101st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion (german: Schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 101) was a
German heavy tank battalion in the
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands.
The grew from th ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. With the introduction of new
Tiger II
The Tiger II is a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' Tiger ''Ausf''. B,'' Panzerkampfwagen'' – abbr: ''Pz.'' or ''Pz.Kfw.'' (English: "armoured fighting vehicle"), ''Ausf ...
tanks in late 1944, the unit was renumbered as the ''501st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion'' (german: Schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 501).
Operational history
The battalion was created on July 19, 1943, as a part of the
I SS Panzer Corps
The I SS Panzer Corps (german: I.SS-Panzerkorps) was a German armoured corps of the Waffen-SS. It saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II.
Formation and training
The corps was raised on 26 July 1943 in Berlin- ...
, by forming two new heavy tank companies consisting of
Tiger I
The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...
tanks and incorporating the 13th (Heavy) Company of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment. It was attached to
1st SS Panzer Division ''Leibstandarte'' and sent to Italy on August 23, 1943, where it stayed until mid-October. The 1st and 2nd company were then sent to the
Eastern Front while the rest of the unit stayed in the
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
.
With the anticipated Allied invasion of
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
approaching, elements of the battalion in the East were ordered to the West in April 1944. On June 1, 1944, the battalion was located near
Beauvais
Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris.
The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populo ...
, north-west of
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
. Of its 45 Tigers, 37 were operational and eight more were under repair. With the
D-Day landings on June 6, it was ordered to
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
where it arrived on June 12 and 13. Fighting its first battle on 13 June, Kompanie 2, led by
Michael Wittmann inflicted severe damage on the British in Villers-Bocage, resulting in the ending of
Operation Perch. The battalion lost 15 of its 45 Tigers by July 5, including in the
Battle of Villers-Bocage.
At this time the unit's surplus crews began outfitting with the new Tiger II tanks. By August 7 the division left in Normandy had 25 Tigers of which 21 were operational. On August 8, 1944, three of its seven Tigers, committed to a counter-attack near
Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil, were destroyed by British
Sherman Fireflies, and two more were destroyed by the 27th Canadian Armored Regiment, killing
Michael Wittmann. The battalion lost virtually all its remaining Tigers in the
Falaise pocket and the subsequent German retreat from France.
On September 9, the remains of the unit were ordered to rest and refit with the new Tiger IIs. With this change on September 22, 1944, it was redesignated the 501st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion. On March 15, 1945, it reported a strength of 32 tanks, of which eight were operational.
[Jentz 1996, p. 247] Four days later,
Heinrich Kling was appointed as commander of the unit.
Commanders
* SS-Sturmbannführer
Heinz von Westernhagen (19 July 1943 - 8 November 1943)
* SS-Obersturmführer Otto Leiner (8 November 1943 - 13 February 1944)
* SS-Oberführer Heinz von Westernhagen (13 February 1944 - 20 March 1945)
* SS-Sturmbannführer
Heinrich Kling (20 March - 8 May 1945)
See also
*
SS Panzer Division order of battle
*
Panzer Division
A Panzer division was one of the armored (tank) divisions in the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the blitzkrieg operations of the early years of World War II. Later the Waffe ...
Notes
References
*
*
{{Authority control
101
101
101
Military units and formations established in 1943
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945