Panzergrenadier Division

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An Panzergrenadier Division was a military formation of the Wehrmacht of the German Reich . The term is still used today in the Bundeswehr .

Wehrmacht

With the beginning of the mechanization of part of the Wehrmacht, infantry divisions motorized with trucks were used as Inf.Div. mot. set up. These belonged to the " Rapid Troops " branch of arms . On April 1, 1943, the " Panzertruppe " branch of service was formed when the "Rapid Troops " were dissolved. The motorized infantry - divisions were in "Panzer Grenadier Divisions" renamed, although they, unlike the armored divisions with neither armored personnel mechanized armored infantry contained, even to a greater extent tankbut only one battalion-strong tank division and, in contrast to an infantry division, only had two grenadier regiments and two light artillery divisions, and not three, and were therefore weaker in infantry and artillery.

structure

Target structure of the Panzer Grenadier Division 1943

  • Division staff with map position
  • Feldgendarmerie-Troop (motorized)
  • Music corps
  • 2 grenadier regiments (motorized)
    • 3 grenadier battalions each
  • 1 tank or assault gun division
  • 1 tank destroyer division (motorized)
  • 1 artillery regiment (motorized) (only two light and one heavy artillery division)
  • 1 tank reconnaissance department
  • 1 Army Flak Artillery Department
  • 1 engineer battalion (motorized)
  • 1 news department (motorized)
  • 1 Panzergrenadier field replacement battalion
  • Division Supply Leader with
    • Administrative force
    • Medical service

However, since it was impossible during the war to set up all divisions with the same weapons or personnel, the personnel was reduced for these as well as for other branches of arms.

Divisions

Panzergrenadier divisions of the Wehrmacht were the 3rd , 10th , 15th , 16th , 18th , 20th , 25th , 29th , 90th as well as with the names Brandenburg , Feldherrnhalle , Großdeutschland , Kurmark , Sardinia (up to 6. July 1943, then renamed 90th Panzergrenadier Divisions), Sicily (until July 1, 1943, then renamed 15th Panzergrenadier Divisions).

Some Panzergrenadier divisions, especially those of the Waffen SS , such as the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (later 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, from October 1, 1943), Das Reich (later 2nd SS Panzer- Division Das Reich , from 1943), Totenkopf (later 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf , from 1944), Wiking (later 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" , from October 1943) and others later reclassified to tank divisions . In particular, those with higher deployment numbers from autumn 1944 onwards were no longer divided into divisions, but only from combat groups.

armed forces

The Bundeswehr introduced the Panzergrenadier Divisions shortly after it was founded, starting with Army Structure 2 in 1959. The Panzergrenadier divisions set up before 1959 were first set up as motorized grenadier divisions with personnel transport trucks .

structure

The following breakdown lists the units and formations of an armored infantry division of the Bundeswehr as well as their main weapon systems during Army Structure 4.

Divisions

So far there have been a total of ten armored infantry divisions of the Bundeswehr. The 13th Panzer Grenadier Division was the last to be disbanded in 2013.

literature

  • Chris Bishop: Panzer Grenadier Divisions of the German Wehrmacht 1939–1945 , 1st edition at VDM, Zweibrücken 2008.