The 16th Panzer Division () was a formation of 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 ...

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 formed in November 1940 from the 16th Infantry Division. It took part in

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 ...

, the invasion of 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 ...

in June 1941, operating in the southern sector of the Eastern Front. After the Soviet offensive in November 1942 the division was trapped in

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 ...

, where it surrendered in February 1943. A new 16th Panzer Division was formed in 1943 and sent to Italy where it was part of the unsuccessful German defense against the

Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allies of World War II, Allied Amphibious warfare, amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign of World War II. T ...

. Sent back to the Eastern Front in November 1943 the division once more saw action in the southern sector, taking part in the relief operation of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket and being part of the

Kamenets-Podolsky pocket Kamianets-Podilskyi (, ; ) is a city on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi. Formerly the administrative center of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the city is now the administrative center of Kamianets ...

. It eventually surrendered to Soviet and American forces in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in May 1945.

History

The division was formed in Autumn 1940 from the 16th Infantry Division which had previously taken part in the German invasion of France in 1940. The division, based in the

Wehrkreis The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military dist ...

VI in the

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

region of Germany, received the 2nd Tank Regiment from the 1st Panzer Division and moved its home base from

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

and came under the command of

Hans-Valentin Hube Hans-Valentin Hube (29 October 1890 – 21 April 1944) was a German general during World War II who commanded armoured forces in the invasions of Poland, France and the Soviet Union. In the course of the war, Hube led the 16th Infantry Divi ...

. The new tank division was sent to Romania and Bulgaria in early 1941 but kept in reserve and did not take part in the German 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

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It briefly returned to Germany before being sent to Poland for the preparation of the

invasion of the Soviet Union 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 a ...

. The division fought in the southern sector of the Eastern Front, taking part in the Battle of Kiev and in the German drive to the Sea of Azov. At the

Battle of Dubno The Battle of Brody (other names in use include Battle of Dubna, Battle of Dubno, Battle of Rovne, Battle of Rovne-Brody) was a tank battle fought between the 1st Panzer Group's III Army Corps and XLVIII Army Corps (Motorized) and five mech ...

293 Soviet tanks were destroyed. By late November the 16th Panzer Division had run out of supplies and could only retreat after having been resupplied during a Soviet counter offensive. It fought in defensive positions during the winter of 1941–42 and took part in anti-partisan operations in the

Stalino Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

region. The division participated in the fighting of the

Second Battle of Kharkov The Second Battle of Kharkov or Operation Fredericus was an Axis powers, Axis counter-offensive in the region around Kharkov against the Red Army Izium bridgehead offensive conducted 12–28 May 1942, on the Eastern Front (World War II), Easter ...

and, following this, the German summer offensive,

Case Blue Case Blue (German: ''Fall Blau'') was the ''Wehrmacht'' plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku ( Azerb ...

. During these operations the division played a role in the encirclement of 50 Soviet divisions and the capture of 665,000 Soviet soldiers at the Battle of Kiev. The division also destroyed a thousand Soviet tanks. The Division was part of the offensive towards Stalingrad and reached the

Volga The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

river north of the city on 23 August 1942. Supporting the flank of the German attack on the city the division suffered heavy losses and, reduced to a strength of 4,000 men by mid-November, was scheduled for replacement. During its withdrawal from the front line the division was caught up in the Soviet counter offensive,

Operation Uranus Operation Uranus () was a Soviet 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II which led to the encirclement of Axis forces in the vicinity of Stalingrad: the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romani ...

, which started on 19 November. Most of the division was trapped in what became the Stalingrad pocket while a smaller number of units were pushed west. The main body of the division was destroyed at Stalingrad during the battle and when the Axis forces surrendered on 2 February 1943, with the commander of the division, Günther von Angern, committing suicide to avoid Soviet captivity.Mitcham, p. 131 Reformed in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in March 1943 from new recruits and units who had not been trapped at Stalingrad the division was sent to Italy in June 1943. It was part of the German defences during the

where it initially inflicted heavy casualties on the landing forces but also lost more than half of its tanks in the process, coming under fire from naval guns supporting the landing. Despite the 16th Panzer Division performing adequately under his command,

Rudolf Sieckenius Rudolf Alexander Karl Wilhelm Sieckenius (18 August 1896 – 29 April 1945) was a German Generalmajor during World War II who commanded the 16 Panzer Division during Operation Avalanche (Salerno Landings) in September 1943. Despite his widely ac ...

was made a scapegoat for the German defeat at

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

and removed from his position. It took part in the German retreat and defensive operations in Italy until November 1943 when it was sent back to the Eastern Front. The 16th Panzer Division was used in a number of locations in the southern sector after this in an attempt to stabilize the German front lines, frequently being moved between points of crisis. It took part in the only partially successful effort to relieve the trapped German forces in the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket early 1944 and found itself trapped in the

but managed to break out with the main body of the

1st Panzer Army The 1st Panzer Army () was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II. When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group Kleist (''Panzergruppe ...

in April 1944. After limited resupplies the division took part in the German retreat to Poland and also participated in further anti-partisan operations in the area around

Daleszyce Daleszyce is a town in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland, with 2,830 inhabitants as of December 2021. It became a town at the start of 2007. Daleszyce lies among the hills of the Malopolska Upland, in the histori ...

.Mitcham, p. 132 Daleszyce was a center of Polish resistance to the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

, mostly carried out by the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

, and severely destroyed through shelling by Wehrmacht units in 1944 and eventually burned down. In January 1945 the division was entrapped once more with the start of the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive but managed to reach German lines. After a short rest and resupply in February it fought in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

and Czechoslovakia. With the German surrender the division attempted to reach American lines, with some parts succeeding in doing so but mostly being handed back to the Soviet forces.

Commanders

The commander of the division:Mitcham, p. 133–136

Organization

Structure of the division: * Headquarters * 2nd Panzer Regiment * 64th Panzergrenadier Regiment * 79th Panzergrenadier Regiment * 16th Artillery Regiment * 16th Motorcycle Battalion * 16th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion * 16th Tank Destroyer Battalion * 16th Panzer Engineer Battalion * 16th Panzer Signal Battalion * 274th Army Anti-Aircraft Battalion ''(added in 1942)'' * 16th Panzer Divisional Supply Group

Post-war

After the war a memorial was erected in

, the original garrison headquarters of the division, for the soldiers of the 16th Panzer Division. A small number of Stalingrad survivors held annual reunions in the city up until the 1990s.

Winfried Nachtwei Winfried Nachtwei (born 15 April 1946) is a German politician and former member of Alliance '90/The Greens in the Bundestag. He is an expert on the Afghanistan conflict and works as a peace and conflict consultant since leaving the Bundestag. His ...

, a former member of the

German Parliament The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the lower house of the German federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for ...

for the

Green party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

from Münster, carried out some research into the division and its part and responsibility in the Battle of Stalingrad that saw more than 700,000 casualties, the majority Soviet soldiers and civilians. His research also established that, of the unknown number of soldiers of the division that surrendered at Stalingrad only 128 returned after the war. The original copies of the war diaries of the division from mid-1943 onward were destroyed during a fire in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

in April 1945 while earlier editions had been moved to Liegnitz, now

Legnica Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. Le ...

in Poland. These fell into American hands in 1945, having been evacuated to

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, were taken to the US for research and gradually returned to West Germany from 1962 onward.

References

Bibliography

* *Die 16. Panzer Division by Gunter Schmitz History of the 16th Panzer Division - Path and Destiny Wolfgang Werthen, Podzun, Bad Nauheim 1958, 312 pages (2nd edition 1986) {{Authority control 1*16 Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 German units at the Battle of Stalingrad