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653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion
The 653rd Heavy ''Panzerjäger'' Battalion (''Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653.'') was a tank destroyer unit of the German Wehrmacht active during World War II. It was equipped with ''Ferdinand'' and later ''Jagdtiger'' tank destroyers. Elements of the battalion served on the Eastern, Western, and Italian fronts between 1943 and 1945. Soviet Union and Italy The battalion was formed on 1 April 1943, by the redesignation of the 197th ''Sturmgeschütz'' Battalion. The latter was an assault gun battalion which had been formed in 1940, later seeing service during the Invasion of Yugoslavia and on the Eastern Front. The 653rd was initially equipped with ''Ferdinand'' panzerjager, which mounted a powerful 88 mm gun. The first vehicles arrived in May. The battalion was 1,000 men strong. The crews trained for several weeks on the vehicles at the Nibelungenwerk factory in Austria. Crews even assisted with the final assembly. According to documents at the German Federal Archives, a f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south; it covers an area of , with a population of almost 84 million within its 16 constituent states. Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before AD 100. In 962, the Kingdom of Germany formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
