101st Panzer Brigade

101st Panzer Brigade 5 July – 21 September 194115 August - October 1944 Nazi Germany Army Panzer Armoured warfare Brigade World War II Eastern Front Operation Doppelkopf Oberst Meinrad von Lauchert The 101st Panzer Brigade was a Panzer Brigade that fought in World War II. History The first 101st Panzer Brigade was formed on 5 July 1941 in France with captured tanks.Nafziger 1999 202 On 21 September 1941, it was used to form the staff of the 23rd Panzer Division. Colonel Botho Elster was briefly in command of the brigade in 1941 before being transferred to OB West.Mitcham 2000 215 The second 101st Panzer Brigade was ordered to be formed on 11 July 1944 but was not formed until 15 August 1944. Like most Panzer Brigades, it had a battalion of Panther tanks and a battalion of panzergrenadiers in Sd.Kfz. 251 half tracks. It was a part of the ad hoc Panzerverband Strachwitz under Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz.Mitcham 2007 140 The 101st, along with the SS Panzer Brigade Gross, participated in Operation Doppelkopf to restore connection between Army Group North and Army Group Center.Mitcham 2007 140 It was then deployed to the frontline on Estonia.Mitcham 2007 141 In October 1944, the brigade was reformed near Bobruisk, then it was merged with the remains of the destroyed 20th Panzer Division. The brigade staff formed the Staff/21st Panzer Regiment, the panzer battalion became the 2/21st Panzer Regiment, while the panzergrenadier Battalion became a Jagd-Kommando in the 20th Panzer Division.Nafziger George Organization History of German Panzer Formations http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/CGSC/CARL/nafziger/939GXPZ.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20151122203402/http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/CGSC/CARL/nafziger/939GXPZ.pdf dead November 22, 2015 November 22, 2015 Order of battle 1941 203rd Panzer Regiment 204th Panzer Regiment 1944 2101st Panzer Battalion (3 Panther tank companies, 1 Jagdpanzer IV company) 2101st Panzergrenadier Battalion (3 companies) 2101st Brigade Support Units Commanders Oberst Botho Elster - 1941 Oberst Meinrad von Lauchert - July - August 1944 Oberst Richard Schmidthagen - August 1944 Oberstleutnant Guido von Wartenburg - August - September 1944 Major Eberhard Zahn - September - October 1944Major Friedrich-Wilhelm Breidenbach also served as acting commander, date of command is unknown. Notes note Citations 30em References Books Retreat to the Reich: the German Defeat in France, 1944 Mitcham Samuel Praeger, Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated 2000 9780275968571 Westport Mitcham Samuel W. 2007 The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45 Mechanicsburg, PA Stackpole Books 978-0-8117-3371-7 The German Order of Battle: Panzers and Artillery in World War II Nafziger George F. Greenhill Books 1999 9781853673597 London Websites Nafziger George Organization History of German Panzer Formations http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/CGSC/CARL/nafziger/939GXPZ.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20151122203402/http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/CGSC/CARL/nafziger/939GXPZ.pdf dead November 22, 2015 November 22, 2015 Category:Armoured brigades of the German Army in World War II Category:Military units and formations established in 1944 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Category:Military units and formations established in 1941 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1941