Death Ride of the Panzers

by Dennis Oliver

  The German losses in this final battle of the Normandy campaign have never been calculated accurately. Estimates of casualties range from 10-15,000 men killed with a further 40-50,000 listed as missing or taken prisoner. Some formations were almost totally destroyed in the fighting, such as 12.SS-Panzer-Division, which could only muster three hundred men and ten tanks by the end of the Normandy battles and what little heavy equipment they managed to save was for the most part lost in the Seine crossings. The sacrifices of the armored units had, however, saved tens of thousands of their comrades who would play an essential part in the defensive battles of the next weeks and months, particularly in the Netherlands.

  NORTH-EAST FRANCE, JUNE 1944

  The map shows German infantry and armored divisions and higher formations in the approximate positions they occupied on the evening of June 5, 1944. Stationed in the south of France with Heeresgruppe G, and not shown here, were 11.Panzer-Division near Bordeaux, 2.SS-Panzer-Division north of Toulouse, and 9.Panzer-Division outside Avignon. The remnants of 9.SS-Panzer-Division and 10.SS-Panzer-Division, which would both take part in the Normandy battles, were still in the east acting as an operational reserve for Heeresgruppe Nordukraine. Infantry units followed by the suffix L are Luftwaffen-Feld-Divisionen, raised for the most part from surplus air force personnel, and F denotes a Fallschirmjäger, or paratroop, division. The static infantry formations, or Bodenständige-Divisionen, were designed as permanent garrison troops and were considerably weaker than the infantry divisions. By the summer of 1944, most had at least one battalion of Ostruppen with their regiments and official tables of organization had largely been abandoned due to the constant drain of manpower to the Russian front.

  PANZER-REGIMENT, JUNE-JULY 1944

  All formations of the German Army were governed according to orders referred to as Allgemeine Heeresmitteilungen, issued on a regular basis by Oberkommando des Heeres, the high command of the army. These orders also fulfilled the functions of a bulletin or gazette, announcing the issue of awards or the confirmation of promotions. When organizational changes were called for, the relevant Allgemeine Heeresmitteilung was accompanied by one or more Kriegstärkenachweisung, today usually abbreviated to K.St.N, which were comprehensive tables of establishment showing the official composition of a unit in detail, listing the exact number of personnel and type of equipment from armored vehicles to small arms. Each Kriegstäärkenachweisung was identified by a title, number, and date. For example, Stabskompanie einer Panzer-Abteilung(frei Gliederung) K.St.N 1150(fG) von 1.4.1944. This particular K.St.N refers to the organization of a Panzer battalion's staff or headquarters company effective from April 1, 1944. The suffix “frei” Gliederung can be literally translated as free organization, but more accurately describes a freeing up of the administrative and resources burden involved in each company administering its own supply and transport needs. Beginning in early 1944, these services were transferred to battalion command level or higher, although the system was not extended to the army as a whole until August of that year. Not all these records survived the war; however, our knowledge of those affecting the armored units of the Wehrmacht is quite extensive. A number of authoritative books, especially the works of the late Tom Jentz, include details of the organizational changes introduced during the 1939-45 period with reference to the relevant K.St.N documents and it would serve no purpose to repeat those here. Rather, in this diagram and most of the others throughout this book, I have chosen to present a snap shot of an actual unit during a specific period, offering a comparison where necessary with the official establishment. I should stress that the information that has come down to us today is sometimes fragmentary or contradictory. Where this is so, I have either tried to make it obvious or omitted it entirely. The regiment shown here is SS-Panzer-Regiment 9, which was attached to 9.SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen and took part in the fighting in Normandy and the attempts to relieve the units trapped in the Falaise Pocket.

  SCHWERE PANZER-ABTEILUNG 503, JUNE-JULY 1944

  Tiger tanks were allocated to independent heavy armor battalions or schwere Panzer-Abteilungen. Two Tiger units of the Waffen-SS and a single Heer battalion took part in the Normandy battles together with Panzer-Kompanie 316 (Funklenk), which used a number of Tigers and Sturmgeschütz III assault guns to coordinate the company's Borgward BIV remotely-controlled demolition vehicles. The battalion depicted here is schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503, which had returned to Germany from the Eastern Front in May 1944 and was reequipped with a full complement of twelve Tiger II with the so-called Porsche turret, all allocated to 1.Kompanie, and thirty-three Tiger I tanks.

