24th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

24th Panzer Division
Troop registration
active	November 28, 1941 to May 8, 1945 (surrender)
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Wehrmacht
Armed forces	army
Branch of service	Armored force
Type	Panzer Division
structure	Panzer Regiment 24 Rifle Brigade 24 Artillery Regiment 89
Installation site	Stablack in East Prussia
Second World War	War against the Soviet Union
insignia
Troop registration

The 24th Panzer Division was a major unit of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War .

Lineup

The 24th Panzer Division (24th PD) was formed from the 1st Cavalry Division on November 28, 1941 at the Stablack military training area ( East Prussia ) . The Panzer Regiment 24 (PzRgt 24) with its three departments emerged from the cavalry regiments 2 and 21. The conversion and training on the armored fighting vehicle took place with the help of the Panzer Ersatzabteilung 1 in Erfurt and the armored troop school in Wünsdorf . Panzer Department 101 (formerly Flammpanzer, now converted to Panzerkampfwagen III and Panzerkampfwagen IV ) was also incorporated into PR 24. The rifle regiment 21 (later PzGrenRgt 21) was formed from the cavalry regiment 1 and made mobile with group vehicles (Kfz. 70). The 26th rifle regiment was reclassified from the 26th cavalry regiment, with the 1st division being equipped as an SPW division. The Panzer Artillery Regiment 89 (PzArtRgt 89) was reclassified from the Reitenden Artillery Regiment 1 and reequipped. The motorcycle rifle department 24 (K 24) emerged from the cycling department 1 and had VW Kübelwagen and light SPW in the squadrons. The Panzerpionierbataillon 40 (PzPiBtl 40) and the Panzernachrichtenabteilung 86 (PzNachrAbt 86) were partially armored. The Panzerjägerabteilung 40 (PzJgAbt 40) received an anti-aircraft squadron on self-propelled guns and the 5 cm PaK 38 and 7.5 cm PaK 40 in the motorized train. The troop units of Divisional Supply Leader 40 were increased with two workshop companies. The 24th Panzer Division continued to use the golden yellow weapon color of the cavalry on the uniform in most units, provided that they were formed from cavalry regiments . The designations department (for battalion) and squadron (for company) were also partially retained. The special cavalry ranks such as Rittmeister (for captain), staff, senior and sergeant (for staff, senior and sergeant) were also retained.

Outline 1942

A Panzer III of the 24th PD near Stalingrad

• Staff of the 24th Panzer Division
• Panzer Regiment 24 (I.-III. Division with three squadrons each, two of them light with Panzer II and Panzer III and one medium with Panzer IV )
• Staff Rifle Brigade 24 , later than Panzer Grenadier Brigade 24 continued
  • Rifle Regiment 21 (1st and 2nd battalion with four companies each, heavy infantry gun company, anti-aircraft company)
  • Rifle Regiment 26 (two battalions)
• Motorcyclist Battalion 4 (1st – 4th motorcyclist company, escort battery)
• Artillery Regiment 89 (I. – III. Division, two of which are light and one heavy, IV. Flaka Division)
• Panzerjäger -teilung 40 (three companies, PaK mot. Zug, anti-aircraft company)
• Pioneer Battalion 40 (1st and 2nd company motorized, 3rd company armored)
• Communications Department 86 (telephone company, radio company)
• Panzer-Divisions-Nachschubführer 40 (motor vehicle columns, horse transport columns, workshop companies)

History 1942/1943

commitment

Sd.Kfz. 251 of the 24th Panzer Division with throwing frame 40, summer 1942

After the formation and combat training at the military training areas in Mailly-le-Camp and Coëtquidan in France, the entire 24th PD, now under the command of Major General Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild , was loaded on in May 1942 and brought to the Eastern Front by rail . Under the command of the XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps of the 4th Panzer Army ( Army Group South ) began the German summer offensive on June 28, 1942 . The tanks advanced in the direction of Voronezh / Don and were able to partially take the city in cooperation with the Greater Germany Division on July 8, 1942. This was followed by an advance into the great Donbogen in the direction of Kalatsch . Forced to stop again and again by supply problems due to the overstretched transport routes, the division reached the Don at the beginning of August and took part in the battle at Kalatsch . After the river had been crossed on August 12, the XXIV Panzer Corps set off in the direction of Stalingrad .

