Panzer Division A Panzer division was one of the Division (military)#Armored division, armored (tank) divisions in the German Army (1935–1945), army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the Blitzkrieg, ...

Tatra (Panzer Training Division Tatra) was an armored division of the German Heer formed in

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

in August 1944.Mitcham, p. 94. The division was hastily formed during the

Slovak National Uprising Slovak National Uprising ( Slovak: ''Slovenské národné povstanie'', abbreviated SNP; alternatively also ''Povstanie roku 1944'', English: ''The Uprising of 1944'') was organised by the Slovak resistance during the Second World War, directed ag ...

of 1944 when the Germans feared that Slovakia might break away from the

Axis powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

and open the way for the advancing Red Army. After a brief

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beha ...

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 Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

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 Malacky ( German: ''Malatzka'', Hungarian: ''Malacka'') is a town and municipality in western Slovakia around north of Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava. From the second half of the 10th century until 1918, it was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. ...

. Other personnel, according to Samuel Mitcham, "came from all over the map". The division's only tank battalion had 28 obsolete

Panzer III The ''Panzerkampfwagen III (Pz.Kpfw. III)'', commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Nazi Germany, Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was List of Sd.K ...

and

Panzer IV The IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, is a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161. The Panzer IV was the most numer ...

tanks and three

Tiger I The Tiger I () was a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of World War II that began operational duty in 1942 in North African Campaign, Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent German heavy tank battalion, heavy tank battalions. It g ...

s. The division began by suppressing resistance in southern Moravia, and on 29 August 1944, moved to

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

in north-western Slovakia. The improvised division performed well against the Slovak uprising. It crushed the Slovaks, who were being aided by Soviet advisers, and recaptured

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

(German: Pressburg). After this initial success, the division was reorganized into a training division (German: ''Panzer-Feldausbildungs-Division Tatra''). The division incorporated the XVII Panzer Corps command and its

mechanized infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with Armoured personnel carrier, armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also armoured corps). As defined by the United States Army, me ...

and units of inland military districts; the men of the 1st Panzer eventually left Tatra. The division remained in Slovakia until the end of 1944. In March 1945 (or, according to different sources, on 21 February 1945), the division was reorganized into the 232nd Reserve Panzer Division.

232nd Panzer Division

After the reorganization, former training regiments of Tatra (82nd and 85th Training Regiments) were also reorganized and renamed the 101st and 102nd Panzer Grenadiers. Auxiliary units (

flak Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...

, etc.) retained their original Tatra numbers. The unit was hurriedly sent to join the reserves 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 ...

and was almost immediately thrown into defensive action with the 8th Army. On 26 March, the division was stationed near Marcaltő in

.Meyer, p. 450. The fighting continued for three more days. Divisional commander

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

Hans-Ulrich Back was wounded on 29 March and escaped captivity. The division ceased to exist by 1 April 1945.

Commanding officers

Generalleutnant () is the German-language variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO ...

Friedrich-Wilhelm von Loeper Friedrich-Wilhelm von Loeper (3 August 1888 – 7 October 1983) was a German general (Generalleutnant) in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He was marri ...

, 9 October 1944 * Generalmajor Hans-Ulrich Back, February – March 1945

References

Sources

* Samuel Mitcham (2007).
German Order of Battle: Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Divisions in World War II
'. Stackpole Books. . * Huber Meyer (2005).
The 12th SS: The History Of The Hitler Youth Panzer Division
'. Stackpole Books. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatra German panzer divisions Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945