Panzer division, armoured division, a selfcontained combinedarms military unit of the german army, built around and deriving its mission largely from the capabilities of armoured fighting vehicles. The ss divisions had the same, only with some smaller changes. Now lets take a look at the composition of the tank brigade. Of all the german army organizations i have researched, the gepanzert units are. It had 93 panzer i, a tank never intended for combat and only armed with machine guns. German organization for combat, 1944 between 1939 and 1943 the german standard infantry division contained three regiments with a total of nine rifle battalions. State, political organization of society, or the body politic, or, more narrowly, the. Meanwhile the panzer division hg was renamed as fallschirm panzer division hg. A panzer division in world war ii consisted of a tank brigade with four battalions, a motorized. Panzer divisions 19351939 panzer divisions 19401945 waffen ss panzer divisions 19431945 wehrmacht panzer division. German ss panzergrenadier divisionleibstandarte ss adolf hitler, fought. This is a more restricted meaning than the germanlanguage equivalent panzerdivision short. The panzer regiment contained only one hybrid panzer battalion and one panzergrenadierabteilung, this organization was nearly the same as the shortlived panzer panzergrenadierbrigade in.
The 7th panzer division was an armored formation of the german army in world war ii. For germany are their any support units that are not worthwhile. The history of the 12th ss panzer division hitler youth. There were 17 in each of the 4 companies and 8 in the battalion headquarters company. Panzer division 1944 organization chart and kstn list. Ss motorized division ss panzergrenadierdivision 2 ss mtz inf regts of 3 bns each. One battalion had panthers and the other panzerkampfwagen ivs. After the campaign against poland in 1939, a number of new ss divisions were formed. A panzer division in world war ii consisted of a tank brigade with four. The 11th gespenster panzer division and the german armored. The 1st ss panzer division leibstandarte ss adolf hitler, short lssah, german. The commander of 6th panzer division, general erhard raus, was one of the recognized masters of the mechanized art, highly sought after by the us army after 1945 for his analysis of the fighting in the east. It was not organized like the previous light divisions used in the polish campaign and was called a light division because it had a regiment of tanks but lacked enough pieces to qualify as a full panzer division. September 1939 in contrast with the actual numbers.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the 12th ss. Wehrmacht panzer divisions 193945 essential identification guide bishop. Basic organization of panzergrenadierregiment in panzer. Panzerdivision battle order june 1st 1944 battle of normandy commander. The book is a meticulously researched account of the division s history from its formation in france in 1941 until the end of ww ii in may, 1945. The firepower of panzergrenadierregiment in 1944 was reduced due to removal of all antitank guns as compared to previous one table 19 and table 20. It participated in the battle of france, the invasion of the soviet union, the occupation of vichy france, and on the eastern front until the end of the war. A military history buff will be engrossed with ernst rebentischs the combat history of the 23rd panzer division. I have for example the information that the onhand strength of 11th panzer division on july 1943 before zitadelle was. Ns were used a great deal, because most of these new k.
The panzer regiment of the panzer division 1944 consisted of two battalions. I read that aa units are not good because building more fighters is more efficient. The panzer divisions 1943 1945 kamen nevenkin on amazon. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. In germanspeaking countries, panzerdivision is not immediately associated with the wehrmacht. Panzer division hq reconnaissance battalion assault gun or selfpropelled artillery battalion combat engineers battalion antiaircraft artillery battalion. Westfeldzug, balkan, ukraine, stalingrad, italien, komenezpodolsk, baranow wolfgang werthen on. German tank division 1939 organization and structure. This richly illustrated book chronologically describes the. Initially, the division was named as the ss panzerdivision hohenstaufen, and was later renamed on 10. Combining high mobility and a massive amount of shock power, it was a force to reckoned with. The 7th panzer division is sometimes known by its nickname, ghost division.
Centers on the panzer division as an organization and not just on the details of the tanks themselves. The main part of each mechanized army divisions book starts out with divisional. Basic organization of panzergrenadierregiment mot in type 44 panzer division. Panzer division, remnants of field divisions and heerestruppen from heeresgruppe b was form to new panzer division. What is the best composition of support units for german panzer divisions and infantry divisions. The panzer division had a panzer regiment with 2 panzer abteilungen, each having 4 kompanien of 17 tanks each. I would like to know about the organization of a standard panzer division not grossdeutschland or waffen ss in the summer of 1943. Panzer division these are the numbers for the erste panzer division the first tank division. Cloth hardcover with gilt lettering on spine and cover. The basic organization of panzergrenadierregiment hg was the same as that of the ss panzer division after feb 1944.
