Panzer-Grenadier-Division Großdeutschland

Panzer Grenadier Division Großdeutschland (Greater Germany)

Unit insignia
Active 1942–45
Country  Germany
Allegiance Adolf Hitler
Branch Heer
Type Panzergrenadier
Size Division
Part of Expanded from Regiment to become Motorized Infantry Division 1942 and Panzer Grenadier Division 1943.
Garrison/HQ Berlin, Cottbus, Akhtyrka
Nickname(s) die Feuerwehr (The Fire Brigade)
Motto(s) Our honor is the fulfillment of our duty!
Engagements

World War II

Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Generalleutnant Hasso von Manteuffel
Generalmajor Karl Lorenz
Insignia
Cuff title

The Panzer Grenadier Division Großdeutschland[notes 1] (also commonly referred to simply as Großdeutschland[notes 2] or Grossdeutschland or Grossdeutschland Division) was an elite combat unit of the German Army (Heer) that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. Großdeutschland was one of the best-equipped units of the German Army.

The unit originally started out as a ceremonial guard unit in the 1920s and by the late 1930s had grown into a regiment of the Wehrmacht. The regiment would later be expanded and renamed Infantry Division Großdeutschland in 1942, and after significant reorganization was renamed Panzergrenadier Division Großdeutschland in May 1943. In November 1944, while the division retained its status as a panzergrenadier division, some of its subordinate units were expanded to divisional status, and the whole group of divisions were reorganized as Panzerkorps Großdeutschland.

1939–1942

The unit was activated on 14 June 1939. The regiment saw action in France in 1940. It was attached to Panzer Group 2 in the opening phases of Barbarossa, and was nearly destroyed in the fighting outside of Moscow in late 1941. On the last day of February 1942, Rifle Battalion Großdeutschland (all that was left of the original regiment) was disbanded and two battalions formed a new Großdeutschland Regiment out of reinforcements arriving from Neuruppin. The regiment later moved to Orel after, and on 1 Apr 1942 the former Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland was expanded to the Infantry Division Großdeutschland.[1]

The Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland reorganized and expanded to become Infanterie-Division Großdeutschland (mot.). The division was assigned to German XLVIII Panzer Corps during the opening phases of Fall Blau, Wehrmacht's 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia. During the combined Soviet winter offensives Operation Uranus and Operation Mars, the division fought near Rzhev, where it was rendered combat ineffective.

In January–February 1943, Großdeutschland and XLVIII.Panzerkorps, along with the II SS Panzer Corps took part in the Third Battle of Kharkov. The division fought alongside the 1.SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 2.SS Division Das Reich and 3.SS Division Totenkopf during these battles. After the fall of Kharkov, the Großdeutschland was again pulled back and refitted.

In May 1943, with the addition of armoured personnel carriers and Tigers the division was redesignated Panzer Grenadier Division Großdeutschland,[2] though in reality it now had more armoured vehicles than most full strength panzer divisions.

1943–1945

Main article: Battle of Kursk
Großdeutschland Division soldiers, Kursk, July 1943

The newly re-equipped division was subordinated to the XLVIII Panzer Corps, part of Fourth Panzer Army, and took part in the Battle of Kursk. During the buildup period, a brigade of two battalions equipped with the new Panther tanks, which were plagued by technical problems, suffering from engine fires and mechanical breakdowns before reaching the battlefield. After the Kursk offensive was cancelled, the division was transferred back to Army Group Center, and resumed its role as a mobile reserve. The Tiger I tank company was expanded to a battalion, becoming the III. Battalion of the Panzer Regiment. Großdeutschland saw heavy fighting around Karachev before being transferred back to XLVIII Panzer Corps in late August. For the rest of 1943, Großdeutschland retreated across Ukraine, and in 1944 into Romania, where it took par in the First Battle of Târgu Frumos.

In late July, the division was transferred to East Prussia. Over the next months, Großdeutschland was involved in heavy fighting in both East Prussia, including a counter-attack on Wilkowischken and the Baltic States, suffering large casualties in both men and materiel. The division was nearly destroyed during the battles in the Memel bridgehead.

Panzers of the division in Romania, 1944

In November 1944, while the division and several attached units were redesignated as Panzerkorps Großdeutschland. By March 1945, the Panzer Grenadier Division Großdeutschland had been reduced to around 4,000 men after the Battle of Memel. By 25 April 1945, the division was destroyed in the battles around Pillau.

List of commanders

Personal accounts

The unit became known in the West through the book The Forgotten Soldier, by the Alsatian veteran, Guy Sajer (a pseudonym), who served as a volunteer. The book was first published in 1967 in France as Le Soldat Oublié. The historical accuracy of Sajer's autobiographical work has been questioned.

A more recent account was written by Alfred Novotny, entitled The Good Soldier, which focuses on both his experiences in Panzerfüsilier Regiment Großdeutschland from 1944 and his captivity in the Soviet Union after the German surrender. Jurgen Herbst, emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, recounts his experience as a young volunteer who joined the Division in 1945 in his book Requiem for a German Past.

