16th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

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16th Panzer Division

Troop registration

Troop registration
active 1940 to 1945
Country German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire
Armed forces Wehrmacht
Armed forces army
Branch of service Armored force
Type Panzer Division
structure structure
Second World War German-Soviet War
Battle for Stalingrad

Italian campaign

Salerno
Commanders
list Commanders

The 16th Panzer Division was a large mobile unit ( Panzer Division ) of the German Wehrmacht during World War II .

history

The 16th Panzer Division was created on August 6, 1940 by splitting the 16th Infantry Division (the other successor unit was the 16th Infantry Division ( motorized )). Your home base was Münster in Wehrkreis VI.

1941-1942

In December 1940, the 16th Panzer Division acted under the code Lehrstab-R II as a teaching division in Romania for building up the army there. It served as a reserve during the Balkan campaign and was made available for the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 . North of Tomaszów , the 16th Panzer Division crossed the Bug and took part in the tank battle at Dubno-Lutsk-Rivne . The basin battles at Uman and Kiev followed . The Bug was crossed again at Pervomaisk , resulting in chase battles with the Red Army in the Dnepr bend. After Nikolayev was captured, a larger unit of the Soviet Army could be included near Kiev. Another operational success was recorded in the Battle of the Sea of ​​Azov from September 26 to October 11, 1941. In the Donets Basin and east of the Mius , the 16th Panzer Division was involved in further battles. Other stations on the advance to Stalingrad were Barvenkowo , Charkow , Volchansk and Isjum until the division reached the middle Don .

Stalingrad campaign

During the attack on Stalingrad , the 16th Panzer Division had the task of sealing off the city in the north. To do this, it approached the northern suburbs via the Tatar Trench. The defensive measures of the Red Army, which had not yet been completed at this point in time, favored relatively quick progress. The reconnaissance department reached the Volga on August 23rd - the 16th Panzer Division was the first German combat unit of the 6th Army to advance to the bank of the river. There the unit had to form a hedgehog position , as the connection to the advancing infantry divisions was broken by the rapid advance. At that time the division had only 75 operational battle tanks and the motorized infantry had already suffered heavy losses.

At Spartanowka, the first battles against well-developed positions of the Red Army took place in the early stages. The tank attacks collapsed in the Soviet defensive fire and T-34 tanks penetrated the German positions. On August 24, 1942, the 16th Panzer Division took the pier for the railway ferry and positioned its artillery so that the Volga ferries could be shot at. The infantry was still unable to advance and the flanks of the 16th Panzer Division were surrounded by Red Army soldiers from the 35th Rifle Division. In this situation, General Hube issued the following order:

“The shortage of ammunition and fuel means that our only chance is to break through to the west. I strictly refuse to wage a pointless battle that must end with the annihilation of my troops and therefore await orders to break out west. I will take full personal responsibility for this order and will be able to justify it to the relevant authorities. Gentlemen, I hereby release you from your oath of allegiance and leave the decision to you or the men to whom you entrust control. It is impossible to hold our positions without ammunition. I am hereby acting against the Fuehrer's order. "

- General Hans-Valentin Hube , commander of the 16th Panzer Division on August 24, 1942

The 60th Motorized Infantry Division reached its destination on August 30, 1942 and supported the enclosed 16th Panzer Division and 3rd Motorized Infantry Division , which were able to break free.

The 16th Panzer Division was subordinate to the XIV. Panzer Corps and had the order, together with the 60th and 3rd Motorized Infantry Division, the northern wing between Don and Volga against the 4th Panzer Army, 1st Guard Army, 24th and 66th Army of the Soviet Union to secure. In the section assigned to her in the Kotluban region, the tank soldiers formed hedgehog positions at the eastern end of the corridor. On September 3, 1942, there were repeated heavy attacks by the Soviet Army, which, however, despite several breakthroughs, could be repelled. As a result, they were bound in ongoing fighting and were unable to provide reinforcements for the battle for the Stalingrad suburbs. On September 5, 1942, another major offensive began by Malinowski's 66th Army with strong artillery support, T-34 and new US M-3 tanks, which were increasingly delivered to the Soviet Union via the lending and leasing law . The Krumpen combat group had to withdraw from its location around Rynok and Orlowka in order to intervene in the threatened Kotluban region. On September 11, 1942, the fighting increased at height 1.6 and in the so-called "Tomatenschlucht" south of Erzowka. The companies of armored infantry - regiment 64 were thereby severely depleted. As a result of this offensive, Rynok and Orlowka remained in Soviet possession and the advance of the XIV Panzer Corps into the northern industrial complexes of Stalingrad could not be carried out.

