Heavy Panzer Division 504

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heavy tank division 504

active January 13, 1943 to May 8, 1945 (surrender)
Country Flag of Germany (1935–1945) .svg German Empire
Armed forces Wehrmacht
Armed forces army
Branch of service tank
Type Panzer Division
structure Headquarters company
1. – 3. Company
workshop company
Second World War North Africa 1943
Italy 1943–1945
insignia
Identification symbol 504th heavy tank battalion insignia.svg

The heavy tank division 504 was an independent tank unit of the German Wehrmacht in World War II , the main armament of which was the VI Tiger armored car .

structure

  • Rod
  • Headquarters company (three tanks)
    • News train
    • armored reconnaissance platoon (SPW)
    • Reconnaissance train
    • Pioneer train
    • Anti-aircraft platoon
  • 1st - 3rd Tank company (14 tanks each)
    • Company squad (two tanks each)
    • 1st to 3rd platoon (four tanks each)
    • medical corps
    • Vehicle Repair group
    • Battalion I
    • Battleship II
    • Baggage train
  • Workshop company
    • 1st and 2nd workshop train
    • Mountain train
    • Arms mastery
    • Radio mastery
    • Spare part group

Installation and use in North Africa and Sicily

Heavy Panzer Division 504 was set up on January 13, 1943 in Fallingbostel from parts of Panzer Regiment 35 (1st Company) and Panzer Regiment 1 (2nd Company). In preparation for a mission in North Africa within the 5th Panzer Army , the department was converted to so-called tropical use . The division, divided into two companies, was equipped with Panzer III and Tiger I. In March, the Department was first to Paceco on Sicily laid before the rod and the first company in Tunis of Army Group Africa was assumed during the 2nd Company remained in Sicily.

On May 12, 1943, the staff and the 1st Company, together with the entire Army Group Africa, surrendered in Tunisia at Cape Bon . The majority of the department was taken prisoner of war. The 2nd Company, which remained in Sicily, was first incorporated into Panzer Division 215, before being subordinated to the Hermann Göring Parachute Panzer Division , which had meanwhile arrived in Sicily, from the beginning of July . The 3rd company of the department, which had been set up in the meantime, was converted to the 11th company of the Panzer Regiment Großdeutschland. The former 2nd Company, equipped with 17 Tigers I, fought after the Allies landed in Sicily until August 17, 1943, before the last operational Tiger I was transferred to Calabria . The latter failed at the end of August in Calabria due to mechanical problems and was abandoned by the crew.

Realignment and deployment in Italy

According to an order of November 18, 1943, Heavy Panzer Division 504 was reorganized in France by former members of the 2nd Company and Panzer Division 18 of the 18th Panzer Division . At the beginning of June 1944 she was transferred to Italy , where she arrived by the 14th of the same month. There she was subordinate to the 10th Army until the end of the war .

Strength message May 31, 1944 July 1 1 Aug Sept 1 Oct. 1 Nov 1 Dec 1 Jan. 1, 1945 Jan. 15 1st March March, 15 April 5th
Actual strength 45 23 30th 30th 21st 21st 21st 21st 21st 36 36 33
ready to use 43 9 23 28 15th 21st 21st 16 21st 26th 32 22nd
under repair 2 14th 7th 2 6th 0 0 5 0 10 4th 11
losses 22nd 5 9 3

On June 22nd, Heavy Panzer Division 504 was already involved in defensive battles against advancing troops of the 5th US Army on the Tyrrhenian coast in Tuscany . On August 15, 1944, the 1st Company was transferred to Vienna to be trained on the Tiger II , while the 2nd and 3rd Companies were transferred to Parma to recover . At the beginning of September 1944, the department was used again when the 8th British Army attacked the Goths south of Rimini . By January 1945, the department with the front went back to the Lugo - Massa Lombarda area west of Ravenna in Emilia-Romagna .

In February 1945, Heavy Panzer Division 504 took over the remaining Tiger I from Heavy Panzer Division 508, which had also been fighting in Italy until then and had been relocated to Germany . This made it the only tank unit remaining in Italy that was equipped with the Tiger I. During the Allied Spring Offensive in April 1945, she faced New Zealand's 2nd Infantry Division southeast of Bologna on the Senio , Santerno and Sillaro rivers and suffered heavy losses. On April 22, 1945, tanks of the division covered the retreat of German troops at Finale Emilia across the Panaro river against attacking tank units of the 6th South African Panzer Division and thus enabled the 1st Parachute Jäger Division to withdraw towards the Po . All other tanks of the division lying south of the Po were lost on the retreat to the Po. Two Tiger I under repair north of the Po near Padua failed in Veneto on their further retreat towards the edge of the Alps.

On May 2, 1945, the remains surrendered to US troops in northern Italy near Agordo , Belluno province .

literature

Web links

Commons : Heavy Panzer Division 504  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Simone Guidorzi: I Tigre nei territori del fiume Po. In: Serminiada Magazine n.7 July / August 2007 pp. 42–43 PDF
  2. ↑ Thomas L. Jentz: Tiger I and II Combat and Tactics, Podzun Pallas Verlag, ISBN 3-7909-0691-3