17th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

German 17th Panzer Division

Unit insignia
Active November 1940 – 8 May 1945
Country  Germany
Allegiance Wehrmacht
Branch Heer
Type Panzer
Role Armoured warfare
Size Division
Garrison/HQ Augsburg
Engagements

World War II

Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Hans-Jürgen von Arnim
Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma

The 17th Panzer Division was a formation of the German Army in World War II. It was formed in November 1940 from the 27th Infantry Division. It took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, and in the winter of 1941–42 participated in the abortive German attack on Moscow. In November 1942, the Division was sent to the southern sector of the Eastern Front where it participated in the failed attempt to relieve the surrounded troops at Stalingrad. The Division was held in reserve during Germany's failed Kursk Offensive in 1943, and thereafter contributed to the Wehrmacht's fighting withdrawal through Ukraine and Poland, before ending the war in Czechoslovakia.

History

27th Infantry Division

Cover of the 1943 propaganda book about the 27th ID with the divisional logo at the bottom of the text

The 27th Infantry Division was formed in October 1936 in Augsburg, Bavaria (Wehrkreis VII), as a peace-time division of the new German Wehrmacht. The division was mobilised on 26 August 1939 and took part in the campaigns in Poland and France. In 1943, a propaganda book was published about the 27th ID in France 1940, titled Über Somme, Seine, Loire (English: Across the Somme, the Seine, the Loire).[1]

Formation

The Panzer Division was formed in late 1940, when the 27th Infantry Division[2] was converted to an armored division. In part, the 2nd Panzer Division provided personnel for the new division. The majority of its troops came from the Bavarian region of Swabia, then the Nazi Gau Swabia[3]

1941

In May 1941, the division was transferred to the central sector of the planned attack on the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Barbarossa, and became part of the XXXXVII Panzer Corps, which in turn was part of the Panzergruppe 2, commanded by Heinz Guderian.[4] The division's commander, Hans-Jürgen von Arnim, was seriously 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, putting Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma in charge until von Arnim returned.[5]

The division crossed the Bug River and advanced south of Minsk, where it made contact with the Panzergruppe 3. It took part in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk, where it recorded up to 100 Soviet tanks destroyed in a single day, 9 July, at Orsha.[6] It then crossed the river Dnjepr south of Orsha and took part in defensive operations south of Smolensk in August and September.[4]

In October, it took part in the run up to the Battle of Moscow, taking Bryansk on 15 October. The division was then concentrated at Orel and advanced towards Tula, where it was engaged in a failed attempt to encircle the city. With the Soviet counterattack on 5 December, the division had to take defensive positions and started retreating on the 8th, after having reached a point 120 km south east of Moscow.[7]

The 17th Panzer Division then took defensive positions northeast of Orel, where it remained until the Summer of 1942.[4]

1942

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 type Panzer III and Panzer 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 near Bolkhov. At this stage, it only fielded 45 to 50 tanks of varying types (down from a nominal strength of around 200).[4] On 5 July, consistent with changes throughout the Wehrmacht, the 40th Schützen-Regiment and 63rd Schützen-Regiment were renamed 40th Panzergrenadier Regiment and 63 Panzergrenadier Regiment.

In October 1942, when Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin took command of the division, it had only 30 operational tanks, and one-third of its trucks were unservicable.

After the Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad, the division was quickly transferred to Army Group B in the area of Millerovo. From there, it marched towards Kotelnikovo and joined the 4th Panzer Armee for a relief attack, Operation Wintergewitter, for the 6th Armee at Stalingrad, together with the 6th Panzer Division and the 23rd Panzer Division. The operation failed however, and the 17th Panzer Division was forced to retreat 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.[8]

1943

Units of the 17th PD in the Mius region in 1943

The division continued its retreat towards the Don bridgehead at Rostov, which it reached at the end of January. The 39th Panzer Regiment was re-equipped with 50 new Panzer IV shortly after and the division took part in counterattacks between the Mius and the Donets river. By 27 February, the division had been reduced to less than 2,000 men, six tanks and ten anti-tank guns but was saved by the Soviet forces retreating behind the Donets river.[9] After this, it was engaged in tank battles near Belgorod until the end of April.[10]