Battle for Stalingrad

During the Battle of Stalingrad, the 24th PD was subordinate to the 4th Panzer Army under Colonel General Hermann Hoth and the XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps under General of the Armored Force Werner Kempf . On September 4, after heavy fighting, the division reached the suburbs of Stalingrad and at that time had only 34 operational tanks. After breaking through the Soviet defensive belt, the division reached the suburb of Minnina on September 10, with only half the target strength of soldiers and only ten tanks ready for action.

Tank companies of the 24th PD were in action at all the important scenes of the battle: from the fight in the suburbs to the southern part of the city, Mamayev Hill , the "Dzerzhinsky" tractor factory and the "Barricades" gun factory with the workers' settlements ("loose-leaf blocks"), Steelworks “Red October” up to Operation Hubertus . Thus, this division was also involved in the heavy house-to-house fighting in Stalingrad, although a tank division is basically not tactically equipped and trained for such fights.

In the boiler

As a result of the Soviet counter-offensive from November 19, 1942 ( Operation Uranus ), large parts of the division got into the Stalingrad pocket. They fought until the 6th Army surrendered on February 2, 1943, with around 1,500 members of the 24th PD becoming prisoners of war.

History 1943/44

Realignment

In mid-March 1943, 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers from the remaining 24th PD arrived in Liseux / France, where the reorganization began immediately. For this purpose, the remaining group of 24th PD, field replacement units of the reserve army (including considerable parts of air force soldiers from disbanded air force units) and returning vacationers, commanded and recovered people were used. The reorganization was completed by June 1943. The Panzer Regiment 24 only had the III. Department, which was equipped with 49 Panzer IV , 44 StuG III , 9 tank command vehicles and 14 flame tanks. The II. Division was evidently not set up, while the I. Division, equipped with panthers , remained in France for the time being and was subordinate to the 116th Panzer Division there.

structure

• Staff 24th PD
• Panzer Regiment 24 (I. Division with three companies, II. Division not established, III. Division with four companies)
• Panzergrenadier Regiment 21 (regimental staff, two battalions with four companies each, heavy infantry gun company, anti-aircraft company)
• Panzergrenadier Regiment 26 (structure as PzGrenRgt 21)
• Armored Artillery Regiment 89 (I. Division with self-propelled guns, II. Light division, III. Heavy division; a total of nine batteries)
• Panzer Reconnaissance Department 24 (1st and 2nd Panzer Reconnaissance Company, 3rd and 4th Rifle Company, 5th Heavy Company, armored)
• Panzerjäger -teilung 40 (1st company with PaK mot. Platoon, 2nd and 3rd company with tank destroyers)
• Army Flak Cartillery Department 283 (1st and 2nd heavy flak company, 3rd light flak company)
• Panzerpionier-Bataillon 40 (1st and 2nd company motorized, 3rd company mechanized)
• Tank intelligence department 86 (telephone company, radio company)
• Panzer-Divisions-Nachschubführer 40 (motor vehicle columns, horse transport columns, workshop companies)

commitment

In July / August 1943, the 24th PD was moved by rail to Northern Italy in the Modena - Bologna - Florence - Pisa - Livorno area. There the division was used for security and coastal protection. The division also took part in the disarmament of the Italian Army ( Axis case ) in September 1943. From October 17, 1943, the division fought again in the southern section of the Eastern Front and took part in the defensive battles on the Dnepr near Novo Staro Dub. This was followed by further defensive battles within the framework of the LI. Army Corps and XXXX. Panzer Corps in the Dnepropetrovsk - Krivoy Rog area . From December 29, 1943 to February 21, 1944, the 24th PD defended the Nikopol bridgehead . At the beginning of March she was involved in defensive battles in the north of Bessarabia and then withdrew over the Bug and the Vltava to the Romanian Subcarpathian region.

History 1944/45

commitment

From March to mid-May 1944, the division was involved in defensive battles in northern Bessarabia. After further defensive battles on the upper Vltava , counterattacks followed north of Jassy by early June. After a brief refresher until July, they were transported to Galicia . From August to early September, the division carried out counter-attacks or defensive battles between the San and the Vistula . The actual personnel and material strengths of the division were very different at this point in time. While the personnel situation (except for the Panzer Grenadiers and Pioneers) was relatively good, the operational readiness for all important weapons, apart from the 7.5 cm PaK 40 , was well below 50%.

