26th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

26th Panzer Division
Division badge of the 26th Panzer Division
active	September 14, 1942 to May 2, 1945 (surrender)
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Wehrmacht
Armed forces	army
Branch of service	Armored force
Type	Panzer Division
structure	structure
Location	Potsdam
Second World War	Italy 1943-1945
Commanders
list of	Commanders

The 26th Panzer Division was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht in World War II .

Division history

The 26th Panzer Division remained under the command of the 15th Army in northern France after being set up in September 1942 until July 1943 .

In July 1943 she was moved from France to Italy and stationed with the bulk of her units on the Gulf of Taranto . There and on the Strait of Messina , she secured the Italian mainland against the transfer of large Allied units from Sicily . It was then used against the US landing head at Salerno and then withdrew to the Abruzzo position. In November and December the division was engaged in heavy defensive battles in the Volturno and Sangro sectors.

From January 1944 she fought against the Anglo-American landing at Anzio-Nettuno . By mid-June it withdrew north of Rome and further towards the Arno near Florence . By mid-December 1944, they continued to withdraw to the north behind the Senio bar. In the last year of the war she fought in the Bologna area and at the end of April went back over the Po towards Bolzano . There she surrendered to the Allied troops on May 2, 1945.

War crimes

Members of the Panzer Reconnaissance Department 26, commanded by Captain Josef Strauch , committed a massacre north of Fucecchio on August 23, 1944 when they surrounded a swamp area during a gang-fighting operation , which served as a hiding place for the Resistancea , in which numerous civilians had also found refuge. A total of 174 people were killed, most of them by firearms. 167 of the victims were civilians, including 51 women and 23 children, the smallest of whom was only a few weeks old. In the post-war period, several criminal cases were carried out and several division members were sentenced to prison terms. The massacre at Padule di Fucecchio was the only war crime in Italy in which members of the 26th Panzer Division were involved.

structure

The 26th Panzer Division was set up on September 14, 1942 in the area around Amiens in occupied France . She took over some of her units as a whole from the 23rd Infantry Division set up in Wehrkreis III . This military district was also responsible for the replacement of the new division. But then there was an open dispute over the future division badge of the 26th Panzer Division. Because large parts of the (old) 23rd Infantry Division were integrated, their top leadership claimed their division badge, the grenadier head , for themselves. On the other hand, the leadership of the newly established 23rd Infantry Division was asked to continue to use the old division badge. The dispute went so far that Hitler had to settle it. Per leader decision was Grenadier head of the new 23rd Infantry Division awarded. However, Hitler also allowed the 26th Panzer Division to use the grenadier head , but slightly modified in the stylized roller of a tank.

• Panzergrenadier Regiment 9
• Panzer Grenadier Regiment 67
• 26th Panzer Regiment
• 93rd Panzer Artillery Regiment
• Panzer Reconnaissance Division 26
• Panzerjäger detachment 93
• Panzer Pioneer Battalion 93
• Army Flak Artillery Department 304
• Panzer News Department 93

Commanders

• Colonel Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz (September 14-30 , 1942) m. d. F. b.
• Major General Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz (October 1, 1942 to January 21, 1944)
• Colonel Hans Hecker (January 22 to April 11, 1944) m. d. F. b.
• Colonel Hans Boelsen (April 11 to May 7, 1944) m. d. F. b.
• Lieutenant General Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz (May 8 to July 6, 1944)
• Colonel Eduard Crasemann ( 6-18 July 1944) m. d. F. b.
• Major General Hans Boelsen (July 19 to August 26, 1944) m. d. F. b.
• Colonel Eduard Crasemann (August 27, 1944 to September 30, 1944) m. d. F. b.
• Major General Eduard Crasemann (October 1, 1944 to January 14, 1945)
• Colonel Karl Stollbrock (January 15-28, 1945) m. d. F. b.
• Major General Alfred Kuhnert (January 29 to February 28, 1945) m. d. F. b.
• Lieutenant General Viktor Linnarz (March 1 to May 8, 1945)

mdFb (entrusted with the management) means that the regular division commander is not with the division for a longer period due to illness, injury or vacation and is represented by a suitable officer.