War crimes

The book German Army and Genocide (ISBN 1-56584-525-0) mentions the following incident, from the invasion of Yugoslavia:

When one German soldier was shot and one seriously wounded in Pancevo, Wehrmacht soldiers and the Waffen SS rounded up about 100 civilians at random...the town commander, Lt. Col. Fritz Bandelow conducted the Court's Martial...The presiding judge, SS-Sturmbannführer Rudolf Hoffmann sentenced 36 of those arrested to death. On April 21, 1941, four of the civilians were the first to be shot...On the following day eighteen victims were hanged in a cemetery and fourteen more were shot at the cemetery wall by an execution squad of the Wehrmacht's Großdeutschland regiment.
— German Army and Genocide, page 42

Part of the photographic presentation for the book includes a photo where the Großdeutschland cuff title on the officer is clearly visible. The official Großdeutschland history by Helmuth Spaeter mentions that only "draconian measures were occasionally required to halt looting by the civilian population" in Belgrade. The events of 21 April in Pancevo are not discussed directly, though many references are made to "security duties" in Yugoslavia.

The subject of Grossdeutschland's complicity in war crimes was the subject of the book by Omer Bartov The Eastern Front, 1941–45, German Troops, and the Barbarization of Warfare (1986, ISBN 0-312-22486-9).


Commanding officers

Infantry Division Grossdeutschland (1 Apr 1942 - 1 Jun 1943)

Panzergrenadier Division Grossdeutschland (June 1943 - 8 May 1945)

Generalmajor (later Generalleutnant) Walter Hörnlein 1 April 1942 - 27 January 1944
General der Panzertruppen Hermann Balck (temporary command) 3 Apr 1943 - 30 Jun 1943
Generalleutnant Hasso von Manteuffel 27 January 1944 - 1 September 1944
Oberst (later Generalmajor) Karl Lorenz 1 September 1944 - May 1945
Artillery Regiment Grossdeutschland
Oberst Georg Jauer 15 Mar 1942 - Dec 1942
Oberst Reinke
Oberstleutnant Albrecht
Hauptmann Dr. Ritter
Burchardt
Panzer Regiment Grossdeutschland
Oberst Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz January 1943 - November 1943
Major Pfeffer (PanzerAbteilung 51, in temporary command of Pz Regt Grossdeutschland)
Oberst Otto Büsing (Killed in Action 8 March 1944)
Oberst Willy Langkeit 1 March 1944 - 1 November 1944
Oberstleutnant Bruno Kahl 1 November 1944 - May 1945
Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland 1 (1 Apr 1942 - 1 Oct 1942)

Grenadier Regiment Grossdeutschland (1 Oct 1942 - June 1943)
Panzergrenadier Regiment Grossdeutschland (June 1943 - 8 May 1945)

Oberst Köhler 1 Apr 1942 - 1 Dec 1942 (Killed in Action)
Oberst Karl Lorenz 1 Dec 1942 - 14 Dec 1942
Oberst Kurt Moehring 14 Dec 1942 - 14 Jan 1943
Oberst Karl Lorenz 14 Jan 1943 - 1 August 1944
Major Hugo Schimmel 1 August 1944 - August 1944
Major Harald Kriegk (?) October 1944
Major Wolfgang Heesemann November 1944 - Feb 1945 (Killed in Action)
Major Friedrich-Karl Krützmann Feb 1945 - War's End
Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland 2 (1 Apr 1942 - 1 Oct 1942)

Füsilier Regiment Grossdeutschland (1 Oct 1942 - June 1943)
Panzerfüsilier Regiment Grossdeutschland (June 1943 - 8 May 1945)

Oberst Eugen Garski 1 Apr 1942 - 30 Sep 1942 (Killed in Action)
Oberst Erich Kahsnitz 21 Oct 1942 - 3 July 1943 (fatally wounded and died of wounds on 29 July 1943 in Germany)
Oberst Hermann Schulte-Heuthaus 7 July 1943 - 4 Sep 1943 (Wounded in action)
Major Rudolf Watjen 4 Sep 1943 - 18 Sep 1943
Major Wack 18 Sep 1943 - 15 Oct 1943
Oberst Horst Niemack 16 Oct 1943 - 24 August 1944
Oberst Heinz Wittchow von Brese-Winiary 3 Sep 1944 - 13 Feb 1945 (Dismissed, captured 18 Feb 1945)
Oberstleutnant Maxemilian Fabich 13 Feb 1945 - May 1945

Notes

  1. ↑ Großdeutschland means "greater Germany" or "united Germany
  2. ↑ The formation went through various stages of expansion, reorganization and name changes, but "Großdeutschland" stayed through all the changes

References

  1. ↑ Spaeter, Helmuth. History of the Panzerkorps Großdeutschland Volume I. Page 290
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Schneider (2005). Tigers In Combat II. p. 21. Retrieved 12 May 2013.

Printed references

Further reading

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