2Kp 1Btn 60 Pz Gr Rgt 116 Pz Div
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:19 am
In English (Well German Really) That's
2 Kompanie, 1 Battailon, 60 Panzer Grenadier Regiment, 116 Panzer Division "Der Windhund"
The 16th Motorised (later Panzer Grenadier) Division was created in the late summer of 1940, when the 16th Infantry Division was divided. It received the 60th Infantry Regiment from the 16th Infantry and its other units from the VI Military District. It fought in the Balkans and the Ukraine in 1941, helping to break the Stalin line in June of that year.
The division remained on the southern sector in 1942, fighting in the Caucasus before being shifted north to cover the large gap between the 1st and 4th Panzer Armees in the vast wilderness south of Stalingrad.
The Recon (Aufklarungs) battalion penetrated to within 20 miles of Astrakhan, the furthest Eastward advance of any German unit during the entire War. The 16th Panzer Grenadier fought against the Russians in the winter of 42-43, before being transferred to the newly reconstituted 6th Armee in the spring of 1943. It did not take part in the Battle of Kursk but did fight in the retreat to the Mius, suffering heavy casualties in the fighting around Zaporozhe.
The following spring it bore very heavy losses in the withdrawal from the lower Dnieper and the remnants of the 16th Panzer grenadier Division were then transported to France. It was there that they merged with the much larger 179th reserve Panzer Division to form the 116th Panzer Division.
The new Division was on the north bank of the Seine on D-Day but was not committed to action until late July. It fought in the counter-attack at Mortain in august but was unable to halt the American breakout later that month.
The 116th was encircled at Falaise and broke out with heavy losses. The Greyhound Division (Windhund) - as the 116th Pz. Div. was known - was down to six hundred men, twelve tanks and no artillery by August 1944.
In mid-September, it was in action again at Aachen when its divisional commander, Leutnant-General Count Gerhard von Schwerin-Krosigk was relieved of his command by Hitler for ordering an unauthorised retreat from the city. Hitler’s desicion led to bloody street fighting in Aachen but seems to have been tactically correct as it significantly delayed the American advance into Western Germany.
Meanwhile the 116th Pz. Div. was withdrawn to the Dusseldorf area to reform in September and October of 1944. It was reinforced to a strength of 11,500 men but still had a total of only 41 tanks. The division was setnt to Cologne in November 1944.
It spearheaded the southern prong of Hitler’s Ardennes Offensive in December 1944 and suffered heavy casualties as a result.
Withdrawn to Kleve in January 1945, the 116th was in action in the Netherlands in February, trying unsuccesfully to halt the British and Canadian advance into the Fatherland. Shifted south in the Spring of ‘45, it was encircled and destroyed in the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket.
COMPOSITION (1943)
116 Panzer Battalion,
60th Pz. Gren. Rgt.
156th Pz. Gren. Rgt.
146 Motorised Art. Rgt.
59th Motorcycle Battalion
116th (formerly 341) Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion,
146th Anti-Tank Battalion.,
146th Motorised Engineer Battalion
228th Motorised signal Battalion
226th Panzer-Jager Rgt.
HOME STATION
Rheine, Wkr.VI
2 Kompanie, 1 Battailon, 60 Panzer Grenadier Regiment, 116 Panzer Division "Der Windhund"
The 16th Motorised (later Panzer Grenadier) Division was created in the late summer of 1940, when the 16th Infantry Division was divided. It received the 60th Infantry Regiment from the 16th Infantry and its other units from the VI Military District. It fought in the Balkans and the Ukraine in 1941, helping to break the Stalin line in June of that year.
The division remained on the southern sector in 1942, fighting in the Caucasus before being shifted north to cover the large gap between the 1st and 4th Panzer Armees in the vast wilderness south of Stalingrad.
The Recon (Aufklarungs) battalion penetrated to within 20 miles of Astrakhan, the furthest Eastward advance of any German unit during the entire War. The 16th Panzer Grenadier fought against the Russians in the winter of 42-43, before being transferred to the newly reconstituted 6th Armee in the spring of 1943. It did not take part in the Battle of Kursk but did fight in the retreat to the Mius, suffering heavy casualties in the fighting around Zaporozhe.
The following spring it bore very heavy losses in the withdrawal from the lower Dnieper and the remnants of the 16th Panzer grenadier Division were then transported to France. It was there that they merged with the much larger 179th reserve Panzer Division to form the 116th Panzer Division.
The new Division was on the north bank of the Seine on D-Day but was not committed to action until late July. It fought in the counter-attack at Mortain in august but was unable to halt the American breakout later that month.
The 116th was encircled at Falaise and broke out with heavy losses. The Greyhound Division (Windhund) - as the 116th Pz. Div. was known - was down to six hundred men, twelve tanks and no artillery by August 1944.
In mid-September, it was in action again at Aachen when its divisional commander, Leutnant-General Count Gerhard von Schwerin-Krosigk was relieved of his command by Hitler for ordering an unauthorised retreat from the city. Hitler’s desicion led to bloody street fighting in Aachen but seems to have been tactically correct as it significantly delayed the American advance into Western Germany.
Meanwhile the 116th Pz. Div. was withdrawn to the Dusseldorf area to reform in September and October of 1944. It was reinforced to a strength of 11,500 men but still had a total of only 41 tanks. The division was setnt to Cologne in November 1944.
It spearheaded the southern prong of Hitler’s Ardennes Offensive in December 1944 and suffered heavy casualties as a result.
Withdrawn to Kleve in January 1945, the 116th was in action in the Netherlands in February, trying unsuccesfully to halt the British and Canadian advance into the Fatherland. Shifted south in the Spring of ‘45, it was encircled and destroyed in the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket.
COMPOSITION (1943)
116 Panzer Battalion,
60th Pz. Gren. Rgt.
156th Pz. Gren. Rgt.
146 Motorised Art. Rgt.
59th Motorcycle Battalion
116th (formerly 341) Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion,
146th Anti-Tank Battalion.,
146th Motorised Engineer Battalion
228th Motorised signal Battalion
226th Panzer-Jager Rgt.
HOME STATION
Rheine, Wkr.VI