I normally only buy german unit histories if the organization in question fought. For an infantry division official composition in 1939 was 17,734 men official composition ws lowered in 1943 due to manpower shortage to 12,772 men a panzer divison after the 1943 reorgaanisation would be 15,600 men and 150200 armoured vehicles one tank regiment of two or three battalions of three companies. On 1 oct 1944 order was came to expand the division into a panzer korps. Initially the size of a regiment, the lssah eventually grew into an elite division sized unit during world war ii. The history of the hitler youth panzer division stackpole military history series. Organized by division, the book describes in depth the various models of tank in. The history of the 12th ss panzer division hitler youth craig w. Greatest battle of the second world war, ebook locations.
The fusilier battalion was usually the most active unit in the division, regularly called upon for antipartisan sweeps, keeping road, railroad, and communication lines safe and running, and generally maintaining an army. Differences in composition of waffenss divisions and regular divisions is. The panzergrenadier division had indeed a panzer abteilung with 42 stugs and 3 panzerbefehlswagen iiis. Revelations ep by panzer division, released 11 august 20 1. The book introduced me to ernst volckheim, a prussian tactician and theorist, who was prolific in his writing on armoured warfare. With the changes noted in the issues of allgemeine heeresmitteilungen, these k. Wehrmacht panzer divisions 193945 essential identification guide. Still intact as a fighting organization, the division was located just inside the western border of czechoslovakia. Formed in france in late 1942, the division spent its entire combat history on the eastern front. Notable offenders also were 1 paraschute division, 16 ss panzer grenadier division and 114 light division. Are hospital and signal units usefull or is more artillery better. On 1 august 1944, the organization of a tank division was changed to that of the panzer division 44.
Each of the infantry regiments had, besides its twelve rifle and heavy weapons companies, a th infantry howitzer and 14th antitank company. Are maintenence companies only good for divisions with vehicles. The panzergrenadierregiment 140 with regimental hq, first battalion, and one spw company was transferred from kempfgruppe michakik of the 22. Handbook on german military forces chapter 2 ibiblio. A previous convoy on may 18, 1941, including those two ships and the italian transport ship laura c. Panzer lehr division battle order june 1st 1944 battle of normandy commanders during the battle of normandy. The book begins with a brief history of the war while the rest features a chapter on each of the panzer divisions. A panzer division is one of the armored tank divisions in the wehrmacht of nazi germany. For the organization of the armed forces high command see figure 4, chapter 1.
In some cases, even the exact afv composition number and types of tanks of. Evidence has been found to show that a large number of the atrocities in italy was committed by the hermann goering parachute panzer division. For the organization of the armed forces high command see figure 4. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Basic organization of panzergrenadierregiment in ss and. A panzer division is one of the armored tank divisions in the wehrmacht of nazi germany during world war ii. This homepage is from the author of this book series. The ratio between panzer and panzergrenadier was down to 1. As wwii drew to a close in march and april of 1945 the weak remains of the 2. The unit surrendered to american forces at plauen and koetzing in may, 1945.
These chapters provide an overview of the division s composition, leadership and war record. The 3rd ss division was formed from the totenkopf units that took part in the polish campaign and with other members of the totenkopfverbande and the allgemeine ss. Visualization of a german panzer division in 1939 according to the planned outfit for the 1. Confident in the knowledge that they had beaten the german army to a standstill in 1918, the armies of western europe once more came to grips w ith their old enemy in may 1940 and within a few days lay prostrate before a numerically inferior but technically superior and revolutionary weapon the panzer division. A guide to the german army tank divisions of world war ii and. Pzdiv, still used in the modern german army of the bundeswehr for example the 1. I think that the best place to look is in jentzs book panzer truppen 1 which has a complete set of charts for every division at the start of barbarossa and includes the actual subordination of each division to korpspghg. Tank brigade historical composition for the 1st tank division 1.
Some portions of the 3rd ss division were formed from. The table below shows the organisation structure that an ss panzer division aspired to contain. These chapters provide an overview of the divisions composition, leadership. In reality, the organization continued to vary from division to division.
Army motorized division panzergrenadierdivision 2 mt inf regts of 3 bns. Ss panzerdivision hohenstaufen was formed in december, 1942, and was subsequently trained in maille le camp in france. The division had 2 regiments, with each 3 batallionen. Structure of a panzer division in 1943 axis history forum. Panzerdivision were absorbed into the thuringen panzerbrigade which fought in the middle mosel region and later in fulda. Viking, none of the motorised infantry divisions had any tanks in 1941 so you only need to check the panzer divisions. The combat history of the 23rd panzer division in world. The 5th light division was a makeshift division built in piecemeal fashion from available units.
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