The 16th Panzer Division, together with the 3rd and 60th Motorized Infantry Division, had the task of securing the eastern land corridor against the Soviet 1st Guard Army and the 66th Army on the Stalingrad Front . The 16th PD was assigned the sector between Balka Sukhaya Metschetka to Akatowka on the Volga and from Orlowka to Rynok. The combat strength of the 16th Panzer Division was on September 14, 1942: three medium-strength (500-700 men) and two average (400-500) Panzergrenadier battalions, Panzerpionier Battalion  16 also average (400-500). On September 25, 1942, Major General Günther Angern was appointed to lead the division with effect from September 15, 1942. His predecessor Hube was promoted to commanding general of the XIV Panzer Corps. Between September 16 and 17, 1942, when the house-to-house fighting in Stalingrad-Mitte was at its height, the Gorokhov group launched a series of counter-attacks in the north on the positions of the 16th Panzer Division around Hill 101.3 and 135.4 northwest of Spartanowka, which missed their goal, forces of the LI. To bind army corps on the advance on the city center.

Kotluban offensive

During the second Soviet Kotluban offensive from September 18 to October 2, 1942, Malinowski's 66th Army with around 34,000 soldiers attacked the division border between 3rd Motorized Infantry Division and the 16th Panzer Division on Hill 139.7 . The aim was to unite with the defenders of the 62nd Army around Orlovka. The fighting later shifted west of Orlovka. On September 24, 1942, they penetrated about one kilometer into the defense lines of the Panzer Division, with the OKW reporting the shooting down of 36 Soviet tanks. Despite reports of success from the Red Army, the 16th Panzer Division reported on September 25, 1942 that another 31 enemy tanks had been destroyed and that the attack at Erlowka had been repulsed. As a result of the heavy fighting, the combat strength of the 16th Panzer Division fell on October 5, 1942 to three medium-strength (500-700 men), an average (400-500) and a weak (300-400) Panzergrenadier battalion.

Reduction of the Orlovka front arch

Another main objective of the 6th Army was the reduction of the Orlowka front arc, which could not be achieved by the 16th Panzer Division and the 60th Motorized Infantry Division alone, so that the attacking forces by the 389th and 94th Infantry Division Infantry Division had to be reinforced. The 16th Panzer Division was deployed in this operation against the railway line southeast of Goroditscht. The Angerns division's operational area was in the northern section between hills 135.4 and 144.4. Orlowka should be on 28/29. September 1942 from the north and east with mixed combat groups of the 16th Panzer Division and the 60th ID (motorized) in company to battalion strength. Heavy air strikes preceded the attack. Parts of the 79th Panzer Grenadier Regiment moved from Hill 135.4 in the direction of Orlovka and pushed the Soviet 115th Rifle Brigade back to the northern outskirts of the village. Nevertheless, the forces of the 16th Panzer Division and the 389th Infantry Division were initially too weak to isolate and enclose the Red Army units. On September 30th the pressure increased continuously and two vessels could be formed. After two assault attacks, the 16th Panzer Division was able to announce the capture of most of Orlowka on October 1, 1942. On October 3, the German offensive forces at Orlowka had to be thinned out in order to provide enough soldiers for the advance on the tractor factory in Stalingrad . With the bundled forces from the 16th Panzer Division, the 60th Motorized Infantry Division and the Stachel group, the last Soviet resistance was to be broken on October 4, 1942. This was only partially successful, as some Soviet battalions were able to withdraw south of the Mokraja Mechetka river. Massive volleys from Katyusha rocket launchers prevented the total collapse of the Red Army on the Orlovka front.

