German Army Divisions

As with almost all armies in World War II, the German Army organized the bulk of its troops in divisions. Table 2 and Table 3, on the following pages, display the standard organizations and authorized strengths of German divisions at the start of the war. (As the following sections describe Germany's divisions, refer to these tables for details on their composition and equipment.)

Panzer Troops

The panzer troops, soon to become the dread symbol of armored warfare, were a new creation of the Army. The Germans had shown little interest in tanks during World War I and had been prohibited them after the war. In violation of their treaty obligations, the Germans began secret experiments with tanks in the 1920s.

This began the countdown to the blitzkrieg:

• 1925: A German armor school opened at Kazan in the Soviet Union-future panzer leaders passed through this school.
• 1926: The first armored units were planned.
• 1929-31: Initial designs were drawn up for the Panzer I and II tanks.
• 1934: With rearmament under way, the creation of the panzer troops sped up. Three training brigades were set up for raising panzer regiments, antitank battalions, and recon battalions. The Panzer I tank went into mass production. The Panzer I was a light tank intended for training. (See Table 1 for the characteristics of this and other German tanks.) Plans called for it to equip the panzer units only as a stopgap measure, until other tanks were available. In the event, Panzer I tanks were used against Poland and France.
• 1935: Three panzer divisions were created. Panzer II tanks began to leave the production lines. The Panzer II was another stopgap tank, intended for use only until the Panzer III and IV tanks were ready. However, at the start of the war, the Panzer II was still used as the main battle tank of the Wehrmacht.
• 1936: 3,000 Panzer I tanks equipped the panzer units. The first ten Panzer III tanks and some Panzer IV tanks were produced.

  Plans called for four infantry divisions to be motorized and to operate with the panzer divisions. All four would exist by 1937. Due to the insistence of the cavalry arm, three light divisions were to be formed, each with motorized regiments from former horsed cavalry regiments and with one tank battalion. Despite some foot dragging by the panzer troops, a light brigade was formed within a year and all three divisions within two yea rs.

• 1937: Improved Panzer III and IV tanks entered production.
• 1938: The first major Panzer III production model, the Panzer IIID began appearing. The Panzer III was the "tank fighting" tank, armed with a high-velocity gun and scheduled to equip three out of the four companies in each panzer battalion. By the start of the war, only a few Panzer IIIs were in service, but they proved their excellence in Poland.

  Panzer IV production was greatly cut back after 42 B tanks and 140 C tanks were made, since enough Panzer IV tanks had been produced to equip the fourth company of each panzer battalion. This made sense at the time because the Panzer IV was a "support" tank. Armed with a low- velocity 75mm gun, the Panzer IV was intended for direct-fire support against unarmored targets, while the Panzer III was to handle armored targets. The Panzer IV was a good tank in Poland, and, when eventually upgraded to a high-velocity antitank gun, formed the backbone of the panzer forces.

  With the annexation of Austria, a fourth panzer division and a fourth light division were formed, based on the motorized elements of the Austrian Army. Elsewhere in Germany, a fifth panzer division was formed.

• 1939: The occupation of Czechoslovakia netted the panzer troops excellent Czech tanks. The Panzer 35 was equivalent to the Panzer II. The Panzer 38 was a very reliable vehicle, at least the equal of the Panzer III. The headquarters of a sixth panzer division was formed in Prague.

1 September 1939

German tank strength numbered approximately 3,200 tanks:

1,445 Pz I
1,223 Pz II
200 Pz 35 and Pz 38
98 Pz Ill
211 Pz IV

Germany had six panzer divisions (1-5, 10) at the start of the war. A panzer division at authorized organization and equipment rates as 11-6-10 in the OB: the 1st, 3rd, and 4th meet these criteria. The 2nd is 11- 7-10, because one of its artillery battalions had heavier 15cm howitzers instead of 10.5cm howitzers. The 5th is 12-7-10, since it had two rifle regiments (each with two rifle battalions) in place of a single rifle regiment (of two rifle and one motorcycle battalions).

The divisional headquarters of the 10th Panzer Division was formed April 1939 in Prague, Bohemia-Moravia but the division had no organic troops. Instead, its troops were detached from other units: the 8th Panzer Regiment (of two panzer battalions) from 4th Panzer Brigade, the 86th Motorized Infantry Regiment (of three battalions) and an artillery battalion from 29th Motorized Infantry Division, a recon battalion from 3rd Light Division, and an engineer Panzer battalion from independent army units. After the Polish campaign, the 10th was reformed and given organic troops. The 10th rates B-6-10, being short two panzer battalions and one artillery battalion from standard organization.

