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6th Panzer Army
The 6th Panzer Army () was a formation of the German Army, formed in the autumn of 1944. The 6th Panzer Army was first used as an offensive force during the Battle of the Bulge, in which it operated as the northernmost element of the German offensive. The army was subsequently transferred to Hungary in early 1945 and used in both offensive and defensive actions there. The final battles of the 6th Panzer Army were fought in Austria, preventing its fall to Soviet forces. The remnants of the army eventually surrendered to the United States Army. The army's commander throughout its existence, SS-'' Oberstgruppenführer'' Josef Dietrich said in early 1945: "We call ourselves the 6th Panzer Army, because we've only got six Panzers left." Unit history The 6th Panzer Army is best noted for its leading role in the Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945). Although it never received an SS designation, calling it the ''6th SS Panzer Army'' came into general use in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3rd Parachute Division (Germany)
The 3rd Parachute Division () was an airborne forces (Fallschirmjäger) division unit of Nazi Germany's ''Luftwaffe'' that was active during World War II. Its formation began in October 1943 in France near Reims. From February 1944 near Brest. In March 1944 division was reinforced by soldiers from the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Regiment. Operational history The 3rd Parachute Division was an airborne forces division which fought during World War II. It was formed during 1943–44 around a cadre consisting of the veteran 3rd Battalion, 1st Parachute Regiment. The Division was well equipped with 930 MG42s. Each company had 20 MG 42s and 43 sub machine guns while a squad had 2 MG42s and 5 sub machine guns. It arrived in Normandy on 10 June, by trucks after a night drive from Brittany. It was at full strength and consisted of young German volunteers, and numbered 15,976 soldiers and officers. Its level of training and excellent weapon systems prompted the commander of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
6th Army (Wehrmacht)
The 6th Army () was a field army of the German Army during World War II. It is widely known for its defeat by and subsequent surrender to the Red Army at the Battle of Stalingrad on 2 February 1943. It committed war crimes at Babi Yar while under the command of Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau during Operation Barbarossa. The 6th Army was reformed in March 1943, and participated in fighting in Ukraine and later Romania, before being almost completely destroyed in the Second Jassy-Kishinev Offensive in August 1944. Following this it would fight in Hungary, attempting to relieve Budapest, and subsequently retreating into Austria in the Spring of 1945. 6th Army surrendered to US Army forces on 9 May 1945. Western campaigns The 6th Army was formed on 10 October 1939 with General Walther von Reichenau in command through the redesignation of the 10th Army that had fought during the Invasion of Poland. During the invasion of the Low Countries the 6th Army saw active service ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
6th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
The 6th Panzer Division () was an armoured division in the German Army (1935–1945), German Army, the ''Heer'', during World War II, established in October 1939. The division, initially formed as a light brigade, participated in the invasions of Poland, Belgium, France and the Soviet Union. From 1941 to 1945 it fought on the Eastern Front, interrupted only by periods of refitting spent in France and Germany. It eventually surrendered to US forces in Czechoslovakia in May 1945 but was handed over to Soviet authorities, where the majority of its remaining men would be imprisoned in Gulag hard labour camps. History The 1st Light Brigade was a mechanized unit established in October 1937 in imitation of the French ''Division Légère Mécanique''. It was intended to take on the roles of army-level reconnaissance and security that had traditionally been the responsibility of cavalry. It included mechanized reconnaissance units, motorized infantry, and a battalion of tanks. The conce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panzer Division Tatra
Panzer Division Tatra (Panzer Training Division Tatra) was an armored division of the German Heer formed in Moravia in August 1944.Mitcham, p. 94. The division was hastily formed during the Slovak National Uprising of 1944 when the Germans feared that Slovakia might break away from the Axis powers and open the way for the advancing Red Army. After a brief punitive expedition against the Slovaks, the division was converted into a training formation. In March 1945, it was reorganized into the 232nd Panzer Division and was lost fighting in western Hungary. History Panzer Division Tatra The division was formed as an emergency battle group (German: ''Alarmkampfgruppe'') around a core of 1st Panzer Division veterans, the units from the 178th Panzer Division, and the staff of the ''Kleine Karpaten'' training facility in Malacky. Other personnel, according to Samuel Mitcham, "came from all over the map". The division's only tank battalion had 28 obsolete Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3rd SS Panzer Division
The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" () was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for "death's head"the skull and crossbones symboland it is thus sometimes referred to as the Death's Head Division. The division was formed through the expansion of ''Kampfgruppe Eicke'', a battle group named – in keeping with German military practice – after its commander, Theodor Eicke. Most of the battle group's personnel had been transferred to the Waffen-SS from concentration camp guard units, which were known collectively as ''SS-Totenkopfverbände''; others were former members of '' Selbstschutz'': ethnic German militias that had committed war crimes in Poland. The division became notorious for its brutality, and committed numerous war crimes, including the Le Paradis and Chasselay massacres. The remnants of the division surrendered on 9 May 1945 to American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Group South