  1. PzKpfw IV ausf H. 5.Kompanie, SS-Panzer-Regiment 12. Commanded by Unterscharführer Willy Kretzschmar, this tank was photographed after the fighting for Hill 112 near Caen. Unusually, the hull Schürzen have been coated with Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste. As with most tanks of this battalion, the turret number has been rather roughly painted by hand. Note the kill rings on the barrel, which are noticeably absent in earlier photographs of this tank. Kretzschmar and his crew accounted for at least fifteen Allied tanks during the Normandy battles, although the number depicted here is quite clear in the photograph on which this illustration is based.

  2. PzKpfw IV ausf H. 8.Kompanie, SS-Panzer-Regiment 12. Captured intact near Cheux after the battles for the Carpiquet airfield, this vehicle's company number is very neatly executed, unlike most others of I.Abteilung. Our photograph (4) depicts a 6.Kompanie tank with an obviously hand-painted number and the names of what would probably have been girlfriends or sisters painted onto the commander's cupola and the driver’s visor. This was a common practice in this battalion. Most PzKpfw IV tanks of this regiment carried the unit insignia of 12.SS-Panzer-Division in the position shown here (3), while a number also had the badge painted on the hull front or one of the front fenders.

  1. PzKpfw Tiger ausf E. 3.Kompanie, schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101.

  Commanded by Unterscharführer Otto Blase, this tank was knocked out near Mons in Belgium during the late summer. The position of the unit insignia, based on that used by 1.SS-Panzer-Division, varied between the companies as shown here. (2) The first company carried the formation badge on the left-hand side where a patch of Zimmerit had been removed. A tactical symbol denoting a heavy tank company was painted on the right hand side with the number 1. The company's turret numbers were painted in olive green with a white outline. (3) The second company applied the unit marking, usually directly over the ridges of Zimmerit, on the right hand side. The turret numbers were painted in red outlined in white. (4) The third company applied the unit marking on the left-hand side, often on a dark background which was very probably Olivgrün. The company's turret numbers were painted in blue, possibly RAL 5001, with a yellow outline.

  5. PzKpfw Tiger ausf E. 2.Kompanie, schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503. Photographed in the streets of Bourgtheroulde, west of Elbeuf, this was one of the few tanks of this battalion to reach the Seine crossings. It was, however, too heavy to be ferried across the river and was destroyed by its crew.

  1. PzKpfw IV ausf H. 6.Kompanie, SS-Panzer-Regiment 2. This tank was photographed in an Allied vehicle dump after the Normandy battles. It is identified by the turret number rendered as a white outline, which was also common to the tanks of the battalion's fifth and eighth companies. Most, but not all, tanks of the battalion carried the division's unit insignia on the hull rear as shown below (4).

  2. PzKpfw IV. 7.Kompanie, SS-Panzer-Regiment 2. The tanks of the battalion’s seventh company were marked similarly to those of the sixth company, although the style of number was slightly different. The unusual use of the number 9 may indicate that this is the tank of the company commander.

  3. PzKpfw IV ausf H. 7.Kompanie, SS-Panzer-Regiment 2. Photographed during the attempts to clear vehicle wrecks in the aftermath of Operation Cobra, this tank's company number seems to have been applied in two stages, with the last two digits set at an angle. This may be one of the vehicles
handed over from Panzer-Regiment 15 towards the end of the fighting around Falaise.

  1. PzKpfw IV ausf H. 6.Kompanie, Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130. This tank was knocked out in June during the fighting for Villiers-Bocage and was still in place when the Normandy battles ended. On June 11, 1944, the battalion commander, Prinz Wilhelm Schönburg-Waldenburg was killed in action and from that day the tanks of II.Abteilung carried a rendition of his family crest (2) in the position shown here.

  3. PzKpfw IV ausf H. 5.Kompanie, Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130. Photographed in the ruins of Saint-Gilles, west of Saint-LÙ, following the Operation Cobra battles, this tank's company number has been applied directly over the loading label which was painted, in various styles, onto all German army vehicles. A detailed view of the loading label is shown above (4) and indicates the vehicle type, weight and weight class, in this case “S” for “Schwere,” or heavy.

