Heavy Panzer Division 508

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heavy tank division 508

active August 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 Italy 1944-1945
insignia
Identification symbol 508th heavy tank battalion nsignia.svg

The heavy tank division 508 was an independent armored unit of the 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

Commanders

  • January - May 1944: Major Hudel
  • August 1944 - February 1945: Captain Stelter

history

On September 25, 1943, the detachment was formed from remnants of the 8th Panzer Regiment and moved to the Eastern Front. From February 1944, the Panzer Division was sent to the Italian front, where it suffered heavy losses in the fighting at Anzio and Nettuno . During the entire withdrawal phase of the Wehrmacht from Italy, she fought there. In February 1945 she gave her last 15 remaining Tigers to the 504 heavy tank division and returned to Germany for a refresher. There it should be fully equipped with 45 Tigers II . This did not happen anymore and parts of the department were used as infantry in the last days of the war.

Strength message 1st March April 1 1st of May. Jun 3 Jul 1 1 Aug Oct. 1 Nov 1 Dec 1 Jan. 1, 1945 Feb 1
Actual strength 37 43 48 31 41 31 19th 19th 15th 15th 15th
ready to use 12 36 42 11 23 24 15th 14th 10 12 13
under repair 15th 7th 6th 20th 18th 7th 4th 5 5 3 2
losses 8th 2 23 17th 10 12 4th

Conclusion

During its existence, the 508 heavy tank division destroyed around 100 Allied tanks, while it lost 78 Tiger tanks itself. This gave her the worst hit / loss ratio (1 to 1.28) of all 14 Tiger divisions. Given the Allied air superiority, it was not always possible to recover damaged tanks during the constant retreats in Italy. 59 percent of all lost tigers had to be blown up by their own crew. Another reason was that the Tigers seldom came to fire against Allied tanks, as they withdrew when a tiger was sighted and requested artillery or fighter-bombers.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lukas Friedli: The armor repair of the Wehrmacht , Verlag Wolfgang Schneider 2005, ISBN 3-935107-08-0 , p. 125
  2. ↑ Thomas L. Jentz: Tiger I and II Combat and Tactics, Podzun Pallas Verlag, ISBN 3-7909-0691-3
  3. ↑ Lukas Friedli: The armor repair of the Wehrmacht , Verlag Wolfgang Schneider 2005, ISBN 3-935107-08-0 , pp. 124-125