Knight's Cross bearer

Surname	Award	Award date	Rank	unit	comment
Lüttwitz Freiherr von, Smilo	Swords	04th July 1944	Lieutenant General	Kdr. 26th Pz.Div	as the 76th soldier
Crasemann, Eduard	Oak leaves	December 18, 1944	Major general	Kdr. 26th Pz.Div	as the 683rd soldier
Ecker, Paul	Oak leaves	October 28, 1944	major	Kdr. I./Pz.Gren.Rgt 9	as the 634th soldier
Lüttwitz Freiherr von, Smilo	Oak leaves	March 16, 1944	Lieutenant General	Kdr. 26th Pz.Div	as the 426th soldier
Bohm, Fritz	Knight's cross	August 23, 1944	Sergeant Major	Platoon leader id 6./Pz.Rgt 26
Late, Heinz	Knight's cross	October 20, 1944	Lieutenant dR	Führer 8./Pz.Rgt 26
Doemming von, Diethelm	Knight's cross	April 30, 1945	major	Kdr. II./Pz.Gren.Rgt 9
Ecker, Paul	Knight's cross	March 16, 1944	major	Kdr. I./Pz.Gren.Rgt 9
Hohenhausen and skyscraper Frhr von, Oskar	Knight's cross	May 11, 1945	Lieutenant colonel	Kdr. Pz.Gren.Rgt
Karrenberg, Albert	Knight's cross	December 11, 1944	First lieutenant	Chief 2./Pz.Gren.Rgt 9
Overhagen, Theo	Knight's cross	0January 1, 1944	sergeant	Platoon leader id 9./Pz.Gren.Rgt 9
Cohrs, Erwin	Knight's cross	0December 9, 1944	major	Kdr. II./Pz.Gren.Rgt 67
Imminger, Bernhard	Knight's cross	0October 4, 1944	Sergeant Major	Platoon leader id 3./Pz.Gren.Rgt 67
Imgenberg, Fritz	Knight's cross	0June 9, 1944	Staff Sergeant	Zugführer-Stabskp. / Pz.Gren.Rgt 67
Müller, Werner	Knight's cross	December 26, 1944	First lieutenant	Führer 7./Pz.Gren.Rgt 67
Roggenland, Franz	Knight's cross	0October 4, 1944	Sergeant Major	Platoon leader id 10./Pz.Gren.Rgt 67
Schlepple, Eberhard	Knight's cross	July 27, 1944	First Lieutenant dR	Leader Pz. Aufkl.Abt 26
Liehr, Franz	Knight's cross	December 11, 1944	Sergeant	Group leader id 3./Pz.Pi.Btl 93

Well-known members of the division

• Eberhard of block (1923-2019), was a Gen. of the army of the German Federal Armed Forces
• Josef Strauch (1910–1970) was a politician of the All-German Bloc , head of department for adult education at the Hessian State Center for Political Education and a convicted war criminal

literature

• 26th 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. 421-442.
• "26th Panzer Division" in 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 ; (On-line)
• Rolf Stoves: The armored and motorized large German formations 1935–1945 . Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, ISBN 3-89555-102-3 .

Web links

• Organizational History of the German Armored Forces 1939–1945. (PDF; 292 kB) Accessed September 15, 2011 (English). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b history of the} division see Scherzer 2010; Pp. 420-424.
2. ^ Gerhard Schreiber : German war crimes in Italy , CH Beck, 1996, ISBN 3-406-39268-7 , p. 194.
3. ↑ Padule di Fucecchio, August 23, 1944 (Firenze - Toscana). In: straginazifasciste.it. Retrieved November 7, 2019 (Italian). 
4. ↑ Internationales Militaria-Magazin July / August 2009, technical report by Uwe Lautenschläger, pages 19-20.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Veit Scherzer: Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 519.
6. ↑ Walter-Peer Fellgiebel: The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939-1945 . Podzun-Pallas, Friedburg 2000, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 , pp. 78 .
7. ↑ Walther-Peer Fellgiebel: The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 . Podzun-Pallas, Friedburg 2000, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 , pp. 76 .
8. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Günter Wegmann: The Knight's Cross Bearers of the German Wehrmacht, Part VIIIa Panzertruppe Volume 2 , Biblio Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-7648-2322-4 .
9. ↑ Walther-Peer Fellgiebel: The bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 . Podzun-Pallas, Friedburg 2000, ISBN 3-7909-0284-5 , pp. 142 .