The 14th Panzer Division () was an armoured division in the

German Army 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'' (G ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was created in 1940 by the conversion of the 4th Infantry Division. The division took part in the invasion of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, eventually being destroyed in the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

. Reformed, the 14th Panzer Division soon returned to the Eastern Front and eventually surrendered to Soviet forces in

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

in May 1945.

World War II

The 14th ''Panzer'' Division was formed in August 1940 from units of the 4th Infantry Division and 4th ''Panzer'' Division. The 4th Infantry Division provided both divisional staff and the infantry components, while the 4th ''Panzer'' Division provided the tank element by transferring 36th ''Panzer'' Regiment to the new division.Mitcham, p. 119 In April 1941, the 14th ''Panzer'' Division took part in the

Invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

, reaching

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

on 15 April. Soon after, it returned to Germany in preparation for

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

. In June 1941, as part of

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 Ge ...

, the division took part in the invasion of the

. It was involved almost continuously in the fighting throughout 1941, including the first winter on the Eastern Front. In early 1942, the division took part in the German summer offensives as Army Group South advanced through the

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

and Don regions. It was transferred to

Friedrich Paulus Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) during World War II who is best known for his surrender of the German 6th Army (Wehrmacht), 6th Army during the Battle ...

' VI Army, which was encircled at

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

soon after. By February 1943, the division had been destroyed in the fighting at the

.Mitcham, p. 120 The division was reformed in Brittany, France. On 20 November 1943, 14th Panzer Division possessed 52 tanks (of which 37 were operational). By November 1943, it was combat ready, transferring back to Army Group South on the Eastern Front. It now had an additional battalion of StuG

assault gun An assault gun (from , , meaning "assault gun") is a type of armored infantry support vehicle and self-propelled artillery, mounting an infantry support gun on a protected self-propelled chassis, intended for providing infantry with heavy di ...

s, the III/36 ''Panzer'' Regiment. The division was part of Army Group South up to June 1944. In August, after being refitted, it was transferred to

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

to the

area (now

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

). The refit included delivery of

Panther tank The Panther tank, officially ''Panzerkampfwagen V Panther'' (abbreviated Pz.Kpfw. V) with Sonderkraftfahrzeug, ordnance inventory designation: ''Sd.Kfz.'' 171, is a German medium tank of World War II. It was used in most European theatre of ...

s. In January 1945, the Red Army launched a number of major offensives across the Eastern Front. Much of Army Group North - including the 14th ''Panzer'' Division - was bypassed and became trapped in the

Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket was a Pocket (military), pocket located on the Courland Peninsula in Latvia on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 9 October 1944 to 10 May 1945. Army Group North of the ''Wehrmacht'' were ...

, and remained there until Germany's surrender in May 1945. The division was disbanded during the last weeks of the war, with its personnel being formed into two ''panzer'' brigades. Parts of the division were evacuated to Germany in the last week of the war and surrendered to the Western Allies while those units remaining surrendered to Soviet forces on 10 May 1945.

Organization

Organization of the Division: * Headquarters * 36th Panzer Regiment ''(from the 4th Panzer Division)'' * 103rd Panzergrenadier Regiment * 108th Panzergrenadier Regiment * 4th Panzer Artillery Regiment * 64th Motorcycle Battalion * 40th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion * 4th Tank Destroyer Battalion * 13th Panzer Engineer Battalion * 13th Panzer Signal Battalion * 276th Army Anti-Aircraft Battalion ''(later added in 1942)'' * 4th Panzer Divisional Supply Group

Commanding officers

The commanders of the division:Mitcham, p. 121–123 *Generalleutnant Erik Hansen, 15 August 1940 *Generalleutnant Heinrich von Prittwitz und Gaffron, 1 October 1940 *General der Panzertruppe

Friedrich Kühn General Friedrich Kühn (7 August 1889 – 15 February 1944) was a General der Panzertruppe in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. World War II At the start of World War ...

, 22 March 1941 *Generalleutnant Ferdinand Heim, 1 July 1942 *Generalleutnant Hans Freiherr von Falkenstein, 1 November 1942 *Generalleutnant Johannes Bäßler, 16 November 1942 *Generalmajor Martin Lattmann, 26 November 1942 *Generalleutnant Friedrich Sieberg, 1 April 1943 *Generalleutnant Martin Unrein, 29 October 1943 *Generalmajor

Oskar Munzel __NOTOC__ Oskar Munzel (13 March 1899 – 1 January 1992) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II and in the Bundeswehr of West Germany who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the I ...

, 5 September 1944 *Generalleutnant Martin Unrein, 1 December 1944 *

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

Friedrich-Wilhelm Jürgen, 10 February 1945 *Oberst Karl Gräßel, 15 March 1945

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Authority control 1*14 Military units and formations established in 1940 German units at the Battle of Stalingrad Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations of Germany in Yugoslavia in World War II

World War II

Organization

Commanding officers

See also

References

Bibliography