Panzer division

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A panzer division is an armored division in the German Army (German: Panzerdivision).

Panzer divisions are combined-arms formations having both armor (panzers) and infantry as organic components, along with the usual assets of artillery, antiaircraft, signals, etc. that are common to most military divisions of the industrial era. However, the proportions of the components of a panzer division have changed over time.


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[edit] Panzer divisions during World War II

The German panzer divisions were the main building blocks of the German successes in the Blitzkrieg operations in the early years of the war. They were organized in a way, that they could operate relatively independent from other units. As opposed to most other armies in the era, that had usually organized their tanks in "tank brigades" which always needed infantry and artillery support, the panzer divisions had their support units organic in themselves, which led to an automatic change in military doctrine: rather than seeing tanks as a unit to support operations by other units, the tanks became the main focus of attention, with other units supporting them.

The amount of tanks was comparatively small, but all other units in the panzer division had motorization (trucks, half-tracks, specialized combat vehicles) to match the speed of the tanks. These divisions usually consisted of one tank regiment, two motorized infantry regiments (including one mechanized battalion), an artillery regiment with self-propelled howitzers, and several support battalions (reconnaissance, anti-tank, anti-aircraft, engineers, etc).

Both the Wehrmacht Heer and the Waffen-SS included panzer divisions in their structure.

The Wehrmacht Heer panzer division consisted of a single panzer regiment, two panzer grenadier regiments, one motorised artillery regiment (later panzer artillery regimen); one anti-tank destroyer battalion organised into three anti-tank companies with eight 37mm and three 50mm guns each, and a battery of anti-aircraft guns was also included that used both single and quadruple mount 20mm auto-cannons. There were also five other combat and combat support battalions: motorcycle-infantry battalion, reconnaissance battalion, pioneer battalion, signals battalion, and field replacement battalion. In all the division included 16,000 personnel and was equipped with from 135 to 209 tanks, 25 armoured cars, and 192 guns, including 53 anti-tank weapons.

One myth that emerged in post-war years was that SS Divisions received more tanks than their Wehrmacht counterparts.Recent research has shown this to be untrue,with both types of unit receiving the same amounts of equipment. Since both the Wehrmacht and SS used their own ordinal system, there were duplicate numbers (i.e. there was both a "9th Panzer Division" and a "9th SS Panzer Division"), which occasionally led to confusion amongst their opponents.

As the war progressed, the battle losses were decreasingly replaced in favour of forming new divisions. This led to the situation that most panzer divisions weren't a shadow of themselves in the first half of the war.

[edit] Numbered panzer divisions

[edit] Named panzer divisions

  • Panzer Division Clausewitz (previously Division Nr. 233 (mot.), Panzergrenadier Division Nr. 233, and Panzer Division Nr. 233, Reserve Panzer Division 233)
    • Döberitz, Schlesien, and Holstein are approximately synonymous with Clausewitz.
  • Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 1 (previously 60th Infantry Division, 60th Motorized Infantry Division, and Panzergrenadier Division Feldherrnhalle)
  • Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 (previously 13th Infantry Division, 13th Motorized Infantry Division, and 13th Panzer Division)
  • Panzer Division Jüterbog
  • Panzer Division Kempf (part Heer, part Waffen-SS)
  • Panzer Division Kurmark
  • Panzer Lehr Division (sometimes identified as 130th Panzer Division)
  • Panzer Division Müncheberg
  • Panzer Division Tatra (later Panzer Training Division Tatra, 232nd Panzer Division)

[edit] Tank complement of panzer divisions

The tank strength of panzer divisions varied throughout the war. Battle losses, formation of new units, reinforcements and captured enemy equipment all mean that the actual equipment of each unit is rarely known. The following table summarizes each divisions' strength when it was known.

Unit Tanks on
September 1, 1939[1]
(Invasion of Poland)		 Tanks on
June 22, 1941[2]
(Invasion of the USSR)
1st Panzer Division 309 145
2nd Panzer Division 322 N/Aa
3rd Panzer Division 391 215
4th Panzer Division 341 166
5th Panzer Division 335 N/Ab
10th Panzer Division 150 182
Panzer Division Kempf 164 N/Ae
1st Light Division / 6th Panzer Division 226 245d
2nd Light Division / 7th Panzer Division 85 265d
3rd Light Division / 8th Panzer Division 80 212d
4th Light Division / 9th Panzer Division 62 143d
Panzer Regiment 25 225 N/Ae
11th Panzer Division N/Ac 143
12th Panzer Division N/Ac 293
13th Panzer Division N/Ac 149
14th Panzer Division N/Ac 147
16th Panzer Division N/Ac 146
17th Panzer Division N/Ac 202
18th Panzer Division N/Ac 218
19th Panzer Division N/Ac 228
20th Panzer Division N/Ac 229
a Did not participate in Operation Barbarossa, transport ships sunk while carrying the Division (1941).

b Arrived on the Eastern Front after Operation Barbarossa.
c Formed after the Polish Campaign.
d Renamed following the Polish Campaign.
e Merged into other Divisions following the Polish Campaign.

[edit] Panzer division in popular culture

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Achtung Panzer.com - Polish Campaign accessed May 21, 2008
  2. ^ Achtung Panzer.com - Operation Barbarossa accessed May 21, 2008