Spartanowka and Rynok

In the first days of October, the Gorkhow group (124th and 149th Rifle Brigade and 282nd NKVD Rifle Regiment) continued their tactics of attrition and attrition against the 16th Panzer Division northwest of Rynok and Spartanowka. After the Orlowka battles, the nominal strength of the 16th Panzer Division (similar to the 14th Panzer Division and 24th Panzer Division as well) sank to well below 1,000 soldiers, sometimes only 20 to 50 battle tanks were still in use, which severely endangered Paul’s plans for a swift conquest of the northern Stalingrad district. During the preparations for the major attack on the tractor works, the 16th Panzer Division received the order to destroy Soviet units around Hügel 135.4, Rynok and Spartanowka and to secure the left flank of the Jaenecke combat group , which was marching south of the Mokraia Mechetka against the tractor works . The combat group Krumpen (2nd Btl / 79th PzGren Regiment, 1st Btl / 64th PzGren Regiment), a tank squadron and PiBtl. 651. According to the announcements of Army Group B, parts of the 16th Panzer Division managed to break into Rynok on October 15, 1942. The Gorochow group had buried themselves in three weeks of digging at Rynok, Spartanowka and on hill 134.5. The most strongly defended positions consisted of a system of trenches and earth bunkers along a ridge north of Spartanowka, which the Germans called "Small and Large Mushroom". A mixed association from the Krumpen combat group, the IR 267/94. the infantry division and the Strehlke group tried in several attempts to throw these defenses. The assault attacks mostly took place at dawn, PzGren Regiment 79 was able to briefly occupy the hilltop of the "Little Mushroom", another attack failed on the "Big Mushroom" (a 350 m × 120 m bunker). At the same time, the advance of the Strehlke battalion in Rynok caused bitter house-to-house fights for every street and square. Strehlke had to break off the attack because of excessive losses. On October 16, 1942, the 64th Panzer Grenadier Regiment penetrated the trenches at the “Little and Big Mushroom” and was able to take possession of the area after persistent fighting and heavy losses. About 200 Red Army soldiers were killed. After this victory the 16th Panzer Division received the order to invade Spartanovka. This advance has already stalled in the northwestern suburbs of Spartanowka. Towards the end of October 1942, the 16th Panzer Division was meanwhile concentrating on the threat posed by the Soviet 66th Army in the north on the Suchaja Metschetka Balka (Ukrainian loess gorge / erosion channel), where they dug defensive positions with bolts from mortars and machine gun positions. The strongly fortified positions temporarily prevented Rokossowski's Donfront from another bloody counter-offensive.

The combat strength of the 16th Panzer Division was on October 19, 1942: 1 medium (500–700 men), 1 average (400–500) and 2 weak (300–400) battalions. On October 25, 1942, the crushing of the last Soviet resistance in the Spartanowka area was reported, but in fact hundreds of Red Army soldiers were still in the rugged Balkas between Rynok and Spartanowka. Rynok itself was still defended by two rifle brigades with "fanatical" resistance. On October 31, 1942, a reinforced battalion of the 300th SD was deployed in an amphibious operation on the west bank of the Volga to retake the Lataschanka region north of Rynok. Fierce fighting broke out at the pier and at the Volga train station and the first bridgehead was cut off. A short time later, there was a second landing with tank support, which could also be pushed back. Lieutenant Gerke received the Knight's Cross for the defense of the Volga in this section. Of the 900 Red Army soldiers involved in the landing operation, most fell or were seriously wounded, and very few survived.

A member of the 16th Panzer Division later reported on the position of the division after the fighting:

“The companies have bled to death. The survivors are utterly exhausted and exhausted. Weapons and material are worn out. Replenishment and supplementation would be the new task, but the situation did not allow this as the battle for Stalingrad was not yet brought to a successful conclusion. "

During Operation Hubertus in November 1942, the 16th Panzer Division with its 50 battle tanks no longer played a major role in the battle for the Stalingrad industrial district. Paulus and Weichs , however, did not want to send forces to the troubled Italian and Romanian divisions on the Don front, as the final victory they sought in Stalingrad had not yet been achieved. On November 17, 1942, a final attempt was made to conquer Rynok for good, although this intention was already considered pointless by most officers, as a large Soviet force was building up in the background (in preparation for Operation Uranus ). Werthen describes Rynok as "a kind of fire-breathing fortress, a maze of trenches, buried and hidden tanks, minefields and nests with anti-tank weapons ". The pioneers first had to blow up alleys for the tanks and fight Soviet positions in the cellars. During a snowstorm, two combat groups with the last 25 tanks of the 16th Panzer Division advanced on the defensive positions in Rynok. Poor visibility and concentrated Soviet defensive fire prevented the two groups from uniting; a counterattack drove the attackers out of the north-west sector of the village, while the 16th Panzer Division lost 122 soldiers. It was not until November 19, right at the start of the major Soviet offensive “Uranus” and the encirclement of the entire 6th Army, that the XIV Panzer Corps allowed the retreat.

A kind of epitaph from the division history of the 16th Panzer Division described the desperate situation as follows:

“The division's operation against Rynok failed. The heavy losses again weakened the firepower. 4000 of their bravest soldiers lie along the railway line from Frolow to Stalingrad. A wide field of grave crosses rises from the white steppe. At this point a new phase of the Stalingrad battle began. "

In January 1943 the entire division in the Stalingrad pocket was destroyed.

Re-establishment

Italy, 1943. Crew of Panzer IV of the 16th Panzer Division
Italy, 1943. Crew of a Panzer IV of the 16th Panzer Division
Italy, 1943. Crew of Panzer IV of the 16th Panzer Division

The 16th Panzer Division was reorganized in Brittany / France in March 1943 for the fighting on the Western Front . The main part of the reinforced 890 motorized grenadier regiment was sent to it and in May 1943 the Panzer Division was operational again.

