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VII Panzer Corps (Germany)
The VII Panzer Corps (''VII Panzerkorps'', 7th Armoured Corps) was a panzer corps of Nazi Germany during World War II. History The headquarters were formed in East Prussia from the disbanded 49th Infantry Division under Army Group Centre on 18 December 1944. In February it fought under the 2nd Army, as part of Army Group Vistula and participated in the defence against the Soviet East Pomeranian Offensive. The Corps was commanded during its existence by General Mortimer von Kessel. Order of battle 26 January 1945: * Panzergrenadier Division Großdeutschland * 24th Panzer Division * 299th Infantry Division * 18th Panzergrenadier Division * 23rd Infantry Division 1 March 1945: * 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division The 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division (4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division) or SS Division Polizei was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Formation The division was formed in October ... ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Army (Wehrmacht)
The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the German Air Force, ''Luftwaffe'' (German Air Force). , the German Army had a strength of 63,047 soldiers. History Overview A German army equipped, organized, and trained following a single doctrine and permanently unified under one command was created in 1871 during the unification of Germany under the leadership of Prussia. From 1871 to 1919, the title ''German Army (German Empire), Deutsches Heer'' (German Army) was the official name of the German land forces. Following the German defeat in World War I and the end of the German Empire, the main army was dissolved. From 1921 to 1935 the name of the German land forces was the ''Reichswehr, Reichsheer'' (Army of the Realm) and from 1935 to 1945 the name ''German Army (We ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
7th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
The 7th Panzer Division was an Panzer, armored formation of the German Army (Wehrmacht), German Army in World War II. It participated in the Battle of France, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the occupation of Vichy France, and on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front until the end of the war. The 7th Panzer Division is also known by its nickname, Ghost Division. The division met with great success in France in 1940 and then again in the Soviet Union in 1941. In May 1942, the division was withdrawn from the Soviet Union and sent back to France to replace losses and refit. It returned to Southern Russia following the defeat at Stalingrad, and helped to check a general collapse of the front in a series of defensive battles as part of Army Group Don, and participated in General Erich von Manstein's counterattack at Third Battle of Kharkov, Kharkov. The division fought in the unsuccessful offensive at Battle of Kursk, Kursk in the summer of 1943, suffering heavy losses in m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division
The 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division (4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division) or SS Division Polizei was one of the thirty-eight divisions fielded as part of the Waffen-SS during World War II. Formation The division was formed in October 1939, when thousands of members of the ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Orpo) were drafted to fill the ranks of the new SS division. These men were not enrolled in the SS and remained policemen, retaining their Orpo rank structure and insignia. They did not have to meet the racial and physical requirements imposed for the SS. Himmler's purpose in forming the division was to get around the recruitment caps the Wehrmacht had succeeded in placing on the SS, it also provided a means for his policemen to satisfy their military obligation and avoid army conscription. The first commander was ''Generalleutnant der Polizei'' (Major-General) Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch, a career police commander who had been a general staff officer during World War I; simultaneou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
23rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The German 23rd Infantry Division (''23. Infanterie-Division''), later the 26th Panzer Division, was a military unit operational during World War II. It was organized along standard lines for a German infantry division. It was non-motorised and relied on horse-drawn wagons for its mobility. The unit carried the nickname ''Grenadierkopf''. The 23rd Infantry participated in the invasion of Poland in 1939 as part of the reserve component of the 4th Army. The division was commanded by Walter Graf von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt and consisted of the 9th, 67th, and 68th infantry regiments. Commanding officers *Generalleutnant Ernst Busch, creation – 4 February 1938 *General der Infanterie Walter Graf von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt, 4 February 1938 – 1 June 1940 *Generalleutnant Heinz Hellmich, 1 June 1940 – 17 January 1942 *Generalleutnant Curt Badinski, 17 January 1942 – 9 July 1942 26th Panzer Division In July 1942, the division was reorganized as the 26th Panzer Division (' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
18th Panzergrenadier Division
