| 24th Panzer Division | |
|---|---|
| 24. Panzer-Division | |
 Unit insignia 1943 | |
| Active | 28 November 1941 – 8 May 1945 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  German Army |
| Type | Panzer |
| Role | Armoured warfare |
| Size | Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Wehrkreis III:Frankfurt an der Oder |
| Anniversaries | in formerEast Germany |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | General of the Cavalry (Germany)Kurt Feldt |
| Insignia | |
| Insignia 1941–1942 |  |
| Insignia 1943–1945 | |
The24th Panzer Division was formed in late 1941 from the1st Cavalry Division based atKönigsberg.
The division fought on theEastern Front from June 1942 to January 1943, when it was destroyed in the battle of Stalingrad. Reformed, it once more returned to the Eastern Front in late 1943 and remained there until surrender to Soviet forces in May 1945.
The 1st Cavalry Division was formed shortly after the outbreak ofWorld War II, in November 1939, when the 1st Cavalry Brigade was expanded to division-size.[1]
The division was part of the German invasion of the northern Netherlands where it encountered only weak defences as it was not a strategically important area. After the Dutch surrender, the division took part in the final actions of thebattle of France before serving as an occupation force there and, from September 1940, in Poland. It participated in the German invasion of the Soviet Union,Operation Barbarossa, where it was part of theArmy Group Center before being sent back toEast Prussia for conversion to a tank division.[2]
After initially being stationed in northern France the division served under theFourth Panzer Army in Army Group South of the Eastern Front from June 1942. The division participated in the capture ofVoronezh and, in late December 1942, was encircled in theBattle of Stalingrad and destroyed.[2]
The 24th Panzer Division was reformed in March 1943 and served inNormandy,Italy,[2] and then went back to the Eastern Front where it suffered heavy casualties in aroundKiev and theDniepr Bend.[3][4]
On 20 November 1943, the 24th Panzer Division possessed 57 tanks (of which 34 were operational).[5]
During spring-1944 it took part in thebattle of Târgu Frumos, part of theFirst Jassy-Kishinev Offensive.[3] On 25 April 1944, it was in the second line betweenPodu Iloaiei andIași, behind the46th,3rd,18th,79th,23rd Panzer and5th Divisions.[6] Near the end of the war, it saw action inPoland,Hungary, andSlovakia. Parts of the division were evacuated toSchleswig-Holstein and surrendered there to British forces at the end of the war while the remainder surrendered to Soviet forces in East Prussia in May 1945.[3][4]
In keeping with the Division's mounted origins, the 24th Panzer's tank crewmen wore the golden-yellowWaffenfarbe of the cavalry rather than Panzer pink.[7]
%2c_Panzer_III.jpg)
The commanders of the division:[8]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
Media from Commons