1943

During the Allied landing in Italy , the 16th Panzer Division fought in the battles for Salerno and the approaches to Naples . Between November and December 1943, the 16th Panzer Division was sent again to the Eastern Front and reached Bobruisk in Belarus on December 13, 1943 . From there she experienced the massive counter-attack by the Red Army near Kiev, which led to extremely heavy losses.

1944-1945

In the summer of 1944, the division had to withdraw via Poland . The 16th Panzer Division gave up its positions near Baranow and retreated across the Vistula . After being refreshed in December 1944, the 16th Panzer Division was attached to the XXIV Panzer Corps and only led one Panzer Grenadier regiment. In January 1945 she tried in vain to prevent the Red Army from breaking out of the Baranov bridgehead . Worn out by the fighting, it had to be freshened up in February 1945 by the Jüterbog Panzer Division . In March 1945 she had to move south to the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia .

Part of the 16th Panzer Division surrendered to Red Army troops, another part in April 1945, part to the US Army in the Brno area in Moravia .

structure

16th Panzer Division in
1941 on the Eastern Front 		16th Panzer Division in
1943 on the Eastern Front
2nd Panzer Regiment
  • Rifle Brigade 16
    • Rifle Regiment 64
    • Rifle Regiment 79
  • Panzer Grenadier Regiment 64
  • 79th Panzer Grenadier Regiment
Motorbike Rifle Battalion 16
  • Artillery Regiment 16
  • Panzer Artillery Regiment 16
  • Reconnaissance Department 16
  • Panzer Reconnaissance Division 16
  • Army Flak Artillery Department 274
Panzerjäger detachment 16
Panzer Pioneer Battalion 16
  • News Department 16
  • Panzer News Department 16
Field Replacement Battalion 16
  • Tank supply troops 16

Commanders

Rank Surname date
Major General / Lieutenant General Hans-Valentin Hube 0November 1, 1940 to September 14, 1942
Major general Günther Angern September 15 to 30, 1942 (in charge of the tour)
Major General / Lieutenant General Günther Angern 0October 1, 1942 to February 2, 1943
Colonel Burkhart Müller-Hillebrand March 1943 (as "Commander of the deployment staff")
Major general Rudolf Sieckenius 0May 5, 1943
Colonel Hans-Ulrich Back 0November 1, 1943 to January 31, 1944 (in charge of the tour)
Major general Hans-Ulrich Back 0February 1 to August 14, 1944
Major general Dietrich von Müller August 14, 1944 (kidnapped by partisans)
Colonel Theodor Kretschmer March 1945 (in charge of the tour)
Colonel Kurt Treuhaupt April 19, 1945

Well-known members of the division

literature

  • Veit Scherzer (Ed.): German troops in World War II. Volume 5, Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2009, ISBN 978-3-938845-22-6 .
  • Samuel W. Mitcham : German Order of Battle. Panzer, Panzer Grenadier and Waffen SS Divisions in World War II. Stackpole Books, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3438-7 .
  • Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 4. The Land Forces 15–30 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1976, ISBN 3-7648-1083-1 .
  • David M. Glantz: Armageddon in Stalingrad: September – November 1942 (The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 2). University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2009, ISBN 978-0-7006-1664-0 .

Web links

Commons : 16th Panzer Division  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

On the pages of the book:

  • David M. Glantz: Armageddon in Stalingrad: September – November 1942 (The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 2). University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2009
  1. ↑ p. 5.
  2. ↑ p. 3.
  3. ↑ pp. 30-32, 40-42, 50-51, 53.
  4. ↑ pp. 98, 102-103.
  5. ↑ pp. 105-106, 136-137, 154.
  6. ↑ p. 161.
  7. ↑ pp. 171, 179-183.
  8. ↑ p. 239, 250.
  9. ↑ pp. 291-298.
  10. ↑ pp. 186, 332.
  11. ↑ pp. 375-377.
  12. ↑ pp. 394, 397, 399, 407-408.
  13. ↑ pp. 417-418, 426.
  14. ↑ p. 448.
  15. ↑ p. 460.
  16. ↑ pp. 501-502.
  17. ↑ pp. 521-522, 523.
  18. ↑ p. 524.
  19. ↑ p. 828.
  20. ↑ pp. 626, 680, 687-688.
  21. ↑ p. 688

Further evidence

  1. ↑ "a fire-spitting fortress, a maze of ditches, hidden tanks, minefields, and nests of antitank rifles."