|
6th Panzer Army
The 6th Panzer Army (german: 6. Panzerarmee) was a formation of the German Army, formed in the autumn of 1944. The 6th Panzer Army was first used as an offensive force during the Battle of the Bulge, in which it operated as the northernmost element of the German offensive. The army was subsequently transferred to Hungary in early 1945 and used in both offensive and defensive actions there. The final battles of the 6th Panzer Army were fought in Austria, preventing its fall to Soviet forces. The remnants of the army eventually surrendered to the United States Army. The army's commander throughout its existence, SS-'' Oberstgruppenführer'' Josef Dietrich said in early 1945: We call ourselves the "6th Panzer Army", because we've only got 6 Panzers left. . Unit history The 6th Panzer Army is best noted for its leading role in the Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945). Although it never received an SS designation, calling it the ''6th SS Panzer Army'' came ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Army (Wehrmacht)
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the German Air Force, ''Luftwaffe'' (German Air Force). , the German Army had a strength of 62,766 soldiers. History Overview A German army equipped, organized, and trained following a single doctrine and permanently unified under one command in 1871 during the unification of Germany under the leadership of Prussia. From 1871 to 1919, the title ''German Army (German Empire), Deutsches Heer'' (German Army) was the official name of the German land forces. Following the German defeat in World War I and the end of the German Empire, the main army was dissolved. From 1921 to 1935 the name of the German land forces was the ''Reichswehr, Reichsheer'' (Army of the Empire) and from 1935 to 1945 the name ''German Army (We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
12th SS Panzer Division
The SS Division Hitlerjugend or 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" (german: 12. SS-Panzerdivision "Hitlerjugend") was a German armoured division of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth, while the senior NCOs and officers were from other Waffen-SS divisions. The division committed several war crimes while en route to and during the early battles of the Allied Normandy landings, including the Ascq and Normandy massacres, and several massacres, arsons and rapes in cities Plomion, Tavaux, Bouillon, Godinne, Hun, Rivere, Warnant and Namur. It first saw action on 7 June 1944 as part of the German defensive operations at Caen, and suffered great casualties during the Battle of the Falaise Pocket. In December 1944, the division was committed against the US Army in the Ardennes offensive. After the operation's failure, which became known as the Battle of the Bulge, the division was sent to Hungary to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
6th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
The 6th Panzer Division ( en, 6th Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the ''Heer'', during World War II, established in October 1939. The division, initially formed as a light brigade, participated in the invasions of Poland, Belgium, France and the Soviet Union. From 1941 to 1945 it fought on the Eastern Front, interrupted only by periods of refitting spent in France and Germany. It eventually surrendered to US forces in Czechoslovakia in May 1945 but was handed over to Soviet authorities, where the majority of its remaining men would be imprisoned in Gulag hard labour camps. History The 1st Light Brigade was a mechanized unit established in October 1937 in imitation of the French ''Division Légère Mécanique''. It was intended to take on the roles of army-level reconnaissance and security that had traditionally been the responsibility of cavalry. It included mechanized reconnaissance units, motorized infantry, and a battalion of tanks. The concept o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panzer Division Tatra
Panzer Division Tatra (Panzer Training Division Tatra) was an armored division of the German Heer formed in Moravia in August 1944.Mitcham, p. 94. The division was hastily formed during the Slovak National Uprising of 1944 when the Germans feared that Slovakia might break away from the Axis powers and open the way for the advancing Red Army. After a brief punitive expedition against the Slovaks, the division was converted into a training formation. In March 1945, it was reorganized into the 232nd Panzer Division and was lost fighting in western Hungary. History Panzer Division Tatra The division was formed as an emergency battle group (German: ''Alarmkampfgruppe'') around a core of 1st Panzer Division veterans, the units from the 178th Panzer Division, and the staff of the ''Kleine Karpaten'' training facility in Malacky. Other personnel, according to Samuel Mitcham, "came from all over the map". The division's only tank battalion had 28 obsolete Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3rd SS Panzer Division
The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (german: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for "death's head"the skull and crossbones symboland it is thus sometimes referred to as the Death's Head Division. The division was formed through the expansion of ''Kampfgruppe Eicke'', a battle group named – in keeping with German military practice – after its commander, Theodor Eicke. Most of the battle group's personnel had been transferred to the Waffen SS from concentration camp guard units, which were known collectively as "SS-Totenkopfverbände"; others were former members of ''Selbstschutz'': ethnic German militias that had committed war crimes in Poland. The division became notorious for its brutality, and committed numerous war crimes, including the Le Paradis massacre. The remnants of the division surrendered on 9 Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Group South
Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group South was led by Gerd von Rundstedt and his chief of staff Erich von Manstein. Two years later, Army Group South became one of three army groups into which Germany organised their forces for Operation Barbarossa. Army Group South's principal objective was to capture Soviet Ukraine and its capital Kiev. In September 1944, the Army Group South Ukraine was renamed Army Group South in Eastern Hungary. It fought in Western Hungary until March 1945 and retired to Austria at the end of the Second World War, where it was renamed Army Group Ostmark on 2 April 1945. Operation Barbarossa Ukraine was a major center of Soviet industry and mining and had the good farmland required for Hitler's plans for ''Lebensraum'' ('living space'). Army Group South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nebelwerfer