On September 15, he was transferred to the Beskids for XXIV Panzer Corps . There the corps was used to defend the Duklapass . From October 11th, the train was transported to Hungary to the Szolnok bridgehead on the Tisza . In addition to defensive battles, counterattacks also took place in the area between Theiss and Ipel until January 12, 1945 . Then the division was transferred to Marienburg in East Prussia, leaving behind the heavy weapons and armored vehicles . After a makeshift replacement with weapons and vehicles in the Elbing area , the division was deployed in South-East Prussia. From February 21 to March 27, she was involved in defensive battles in Warmia and then withdrew to the bridgehead around Heiligenbeil . At the end of March it was transported across the Baltic Sea to the Fresh Spit in Pillau . After the remnants of the division, some 4,000 to 5,000 strong, had been evacuated to Schleswig-Holstein in mid-April, the surrender took place there.

Personal details

Commanders

• Major General Kurt Feldt - November 28, 1941 to April 15, 1942
• Major General Bruno Ritter von Hauenschild - April 15 to September 12, 1942
• Lieutenant General Arno von Lenski - September 12, 1942 to February 2, 1943
• Lieutenant General Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Edelsheim - March 1, 1943 to August 1, 1944
• Major General Gustav-Adolf von Nostiz-Wallwitz - August 1, 1944 to March 25, 1945
• Major Rudolf von Knebel-Döberitz - March 25 to May 8, 1945

Well-known members of the division

• Arno von Lenski , General of the National People's Army of the GDR
• Paul Markgraf (1910–1993), was police chief of Greater Berlin and Berlin (East) from 1945 to 1949
• Horst Niemack (1909–1992), dR Brigadier General of the German Armed Forces , 1958–1988 Chairman of the Order of Knight's Cross Bearers and Chairman of the NOK of the Federal Republic of Germany
• Prince Heinrich IV von Reuss, head of the Reuss family since 1946
• Horst Rocholl (1908–2004), medical officer, department doctor and regimental doctor in Panzer Regiment 24
• Emil Spannocchi (1916–1992), Austrian general, served in the 24th Panzer Regiment

Knight's Cross bearer

literature

• FM von Senger and Etterlin : The 24th Panzer Division 1939–1945. Formerly 1st Cavalry Division. Dörflerverlag 2004, ISBN 978-3895551864 .
• Koschorrek, Günter: Don't forget the time of the thorns: A soldier of the 24th Panzer Division experienced the Soviet front and the battle for Stalingrad. Flechsigverlag 2009, ISBN 978-3803500168 .
• Hauschild, Reinhard: The jumping rider: 1st Cavalry Division, 24th Panzer Division in the picture. Dohanyverlag, ISBN 978-3924434007 .
• Schulz, Hubertus: The reconnaissance (Rf.1, K4, PzAA24) of the 1st Cavalry Division - 24th Panzer Division. Dohanyverlag ISBN 978-3924434076 .
• 24th Panzer Division. In: Veit Scherzer (Ed.): German troops in the Second World War. Volume 6. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2010, ISBN 978-3-938845-27-1 , pp. 271-306.
• Samuel W. Mitcham : The Panzer Legions. A Guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of World War II and Their Commanders. Stackpole Books 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3353-3 .
• 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 .
• 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 .

Web links

Commons : 24th Panzer Division  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature on the 24th Panzer Division in the catalog of the German National Library
• Organizational History of the German Armored Forces 1939 - 1945. (PDF; 292 kB) Retrieved September 15, 2011 (English). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ David M. Glantz: Armageddon in Stalingrad: September – November 1942. (The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 2) University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2009, pp. 30–32.
2. ^ ^{A b} David M. Glantz: Armageddon in Stalingrad: September-November 1942. (The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 2) University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 2009, p. 124.
3. ↑ Dr. FM v. Senger and Etterlin jr .: The 24th Panzer Division 1939–1945. Dörfler Verlag, ISBN 3-89555-186-4 , pp. 395-397.