By 1943, it was clear to any interested observer that the Western Allies were devoting enormous resources to a future invasion of northwestern Europe. It was equally clear in the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (the OKW or High Command of the Wehrmacht) that the German occupation forces in the same area would in all probability be inadequate to resist any such invasion. The longer the war went on, the more essential it was that German strength be built up in the West to counter the ever increasing threat. The point was finally addressed by Hitler with the issue, on 3 Nov 43, on his Weisung (Directive) No. 51.

This was a general directive giving priority to the Western theatre for the supply of replacement men and material, and it was followed on 27 Dec 43 by another, this time more detailed, instruction from the OKW. This latter order dealt more specifically with the measures to be taken by the. various interested offices, and one of these was that of General oberst Fritz Fromm, the Chef der Heeresrustung und Befehlshaber des Ersatzheeres (the Head of Army Equipment and Commander of the Replacement Army).

One of Fromm's tasks under the new directive concerned the Lehrtruppen of the Panzertruppenschulen (the Instruction troops of the Armored troops Schools). The order instructed him to make the Lehrtruppen available for use and to transfer them to the Verdun-Toul-Nancy-Luneville area in northeastern France. There they would be combined to form a new unit, the Panzer-Lehr-Division. Since the schools themselves could not provide all the units necessary for the formation of the new Division, the Oberbefehlshaber West was instructed to provide an artillery regimental staff together with two artillery battalions, and also elements to help build up the supply troops. The new Division was to complete its formation and be operational by 1 Mar 44.

It was Jan 44 when the various Lehrtruppen first began to assemble in Lorraine in northeastern France, the area designated for the formation of the new Division. Its headquarters, together with the BegleitKompanie (security company), the Panzergrenadier-Lehr-Regiment 901 (less the II, Battalion), and the Panzer-Nachrichten-Abteilung (signals battalion), were all billeted in and around Nancy. The Panzer-Lehr Regiment 130, the II./Panzergrenadie-Lehr-Regiment 901, the Panzerjager-Lehr-Abteilung 130, the II./Panzerartillerie-Regiment 130 and the Heeres-Flak-Abteilung 311 were stationed around Verdun. The Panzergrenadier-Regiment 902 and the III/Panzeratillerie Regiment 130 meanwhile occupied the area around Luneville; the Panzerpionier-Bataillon 130 was in Pont-a-Mousson,and the supply units were barracked around Toul.

Having thus assembled its various subordinate units, the Division now began what turned into an arduous build-up. As we have seen, it had been instructed to be operational by 1 Mar 44, but that fact notwithstanding, the official order for its activation did not actually arrive until 21 January, And even at this late stage, the order was both incomplete and contradictory, and there was not even an established table of organization and equipment. The Division had to send a courier to Cottbus south east of Berlin just to pick this up. Generaloberst Heinz Guderian, the Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen, had ordered that the Division be established according to what was then described as a "freie Gliederrung " (free or open organization), but which would later be formalized as the organization for the "Panzer-Division 44". One of the objects of this new organization was to reduce the numbers of personnel and vehicles required by concentrating the rear echelons of the front-line companies into central Versorgungs-Kompanien (supply companies).

The only problem for the Panzer-Lehr-Division was that its activation order of 21 Jan made it clear that there would be no immediate allocation of wheeled vehicles, thus no supply trucks. The "freie Gliederrung" meant that no decision had yet been made on the organization or the equipment of either the Artillerie-Regiment or the Panzerjager-Abteilung. The latter did not even know, for example, whether it would be expected to deploy Panzer VI "Tiger", Jagdpanther, Panzerjager IV, or even just the 75mm PaK 39. Orders followed warning orders, counterorders followed orders; it seemed as if a final decision would never be made. Gradual Operational Status

Even in the absence of such direction though, the Divisional headquarters gradually became operational, initially under the command of Generalmajor Oswin Grolig, the commander of the Panzertruppenschule II. He left very soon thereafter though to take up command of the 21st Panzer-Division on 14 Jan, and was replaced by Generalmajor Fritz Bayerlein, then commanding the 3rd Panzer Division. Bayerlein did not arrive at his new headquarters until 4 Feb, but throughout most of January and February, work at the divisional headquarters continued as best it could, despite being complicated by the rapid turnover in staff, many of whom were originally classified as fit for service only in the Reich. These though were gradually replaced by officers coming from the headquarters of the 137, Infanterie-Division, this having been officially disbanded on 2 Nov 43 following heavy fighting under Army Group Centre on the Eastern Front. Despite all these problems though, the Division pressed ahead with its formation and training, and by 1 Feb 44 it was able to report a few of its elements as being operational.

As far as training was concerned however, only one PanzerAbteilung and three Panzergrenadier-Bataillone had undergone adequate instruction and exercises by that time. The Panzerjager-Abteilung would require training on equipment which had still not arrived; the FlakAbteilung still needed more time to master the art of live firing; and the Nachrichten-Abteilung (signals battalion), having come from an infantry background with the 137.Infanterie-Di vision, needed to be converted to an armored organization and retrained. And over and above all these problems there was still the lack of wheeled vehicles. Despite these difficulties though, Guderian's office repeated 1 Mar 44 as the date by which the Division had to be operational, and its most pressing task now was to form the disparate troops into a single combat unit capable of combined arms operation.

Things did not, apparently, go all that smoothly though. After a number of small unit training exercises, the Division held a major exercise on 20 Feb in the presence of Guderian who had come to see how things were coming along. It was a freezing cold day, and nothing went right from the start. The Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen was unimpressed, describing the whole affair as the greatest nonsense he had encountered in his entire millitary life. It was not an auspicious beginning.

But the hard work from Bayerlein's staff was beginning to pay off, and by the middle of February a further 1500 NCOs and enlisted men arrived to flesh out the lack of troops. At about the same time, the Division also received a quota of trucks, enough to give it a carrying capacity of carrying 1100 tons. It was hardly what was required, but it was a start. A decision was then finally made regarding the organization of the Artillerie Regiment and orders were issued accordingly. The staff of the ArtillerieSchule in Suippes were to form the II/Panzerartillerie-Regiment 130; the I./Panzerartillerie-Regiment 130 was to be formed from the Lehr-Abteilung II from the Schule fur Fahnenjunker der Artillerie in Mourmelon; and the schwere Artillerie-Abteilung (mot.) 985 was to be attached to the Division as the III/Panzerartillerie-Regiment 130. But despite these improvements, the Division was still incomplete, and on 2 Mar 44, the day after it was to be operational, the Panzer-Lehr-Division still lacked a Panzeraufklarungs Abteilung (armored reconnaissance battalion); its complement of medical troops; a total of 1000 men from its various units; 850 wheeled vehicles; and the main weapons for its Panzerjager-Abteilung.

More Panzer Lehr

Activation and Formation
First Operations, Hungary and Eastern Front
Back to the Western Front
Organization of PzLehr Regt. 130