The Nebelwerfer (smoke mortar) was a World War II Nazi Germany, German series of weapons. They were initially developed by and assigned to the German Army (Wehrmacht), Wehrmacht's "smoke troops" (''Nebeltruppen''). Initially, two different mortars were fielded before they were replaced by a variety of rocket launchers ranging in size from . The thin walls of the rockets had the great advantage of allowing much larger quantities of gases, fluids or high explosives to be delivered than artillery or even mortar shells of the same weight. With the exception of the Balkans Campaign (World War II), Balkans Campaign, ''Nebelwerfer'' were used in every campaign of the German Army during World War II. A version of the 21 cm calibre system was adapted Werfer-Granate 21, for air-to-air use against Allied bombers. Weapons 10 cm Nebelwerfer 35 The lower muzzle velocity of a mortar meant that its shell walls could be thinner than those of artillery shells, and it could carry a larger pay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
326th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 326th Infantry Division (''326. Infanterie-Division'') was the only Eastern Front (Ost Front) veteran division to have fought in the battles of Normandy. It was formed on November 9, 1942, shortly after its return from Southern Russia to serve as an occupation force in France. On May 5, 1943, the division was transformed into a static division. The 326th Infantry Division was destroyed during the Battle of Normandy. A new 326th Volksgrenadier Division (''326. Volksgrenadier-Division'') was formed on September 4, 1944, in Galanta by redesignation of the new 579th Volksgrenadier Division of the 32nd mobilisation wave. In 1945 the division, separated into two groups, entered U.S. captivity in the Ruhr Pocket and Harz respectively. Operational history The 326th Infantry Division spent its entire operational history on the Western Front, taking part in the Battles of Normandy under Army Group D (''Heeresgruppe D'') and the Ardennes under Army Group B Army Group B (German: ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
272nd Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)
The 272nd Volksgrenadier Division (more accurately ''Volks-Grenadier Division''), was a German Army V''olksgrenadier'' division formed following the defeats of the Normandy Campaign in 1944. Composed of men taken from existing ''Heer'' (army) units and airmen and sailors retasked to infantry duties, the division fought on the retreating Western Front until it was largely encircled in the Ruhr Pocket in April 1945. Unit history The 272nd Volksgrenadier Division was formed on 17 September 1944 at the Döberitz Training Area in Germany by combining the then-forming 575th Volksgrenadier Division with the remnants of the veteran 272nd Infantry Division, which had barely managed to escape from the Allied offensives following the Normandy landings. Organized using the new ''Volksgrenadier'' division structure designed in August 1944, the division consisted of three two-battalion infantry regiments, a four-battalion artillery regiment, a combat engineer battalion, an antitank battalio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
9th SS Panzer Division
The 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" (german: 9. SS-Panzerdivision "Hohenstaufen") was a Waffen-SS armoured division of Nazi Germany during World War II. It participated in battles on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. The division was activated in December 1942. Many of the men of the division were young German conscripts, with a cadre of NCOs and staff from the SS Division Leibstandarte and other Waffen SS divisions. Hohenstaufen took part in the relief of German forces in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket, the Normandy battles, Operation Market Garden, the Ardennes Offensive and Operation Spring Awakening. The division surrendered to the United States Army on 8 May 1945, at Steyr.Windrow & Burn, p.15 Formation and Eastern Front The SS Division Hohenstaufen was formed, along with its sister formation 10th SS Division Frundsberg, in France in February 1943. The division was mainly formed from Reich Labour Service conscripts. Originally, Hohenstaufen was designated as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich (german: 2. SS-Panzerdivision "Das Reich") or SS Division Das Reich was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the '' SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT). The division served during the invasion of France and took part in several major battles on the Eastern Front, including in the Battle of Prokhorovka against the 5th Guards Tank Army at the Battle of Kursk. It was then transferred to the West and took part in the fighting in Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, ending the war fighting the Soviets in Hungary and Austria. The division committed the Oradour-sur-Glane and Tulle massacres along with others on the Eastern Front. Operational history In August 1939 Adolf Hitler placed the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), later SS Division Leibstandarte, and the '' SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT) under the operational command of the High Command of the German Army. The units' performan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
II SS Panzer Corps
The II SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern and Western Front (World War II), Western Fronts during World War II. It was commanded by Paul Hausser during the Third Battle of Kharkov and the Battle of Kursk in 1943 and by Wilhelm Bittrich on the Western Front in 1944. World War II 1942–1943 The II SS Panzer Corps was formed to take command of SS Division Leibstandarte, SS Division Das Reich and SS Division Totenkopf in July 1942 as the SS Panzer Corps. In August, it was sent to northern France before taking part in the Case Anton, the occupation of Vichy France in November, during which it captured Toulon. In early February 1943, the corps, under the command of SS-Gruppenführer Paul Hausser, was attached to Army Group South in Ukraine and participated in the Third Battle of Kharkov. The corps was renamed II SS Panzer Corps in June 1943, after the I SS Panzer Corps was created during that same ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich")