| 17th Panzer Division | |
|---|---|
| 17. Panzer-Division | |
.svg) Unit insignia | |
| Active | November 1940 – 8 May 1945 |
| Country |  Germany |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Panzer |
| Role | Armoured warfare |
| Size | Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Augsburg |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Hans-Jürgen von Arnim Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma |
The17th Panzer Division (German:17. Panzer-Division) was a formation of theWehrmacht inWorld War II. It was formed in November 1940 from the 27th Infantry Division. It took part inOperation Barbarossa, the invasion of theSoviet Union in June 1941, and in the winter of 1941–42 participated in theBattle of Moscow. In November 1942, the division was sent to the southern sector of theEastern Front where it participated inOperation Winter Storm, the failed attempt to relieve the surrounded troops atStalingrad. The division was held in reserve during theBattle of Kursk in 1943, and thereafter retreated throughUkraine andPoland, before ending the war inCzechoslovakia.
The27th Infantry Division was formed in October 1936 inAugsburg,Bavaria, as a peacetime division of the new GermanWehrmacht. The division was mobilised on 26 August 1939 and took part in theInvasion of Poland and theBattle of France. In 1943, aNazi propaganda book was published about the division's actions in France 1940, titledÜber Somme, Seine, Loire (English:Across the Somme, the Seine, the Loire).[1]
The 17th Panzer Division was formed in late 1940, when the 27th Infantry Division[2] was converted to an armored division. In part, the2nd Panzer Division provided personnel for the new division. The majority of its troops came from the Bavarian region ofSwabia, then theNaziGau Swabia[3]
In May 1941, the division was transferred to the central sector of the planned attack on the Soviet Union,Operation Barbarossa, and became part of theXXXXVII Panzer Corps, which in turn was part of the2nd Panzer Group, commanded byHeinz Guderian.[4] The division's commander,Hans-Jürgen von Arnim, was wounded within the first few days of the campaign, on 24 June, but later returned to his unit. His temporary replacement, Karl Ritter von Weber, was mortally wounded south of Smolensk on 17 July, puttingWilhelm Ritter von Thoma in charge until von Arnim returned.[5]
The division crossed theBug River and advanced south ofMinsk, where it made contact with the3rd Panzer Group. It took part in theBattle of Białystok–Minsk, where it recorded up to 100 Soviet tanks destroyed in a single day, 9 July, atOrsha.[6] It then crossed the riverDnjepr south of Orsha and took part in defensive operations south ofSmolensk in August and September.[4]
In October, it took part in the run up to theBattle of Moscow, takingBryansk on 6 October. The division was then concentrated atOrel and advanced towardsTula, where it was engaged in a failed attempt to encircle the city. With the Soviet counterattack on 5 December, the division started retreating on the 8th, after having reached a point 120 km south east ofMoscow.[7] The division took defensive positions northeast of Orel, where it remained until the Summer of 1942.[4]
After the winter battles, the division was reconstituted near its front line positions in the early summer of 1942. It received approximately 50 tanks of the typePanzer III andPanzer IV. It was engaged in minor attacks north of Orel in September but then went into defensive positions again. The division was then held in Army Group Centre reserve nearBolkhov. At this stage, it only fielded 45 to 50 tanks of varying types (down from a nominal strength of around 200).[4] In October 1942, whenFridolin von Senger und Etterlin took command of the division, it had only 30 operational tanks, and one-third of its trucks were undergoing repairs.[8]
AfterOperation Uranus, the Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad, the division was quickly transferred toArmy Group B in the area ofMillerovo. From there, it marched towardsKotelnikovo and joined the4th Panzer Army forOperation Winter Storm, a relief operation aimed at linking up with the encircled6th Army, together with the6th Panzer Division and the23rd Panzer Division. The operation failed however, and the division retreated at the end of December.[4] Losses were so heavy that the command of the 63rd Panzer Grenadier Regiment laid in the hands of a lieutenant, its original commander having been killed in action. By Christmas Eve 1942, the division fielded only eight operational tanks and one anti-tank gun.[9]
The division continued its retreat towards theDon bridgehead atRostov-on-Don, which it reached at the end of January. The 39th Panzer Regiment was re-equipped with 50 new Panzer IV tanks shortly after and the division took part in counterattacks between theMius and theDonets rivers. By 27 February, the division had been reduced to less than 2,000 men, six tanks and ten anti-tank guns but avoided further destruction when the Soviet forces withdrew behind the Donets river.[10] After this, it was engaged in tank battles nearBelgorod until the end of April.[11]
The division did not take part in theBattle of Kursk. Instead, it stayed in reserve, behind the front line, as part of theXXIV Panzer Corps. It took part in some successful counterattacks after the battle, in the Donets-Izium area.[11] On 20 July, GeneralleutnantWalter Schilling became the second division commander of the division to be killed in action. In July, the division had the following strength in tanks, of which 84% were operational: 4Panzer II; 29Panzer III; 32Panzer IV; 2T-34.[12] In September, the division retreated from the Donets to positions behind theDnjepr river, taking up a defensive line on the western side of the river. Initially it was posted atKrivoi Rog, in November it moved toKherson, as part of the re-formed 6th Army.[11]
