Panzergrenadier divisions, 19391945 casemate publishers. It was established in 1934 under the cover name reichswehrdienststelle hamburg, and did not assume its bonafide designation until the creation of the wehrmacht was announced in october 1935. Taking a look at manpower, equipment and organization. Its antitank guns were given over to the panzer jaegerabteilung but the panzergrenadiers were equipped with panzerschrecks and panzerfaust anti. In the autumn of 1937 it was upgraded to a fully motorized division. Panzer division 1944 organization chart and kstn list. Panzergrenadier division is a living history organization located in the northeast united states. An invaluable reference guide for modellers and enthusiasts with an interest in the wehrmacht motorised divisions alike. The book german army and genocide isbn 1565845250 mentions the. It then fought in western europe between october 1944 and january 1945 and in eastern germany january to may 1945. This new book is a concise combat history of the six waffenss panzergrenadier divisions in world war ii.
From the beginning of the war in 1939 panzer brigades were present and operational in the german order of battle until at least the summer of 1943. As amateur historians and collectors, we strive for the accurate research and first person portrayal of the average wehrmacht soldier serving in the regular german army during the latter stages of the. The final expansion of the panzergrenadier divisions was seen in the reorganization of. The division had 2 regiments, with each 3 batallionen. Most of the survivors of the division surrendered to the western allies. A detailed history of all seven waffenss panzer divisions in world war ii. Organized chronologically by division and formation date, the book describes. Deutsches afrikakorps, dak listen help info was the german expeditionary force in africa during the north african campaign of world war ii. Published by amber books ltd 2007 isbn 9781905704293. Panzergrenadier divisions 193945 is the definitive study of the equipment and organization of germanys motorized army divisions during world war. Panzergrenadierdivision feldherrnhalle, division sardinien, headquarters. The division was established under the cover name wehrgauleitung frankfurt in 1934 by expanding the 3rd division of the reichswehr. O2 1st assistant adjutant assisted the ib and handled the organization of all. The table below shows the organisation structure that an ss panzer division aspired to contain.
It was sent to italy and after a hard fight at salerno, the division helped bottle up the allies at anzio. Hitlers foreign divisions, wehrmacht panzer divisions and panzergrenadier divisions. The formation and combat histories of each are discussed in detailed text, along with maps and rare photographs and includes. By midnovember 1943, the 15th panzergrenadier division had fallen back to help defend the bernhardt line in the vicinity ofmignano along highway 6. Sspanzergrenadier division leibstandarte ssadolf hitler. Panzergrenadiers to the front the combat history of panzergrenadier division brandenburg on the eastern front 194445 hamilton, a. German panzergrenadierdivision 44 and motorized infantry. Comparison between the panzergrenadier division 44 and a motorized infantry division from 1939. The 3rd infantry division was an infantry division of the german army that fought in world war ii. The firepower of panzergrenadierregiment in 1944 was reduced due to removal of all antitank guns as compared to previous one table 19 and table 20. Panzergrenadier shortened as pzgren modern or pzg wwii, is a german term for motorised. Before the war, a panzer brigade was composed of a staff and two panzer regiments. Note that the word panzergrenadier literally translated is tank grenadier, but the correct term nowadays is mechanized infantry or even armored infantry, but in world war 2 most panzergrenadiers were actually motorized infantry.
In 1940 it participated in the invasions of belgium and france. There was, however, a major change to unit organization referred to as freie gliederung. The 3rd panzergrenadier division had seen more than its share of fighting before the ardennes campaign. Infanteriedivision mot that was lost in the stalingrad pocket. Panzergrenadier divisions 193945 is the definitive study of the equipment and organization of germanys motorized army divisions during world war ii. Although intended for use with that game, they can be used. Also, the unit organization changed less frequently than those of the army. Panzergrenadiers to the front the combat history of panzergrenadier division brandenburg on the eastern front 194445.
Panzergrenadier pronunciation help info, shortened as pzgren modern or pzg wwii, is a german term for motorised or mechanized infantry that is, infantry transported in combat vehicles specialized for such tasks as introduced during world war ii. Rolf michaelis specializes in books on the waffenss and has written over. Can i understand the chart given by brian67 as standard for panzergrenadier units. Panzergrenadier divisions 193945 is the definitive study of the equipment and organisation of. Basic organization of panzergrenadierregiment mot in type 44 panzer division. In the 1944 panzergrenadier division there were no brigaden. On december 7, 1943, two battalions of the 15th panzergrenadier, commanded by captain helmut meitzel, held strong defensive positions in the town of san pietro infine and on the vitally important.
German world war ii organizational series volume 5iii waffenss higher headquarters and mechanized formations. Organized chronologically by division and formation date, the book. It was destroyed in the encirclement east of minsk and reformed in october 1944. Basic organization of panzergrenadierregiment in panzer. Panzergrenadier divisions 193945 essential identification guide chris bishop. The book german army and genocide mentions the following incident, from the invasion of yugoslavia. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation, inc. The 1st panzer brigade was organized in 1934, followed by others during germanys rearmament.
