4 Panzer Division 1941-1945
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The division, initially formed as a light brigade, participated in the invasions of Poland, Belgium, France and the Soviet Union. From 1941 to 1945 it fought on the Eastern Front, interrupted only by periods of refitting spent in France and Germany. It eventually surrendered to US forces in Czechoslovakia in May 1945 but was handed over to Soviet authorities, where the majority of its remaining men would be imprisoned in Gulag hard labour camps.
In April 1938 the brigade was enlarged to become the 1st Light Division, receiving the 11th tank regiment as an attachment for its participation in the occupation of the Sudetenland in October 1938 and the subsequent disestablishment of Czechoslovakia in March 1939. Following the latter the division received 130 Czech-built tanks which were superior to the Panzer I and Panzer II the division had been equipped with. In 1939, the division fought in the Invasion of Poland.
Due to shortcomings that the campaign revealed in the organization of the Light divisions, it was reorganized as the 6th Panzer Division in October 1939, as were the other three light divisions which became the 7th, 8th and 9th Panzer Divisions.[2][3]
As the 6th Panzer Division, it participated in the 1940 Battle of France. The division contained a single panzer regiment, the Panzer-Regiment 11, which in turn contained three Abteilungen, or battalions. The 11th Regiment was equipped with 75 Czech-built Panzer 35(t) tanks, which proved efficient but difficult to maintain because the maintenance manuals were in Czech rather than German, and spare parts were less readily supplied and harder to easily requisition as a result. Furthermore, there were six Befehlspanzer 35(t), which were a subtype of the 35(t) designed for military commanders, as well as 45 Panzer II and 27 Panzer IV.[4][5]
The division was part of the German advance to the English Channel through Belgium. It then swung back towards the French-Swiss border before relocating to Eastern Prussia in September 1940 where it remained until June 1941.
At the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union the division had 239 tanks, but only twelve of those were Panzer III, which still struggled to pierce the armour of Soviet tanks such as the T-34 and KV-1.[3] In June 1941, it joined Operation Barbarossa, fighting at first under Army Group North for Leningrad. At the Battle of Raseiniai two of its Kampfgruppes consisted of:[6]
6th Panzer Division was soon transferred to Army Group Center, where it fought in the Battle of Moscow and the Rzhev-Vyazma Salient. With the Soviet counter offensive in December 1941 the division was pushed back and suffered the loss of practically all its tanks and most of its vehicles. With losses severe enough to render it combat incapable, the 6th Panzer Division was sent to France to be rebuilt in March 1942 and equipped with more modern tanks.[9] It was moved to southern France after the Allied landings in North Africa in November 1942 - Operation Torch - but soon after relocated to the southern sector of the Eastern Front after the German 6th Army had been entrapped at Stalingrad. It was part of the failed German attempt to break through to the encircled forces but then had to retreat to escape encirclement itself. The division was part of the German retreat and successful counter offensive at Kharkov and the failed attempt to regain initiative in the Battle of Kursk.[10]
The 6th Panzer Division was part of the partially successful relief operation at the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket as well as the escape from the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket. After the retreat through the Ukraine the division was sent to Germany for reorganisation but hastily returned to the Eastern Front in July, after the destruction of Army Group Center in the Soviet Operation Bagration. It was part of the German defence of northern Poland and East Prussia before being relocated to Hungary in December 1944. It took part in the battles around Siege of Budapest before retreating into Austria and taking part in the defence of Vienna. When the city fell it moved into Czechoslovakia where it surrendered to US 3rd Army in May 1945 but was handed over to Soviet forces.[10]
Soldiers of the division allegedly executed an unknown number of black prisoners of war from the 12th Senegalese Tirailleurs regiment in mid-June 1940.[11] It is estimated that, of the 40,000 black soldiers from the French colonies engaged in combat with German forces during the battle of France 1,500 to 3,000 were murdered either during or after combat.[12]
The Panzer IV was the most numerous German tank and the second-most numerous German fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War; 8,553 Panzer IVs of all versions were built during World War II, only exceeded by the StuG III assault gun with 10,086 vehicles. Its chassis was also used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, including the Sturmgeschütz IV assault gun, the Jagdpanzer IV self-propelled anti-tank gun, the Wirbelwind self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, and the Brummbär self-propelled gun.
