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5th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

The 5 Panzer Division was an armored division of the Wehrmacht. Established in 1938, took part in the major campaigns of World War II Germany distinguished on many battlefields. He surrendered to Soviet troops at the end of the war in May 1945. Among his officers distinguished themselves in particular: Heinrich von Vietinghoff, Johannes Streich, Paul Werner, Karl Decker, Joachim Sander, Rolf Lippert, and Wilhelm von Schönburg-Waldenburg.

James Foster
James Foster
Sep 10, 20131.8K Shares89K Views
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  1. History Country of Poland and France
  2. The advance in the Balkans and Greece
  3. On the eastern front
5th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

The 5 Panzer Division was an armored division of the Wehrmacht. Established in 1938, took part in the major campaigns of World War II Germany distinguished on many battlefields. He surrendered to Soviet troops at the end of the war in May 1945. Among his officers distinguished themselves in particular: Heinrich von Vietinghoff, Johannes Streich, Paul Werner, Karl Decker, Joachim Sander, Rolf Lippert, and Wilhelm von Schönburg-Waldenburg.

History Country of Poland and France

On 24 November 1938, Opole(Opoletoday), in German Silesia, took his life 5. Panzer Division the last to be made before the start of World War II.

The first opportunity for the division to enter combat took place in September 1939 with the Polish campaign, framed in the XIV Army of General Wilhelm List, in turn, incorporated into Army Group South Fedor von Bock. The 152 Panzer I, 144 Panzer II, 3 Panzer III, 14 Panzer IV, and 22 Panzerbefehlswagen (wagons command unarmed) entered Polish territory south of the border, continuing to Sandomierz and Przemyśl.

Finite hostilities, the armored division was deported to the border with Lower Rhine in December 1939 and assigned to the Fourth Army, which, together with the 7. Panzer-Division came in strong Belgian territory of 97 Panzer I, 120 Panzer II, 52 Panzer III, 32 Panzer IV, and 26 Panzerbefehlswagen.

After crossing the river Meuse at Dinant, its tanks faced and defeated the 1st Division Cuirasée de Reserve French (equipped with the powerful tanks B 1, but caught unprepared and without fuel) and went to France in May 1940 fighting for the conquest of Arras, Cambrai, Lille, managing to reach Rouen and Brest before Philippe Petain signs the armistice with Germany.

The advance in the Balkans and Greece

On 13 September 1940, 5. Panzer-Division was sent to Poland to reorganize, yielding 15.Panzer-Regiment (15th Armoured Regiment) to 11.Panzer-Division in exchange for the 55. Kradschützen-Abteilung (55 º battalion motorcyclists), and passing under the Twelfth Army.

On 5 April 1941, the forces of division were sent to Bulgarian view of Operation Marita, the invasion of the Balkans, which started a few days later. At this time, the remaining armored regiment, the number “31, contained in itself the 9th Panzer, 40th Panzer II, 51 Panzer III, 16 Panzer IV tanks, and 5 commands.

Due to the rapid and easy conquest of Yugoslavia, forces of the Department of Wehrmacht pointed to Greece beginning to meet the first difficulty: April 24 Indeed, after the city of Lamia, the tanks were targeted by precise artillery fire, and English the next day, New Zealand troops fighting in Molos, 15 tanks were destroyed by enemy fire. Despite these difficulties, the division continued to push the Aegean SeaCommonwealth troops, who managed to enter Athens and Corinth, thus contributing significantly to the fate of the campaign.

The parenthesis of Crete

In May 1941, which ended the fighting in Greece, 5 and 17 Panzer II Panzer III, 31. Panzer-Regiment, with two companies of the 55th battalion motorcyclists, were transported by sea to Creteto to support fallschirmjäger that soon would invade the island. Still, during the journey by ship, the Royal Navy attacked the boat, sinking most of the wagons armed.

In their replacement was sent, this time by air, another company of the 55th battalion bikers to rescue a group of paratroopers who were surrounded. Under the orders of Oberstleutnant Schacke, the battalion served its purpose: solving the problematic situation. The company then continued to advance eastward to support an attack on Rethymno (29 to 30 May 1940) that led to the conquest of the city and the capture of more than 1,900 enemy soldiers, also releasing 300 German prisoners.

On the eastern front

Towards the end of June 1941, the division was moved to Berlin. The top of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht had a mind to use in North Africa, so the means were painted yellow sand for the event, but a change of ideas forced him to return everything to the initial dark gray: in October 1941 fact, the 5th. Panzer-Division was called to the eastern front within the XXXXVI Panzer (armored body) to move against the Soviet capital, Moscow, along with other units of the Army Group Centre.

The failure of the Battle of Moscow forced the attacking troops to retreat to Gzhatsk, badgered by the new offensive of the ‘Red Army. In July 1942, the park tanks of the 5th Panzer amounted to 26 Panzer II, 55 Panzer III, 13 Panzer IV, and 9 wagons control in the same period spent in the ranks of the Ninth Army participating in actions anti-Partisan reaching first Sychevka and then back to Gzhatsk.

After some fighting in Oryol in the Second Army, in March 1943, the division was placed into hibernation until July of the same year. At the time of the Battle of Kursk, it was in the Bryansk. Although set in reserve, the evolution of the situation forced her to come into contact with Soviet forces, unable to halt the advancing and retreating to the west in the six months after Roslavl, Homel, north of the river Pripyat, stopping finally at Kovel’, Ukraine, in May 1944 (militating in II Army armored, IV, IX and II Army again, often changing, especially among the latter two).

Operation Bagration conducted by the Red Army broke completely the area covered by the Army Group Centre in July 1944, the 5th. Panzer-Division was called in haste to stem the Soviet attacks. At that time, the division was among the most powerful of the Wehrmacht, having 70 and 55 Panzer IV Panzer V.

Still, the many Soviet armored corps converged on Minsk after having swept the forefront of Germany had overwhelming numerical superiority. The 5 Panzer-Division, reinforced with 29 Tiger I of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 505 (505 º armored battalion heavy), fought with courage, first Borisov to defend the line of the Berezina and then north-west of Minsk against the formations of the 5th Army Armoured Guard.

Within a week, the division claimed the destruction of 295 enemy tanks but, in turn, suffered heavy losses (its operational strength dropped to only 18 Panzer and Tiger all were lost) and then was forced to fall back Northwest, abandoning the Belarusian capital. Other clashes broke out in Hrodna and Kaunas in Lithuania, with the proven strength training battleship now in constant retreat.

On 31 August 1944, the division was sent toCourlandemployed by XXXX armored body, framed in the Third Army armored. The desperate situation imposed on the German soldiers a new retreat to the defending East Prussia Kaliningrad, in what became known as the Battle of Königsberg, the old name of the city, and Pillau, now in the Fourth Army. The survivors were ferried to the brutal battles in the Hel peninsula arrendosi definitely on 8 May 1945. Who could not follow the division held out until April in an attempt to prevent the Soviets from taking Danzig.

Decorations

In all, 24 were men belonging to 5. Panzer-Division received the Honor Pin Army, while the other 57 were awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, of whom six were with Fronde with Oak and Oak and Swords. 128 soldiers were awarded the German Cross in gold and two with silver.

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