The structure and organisation of the 12th ss panzer division hitlerjugend is equivalent to the table above and served as a standard for. The panzier and panzier grenadier divisions and panzier brigades. Formed in 1942 by the expansion of infantry regiment motorized grossdeutschland, the new division quickly earned its reputation on the eastern front of being the elite of the german army. Panzergrenadier division grossdeutschland was one of germanys mo. Im interested in the whole chart of panzer divisions and panzergrenadier divisions, the more information the better. Panzergrenadier, panzergrenadierlehr regiment 901 quibou, july 27, 1944 in contrast to waffenss units which widely used camouflage battledress in normandy, the panzerlehrdivision remained with the standard heer feldgrau field gray battledress, albeit with more discretion in battledress than normal heer infantry or panzergrenadier units. It is hard bound and uses low gloss heavy weight paper. It is used in the armies of austria, germany and switzerland additionally, in the german army, panzergrenadier pzg is also the. The ease of c2 is one thing, but panzerdivisionen, that conducted the same mobile, quickpaced operations that the panzergrenadier ones, were organized with a threeregiment structure until 1945, when shortage of everything conducted the two organizations pz and pzg to be merged into one type of division, only retaining their previous. In this video i will cover a german panzergrenadier division setup and also its precursor the motorized infantry division from 1939. The 29th panzergrenadier regiment3rd panzergrenadier division is a wwii living history group based in.
Basic organization of panzergrenadierregiment mot in type 44 panzerdivision. Panzergrenadierdivision was formed in june of 1943 from the 386. Organized chronologically by division and formation date, the book describes in. The 29th panzergrenadier regiment 3rd panzergrenadier division reenacted welcome. The advantages of both mobility and firepower of the once great panzergrenadierregiment were no longer existed. Basic organization of panzergrenadierregiment mot in type 45 panzerdivision although the regiment still could field twelve companies, six of them were motorized panzergrenadier on foot.
During the period after the fall of france, the division was stationed in france preparing for the invasion of england. We are a wwii historical reenactment unit based in missouri. The definitive visual history of armoured vehicles english edition. Additionally, in the german army, panzergrenadier pzg is also the lowest rank of. On december 7, 1943, two battalions of the 15th panzergrenadier, commanded by captain helmut meitzel, held strong defensive positions in the town of san pietro infine and on the vitally important and strategic monte lungo to the southwest.
Its antitank guns were given over to the panzer jaegerabteilung but the panzergrenadiers were equipped with panzerschrecks and panzerfaust antitank. First sent as a holding force to shore up the italian defense of their african colonies, the formation fought on in africa, under various appellations, from march 1941 until its surrender in may 1943. Panzergrenadier divisions 193945 essential identification guide. The division, now called reich, was moved to romania to take part in the invasion of yugoslavia and greece in march of 1941. Our purpose is to preserve the memory of the wwii soldier through participation in reenactment battles, public display events, and the collection and preservation of wwii memorabilia, vehicles and. It was then reorganized as the 15th panzer division in august 1940 at darmstadt and landau by incorporating the 8th panzer regiment from the 10th panzer division and giving up its.
The main part of each mechanized army divisions book starts out with divisional. Panzergrenadiers to the front the combat history of. The creation of the motorized infantry and panzergrenadier arms came as a. Some of these books are a republishing of the original series, which have been out of. The panzer division 1944 organization did not have any major changes from the late panzer division 1943. This formation was created as the 33rd infantry division in 1936, it was mobilized in 1939, but did not take part in the invasion of poland. The german 20th infantry division was an infantry division of nazi germany. Illustrated with detailed artworks of wehrmacht vehicles and their markings with exhaustive captions and specifications, the essential vehicle identification guide. In the 1944 panzergrenadierdivision there were no brigaden.
The two most important differences between the panzergrenadier division 1944 and earlier panzergrenadier division 1943 were replacing the 31 selfpropelled 7,5 cm pak 40 of the panzerjagerabteilung tank destroyer battalion with jagdpanzer iv reducing the strength of the infantry regiments by two officers, 320 noncommissioned officers, and 426 privates. By midnovember 1943, the 15th panzergrenadier division had fallen back to help defend the bernhardt line in the vicinity of mignano along highway 6. Panzergrenadier was sent to italy in july, 1943 where it took part in the battles for salerno, cassino, the bernhard line, the anzio beachhead, and. It had been nearly destroyed in the stalingrad debacle but had been rebuilt around its survivors. The 25th panzergrenadier division fought in the central sector of the eastern front from june 1943 to july 1944. Thank you brian its strange to me to find a simple infantry regiment not motorized in a panzergrenadier division. Panzergrenadier divisions, 193945 is the definitive study of the equipment and organization of germanys motorized army divisions during world war ii.
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