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 ...

Tatra (Panzer Training Division Tatra) was an armored division of the

German Heer 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, '' ...

formed in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

in August 1944.Mitcham, p. 94. The division was hastily formed during the

Slovak National Uprising The Slovak National Uprising ( sk, Slovenské národné povstanie, abbreviated SNP) was a military uprising organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. This resistance movement was represented mainly by the members of the ...

of 1944 when the Germans feared that Slovakia might break away from the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

and open the way for the advancing Red Army. After a brief

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavio ...

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 Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

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 Malacky (German: ''Malatzka'', Hungarian: ''Malacka'') is a town and municipality in western Slovakia around north from capital Bratislava. From the second half of the 10th century until 1918, it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. It is one of ...

. Other personnel, according to

Samuel Mitcham Samuel W. Mitcham Jr. is an American author and military history, military historian who specializes in the Nazi Germany, German war effort during World War II and the Confederate States of America, Confederate war effort during the American Civil ...

, "came from all over the map". The division's only tank battalion had 28 obsolete

Panzer III The ''Panzerkampfwagen III'', commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was Sd.Kfz. 141. It was intended to fight oth ...

and

Panzer IV The ''Panzerkampfwagen'' IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the ''Panzer'' IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. The Panze ...

tanks and three

Tiger I The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...

s. The division began by suppressing resistance in southern Moravia, and on 29 August 1944, moved to

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Sl ...

in north-western Slovakia. The improvised division performed well against the Slovak uprising. It crushed the Slovaks, who were being aided by Soviet advisers, and recaptured

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

(German: Pressburg). After this initial success, the division was reorganized into a training division (German: ''Panzer-Feldausbildungs-Division Tatra''). The division incorporated the XVII Panzer Corps command and its

mechanized infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also mechanized force). As defined by the United States Army, mechanized infantry is di ...

and units of inland military districts; the men of the 1st Panzer eventually left Tatra. The division remained in Slovakia until the end of 1944. In March 1945 (or, according to different sources, on 21 February 1945), the division was reorganized into the 232nd Reserve Panzer Division.

232nd Panzer Division

After the reorganization, former training regiments of Tatra (82nd and 85th Training Regiments) were also reorganized and renamed the 101st and 102nd Panzer Grenadiers. Auxiliary units (

flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

, etc.) retained their original Tatra numbers. The unit was hurriedly sent to join the reserves of

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 Sou ...

and was almost immediately thrown into defensive action with the 8th Army. On 26 March, the division was stationed near Marcaltő in

.Meyer, p. 450. The fighting continued for three more days. Divisional commander

Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...

Hans-Ulrich Back was wounded on 29 March and escaped captivity. The division ceased to exist by 1 April 1945.

Commanding officers

Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of O ...

Friedrich-Wilhelm von Loeper Friedrich-Wilhelm von Loeper (3 August 1888 – 7 October 1983) was a German general (Generalleutnant) in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He was marri ...

, 9 October 1944 * Generalmajor Hans-Ulrich Back, February – March 1945

References

Sources

* Samuel Mitcham (2007).
German Order of Battle: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Divisions in World War II
'. Stackpole Books. . * Huber Meyer (2005).
The 12th SS: The History Of The Hitler Youth Panzer Division
'. Stackpole Books. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatra German panzer divisions Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945