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PANZERTRUPPEN
The Complete Guide to the
Creation &Combat Employment of
Germany's Tank Force
1943-1945
Alsoby ThomasL. Jentz
GERMANY'S PANTHERTANK: THE QUESTFOR COMBATSUPREMACY
PANZERTRUPPEN: 1933-1942
PANZERTRUPPEN
The Complete Guide to the Creation
& Combat Employment of
Germany's Tank Force • 1943-1 945
Book Design by Robert Biondi.
Copyright© 1996byThomas L. Jentz.
LibraryofCongress Catalog Number: 96-67793.
All rights reserved. No part ofthis work may be reproduced or used in any forms
or by any means - graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or
information storage and retrieval systems - without written permission from the
copyright holder.
Printed inthe United States ofAmerica.
ISBN: 0-7643-0080-6
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Contents
Introduction 6
Chapter21 DEFEAT IN NORTHAFRICA 8
Chapter22 SURROUNDEDAT STALINGRADTOTHE COUNTEROFFENSIVETO RETAKE KHARKOV 21
Chapter23 REORGANIZATION OFTHE PANZERTRUPPEN -OCTOBER 1942THROUGH DECEMBER 1943 .47
Chapter24 OPERATION ZITADELLE 74
Chapter25 DEFENSE OF SICILY 102
Chapter26 THETHIRD YEAR ON THE EASTERN FRONT 108
Chf!1pter27 DEFENSE OF ITALy 135
Chapter28 REORGANIZINGAND REBUILDING THE PANZERTRUPPEN IN 1944 ~ 152
Chapter29 INVASION OF NORMANDYTOTHE BATTLE OFTHE BULGE 177
Chapter30 THE LASTYEAR ON THE EASTERN FRONT 204
Chapter31 FORMATION OFTHE LAST UNITS 232
Chapter32 DEFENSE OFTHE FATHERLAND 246
Appendices
AppendixA: Formation ofPanzer Unitsforthe Heer 249
Appendix B: Panzer Inventory, Gains, and Reported Losses 276
Appendix C: Technical Specifications ofthe OpponentsTanks 292
Appendix D: Penetration Capabilities ofTank Guns 296
Appendix E: Recommended Books 297
Appendix F: GlossaryofGerman MilitaryTerms 298
INTRODUCTION
H
avingfailed towin theirstrategicobjectives, the five years. The content of this book is derived solely
Heer (German Army) was overextended deep from these original records consisting of war diaries,
in enemy territory facing numerically superior reports, and technical and tactical manualswritten dur
forces in the Fall of 1942. Now it was theAllies turn to ing the war. No attempt has been madeto analyzethe
launch the offensives that would keep the Heeroff bal contentorto interjectpersonal opinion.Thestoryistold
ance. With few exceptions the days of employing as recorded by those responsible for decisions in de
massed Panzer formations to gain strategically deci velopingthe Panzertruppen and bythosewhofought in
siveobjectives had cometo an end.And, thesefew ex the Panzers. The only editing of reports was done to
ceptions were almost invariably failures. Forced onto eliminate information that was not pertinent to under
thedefensivethe Panzertruppen modifiedtheirtactics standing development or tactics of the Panzers and
becomingexpertatcounterattacksthatspoiledtheirop Panzer units.
ponents drivesand inflicted heavycasualties. Theybe Inpresenting howthe Panzersfared incombat, only
came so proficient that the Allied armies took years to original combat and experience reports written directly
retaketerritorythattheHeerhadoverran inafewweeks afterthe actionswere usedto relatethethoughtsofthe
ormonths.Thisbookpresentshowthe Panzertruppen troops that fought in the Panzers. This establishes a
fought during their defensive struggle with details on foundation forthe readerto evaluatetheirperformance
the units, organizations, type of Panzers, and tactics. free from the influence of assumptions, generalities,
Many other books have successfully covered the opinions, and other uninformed statements expressed
history of the Panzertruppen at division, corps, army, byarmchairarmorexperts.Thereadershould beaware
and armygroup level.These havedealtwith the strate that many of these original experience reports are bi
gic decisions ofthe high command, the successes and ased in that they do not describe routine activity but
the mistakes. A listing of other books that have very were written to relate the unusual. Most ofthe German
thoroughly related the history of the higher level strat reportswerewrittenwiththemotiveofinitiatingimprove
egy and tactics are listed asAppendix E. After reading ments to the Panzers or changing tactics.
