The 102nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion (german: schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 102) was a

German heavy tank battalion A German heavy tank battalion (german: "schwere Panzer abteilung", 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 ...

of the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

during

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It fought as part of the

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 Thir ...

during the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

and was nearly destroyed. Renumbered as 502nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion in late 1944, the unit was destroyed in the

Halbe Pocket The Battle of Halbe (german: Kesselschlacht von Halbe, russian: Хальбский котёл, Halbe pocket) was a battle lasting from April 24 – May 1, 1945 in which the German Ninth Army—under the command of General Theodor Busse—was dest ...

in Spring 1945.

Operational history

Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Zschaeckel-198-28, Russland, Raum Charkow, Heinrich Himmler

In April 1943, the

ordered the creation of a series of heavy tank battalions equipped with the new

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 ...

tanks — for use in offensive actions on the Eastern Front. Each of the heavy tank battalions would be attached to a Corps of the Waffen SS. Upon formation, the 102nd was attached to the

. Originally, each heavy tank battalion was composed of a single company of Tiger I's, attached to each respective SS Panzer Division in the Panzerkorps.Fey, p. 19 By July 1943, the predecessor of the 102nd — SS Panzer Regiment 2 of the

SS 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'' (S ...

— was equipped with 14 Tiger I's. The battalion was sent to

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

after the Allied

D Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

landings. The battalion was almost completely destroyed during the fighting in Normandy; in September 1944 it was pulled back to Germany to reform. Stationed in

Sennelager Sennelager is a village in Germany that forms part of the City of Paderborn. It is notable for its association with the military since the 19th century. Location Sennelager lies around 5 km north of Paderborn city centre in the west of the ...

the battalion was renumbered the 502nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion on September 9th, 1944.Schneider, Tigers in Combat II, p. 271 Equipped with

Tiger II The Tiger II is a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B,''Panzerkampfwagen'' – abbr: ''Pz.'' or ''Pz.Kfw.'' (English: " armoured fighting vehicle"), ''Ausf.' ...

tanks, the battalion took part in the defense against the Red Army at the Oder front. During the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

, the battalion was encircled in the

in 1945 and destroyed.

Footnotes

References

* Fey, William

990 Year 990 ( CMXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Al-Mansur, ''de facto'' ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho (mode ...

(2003). ''Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS''. Stackpole Books. * Ripley, Tim (2005). ''The Waffen-SS at War: Hitler's Praetorians 1925-1945''. Zenith Imprint. * Schneider, Wolfgang (2005). ''Tigers in Combat II''. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.

External links

Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 102 unit history
{{Authority control German heavy tank battalions German units in Normandy Military units and formations established in 1943

102 102 may refer to: *102 (number), the number * AD 102, a year in the 2nd century AD *102 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 102 (ambulance service), an emergency medical transport service in Uttar Pradesh, India * 102 (Clyde) Field Squadron, Royal En ...

Military units and formations disestablished in 1945

Operational history

See also

Footnotes

References

External links