18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. It is an even composite number. Mathematics 18 is a semiperfect number and an abundant number. It is a largely composite number, as it has 6 divisors and no smaller number has more than 6 divisors. There are 18 one-sided pentominoes. In the classification of finite simple groups, there are 18 infinite families of groups. In science Chemistry * The 18-electron rule is a rule of thumb in transition metal chemistry for characterising and predicting the stability of metal complexes. In religion and literature * The Hebrew word for "life" is ('' chai''), which has a numerical value of 18. Consequently, the custom has arisen in Jewish circles to give donations and monetary gifts in multiples of 18 as an expression of blessing for long life. * In Judaism, in the Talmud; Pirkei Avot (5:25), Rabbi Yehudah ben Teime gives the age of 18 as the appropriate age to get married (''"Ben shmonah esra lechupah"'', at eig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
299th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
The 299th Infantry Division () was a German Army infantry division in World War II. It fought France and the Russian Front until February 1945. Operational history The 299th Infantry Division was formed in March and April 1940 from men from Hesse and Thuringia. The 299th Infantry Division first saw action in the 1940 campaign in France, staying in France until June 1941. From June 1941 the 299th Infantry Division then fought on the Eastern Front at the Southern and Central sectors of the front. The 299th Infantry Division gained distinction while fighting on the Eastern Front in the summer of 1943. In July 1944 the 299th Infantry Division was destroyed in fighting on the Eastern Front, reformed in September 1944. The 299th Infantry Division was sent back to the Eastern Front and destroyed in Eastern Prussia in February 1945. War Crimes The 299th division participated in the Massacre at Babi Yar Babi Yar () or Babyn Yar () is a ravine in the Ukraine, Ukrainian capital Kyiv a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
24th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
The 24th Panzer Division was formed in late 1941 from the 1st Cavalry Division based at Königsberg. The division fought on the Eastern Front from June 1942 to January 1943, when it was destroyed in the battle of Stalingrad. Reformed, it once more returned to the Eastern Front in late 1943 and remained there until surrender to Soviet forces in May 1945. Service The 1st Cavalry Division was formed shortly after the outbreak of World War II, in November 1939, when the 1st Cavalry Brigade was expanded to division-size. The division was part of the German invasion of the northern Netherlands where it encountered only weak defences as it was not a strategically important area. After the Dutch surrender, the division took part in the final actions of the battle of France before serving as an occupation force there and, from September 1940, in Poland. It participated in the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, where it was part of the Army Group Center before be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panzergrenadier Division Großdeutschland
The , also commonly referred to simply as or , was an elite combat unit of the German Army (1935–1945), German Army () that fought on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front in World War II. Originally formed in 1921, it was known as the and served as a Guard of honour, ceremonial guard unit and by 1939 had grown into a regiment of the combined German armed forces. The regiment would later be expanded and renamed in 1942, and after significant reorganization was renamed in May 1943. In November 1944, while the division retained its status as a division, some of its subordinate units were expanded to Division (military), divisional status, and the whole group of divisions were reorganized as . 1939–1942 The Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland was activated on 14 June 1939. The regiment saw action in France Battle of France, in 1940, and took part in the invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. It was attached to 2nd Panzer Army, Panzer Group 2 in the opening phases o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Army Group Vistula
Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similarly largely destroyed in the East Prussian Offensive), and a variety of new or ad hoc formations. It was formed to protect Berlin from the Soviet armies advancing from the Vistula River. Establishment and history Heinz Guderian had originally urged the creation of a new army group as an essentially defensive measure to fill the gap opening in German defences between the lower Vistula and the lower Oder. The new Army Group Vistula was duly formed from an assortment of rebuilt, new and existing units. Guderian intended to propose Field-Marshal Maximilian von Weichs as commander. However, in a reflection of Hitler's desire to transfer control of the conflict from the ''Wehrmacht'' to the SS, Heinrich Himmler was appointed. Himmler, who l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panzer Corps
A panzer corps () was an armoured corps type in Nazi Germany's ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II. The name was introduced in 1941, when the motorised corps (''Armeekorps (mot)'' or ''AK(mot)'') were renamed to panzer corps. Panzer corps were created throughout the war, and existed in the Army, the Waffen-SS and even the Luftwaffe. Those renamed from ordinary motorised corps retained their numbering. Purpose Panzer corps underwent transformation as the war went on. Initially they were the main strike force of the ''Wehrmacht'', and consisted of motorised infantry divisions (''ID (mot)'') and panzer divisions. Later in the war it was possible to find panzer corps that consisted solely of infantry divisions. During the initial period of the war the panzer corps predecessor, the motorised corps, were grouped into various panzer groups (''Panzergruppen''). Panzer groups were named (i.e. not designated with numbers) during the campaigns in Poland, France, and Greece, they were not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
