungary were recruited into the division to act as interpreters between the Bosnian Muslims and the German cadre and to enhance unit cohesion. On 10 September the division reached a strength of 126 officers, 374 non-commissioned officers and 3,293 men, composed of German officers and Bosnian Muslim soldiers, a fraction of its prescribed strength of 19,000 men. By this time, morale was waning within the new division just as it completed the final phase of its training in Hungary; the war was not going well, and there were rumours that the Germans were going to abandon the Balkans and leave the Muslims to defend themselves. Faced with high rates of desertion from the 13th SS Division, Sauberzweig proposed a plan to disarm the Bosnians in both divisions, and on 18 September travelled to see Himmler. The Reichsführer-SS instead opted for a plan to transport the 2,000 Bosnians of the 23rd SS Division to the area of operations of the 13th SS Division in Bosnia and re-organise both divisions there. Combat arms units from the 13th SS Division were to be brought under the direct control of IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian), which would also move to Bosnia. Issued on 24 September, the plan cancelled the formation of the 23rd SS Division, and directed SS Oberführer (Senior Colonel) Gustav Lombard to form and command a new SS infantry division using the German cadre and equipment of the 23rd SS Division, supplemented by ethnic Germans recruited from Hungary. The Bosnians of the 23rd SS Division were to be transported by rail back to the Gradište-Županja-Bošnjaci area for re-organisation into a "new" Kama division. The staff of IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian) headquarters left Hungary, and on 3 October 1944 they arrived in the village of Andrijaševci, near Vinkovci. The headquarters became partially operational on 7 October. The Bosnians did not leave Bácska immediately, and for a short period were garrisoned alongside Lombard's new 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division. In the meantime, the Red Army continued to advance into Hungary, and on 9 October 1944 a telegram was