In late January and early February 1944, the 17th Panzer Division took part in the relief operations for theKorsun-Cherkassy Pocket, as part of theIII Panzer Corps. In the end, the involved German tank divisions were halted by theRed Army 12 km from the pocket but the troops inside broke out, abandoning their heavy equipment. It was then part of the1st Panzer Army in theKamenets-Podolsky pocket, where it lost most of its own heavy equipment, but escaped as a whole.[11]
It remained in reserve again in April and May, stationed behind the frontline, before taking part in operations aroundLviv to counter the SovietLvov–Sandomierz Offensive.[11] Until the end of October, the unit took part in operations in theTarnów region and then south of the Baranow bridgehead, nearSandomierz. From November, it became part of the reserves receiving 80 Panzer IV andPanzer V tanks (Panthers).[11]
With the start of the SovietVistula–Oder Offensive on 12 January 1945, the17th Panzer Division, alongside the16th Panzer Division were the main reserve forces in the sector, retained for a counterattack to the Soviet advance. Both divisions, stationed too close to the front line due toHitlersrestraining order, suffered heavy casualties through bombardment and had their communications destroyed. Their task, to throw back the Soviet advance, was impossible to achieve.[13]
The division found itself in constant retreat as part of the XXIV Panzer Corps commanded byWalther Nehring, first towardsŁódź, then crossing theOder, where it took positions nearGłogów in February. It took part in defensive operations near theŚcinawa (German:Steinau) bridgehead in mid-February.[11] The division had suffered heavy losses during those events and was re-supplied nearGörlitz, now renamedKampfgruppe 17th Panzer Division due to being severely understrength and being no more in size than a regiment.[14] It continued its defensive actions in the region during theSilesian Offensives. The division was eventually forced to retreat intoCzechoslovakia, heading towardsBrno.[15]
In February 1945, the division, by now reduced to a Kampfgruppe, was attached to Army Group Center on the Oder River. By March 1945, it retreated as far as Jägerndorf by the Red Army. Early in April, it had retreated southwest into Moravia, where in quick succession it came under the order of 17th Army and 1st Army. The division surrendered to the Soviet army near Görlitz at the end of April 1945.
| Commander | Start | Finish | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| GeneralleutnantFriedrich Bergmann | 1 January 1937 | 4 October 1940 | became commander of137th Infantry Division, killed in action 21 December 1941[16] |
| GeneraloberstHans-Jürgen von Arnim | 5 October 1940 | 24 June 1941 | wounded in action 24 June 1941 |
| GeneralmajorKarl Ritter von Weber | 24 June 1941 | 17 July 1941 | acting — wounded in action, died of his injuries 20 July 1941[5] |
| GeneralWilhelm Ritter von Thoma | 17 July 1941 | 15 September 1941 | Returned to command leader reserve after von Arnim's recovery |
| Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen von Arnim | 15 September 1941 | 11 November 1941 | second spell after recovering from his injuries, became commander ofXXXIX Panzer Corps 11 November 1942 |
| GeneralleutnantRudolf-Eduard Licht | 11 November 1941 | 10 October 1942 | removed from command and returned to Germany to be put in charge of lower-key divisions[16] |
| GeneralFridolin von Senger und Etterlin | 10 October 1942 | 16 June 1943 | became German liaison officer to Italian 6th Army inSicily in June 1943[17] |
| GeneralleutnantWalter Schilling | 16 June 1943 | 20 July 1943 | killed in action 20 July 1943 near Doljenjaja[18] |
| GeneralleutnantKarl-Friedrich von der Meden | 21 July 1943 | 20 September 1944 | became commander of178th Reserve Panzer Division 1 October 1944.[14] |
| GeneralmajorRudolf Demme | 20 September 1944 | 2 December 1944 | became commander of132nd Infantry Division[18] |
| OberstAlbert Brux | 2 December 1944 | 19 January 1945 | captured by the Red Army January 1945[18] |
| GeneralmajorTheodor Kretschmer | 1 February 1945 | 8 May 1945 | Surrendered the division in May 1945[18] |
| Region | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | November 1940 | June 1941 |
| Eastern Front —central sector | June 1941 | November 1942 |
| Eastern Front —southern sector | November 1942 | March 1944 |
| Eastern Front — central sector | March 1944 | August 1944 |
| Poland | August 1944 | March 1945 |
| Eastern Germany | March 1945 | May 1945 |
The order of battle in 1944. The 63rd Panzergrenadier Regiment was disbanded in late 1944. The regiments first battalion replaced the third battalion of 40th Panzergrenadier Regiment. The second battalion of the 63rd Regiment became the second battalion of the 79th Panzer-Füsilier Regiment.[15] The 297th Army Flak Battalion had only joined the division in 1943 and the Panzergrenadier Regiment had been calledSchützen Regiment until July 1942.
HQ
39th Panzer Regiment
40th Panzergrenadier Regiment
27th Panzerjäger Battalion
27th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion
27th Panzer Artillery Regiment
297th Army Flak Battalion
27th Panzer Signals Battalion
27th Panzer Pioneer Battalion
Media from Commons
