The 27th Panzer Division was an incomplete

armoured Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

(

Panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrma ...

) division of the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It began forming in the southern sector of the Eastern Front in late 1942, but was never completed due to the loss of its assets during the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

counteroffensives in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later r ...

, and no further attempts were made to reconstitute the division.

Operational history

During summer-autumn 1942, part of the division was formed in France, including the division's artillery regiment. Meanwhile, in the Eastern Front, the Brigade Michalik (led by Colonel Helmut Michalik) was formed around the 140th Panzer Grenadier Regiment (which was previously part of

22nd Panzer Division The 22nd Panzer Division was a German Panzer Division in World War II. It was formed September 1941 in France. It was transferred to the southern sector of the Eastern Front in March 1942. The 22nd was the last Panzer Division to be issued wi ...

). In autumn 1942, the two echelons joined in

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

, situated then in the rear area of the German 2nd Army, and the division was formally activated on 1 October 1942. With about 3,000 men its strength was well under that required for a

Panzer Division A Panzer division was one of the armored (tank) divisions in the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the blitzkrieg operations of the early years of World War II. Later the Waff ...

; however the situation required that it had to be scattered in several groups to support different sectors of the Eastern Front: Don, south of

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

, Hungarian 2nd Army,

Italian 8th Army The 8th Army ( it, 8ª Armata) was a field army of the Royal Italian Army, which fought in World War I and on the Eastern Front during World War II. World War I After the disastrous defeat at Caporetto (November 1917) the Italian Army was comp ...

. Twenty tanks were incorporated into the German 2nd Army Headquarters. The 127th Pz.Eng.Batt. never joined the rest of the division, as it was one of the units encircled at

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...

, where it was destroyed. By 1 January 1943, the unit was depleted: it had only half of its mechanised infantry and 11 tanks left. The estimated total strength was less than 1,600 men by 8 February. Once the Soviet winter offensive,

Operation Little Saturn Operation Little Saturn was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in Don and Chir rivers region in German-occupied Soviet Union territory in 16–30 December 1942. The success of Operation Uranus, launc ...

, was stopped, the 27th Panzer was disbanded around 3 March 1943. The personnel of the 127th Panzer and 127th Panzer Signals Battalions were assigned to the 24th Panzer Division in France, while the remaining men and materiel were incorporated into the 7th Panzer Division in Russia.Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007). German Order of Battle Vol.3, p.72

Commanding officers

* Oberst

Helmut Michalik Helmut is a German name. Variants include Hellmut, Helmuth, and Hellmuth. From old German, the first element deriving from either ''heil'' ("healthy") or ''hiltja'' ("battle"), and the second from ''muot'' ("spirit, mind, mood"). Helmut may refer ...

(Creation - 29 November 1942) * Oberst

Hans Tröger Hans Tröger (29 August 1896 – 21 January 1982) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several panzer divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded by Nazi Germany to recognise ...

(30 November 1942 - 26 January 1943) * Oberst

Joachim von Kronhelm Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocrypha ...

(26 January 1943 - Disbanded)

Order of battle

As of 20 September 1942, the following units were assigned to the division:http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Panzerdivisionen/27PD-R.htm 27. Panzer-Division, Lexicon der Wehrmacht. (in German; ''accessed 2018-02-17'') * Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 140 * Panzerjäger-Abteilung 127 * Panzer-Abteilung 127 * Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 127 * Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon 127 * Panzer-Nachrichten-Kompanie 127 By 1943, it also included: * Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 27 * Versorgungstruppen 127

References

Notes

Bibliography