Panzer Division Silesia

Panzer Division Silesia
active	February to March 1945
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Wehrmacht
Armed forces	army
Type	Panzer Division
structure	structure
garrison	Döberitz military training area
Commanders
list	Commanders

The Panzer Division Schlesien was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht during World War II .

Division history

Operation area:

• East Germany: February / March 1945

The Panzer Division Schlesien was set up in February 1945 at the Döberitz military training area near Berlin . Originally it was to be called Panzer Division Döberitz , but was then renamed Panzer Division Schlesien. The Panzer Division Silesia was equipped with 21 Type IV tanks by the Army Equipment Office, and in March 1945 a further 20 tanks were added. The division was only used shortly before the end of the war. In February 1945, the Silesian Panzer Division was subordinated to Army Group Vistula and was to be given its operational area in Frankfurt an der Oder . At the end of March 1945, the Panzer Division Silesia and the Panzer Division Holstein were combined to form the 18th Panzer Grenadier Division .

people

Division commander of the Panzer Division Silesia:

period of service	Rank	Surname
February 28 to March 25, 1945	Colonel	Ernst Wellmann

structure

Outline when setting up

• Tank Department "Silesia"
  • 1st - 3rd Assault Gun Company
• Panzer Grenadier Regiment "Silesia"
  • 1st Battalion (gp.)
  • 2nd Battalion (mot)
  • Engineer Company
  • heavy infantry gun company
• Panzer Reconnaissance Company "Silesia"
• Tank Artillery Regiment "Silesia"
  • mixed department
  • Air Force Flak Department
• Panzerjäger company
• Tank Pioneer Company "Silesia" (mot)
  • 3rd / Panzer Pioneer Battalion 32 of the 12th Panzer Division
• Panzer News Company "Silesia"

Structure on March 10, 1945

• Division staff
• Divisional escort company
  • Grenadier train, Kradmeldezug, anti-aircraft train
• Panzer division "Silesia" (stock: 31 Panzer IV, 10 Panzer IV / 70)
  • Staff with headquarters company
  • 1st - 4th company
  • Tank workshop train
• Panzer Grenadier Regiment "Silesia"
  • Staff with headquarters company
  • 1st battalion with staff
    • 1st - 3rd Company (58 armored personnel carriers, including 6 Sd.Kfz. 251/22)
    • 4th company (motorized)
  • 2nd battalion with staff
    • 5th-8th Company (motorized)
  • III. Battalion with staff
    • 9-12 Company (motorized)
    • 13th Company (sIG)
    • 14th company (pioneer, motorized)
• Fusilier Battalion
  • Rod
  • 1st - 4th Company (motorized)
• Panzer Reconnaissance Company "Silesia"
• Tank destroyer department "Silesia"
  • 1st company (10 Jagdpanzer 38 " Hetzer ")
  • Staff, 2nd and 3rd Company (21 Jagdpanzer 38 "Hetzer") in position
• Tank Artillery Regiment "Silesia"
  • Stick battery
  • I. Department: Stick, stick battery, 1st and 2nd light battery (6 leFH each), 3rd heavy battery, 4th sFH battery
  • II. (Lw.) Flak artillery department: staff, stick battery, 1st – 3rd heavy battery (each 4 8.8 cm flak and 3 2 cm flak)
  • (The second division probably emerged from the heavy flak division 420.)
• Pioneer Battalion (motorized) "Silesia"
  • Rod
  • 1st - 3rd company
• Panzer News Company "Silesia"
• Supply troops
  • 1 motor vehicle company (100 t)
  • 1 administration company
  • 3./Werkstatt-Kompanie 84
  • 1 medical company and 1 ambulance train
  • Field Post Office

literature

• Samuel W. Mitcham Jr : The Panzer Legions: A guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of WWII and Their Commanders , Stackpole Military History, 2007, ISBN 978-0811733533 .
• Peter Schmitz, Klaus-Jürgen Thies, Günter Wegmann, Christian Zweng: The German Divisions 1941–1945 , Vol. 3, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1996. ISBN 3-7648-2458-1 .

Web links

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

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ from Panzer Department 303
2. ↑ from I.Btl./Heeres -Artillerie-Abteilung 106
3. ↑ 4 × 2cm flak on half-track vehicles