The division did not take part in the Operation Zitadelle, the Battle of Kursk. Instead, the 17th stayed in reserve, behind the front line, as part of the XXIV Panzer Corps. It did take part in some successful counterattacks after the battle, in the Donets-Izium area.[10] On 20 July, Generalleutnant Walter Schilling became the second division commander of the 17th to be killed in action. In July, the division had the following strength in tanks, of which 84% were operational:[11]

In September, it retreated from the Donets to positions behind the Dnjepr river, taking up a defensive line on the western side of the river. Initially it was posted at Krivoi Rog, in November it moved to Kherson, as part of the re-formed 6th Army.[10]

1944

In late January and early February 1944, the 17th Panzer Division took part in the relief operations for the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket, as part of the III Panzer Corps. In the end, the involved German tank divisions were halted by the Red Army 12 km from the pocket but the troops inside managed to break through, abandoning their heavy equipment. It was then part of the 1st Panzer Armee in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket, where it lost most of its own heavy equipment, but escaped as a whole.[10]

It remained in reserve again in April and May, stationed behind the frontline, before taking part in operations around Lviv to counter the Soviet Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive.[10]

Until the end of October, the unit took part in operations in the Tarnów region and then south of the Baranow bridgehead, near Sandomierz. From November, it became part of the reserves once more, receiving some badly needed re-supplies of tanks, 80 Panzer IV and Panzer V (Panthers). The 63rd Panzergrenadier Regiment of the division was disbanded, one of its battalions however stayed with the division.[10]

1945

With the start of the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive on 12 January 1945, the 17th Panzer Division, alongside the 16th 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 to Hitlers restraining order, suffered heavy casualties through bombardment and had their communications destroyed. Their task, to throw back the Soviet advance, was impossible to achieve.[12]

The division found itself in constant retreat as part of the XXIV Panzer Corps commanded by Walther Nehring, first towards Łódź, then crossing the Oder, where it took positions near Głogów in February. It took part in defensive operations near the Ścinawa (German: Steinau) bridgehead in mid-February.[10]

The division had suffered heavy losses during those events and was re-supplied near Görlitz, now renamed Kampfgruppe 17th Panzer Division due to being severely under strength and being no more in size than a regiment.[13] It continued its defensive actions in the region during the Silesian Offensives. The division was eventually forced to retreat into Czechoslovakia, heading towards Brno.[14]

Surrender

In February 1945, the 17th Panzer Division, by now reduced to a Kampfgruppe, was attached to Army Group Center on the Oder River. By March 1945, it had pushed back as far as Jägerndorf by the overwhelming might of 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 finally surrendered to the Soviet army near Görlitz at the end of April 1945.

Commanders

27th Infantry Division

Commander Start Finish Notes
Generalleutnant Friedrich Bergmann 1 January 1937 4 October 1940 became commander of 137th Infantry Division, killed in action 21 December 1941 [15]
Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen von Arnim 5 October 1940 31 October 1940 continued on as commander after division became 17th Panzer Division

17th Panzer Division

Commander Start Finish Notes
Generaloberst Hans-Jürgen von Arnim 1 November 1940 24 June 1941 wounded in action 24 June 1941
Generalmajor Karl Ritter von Weber 24 June 1941 17 July 1941 acting — wounded in action, died of his injuries 20 July 1941 [16]
General der Panzertruppen Wilhelm 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 of XXXIX Panzer Corps 11 November 1942
Generalleutnant Rudolf-Eduard Licht 11 November 1941 10 October 1942 removed from command and returned to Germany to be put in charge of lower-key divisions [17]
General der Panzertruppen Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin 10 October 1942 16 June 1943 became German liaison officer to Italian 6th Army in Sicily in June 1943
Generalleutnant Walter Schilling 16 June 1943 20 July 1943 killed in action 20 July 1943 near Doljenjaja [18]
Generalleutnant Karl-Friedrich von der Meden 21 July 1943 20 September 1944 became commander of 178th Reserve Panzer Division 1 October 1944 .[13]
Generalmajor Rudolf Demme 20 September 1944 2 December 1944 became commander of 132nd Infantry Division [18]
Oberst Albert Brux 2 December 1944 19 January 1945 captured by the Red Army January 1945 [18]
Generalmajor Theodor Kretschmer 1 February 1945 8 May 1945 Surrendered the division in May 1945 [18]

