The 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion (german: schwere Panzerabteilung 503; abbreviated: "s.Pz.Abt. 503") was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
heavy
Panzer ''
Abteilung'' (independent
battalion-sized unit) equipped with
Tiger I and
Panzer III tanks. In 1944, it was re-equipped with the new
Tiger II. The battalion saw action on the
Eastern and
Western Fronts during
World War II. As with other
German heavy tank battalion
A German heavy tank battalion (german: "schwere Panzerabteilung", short: "s PzAbt") was a battalion-sized World War II tank unit of the German Army (1935–1945), equipped with Tiger I, and later Tiger II, heavy tanks. Originally intended to fi ...
s, it was normally not assigned to a single corps, but shuffled around according to war circumstances. Later the battalion became part of the newly formed
Panzer Corps Feldherrnhalle
The Panzerkorps ''Feldherrnhalle'' was a German panzer corps that fought on the Eastern Front during the Second World War.
History
The Panzerkorps Feldherrnhalle was formed on 27 November 1944 by redesignating ''IV. Armeekorps'' which had be ...
as the Feldherrnhalle Heavy Tank Battalion.
World War II
The unit was created on May 4, 1942. The unit consisted of 45
Tiger Is on May 10, 1943. In the aftermath of the
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...
, the battalion was deployed to
Army Group Don and arrived at the front on January 1, 1943. The battalion, along with several divisions of the 4th Panzer Army, was tasked with securing the withdrawal of
Army Group A; it then retreated to
Rostov. On February 11, 1943, the unit was transferred to
Kharkiv. It took part in the
Third Battle of Kharkov and the
Operation Citadel in 1943. Four days before the start of Citadel, the battalion reported that 42 of their 45 Tiger tanks were operational. The unit lost three Tigers during the operation and five more during the subsequent retreat.
In January 1944, the battalion, together with a panzer regiment and infantry units, formed Panzer Regiment Bäke. The regiment was part of the relief force, which tried to unsuccessfully break through to encircled forces in the
Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket. The battalion was then trapped in the
Kamenets-Podolsky pocket
Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...
. In late April 1944, the regiment was dissolved and sent West for refitting and equipped with 45 new
Tiger IIs.
In
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...
, the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, the unit was transferred to the command of
5th Panzer Army
5th Panzer Army (german: 5. Panzerarmee) was the name of two different German armoured formations during World War II. The first of these was formed in 1942, during the North African campaign and surrendered to the Allies at Tunis in 1943. The a ...
. On the launch of
Operation Goodwood
Operation Goodwood was a British offensive during the Second World War, which took place between 18 and 20 July 1944 as part of the larger battle for Caen in Normandy, France. The objective of the operation was a limited attack to the south, ...
, the 3rd company, which was based in
Cagny, Calvados
Cagny () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.
International relations
It is twinned with Pirbright in Surrey, England.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Calvados department
The followi ...
, was destroyed in the preliminary Allied bombing, with impacts powerful enough to turn a 56-ton Tiger upside down. Only one Tiger was operational at the end of the day. During the first day of Goodwood, the unit reported the loss of thirteen tanks. At the end of July, the 3rd company received new Tiger II tanks, which were subsequently destroyed in the Allied aerial attacks, with only two brought back to Germany.
In October 1944, the refitted 503rd took part in the
Battle of Debrecen. In early-November, the battalion provided a mobile reserve for the
6th Army (Wehrmacht), re-designated as Army Group
Hermann Balck
Georg Otto Hermann Balck (7 December 1893 – 29 November 1982) was a highly decorated officer of the German Army who served in both World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of General der Panzertruppe.
Early career
Balck was born in ...
. By mid-December, the German forces had been pushed back to Budapest. In January 1945, the unit took part in several failed attempts to relieve Budapest, code-named
Operation Konrad
Operation Konrad was the German- Hungarian effort to relieve the encircled garrison of Budapest during the Battle of Budapest in January 1945. The operation was divided into three parts:
* Operation Konrad I - 1 January 1945 - Led by IV SS Panzer ...
. Though the 17-24 of February, the 503rd took part in one of the last successful German offensives of the war, ''
Operation Südwind (G:Southwind).''
Commanders
* ??? Post (May 1942 - 28 January 1943)
* Erich Hoheisel (28 January 1943 – May 1943)
*
Clemens-Heinrich Graf von Kageneck (July 1943 – 30 January 1944)
*
Rolf Fromme
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarde ...
(February 1944 – December 1944)
* Nordwin von Diest-Körber (December 1944 – February 1945)
See also
*
German heavy tank battalion
A German heavy tank battalion (german: "schwere Panzerabteilung", short: "s PzAbt") was a battalion-sized World War II tank unit of the German Army (1935–1945), equipped with Tiger I, and later Tiger II, heavy tanks. Originally intended to fi ...
*
Organisation of a SS Panzer Division
The SS Panzer Division (german: SS-Panzerdivision, short: SS-PzDiv) was an SS formation during World War II. The table below shows the order of battle to which an SS Panzer division aspired.Willamson, Gordon (1994). ''The SS Hitler´s Instrument ...
*
Panzer division
A Panzer division was one of the armored (tank) divisions in the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the blitzkrieg operations of the early years of World War II. Later the Waffe ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 unit history
{{DEFAULTSORT:503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion
503sPAbt
503sPzAbt
Military units and formations established in 1942
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945