The Panzer IV was the brainchild of the German general and innovative armoured warfare theorist Heinz Guderian.[7] In concept, it was intended to be a support tank for use against enemy anti-tank guns and fortifications.[8] Ideally, each tank battalion in a panzer division was to have three medium companies of Panzer IIIs and one heavy company of Panzer IVs.[9] On 11 January 1934, the German army wrote the specifications for a "medium tractor", and issued them to a number of defense companies. To support the Panzer III, which would be armed with a 37-millimetre (1.46 in) anti-tank gun, the new vehicle would have a short-barreled, howitzer-like 75-millimetre (2.95 in) as its main gun, and was allotted a weight limit of 24 tonnes (26.46 short tons). Development was carried out under the name Begleitwagen ("accompanying vehicle"),[10] or BW, to disguise its actual purpose, given that Germany was still theoretically bound by the Treaty of Versailles ban on tanks.[11] MAN, Krupp, and Rheinmetall-Borsig each developed prototypes,[9] with Krupp's being selected for further development.[12]
The Panzer IV was one of the most widely exported German tanks of the Second World War.[59] In 1942, Germany delivered 11 tanks to Romania and 32 to Hungary, many of which were lost on the Eastern Front between the final months of 1942 and the beginning of 1943 during the battles around Stalingrad, at which the Hungarian and Romanian troops there were almost annihilated by the attacking Soviet forces.[60] Romania received approximately 120 Panzer IV tanks of different models throughout the entire war.[61] To arm Bulgaria, Germany supplied 46[62] or 91[63] Panzer IVs, and offered Italy 12 tanks to form the nucleus of a new Italian Army armoured division. These were used to train Italian tank crews while the-then Italian leader Benito Mussolini was deposed shortly after the Allied conquest of Sicily but were then retaken by Germany during its occupation of Italy in mid-1943.[62] The Falangist Spanish government petitioned for 100 Panzer IVs in March 1943 but only 20 were ever delivered by December that same year.[64] Finland bought 30 but only received 15 in 1944 and in the same year a second batch of 62[62] or 72[63] was sent to Hungary (although 20 of these were subsequently diverted to replace German military losses).[63] The Croatian Ustashe Militia received 10 Ausf. F1 and 5 Ausf. G in the autumn of 1944.[65] In total, 297 Panzer IVs of all models were delivered to Germany's allies.[66]
When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, its armoured corps was composed of 1,445 Panzer Is, 1,223 Panzer IIs, 98 Panzer IIIs and 211 Panzer IVs; the more modern vehicles amounted to less than 10% of Germany's armoured strength.[74] The 1st Panzer Division had a roughly equal balance of types, with 17 Panzer Is, 18 Panzer IIs, 28 Panzer IIIs, and 14 Panzer IVs per battalion. The remaining panzer divisions were heavy with obsolete models, equipped as they were with 34 Panzer Is, 33 Panzer IIs, 5 Panzer IIIs, and 6 Panzer IVs per battalion.[75] Although the Polish Army possessed less than 200 tanks capable of penetrating the German light tanks, Polish anti-tank guns proved more of a threat, reinforcing German faith in the value of the close-support Panzer IV.[76]
With the launching of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, the unanticipated appearance of the KV-1 and T-34 tanks prompted an upgrade of the Panzer IV's 75 mm (2.95 in) gun to a longer, high-velocity 75 mm gun suitable for anti-tank use. This meant that it could now penetrate the T-34 at ranges of up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) at any angle.[88] The 75 mm KwK 40 L/43 gun on the Panzer IV could penetrate a T-34 at a variety of impact angles beyond 1,000 m (3,300 ft) range and up to 1,600 m (5,200 ft).[89] Shipment of the first model to mount the new gun, the Ausf. F2, began in spring 1942, and by the summer offensive there were around 135 Panzer IVs with the L/43 tank gun available. At the time, these were the only German tanks that could defeat T-34 or KV-1 with sheer firepower.[90] They played a crucial role in the events that unfolded between June 1942 and March 1943,[91] and the Panzer IV became the mainstay of the German panzer divisions.[92] Although in service by late September 1942, the Tiger I was not yet numerous enough to make an impact and suffered from serious teething problems, while the Panther was not delivered to German units in the Soviet Union until May 1943.[93] The extent of German reliance on the Panzer IV during this period is reflected by their losses; 502 were destroyed on the Eastern Front in 1942.[94]
Panzer IVs comprised around half of the available German tank strength on the Western Front prior to the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944.[101] Most of the 11 panzer divisions that saw action in Normandy initially contained an armoured regiment of one battalion of Panzer IVs and another of Panthers, for a total of around 160 tanks, although Waffen-SS panzer divisions were generally larger and better equipped than their Heer counterparts.[102][103] Regular upgrades to the Panzer IV had helped to maintain its reputation as a formidable opponent.[101] The bocage countryside in Normandy favored defense, and German tanks and anti-tank guns inflicted very heavy casualties on Allied armour during the Normandy campaign, despite the overwhelming Allied air superiority. German counter-attacks were blunted in the face of Allied artillery, infantry-held anti-tank weapons, tank destroyers and anti-tank guns, as well as the ubiquitous fighter-bomber aircraft.[104] The side skirt armour could predetonate shaped charge anti-tank weapons such as the British PIAT, but could be pulled away by rugged terrain. German tankers in all theaters were "frustrated by the way these skirts were easily torn off when going through dense brush".[101] 781b155fdc