23rd Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

German army division during World War II

23rd Panzer Division

23\. Panzer-Division

Unit insignia

Active| 1942–45
Country|  Germany
Branch| Army
Type| Panzer
Role| Armoured warfare
Size| Division
Garrison/HQ| Wehrkreis V: Ludwigsburg
Engagements| World War II

* Battle of the Caucasus
* Battle of Stalingrad
* Operation Winter Storm

Military unit

The 23rd Panzer Division (English: 23rd Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army during World War II. Formed in France in late 1941, the division spent its entire combat history on the Eastern Front.

## History[edit]

The 23rd Panzer Division was established on the 21st of September 1941 in France. It was built around the 101st Panzer Brigade and two infantry regiments and initially equipped with "booty tanks" which were soon after exchanged for German tanks.[1]

In March 1942, the division went to the Eastern Front near Kharkov as a subdivision of the German Sixth Army. It was to remain within the Army Group South for the major part of its service.[2] The division took part in the German advance to the Caucasus, but was subsequently sent north to Stalingrad. It escaped encirclement when the 6th Army was trapped there, and took part in the subsequent failed relief attempt. At the end of its first year on the Eastern Front the 23rd Panzer Division had lost 90 percent of its tanks.[3]

The 23rd Panzer Division was part of the German defence and retreat in the southern Ukraine, frequently being moved between crisis points. Between April and July 1944 it was a part of the 8th Army within the Army Group South Ukraine defending the area to the north of Jassy.[4][3]

After being sent to Poland in mid-1944, the division returned to the southern sector during the collapse of the German frontline in Romania. After the retreat into Hungary the division fought in defensive battles there. The majority of the division was trapped and destroyed in Székesfehérvár in March 1945. The remainder of the division surrendered to British forces in May 1945.[5]

## Commanders[edit]

The commanders of the division:[6]

* Generalleutnant Hans Reichsfreiherr von Boineburg-Lengsfeld (25 September – 16 November 1941)
* Generalmajor Heinz-Joachim Werner-Ehrenfeucht (16–22 November 1941)
* Generalleutnant Hans Reichsfreiherr von Boineburg-Lengsfeld (22 November 1941 – 20 July 1942)
* Generalmajor Erwin Mack † (20 July – 26 August 1942)
* Generalleutnant Hans Reichsfreiherr von Boineburg-Lengsfeld (26 August – 26 December 1942)
* General der Panzertruppe Nikolaus von Vormann (26 December 1942 – 25 October 1943)
* Generalmajor Ewald Kräber (25 October – 1 November 1943)
* Generalmajor Heinz-Joachim Werner-Ehrenfeucht (1–18 November 1943)
* Generalmajor Ewald Kräber (18 November 1943 – 9 June 1944)
* Generalleutnant Joseph von Radowitz (9 June 1944 – 8 May 1945)

## References[edit]

### Notes[edit]

1. ^ Mitcham, p. 168
2. ^ 23\. Panzer-Division, balsi.de (in German)
3. ^ a b Mitcham, p. 169
4. ^ The Combat History of the 23rd Panzer Division in World War II, by Ernst Rebentisch, p. 492
5. ^ Mitcham, p. 170
6. ^ Mitcham, p. 171–173

### Bibliography[edit]

* Mitcham, Samuel W. (2000). The Panzer Legions. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3353-3.
* Stoves, Rolf (1986). Die Gepanzerten und Motorisierten Deutschen Grossverbände 1935 – 1945 [The armoured and motorised German divisions and brigades 1935–45]. Bad Nauheim: Podzun-Pallas Verlag. ISBN 3-7909-0279-9.

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German Panzer divisions of World War II

Army|

| Numbered|

* 1st
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* 6th
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* 8th
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* 10th
* 11th
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* 22nd
* 23rd
* 24th
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* 26th
* 27th
* 116th

|

Named|

* Panzer Division Clausewitz
* Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 1
* Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2
* Panzer Division Holstein
* Panzer Division Jüterbog
* Panzer Division Kempf
* Panzer Lehr Division
* Panzer Division Müncheberg
* Panzer Division Tatra

Reserve|

* 155th
* 179th
* 233rd
* 273rd

Waffen-SS|

* 1st SS Division Leibstandarte
* 2nd SS Division Das Reich
* 3rd SS Division Totenkopf
* 5th SS Division Wiking
* 9th SS Division Hohenstaufen
* 10th SS Division Frundsberg
* 12th SS Division Hitlerjugend

Luftwaffe|

* 1st Division Hermann Göring

Related|

* Heavy tank battalion
* SS Panzer Division order of battle

Authority control databases: National |

* Germany

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