many of these published accounts, I was still left with Throughoutthis book, Ihave retained the namesof
manyunansweredquestions. HowmanyPanzerswere the Panzers, Panzer units, rank, and title as they were
actuallyavailablewitheachunitatthestartofeachcam used in the original reports. These names can not be
paign? When were new unitsformed and committed to translatedwithoutlossofidentityand meaning.Aseach
action? What was their organization and equipment? new name is introduced, theAmerican equivalent is in
What were the Panzers armament, armor protection, cluded in parenthesiswhentheequivalencyisnotobvi
andcapabilities? Whattacticswere used bythesmaller ous (Le. Division, Brigade, Regiment, Bataillon,
unitsfrom platoons upto regiments? Howdid theysur Kompanie). The Panzer-Abteilung frequently is
vive intheface ofoverwhelming numerical superiority? mistranslated as being a detachment or a unit. It is not
Theanswerstoallofthesequestionswereobtained a German battalion which at the time consisted offive
by digging through original records forthe pasttwenty- companies. With its two to four Panzer-Kompanien
6
INTRODUCTION
undercommand, itisroughlytheequivalentofanAmeri command ofthe German language. Peter Frandsen is
can tank battalion. To somewhat ease the impact of thanked for his efforts in reviewing the manuscriptas a
German terms on the English speaking reader, I have representativefortheaveragearmorenthusiast.Thanks
insertedhyphenstobreakupsomeofthelongernames are also due to professional proofreader Stanley
and have blatantlyhacked o.ffsuffixesthatare normally Thawley for his role in degermanizing sentence struc
appended to German nouns. A glossary of terms is in ture in the translations.
cluded asAppendix F. Any difficultyyou mayfind while attempting to read
Many thanks are due to George Wagner (now re through this book as if it was a light work of fiction is
tired) ofthe Captured Records Section at the National entirely your own fault for even attempting to embark
Archivesforhisadviceand guidancein digging myway on such an endeavor. Ittook overfive times the length
through the mountain ofavailable records. Iwould also ofWorldWarIItocompilethisinformation.Thereismuch
liketothank his replacement, Robin Cookson, who has more information contained in these two volumes than
been a great help in locating the odd box of records. any single person actively involved with the
Thanks are also due to Heer Meyer and Heer Loos at Panzertruppen knewatthetime. Itis impossibleforthe
the Militaerarchiv and Heer Nielges and Frau Kuhl at most casual observer to even start to comprehend the
the Bildarchiv for their friendly assistance in extracting most obvious facts after a few hours of light reading.
datafromthemassivecollectionofdocumentsand pho Don't be quick to jump to conclusions. Keep an open
tographs. SpecialthanksgotoWernerRegenberg (spe mind, absorb the information at face value, and then
cializing in research on units outfitted with captured applyittoanalyzeand understand howarmored battles
tanks) and Leo Niehorster (specializing in unit organi were fought in World War II.
zations) for reviewing and providing additional details This book is intended for those interested in facts
for the list of Panzer units presented in Appendix A. and figures. As such itshould be studied in conjunction
Thanks arealsodueto Steve2alogafor providing data with manyotherfine books on the subject. Your reward
on the T-70 and IS-2 Soviet tanks as presented in Ap will be new discoveries on practically every page that
pendix D. Any omissions or mistakes are my own and debunktheold myths, propaganda, and erroneousmili
may be largely due to my stubborn refusal to use any tary intelligence which have been insidiously infiltrated
datathat could not be verified in original records. intoourcommon knowledgeand manypublished histo
The research was the fun part, providing constant ries on World War II.
rewards as long-sought-atterfacts and figures were fi
nally discovered. The hard part was beating the data
into some semblance oforder and thetedious hours of Tom Jentz
translation sothatthe informationwould bemadeavail Germantown, Maryland
able to the many interested readers who don't have a 6 June 1996
7
21
Defeat in North Africa
T
he German forces had overextended and lostthe ini The following excerpts from the war diary of the
tiative in NorthAfrica. From now on they were forced 15.Panzer-DivisionrelatehowPanzer-Regiment8attacked
to react to their opponent's moves. With veryfew ex and held upthe British advance- forone more day:
ceptions, the days of employing massed Panzerformations
togainstrategicallydecisiveobjectives had cometo an end. 2 November 1942
But even decimated Panzer units were still very dangerous 0200 - Contact between Panzer-Grenadier
opponents, expert at counterstriking and inflicting serious Regiment 115 and Panzer-Regiment 8 was dis
casualties. rupted.