Area of operations

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

Order of battle in 1944

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 became the second battalion of the 79th Panzer-Füsilier Regiment.[19] The 297th Army Flak Battalion had only joined the division in 1943 and the Panzergrenadier Regiment had been called Schützen 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

See also

Awards

ID papers of a corporal of the 17th PD showing his medals and battles participated in

The members of the 17th Panzer Division received the following awards (selection):

Award Number
Close Combat Clasp in Gold 21
Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army 11
Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army for Shooting Down Aircraft 1
Unit-Level Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army for Shooting Down Aircraft 1
German Cross in Gold 164
Honor Roll Clasp of the Heer 38
Knight's Cross 27
Iron Cross, First class unknown number
Iron Cross, Second class unknown number
Eastern Front Medal unknown number

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Über Somme, Seine, Loire (German) Propaganda book about the 27 ID in France 1940, publisher: Zentralverlag der NSDAP, published: 1943, accessed: 14 November 2008
  2. ↑ Google book review: The Panzer Legions page: 137, accessed: 14 November 2008
  3. ↑ Die Gepanzerten und Motorisierten Deutschen Grossverbände 1935 – 1945 (German) page: 116, accessed: 14 November 2008
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Die Gepanzerten und Motorisierten Deutschen Grossverbände 1935 – 1945 (German) page: 118, accessed: 14 November 2008
  5. ↑ Google book review: Rommel's Desert Commanders accessed: 14 November 2008
  6. ↑ Google book review: The Panzer Legions pages 137–138, accessed: 14 November 2008
  7. ↑ Die Gepanzerten und Motorisierten Deutschen Grossverbände 1935 – 1945 (German) page 118, accessed: 14 November 2008
  8. ↑ Google book review: The Panzer Legions page: 139, accessed: 14 November 2008
  9. ↑ Google book review: From the Don to the Dnepr book author: David M. Glantz, publisher: Routledge, page: 140, accessed: 14 November 2008
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Die Gepanzerten und Motorisierten Deutschen Grossverbände 1935 – 1945 (German) page: 119, accessed: 14 November 2008
  11. ↑ Google book review: Kursk 1943 book authors: Niklas Zetterling, Anders Frankson, publisher: Routledge, page: 138, accessed: 14 November 2008
  12. ↑ Google book review: Red Storm on the Reich book author: Christopher Duffy, publisher: Routledge, page: 69, accessed: 14 November 2008
  13. 1 2 Google book review: German Order of Battle accessed: 14 November 2008
  14. ↑ Die Gepanzerten und Motorisierten Deutschen Grossverbände 1935 – 1945 (German) page: 120, accessed: 14 November 2008
  15. ↑ Google book review: The Panzer Legions page: 140, accessed: 14 November 2008
  16. ↑ Google book review: Rommel's Desert Commanders accessed: 14 November 2008
  17. ↑ Google book review: The Panzer Legions page: 140, accessed: 14 November 2008
  18. 1 2 3 4 Google book review: The Panzer Legions page: 141, accessed: 14 November 2008
  19. ↑ Die Gepanzerten und Motorisierten Deutschen Grossverbände 1935 – 1945 (German) page: 120, accessed: 14 November 2008
  20. ↑ Canadian Forces College website - Book entry, accessed: 14 November 2008
  21. ↑ Google book review: The Panzer Legions accessed: 14 November 2008
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