The 509th Heavy Panzer Battalion (german: "schwere Panzerabteilung 509"; abbreviated: "s PzAbt 509") 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 This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht, ...

'' Abteilung'' (an independent

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

-sized unit), equipped with heavy tanks, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

The 509th was ordered formed on 9 September 1943, taking most of its personnel from ''Panzer-Regiment 204'' of the disbanded

22nd Panzer Division The 22nd Panzer Division was a German Panzer Division in World War II. It was formed September 1941 in France. It was transferred to the southern sector of the Eastern Front in March 1942. The 22nd was the last Panzer Division to be issued with ...

. The battalion received forty-five Tiger Is. It was committed to action in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

as a part of Army Group South. Reaching the Front in October 1943, the 509th saw action near

Kirovograd Kirovograd (russian: Кировогра́д) or Kirovohrad ( uk, Кіровогра́д) may refer to: *Kropyvnytskyi, a city in Ukraine formerly named Kirovohrad **Kirovohrad Oblast, of which Kropyvnytskyi is the administrative center *Ganja, Azerb ...

and

Krivoi Rog Kryvyi Rih ( uk, Криви́й Ріг , lit. "Curved Bend" or "Crooked Horn"), also known as Krivoy Rog (Russian: Кривой Рог) is the largest city in central Ukraine, the 7th most populous city in Ukraine and the 2nd largest by area. Kr ...

, and participated in Wehrmacht's retreat. In early 1944, the 509th was involved in the

Second Battle of Kiev The Second Battle of Kiev was a part of a much wider Soviet offensive in Ukraine known as the Battle of the Dnieper involving three strategic operations by the Soviet Red Army and one operational counterattack by the Wehrmacht, which took plac ...

and then retreated across Ukraine. In late May, the depleted 509th was pulled back for refitting. After receiving a full complement of Tiger 1s, the battalion was sent back to the front on 1 June 1944. On 22 June 1944, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

launched

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

, and the 509th, attached to

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army fo ...

, was in their line of advance. On 8 September 1944, the detachment lost sixteen Tigers in under 24 hours near

Kielce Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the bank ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. In late September the battalion was pulled back to be equipped with Tiger IIs. After it had received forty-five new Tiger IIs in December 1944, the detachment was attached to

IV SS Panzer Corps The IV SS Panzer Corps was a panzer corps of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany which saw action on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans during World War II. History The Panzerkorps was formed in August 1943 in Poitiers, France. The formation was o ...

, which was preparing an attempt to relieve the encircled garrison of

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. Launched on 18 January 1945, the operation, codenamed ''

Konrad III Conrad III (german: Konrad; it, Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III and from 1138 until his death in 1152 ...

'', was ultimately a failure. During the operation, the 509th had lost forty of its forty-five Tiger IIs, with ten being total losses. The 509th was transferred to

III Corps 3rd Corps, Third Corps, III Corps, or 3rd Army Corps may refer to: France * 3rd Army Corps (France) * III Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * III Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of th ...

, to support Operation Frühlingserwachen in March, and retreating to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. It took part in the

Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna; pl, odsiecz wiedeńska, lit=Relief of Vienna or ''bitwa pod Wiedniem''; ota, Beç Ḳalʿası Muḥāṣarası, lit=siege of Beç; tr, İkinci Viyana Kuşatması, lit=second siege of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mou ...

in April, before retreating to the American lines. On 9 May 1945, the 509th surrendered to the U.S. Army near

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

Commanders

* Hauptmann Hannibal von Lüttichau (? Aug 1943 - ? Nov 1943) * Hauptmann Hans-Jürgen Burmester (? Mar 1944 - ? Feb 1945)

References

Jentz, Thomas L. ''Panzer Truppen, Vol. 2: The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force 1943-1942''. Atlgen, PA: Schiffer, 1996 {{Subject bar , portal1=Military of Germany , portal2=Tanks , portal3=World War II Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 509sPzAbt

History

Commanders

See also

References