Robert Forczyk - Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front, 1943-1945 - Red Steamroller

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First published in Great Britain in 2016 by

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In late 1942, the Waffen-SS had already re-designated their motorized infantry divisions, each of which were equipped with at least one Panzer-Abteilung, as ‘Panzergrenadier-Division’, but the Heer did not similarly re-designate their motorized infantry divisions as such until mid-1943. In the interest of avoiding confusion, I will use the term Panzer-Grenadier-Division for the Heer units in aggregate, but continue to use ‘Infanterie-Division (mot.)’ when referring to specific Heer divisions prior to mid-1943.

Total loss, meaning that the tank was beyond repair.

Haen recovered and became the battalion commander of the rebuilt Panzer-Abteilung 103, which he led in the Italian Campaign. Remarkably, he survived the war but was shot in US captivity on the day after Germany’s surrender in 1945.

On 18 January 1943 Zhukov was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union and Vasilevsky was promoted to General of the Army.

The first unit was a battalion-size motorized infantry unit that was used to guard Hitler’s forward headquarters but had been sent to the Eastern Front and attached to the Großdeutschland Division. The Fegelein Brigade was also motorized infantry. Neither unit had much artillery or anti-tank support.