  1. Sdkfz 234/2. Puma. Unit unidentified. Just 101 of these vehicles were produced and three units, Panzer-Lehr-Division, 2.Panzer-Division and 1.SS-Panzer-Division, operated them during the summer battles in France. Although it is not possible to be certain, this vehicle may be from Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 2. The camouflage scheme of a disruptive pattern of Olivgrün sprayed over the base coat of Dunkelgelb was common at this time. Note that the vehicle's number has been repeated on the hull front in yellow (2).

  3. Sdkfz 234/3. Unit unidentified. The only markings visible here are the Balkenkreuz national insignia and the loading label also shown in detail (4). Eighty-eight of these armored cars were produced in total and most, if not all, went to the reconnaissance battalions of Panzer formations. All the armored divisions which served in the West during the summer of 1944 had two or three on hand.

  1. Sdfkfz 165. 15cm schwere Panzerhaubitze sFH 18/1 auf Gesch¸tzwagen III/IV Hummel. Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 119. This regiment was attached to 11.Panzer-Division and had just three of these guns on hand after the battles of July and August 1944. The large letter D, painted onto the front of the superstructure, denotes a Batterie and the division's famous unit insignia (2) is depicted below that.

  3. Sdfkfz 165. 15cm schwere Panzerhaubitze sFH 18/1 auf Gesch¸tzwagen III/IV Hummel. SS-Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 10. The regiment was attached to 10.SS-Panzer-Division and reported that six of these vehicles were on hand when the division left Russia for the Western Front in June 1944.

  The division's unit insignia (4) was painted onto the superstructure front, with a large Batterie letter, and also at the left rear. Note the Sternantenna D, normally used with the Fu8 command radio, which is also visible in the photograph at right (5). All the regiment's surviving vehicles were destroyed by their crews near Saint-Lambert, east of Falaise, after running out of fuel.

  1. Sdkfz 251/9 Stummel. 12.SS-Panzer-Division. Allocated to the divisional reconnaissance battalions and the heavy companies of Panzergrenadier regiments, which officially had twelve each, these vehicles were armed with the same 7.5cm gun that had equipped the early PzKpfw IV tanks.

  Unfortunately, allocation lists for armored halftracks do not, except in very rare instances, differentiate between types and we cannot be certain as to which battalion these vehicles belong. Photographs show that the division's unit insignia (2) was carried on the hull front and rear.

  2. Sdkfz 251/9 Stummel. 2.SS-Panzer-Division. Abandoned near Falaise, this vehicle's number almost certainly identifies the eleventh company of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3 Deutschland or SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 Der Führer. The photograph (4) shows one of the division's halftracks marked with the DasReich unit insignia (5) and, just above that, a tactical symbol identifying an armored infantry company.

  1. PzKpfw IV Tiger ausf B. Panzer-Kompanie 316 (Funklenk). Attached to the Panzer-Lehr-Division, this company received the first five production models of the Tiger II, all fitted with the so-called Porsche turret. These vehicles proved to be so mechanically unreliable that they were all left at Chateaudun, between Le Mans and OrlÈans, where this tank was photographed. All carried large white turret numbers (2) as shown here, although some are unclear in the available photographs and consequently the subject of debate. Note the large pot-shaped cover on the rear deck, also visible in our photograph. This would have protected the proposed submersible equipment that was officially deleted from production in June 1944, although it was not fitted to many tanks manufactured before that date.

  3. PzKpfw IV Tiger ausf B. 1.Kompanie, schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101. This tank was commanded by Unterscharführer Werner Wendt and was abandoned during the fighting in northern France sometime between July 28 and August 1, 1944. The battalion’s 1.Kompanie was re-equipped with fourteen of the very first Tiger II tanks fitted with the Henschel turret and all were marked with large yellow numbers as shown here. This tank was captured almost completely intact and is today on display at the the MusÈe des BlindÈs at Saumur in France.

  1. Panzerjäger V Jagdpanther. 3.Kompanie, schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 654. This vehicle features the early two-part gun barrel and the large stowage box attached to the rear hull on the left-hand side. It was photographed in Beauvais. Note the two Balkenkreuz markings.

  2. Panzerjäger V Jagdpanther. 3.Kompanie, schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 654. Photographed in Bourgtheroulde during the retreat to the Seine, the lead Jagdpanther, number 302, is shown towing another vehicle, possibly number 332 shown above. Standing in the open hatch on the vehicle's right-hand side is the commander, Feldwebel Heye.