PanzerarmeeAfrika settled intoaheavilymined defen 0220 - Intercepted enemy radio message: Our
sivebeltrunningparalleltotheBritishpositionsatEIAlamein tanks havepassedthrough thegap in the minefield
and held the Panzer-Regiments in reserve. When the Brit andarenowadvancingonawide front.
ish launched their major offensive during the night of 23/24 0320-The forwardelementsoftheenemyhave
October 1942, Panzer-Regiment 5 and 8 were positioned brokenthroughtotheheadquartersofPanzer-Regi
where they could strike at any armored force that managed ment 8 and the main body is located on the Otto
tobreakthroughthestaticdefenses.Theiroperationalstrength Piste(track). ContactwithPanzer-Regiment8isnot
reported forthe evening of23 October 1942was: available.
0445-TelephonecontactwithPanzer-Regiment
PzlI Pzlli PzIIISp PzlV PzlVSp PzBef Total 8 was restored.
Pz.Rgt.5: 0505-Asdawnbrokeenemytankscouldbeseen
Available 19 53 43 7 15 6 143 on the telegraph track from the division command
Operational 18 43 43 6 15 3 128 post.Artilleryfireandshellsfiredbytanksarehitting
Pz.Rgt.8: close to the division commandpost.
Available 14 43 44 3 15 2 121 0636 - Our Panzers are advancing from the
Operational 12 38 43 2 15 1 111 southwesttowardthenortheastontheOtto-Piste. The
enemy is pulling back. The burning tanks are the
In preventing the British from achieving a complete break enemy's.
through, the Panzer-Regiments lost 1 Pz.Kpfw.lI, 18 The21.Panzer-Division has reached the Otto
Pz.Kpfw.lIl, 20 Pz.Kpfw.l1l Sp., 1 Pz.Kpfw.lV, and 10 Piste nearA.P.412. From there theyintendto strike
Pz.Kpfw.lV Sp. as total write-ofts during the period from 24 south to hitthe enemyin the flankatA.P.411.
to29October.ThisbattleofattritionhadleftthePanzer-Regi 0705-OrderstoPanzer-Artillerie-Regiment33:
ments with the following operational strengths to face the The enemy is located at A.P.411 with 80 tanks.
renewed British assault in Operation Supercharge on 2 No 21.Panzer-Divisionhasbeengiventheassignment
vember 1942: to immediatelyattacksouth. Panzer-Regiment8is
attacking toward the east to close the gap.
PzlI Pzlli PzIliSp PzlV PzlVSp PzBef Total I.Abteilung/Panzer-Regiment8isstillattheoldlo
Pz.Rgt.5 9 28 20 4 11 3 75 cation.II.Abteilung/Panzer-Regiment8isinthearea
Pz.Rgt.8 5 15 27 3 5 1 56 ofA.P.507.Artilleryto commence firing.
8
CHAPTER 21: DEFEAT IN NORTH AFRICA
ThisPz.Kpfw.lVAusf.F2and Pz.Kpfw.11IAusf.LofPanzer-Regiment5were knocked outatEIAlamein. (TIM)
ORGANIZATION AND STRENGTH OF PANZER UNITS
At EI Alamein on 23 October 1942
15.Panzer-Division
~ ~
'Tn\ 'Tn
leS leS le\ SleS leS le\
14 PzlI, 43 PzllI(kz), 44 PzlIl(lg), 3 PzIV(kz), 15 PzIV(lg), 2 PzBef
21.Panzer-Division
P R
~ z. gt.5
avo
~II. ~1.
6~o 6~o
'Tn\ 'Tn\
leS le\le\ leS leS le\
19 PzlI, 53 PzllI(kz), 43 PzlIl(lg), 7PzIV(kz), 15 PzIV(lg), 6 PzBef
9