Army Group South () was the name of one of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland, Army Group South was led by Gerd von Rundstedt and his chief of staff Erich von Manstein. Two years later, Army Group South became one of three army groups into which Germany organised their forces for Operation Barbarossa. Army Group South's principal objective was to capture Soviet Ukraine and its capital Kiev. In September 1944, Army Group South Ukraine was renamed Army Group South in Eastern Hungary. It fought in Western Hungary until March 1945 and retired to Austria at the end of the Second World War, where it was renamed Army Group Ostmark on 2 April 1945. Operation Barbarossa Ukraine was a major center of Soviet industry and mining and had the good farmland required for Hitler's plans for ''Lebensraum'' ('living space'). Army Group South was to advance up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nebelwerfer
The () was a World War II Nazi Germany, German series of weapons. They were initially developed by and assigned to the German Army (Wehrmacht), Army's . Initially, two different mortars were fielded before they were replaced by a variety of rocket launchers ranging in size from . The thin walls of the rockets had the great advantage of allowing much larger quantities of gases, fluids or high explosives to be delivered than artillery or even mortar shells of the same weight. With the exception of the Balkans Campaign (World War II), Balkans Campaign, were used in every campaign of the German Army during World War II. A version of the calibre system was adapted Werfer-Granate 21, for air-to-air use against Allied bombers. Name The s name, which translates as "fog launcher", had previously been given to a smoke-generating 35, and was later used for the 10 cm Nebelwerfer 40, 10 cm ''Nebelwerfer'' 40, which could deliver shells with chemical munitions, as well as high-explosive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
326th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 326th Infantry Division (''326. Infanterie-Division'') was the only Eastern Front (Ost Front) veteran division to have fought in the battles of Normandy. It was formed on November 9, 1942, shortly after its return from Southern Russia to serve as an occupation force in France. On May 5, 1943, the division was transformed into a static division. The 326th Infantry Division was destroyed during the Battle of Normandy. A new 326th Volksgrenadier Division (''326. Volksgrenadier-Division'') was formed on September 4, 1944, in Galanta by redesignation of the new 579th Volksgrenadier Division of the 32nd mobilisation wave. In 1945 the division, separated into two groups, entered U.S. captivity in the Ruhr Pocket and Harz respectively. Operational history The 326th Infantry Division spent its entire operational history on the Western Front, taking part in the Battles of Normandy under Army Group D (''Heeresgruppe D'') and the Ardennes under Army Group B Army Group B () was t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
272nd Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)
The 272nd Volksgrenadier Division, was a German Army V''olksgrenadier'' division formed following the defeats of the Normandy Campaign in 1944. Composed of men taken from existing ''Heer'' (army) units and airmen and sailors retasked to infantry duties, the division fought on the retreating Western Front until it was largely encircled in the Ruhr Pocket in April 1945. Unit history The 272nd Volksgrenadier Division was formed on 17 September 1944 at the Döberitz Training Area in Germany by combining the then-forming 575th Volksgrenadier Division with the remnants of the veteran 272nd Infantry Division, which had barely managed to escape from the Allied offensives following the Normandy landings. Organized using the new ''Volksgrenadier'' division structure designed in August 1944, the division consisted of three two-battalion infantry regiments, a four-battalion artillery regiment, a combat engineer battalion, an antitank battalion, a signals battalion, a fusilier company, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
9th SS Panzer Division
The 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" () was a Waffen-SS armoured division of Nazi Germany during World War II. It participated in battles on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. The division was activated in December 1942. Many of the men of the division were young German conscripts, with a cadre of NCOs and staff from the SS Division Leibstandarte and other Waffen SS divisions. Hohenstaufen took part in the relief of German forces in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket, the Normandy battles, Operation Market Garden, the Ardennes Offensive and Operation Spring Awakening. The division surrendered to the United States Army on 8 May 1945, at Steyr.Windrow & Burn, p.15 Formation and Eastern Front The SS Division Hohenstaufen was formed, along with its sister formation 10th SS Division Frundsberg, in France in February 1943. The division was mainly formed from Reich Labour Service conscripts. Originally, Hohenstaufen was designated as a division, but in October 1943 it was upg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich
The 2nd SS Panzer Division ''Das Reich'' () or SS Division ''Das Reich'' was an armored division of the of Nazi Germany during World War II. Initially formed from regiments of the ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT), ''Das Reich'' initially served during the Battle of France in 1940 before seeing combat on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front between 1941 and 1944. It was transferred to the Western Front (World War II), Western Front in 1944, where it fought in the Operation Overlord, Battle of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge. Toward the end of the war, it was transferred back to the Eastern Front, where it participated in Operation Spring Awakening in Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Hungary. The division became notorious for its brutality, committing numerous war crimes during its operations. The division was responsible for several massacres, including the Tulle massacre on 9 June 1944, and the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre on 10 June 1944. Operational history In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