The Germans also fielded Panzer Division Kempf in the Polish campaign. This was an ad hoc formation formed around the independent 4th Panzer Brigade headquarters and contained various Army and SS units.

Since it was inefficient as a division (it had no divisional training together, as well as considerable friction between its Army and SS elements), it is shown in the OB as its component units: 7th Panzer Regiment, SS Deutschland Regiment, SS Verfugungstruppen Artillery Regiment, and 511th Antitank Battalion. In the event, Kempf was broken up during the Polish campaign, with its units operating with other formations.

Germany also had several smaller panzer formations comprising independent regiments and battalions. A, regiment rates as 3-2-10. A battalion, given the benefit of the doubt, rates as 2-1-10. (A battalion comes out at roughly 1.5-1-10. Rounding down to 1-10 understated its strength too much; rounding up to 2-1-10 worked better.)

These units are:

• 4th Panzer Brigade, an independent brigade HQ supposedly over the 7th and 8th Panzer Regiments. The 8th, however, had been detached to 10th Panzer Division, so the 7th is shown directly in the OB, without the 4th Brigade HQ.
• 11th Panzer Regiment, which operated in conjunction with the light divisions.
• 1/10, 1/23, and 1/25 Panzer Battalions were independent, with 1/25 operating in conjunction with the light divisions. After the campaign, 1/23 became 11/25 to form the 25th Panzer Regiment.

At the insistence of the cavalry arm, the Army had formed three light divisions (1-3). In 1938, a 4th Light Division was organized from the "Mobile" Division of the former Austrian Army. The light divisions had an unusual structure, reflecting an attempt to build a mechanized force to fulfill cavalry's traditional roles such as scouting and screening. Each division thus had two former cavalry regiments, one reorganized as motorized infantry (called "cavalry rifle") and the other as reconnaissance (containing armored recon vehicles). Various supporting battalions were attached, including a panzer battalion to give the division an armored punch.

The light divisions were regarded as mistakes and as an inefficient use of motorized resources-a panzer division could do everything a light division was supposed to, as shown in Table 2, plus much more. Transferred to the panzer troops from the cavalry, the light divisions were scheduled to convert to panzer divisions (which explains the gap in the numbering of the panzer divisions between the 5th and 10ththe four light divisions would become the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th).

The Polish campaign occurred before enough resources were available to convert the divisions, and the campaign definitively proved the superiority of the panzer division over the light division. The light divisions were subsequently converted to panzer divisions following the campaign.

In the OB, a "standard" light division rates as 6.5-5-10, except none of the divisions met the standard. The 2nd and 4th are 7-5-10, since each had two cavalry rifle regiments (of two battalions each) in place of one regiment of three battalions. The 1st and 3rd are 6-5-10, as each lacked one of its two authorized recon battalions. (The 3rd officially had two, but one had been detached to the 10th Panzer Division).

The units of the panzer troops underwent considerable reorganization starting in October 1939. Most of these are not shown in the OB, as the reorganization proceeded slowly, lasting until spring 1940 in some cases, and thus is outside the bounds of the OB.

The antitank units, regardless of their assignments, belonged to the panzer troops. There were 19 independent, fully motorized antitank battalions at the start of the war. Five were dernotorized and absorbed into static fortifications in late 1939-their trucks were probably seized by the panzer troops and used to help motorize other units.

The assignments of four antitank battalions (643, 652, 654, 670) in the Polish campaign are not exactly known. In the OB, these are allocated to the armies and reserves based on mobilization records and likely deployments.

Inside Europa First to Fight Designer's Notes Part II, Section B Germany [Europa 24]

German Army Divisions and Panzer Troops
Mountain Troops and Infantry
Cavalry, Artillery, and Engineer/Construction Troops
Security Troops
The Replacement Army
Luftwaffe
Kriegsmarine
Brandenburgers
SS and SA
Table 1: 1939 German Tanks
Table 2: 1939 German Divisions: Authorized Organizations
Table 3: German Divisions: Authorized Strengths
Table 4: German Aircraft

Inside Europa First to Fight Designer's Notes Part II, Section A Germany [Europa 23]

Introduction
Army Re-armament and Manpower
Strategic Situation
Germany-Allies Strength Comparison
German High Command and the Government
Volksdeutsch Resettlement 1939-1942
The Wehrkreis System
Frontier Defenses and Border Regt Commands