19th Panzer Division (Germany)
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The 19th 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 ...
, the
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
, 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 from the 19th Infantry Division. The division fought exclusively on the Eastern Front, except for a brief period of refitting in the Netherlands in mid-1944. It took part in the battles of Moscow and Kursk as well as in the crushing of the Polish uprising at Warsaw. It eventually surrendered to Soviet forces in Czechoslovakia in May 1945.


History

The division was formed in November 1940 from the 19th Infantry Division, gaining the 27th Tank Regiment and in turn giving up the 59th Infantry Regiment to the new 20th Panzer Division. The new division was part of
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 ...
which began in June 1941, suffering such heavy casualties in the first two months that one of its three tank battalions had to be disbanded by August. Among other operations, it fought around
Velikiye Luki Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П.  Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада- ...
against the Soviet 29th Territorial Rifle Corps. The division took part in the advance in the central sector of the Eastern Front and participated in the
Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...
. Further losses during the defensive operations in the winter of 1941–42 forced the division to disbanded another tank battalion, reducing it to just one. The 19th Panzer Division remained in the central sector until late 1942, when it was sent south to support the Italian 8th Army. The division took part in defensive battles after the collapse of the German southern front following the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad. It participated in the unsuccessful German offensive during the
Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...
, suffering heavy casualties while operating in the area of
Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...
. In October 1943 it was reinforced with an additional tank battalion.Mitcham, p. 150 The division was part of the German defensive operations and retreat through Ukraine in late 1943 and early 1944. It was part of the successful escape 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 ...
from 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 ...
in April 1944. The 19th Panzer Division, almost destroyed in the previous defensive battles, was sent to the Netherlands in May 1944 to be refitted. In the aftermath of
Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...
, the Soviet offensive that destroyed the center of the German Eastern Front, the division was sent by rail from the Netherlands back to the Eastern Front. It took part in the defence of
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
and the crushing of the
Polish uprising This is a chronological list of wars in which Poland or its predecessor states of took an active part, extending from the reign of Mieszko I (960–992) to the present. This list does not include peacekeeping operations (such as UNPROFOR, UNTAE ...
. On 1 January 1945, the division (then under 9th Army of
Army Group A Army Group A () was the name of three distinct army groups of the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'', the ground forces of the ''Wehrmacht'', during World War II. The first Army Group A, previously known as "Army Group South", was active from Oct ...
) had a strength of 14,888 men. This made it, in terms of manpower, the largest division in both its army and its entire army group. After the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive in January 1945, the division was pushed south-west by the Soviet advance, first towards Breslau and then into Czechoslovakia. It eventually surrendered to Soviet forces in May 1945 west of
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
.


Organization

Organization of the division: * Headquarters * 27th Panzer Regiment * 73rd Panzergrenadier Regiment * 74th Panzergrenadier Regiment * 19th Panzer Artillery Regiment * 19th Motorcycle Battalion ''(later 19th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion)'' * 19th Tank Destroyer Battalion * 19th Panzer Engineer Battalion * 19th Panzer Signal Battalion * 272nd Army Anti-Aircraft Battalion ''(later added 29 April 1943)'' *


Division commanders

The commanders of the division:Mitcham, p. 150–152 *1 November 1940 — General der Panzertruppe Otto von Knobelsdorff *5 January 1942 — Generalleutnant Gustav Schmidt (committed suicide to avoid capture, Beresowka, 7 August 1943) *7 August 1943 — Generalleutnant Hans Källner *28 March 1944 — Generalleutnant Walter Denkert *May 1944 — Generalleutnant Hans Källner (killed in battle 18 April 1945 ) *22 March 1945 — Generalmajor Hans-Joachim Deckert


References


Bibliography

* * * * * ''Geschichte der niedersächsischen 19. Panzer-Division 1939 - 1945'' - Otto von Knobelsdorff


External links

* {{Authority control 1*19 Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 de:19. Infanterie-Division (Wehrmacht)