Panzer-Abteilung 211 was a tank battalion of the

German army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The battalion fought during

Operation Silver Fox Operation Silver Fox (german: Silberfuchs; fi, Hopeakettu) from 29 June to 17 November 1941, was a joint German– Finnish military operation during the Continuation War on the Eastern Front of World War II against the Soviet Union. The objecti ...

which was a combined German and Finnish offensive attempting to capture the Soviet port of

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

. The unit was disbanded after this operation due to their outdated equipment.

Formation

After the fall of France in June 1940 the Germans captured a large amount of French vehicles. Among those were 297 (varying according to sources)

Somua S35 The SOMUA S35 was a French cavalry tank of the Second World War. Built from 1936 until 1940 to equip the armoured divisions of the Cavalry, it was for its time a relatively agile medium-weight tank, superior in armour and armament to its Frenc ...

which was considered by many to be the premier medium tank at the beginning of the war. In addition to the SOMUA S35s there were around 550 Hotchkiss H35 and H38 tanks captured as well. The Germans used these captured vehicles to equip several smaller units which were then combined into Panzer-Abteilung 211 on 22 March 1941.

Operation Silver Fox

The Soviet port of

was a high-value target for German command in 1941. On 27 June 1941 they began

to capture the key port, Panzer-Abteilung 211 was tasked with supporting the combined German and Finnish force along with

Panzer-Abteilung 40 Panzer-Abteilung 40 was the name of a tank battalion of the German army during World War II. The battalion fought during the invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung) and afterwards during Operation Silver Fox, the German-Finnish offensive to ca ...

which was equipped with

Panzer I The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for ( German for " armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was '' Sd.Kfz. 10 ...

and

Panzer II The Panzer II is the common name used for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' II (abbreviated PzKpfw II). Although the vehicle had originally been designed as a stopgap while l ...

tanks. This force would participate in a sub-operation of

code-named

Operation Arctic Fox Operation Arctic Fox (German: ''Unternehmen Polarfuchs''; fi, operaatio Napakettu; Russian: ''Кандалакшская операция'') was the codename given to a World War II campaign by German and Finnish forces against Soviet Northern ...

which was a campaign against Soviet Northern Front defenses at Salla, Finland in July 1941. The offensive launched on 1 July 1941 ended on 17 November in a stalemate with German and Finnish forces advancing but not being able to capture Murmansk nor the railway at Kandalaksha.

Sources

* Military units and formations of the German Army in World War II Military units and formations established in 1941 Armoured units and formations of Germany Military units and formations disestablished in 1941 {{Germany-WWII-stub