  3. Panzerjäger V Jagdpanther. 3.Kompanie, schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 654. This vehicle, commanded by Feldwebel Carsten, was destroyed by British tanks on August 1, 1944, outside Saint-Pierre-du-Fresne, south-west of Villiers-Bocage. Note that this Jagdpanther has the later, single-piece barrel. Although the company numbers appear decidedly lighter than the center of the Balkenkreuz in many photographs, Karl-Heinz Munch, in his exhaustive history of the battalion, insists that they were painted in black with a white outline.

  1. PzKpfw IV ausf H or J. 8.Kompanie, Panzer-Regiment 22. Photographed at an Allied vehicle dump after the Normandy battles, this tank features the camouflage scheme of broad bands of Rotbraun and Olivgrün on the Dunkelgelb base seen on other PzKpfw IV tanks of this regiment. The company number is unfortunately obscured, just as it is shown here.

  Pictured in the Boulevard des Belges in Rouen (2), this crew's tank was one of the very few from Panzer-Regiment 22 to reach the Seine. The official caption in fact mentions that the vehicle in the background was inoperable, presumably towed during the retreat.

  3. PzKpfw IV ausf H. 8.Kompanie, Panzer-Regiment 3. All the tanks of the regiment's II.Abteilung were marked with large white outline-only numbers painted onto the turret Schürzen. The numbers were applied using a stencil and the gaps created were quite obvious. Most tanks carried the unit insignia of 2.Panzer-Division shown here (4 and 5) on either the hull front or rear, or sometimes both.

  1. PzKpfw V Panther ausf A. 1.Kompanie, Panzer-Regiment 24. During the summer of 1944, the regiment's I.Abteilung was attached to 116.Panzer-Division and the tanks were marked with large white numbers, with possibly a very thin dark outline, on the turret sides. The last two digits, which identified the individual tank and platoon, were repeated (2) on the turret rear to the left of the access door. The spare fuel containers, carried in specially made brackets, were a field modification which was an identifying feature of this battalion’s Panthers (3).

  The significance of the white bar (4) on the turret access door is not known but may indicate the first company. The Panthers continued to carry the unit insignia of 24.Panzer-Division (5), the battalion's parent formation.

  6. PzKpfw V Panther ausf D. Unit unidentified. This early production vehicle was captured by units of US 5th Armored Division in late summer 1944 during the retreat to the River Seine. The communications port on the turret side would indicate that this tank was manufactured prior to August 1943. The vehicle in the image on which this illustration is based was photographed with i
ts turret reversed, exactly as it is depicted here. Note the rounded edges of the large turret numbers. Although rendered here as yellow, these numbers may have in fact been a very dirty white.

  1. Sturmgeschütz III ausf G. Unit unidentified. Photographed at Orbec, twenty kilometers east of Vimoutiers, this vehicle may be from SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 1, although other units were passing through the town on the same day in August 1944 at a time when the situation was extremely confused. Of note is the very early drive sprocket, dropped from production in June 1940.

  2. Sturmgeschütz III ausf F/8. Panzerj‰ger-Abteilung 61. Examples of these early versions were extremely rare by this time, at least in the west. This one was photographed on September 12, 1944, at Baume-les-Dames on the Besancon-Belfort road. The Balkenkreuz national insignia was also painted on the hull front (3) and just visible by the left side track is the famous unit insignia (4) of 11.Panzer-Division. The battalion had eight assault guns on hand in August and some of those may have survived into 1945.

  1.01. Panzer-Regiment 22 of 21.Panzer-Division had six of these elderly PzKpfw IV ausf C tanks armed with the short barreled 75mm gun on hand in June 1944, all concentrated in 8.Kompanie. The camouflage scheme is unusual and appears to be made up of bands of a dark color, probably Olivgrün, over a base coat of Dunkelgelb.

  1.02. This PzKpfw IV of Panzer-Regiment 22 was photographed on July 13, 1944 in a hull-down position overlooking the Caen-Lébisey road. The lighter color of the roughly applied camouflage scheme is generally assumed to be local mud applied with a brush, however examination of the original photograph suggests that although a great deal dirt and mud is present, these patches of light color may have been sprayed on and would therefore have to be paint. The style used to depict the company number is typical of the tanks of this regiment and an example is shown in the color illustrations.