19th Panzer Division

German army division during World War II June 2017 19th Panzer Division 19. Panzer-Division Ww2 GermanDivision Panzer 19-a.svg 125px Unit insignia 1 November 1940 – 8 May 1945 Nazi Germany Army Panzer Armoured warfare Division Wehrkreis XI: Hanover Operation Barbarossa Battle of Moscow Battle of Kursk Kamenets–Podolsky pocket Warsaw Uprising Vistula–Oder Offensive Prague Offensive The 19th Panzer Division (en 19th Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the Wehrmacht, during World War II. It was created from the 19th Infantry Division. The division fought exclusively on the Eastern Front, except for a brief period of refitting in the Netherlands in mid-1944. It took part in the battles of Moscow and Kursk as well as in the crushing of the Polish uprising at Warsaw. It eventually surrendered to Soviet forces in Czechoslovakia in May 1945. History The division was formed in November 1940 from the 19th Infantry Division,http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/939GXPZ.PDF Organizational History of the German Armored Formation 1939-1945 cgsc.edu United States Army Command and General Staff College 15 June 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20111208094147/http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/939GXPZ.PDF 8 December 2011 dead dmy-all gaining the 27th Tank Regiment and in turn giving up the 59th Infantry Regiment to the new 20th Panzer Division. The new division was part of Operation Barbarossa which began in June 1941, suffering such heavy casualties in the first two months that one of its three tank battalions had to be disbanded by August. Among other operations, it fought around Velikiye Luki against the Soviet 29th Territorial Rifle Corps. The division took part in the advance in the central sector of the Eastern Front and participated in the Battle of Moscow.Mitcham, p. 149 Further losses during the defensive operations in the winter of 1941–42 forced the division to disbanded another tank battalion, reducing it to just one. The 19th Panzer Division remained in the central sector until late 1942, when it was sent south to support the Italian 8th Army. The division took part in defensive battles after the collapse of the German southern front following the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad. It participated in the unsuccessful German offensive during the Battle of Kursk, suffering heavy casualties while operating in the area of Belgorod. In October 1943 it was reinforced with an additional tank battalion.Mitcham, p. 150 The division was part of the German defensive operations and retreat through Ukraine in late 1943 and early 1944. It was part of the successful escape of the 1st Panzer Army from the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket in April 1944. The 19th Panzer Division, almost destroyed in the previous defensive battles, was sent to the Netherlands in May 1944 to be refitted.Stoves, p. 130–133 In the aftermath of Operation Bagration, the Soviet offensive that destroyed the center of the German Eastern Front, the division was sent by rail from the Netherlands back to the Eastern Front. It took part in the defence of Warsaw and the crushing of the Polish uprising. On 1 January 1945, the division (then under 9th Army of Army Group A) had a strength of 14,888 men. This made it, in terms of manpower, the largest division in both its army and its entire army group.Lakowski, Richard Die Militärische Niederwerfung der Wehrmacht Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 2008 9783421062376 Müller, Rolf-Dieter Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg 10/1 München 491–681 de Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung zwischen Ostsee und Karpaten504 After the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive in January 1945, the division was pushed south-west by the Soviet advance, first towards Breslau and then into Czechoslovakia. It eventually surrendered to Soviet forces in May 1945 west of Prague. Organization Organization of the division:http://www.ordersofbattle.com/Units/UnitData?UniX=2105 19 Panzer-Division ordersofbattle.com 2019-01-19German Order of Battle, Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Division in WWII 27 and 28 Headquarters 27th Panzer Regiment 73rd Panzergrenadier Regiment 74th Panzergrenadier Regiment 19th Panzer Artillery Regiment 19th Motorcycle Battalion (later 19th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion) 19th Tank Destroyer Battalion 19th Panzer Engineer Battalion 19th Panzer Signal Battalion 272nd Army Anti-Aircraft Battalion (later added 29 April 1943) Division commanders The commanders of the division:Mitcham, p. 150–152 1 November 1940 — General der Panzertruppe Otto von Knobelsdorff 5 January 1942 — Generalleutnant Gustav Schmidt (committed suicide to avoid capture, Beresowka, 7 August 1943) 7 August 1943 — Generalleutnant Hans Källner 28 March 1944 — Generalleutnant Walter Denkert May 1944 — Generalleutnant Hans Källner (killed in battle 18 April 1945 ) 22 March 1945 — Generalmajor Hans-Joachim Deckert References Bibliography Mitcham Samuel W. 2000 The Panzer Legions Mechanicsburg Stackpole Books 978-0-8117-3353-3 Stoves Rolf 1986 Die Gepanzerten und Motorisierten Deutschen Grossverbände 1935 – 1945 Bad Nauheim Podzun-Pallas Verlag 3-7909-0279-9 Müller-Hillebrand, Burkhard Das Heer 1933-1945. Entwicklung des organisatorischen Aufbaues III: Der Zweifrontenkrieg. Das Heer vom Beginn des Feldzuges gegen die Sowjetunion bis zum Kriegsende Mittler Frankfurt am Main 1969 286, 311 de Tessin, Georg Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg, 1939 - 1945 IV: Die Landstreitkräfte 15 -30 Mittler Frankfurt am Main 1970 de Geschichte der niedersächsischen 19. Panzer-Division 1939 - 1945 - Otto von Knobelsdorff External links https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/D2EL7VEYZ2JD5OEXWJGT7QAWPTMERX5Y 19. Panzer-Division (Bestand) deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de German Federal Archives de 19th Panzer-Division (Inventory) 1*19 Category:Military units and formations established in 1940 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 de:19. Infanterie-Division (Wehrmacht)