First Operations: Hungary and Operation "Margarethe"

But time had run out for Bayerlein's new Division, and in the spring of 1944, the OKW had been long concerned with the defence against a possible Allied landing on the French Mediterranean coast. It now planned to move the Division to the AOK 19 (19th Army) in the area around either Avignon or Carcasonne, and Bayerlein was instructed to carry out an initial reconnaissance of the area. He argued against moving the Division this early in its formation, and made his point clearly to Guderian, but the decision had been made and the Panzer-Lehr began to head southwards towards the Mediterranean. It was not destined to stay there long however, and in fact even before it completed the move, the Division received rather unexpected orders at 00.30 hours on 6 Mar; it was now to be transported to Vienna in Austria. The armored units were to be loaded on trains by 7 Mar, and advance parties were to be on the move the same day.

The new move interrupted once again the Division's brief opportunity for training, and in all probability put back its full operational readiness by another few weeks. Moreover, the assembly area allocated to the Panzer-Lehr in Austria was limited and inadequate, even to the extent of being shared with families which had been evacuated from heavily bombed areas. The majority of the troops had to be billeted in schools, municipal buildings and even barns although some were fortunate enough to be stationed at the training area near Bruck and der Leitha.

But it was not all bad news. The Panzeraufklarungs Lehr-Abteilung, having just completed its fitting out in Krampnitz, was now ready to move and would join the Division in Austria. On 8 Mar the Division was attached to the LVIII, Reserve-panzerkorps under the command of Army Group F, otherwise known as OB Sudost, and the rumors began to circulate as to the forthcoming mission. The possibility uppermost in the majority of minds was a transfer to Army Group South and the Ukraine, where the Red Army was threatening Ternopol. But, on 10 Mar Bayerlein was informed of the real reason for the move; Hungary, an Axis ally, was to be occupied by German troops. The origins of this somewhat drastic measure go back to the year before.

Italy capitulated and pulled out of the war on 8 Sep 1943, and the OKW found itself having to consider the possibility of both Hungary and Rumania doing the same. As early as 30 Sep 1943, The Wehrmachtfuhrungsstab had put forward proposals under the code name "Margarethe" to occupy Hungary and disarm the Hungarian armed forces. Much work had been done since those days, both politically and militarily, and following a visit to the Fuhrerhauptquartier during 26-28 Feb 1944 by the Rumanian leader Antonescu, Hitler was satisfied that the Rumanian government would stand by its Axis allies. He was not equally convinced of the Hungarian position, and on 28 Feb, he ordered the OKW to draw up the final plans for Operation "Margarethe".

The OKW presented these the following day, and in response, Hitler expressed his wish that the Panzer-Lehr-Division be brought into the operation, to replace the 16SS Panzergrenadier- Division "Reichsfuhrer SS" in the event that the latter unit was not ready. The OKW had proposed the end of March as a start date for the operation, but on 3 Mar, Hitler decided this was far too late, and ordered instead that it be brought forward as much as possible. The earliest possible date at that time was 12 Mar, but this was later put back to 15 Mar to allow the transfer of participating units to be completed.

It was not clear at this stage just how the Hungarian leader, Horthy, or the Royal Hungarian Army, would react. In any event the orders from Berlin were quite explicit; the operation was to be carried out under peaceful condition wherever possible, but if any resistance was encountered, this was to be met with force. As a precaution against possible Hungarian resistance, the OKW planned a subsidiary operation, codenamed "Troganisches Pferd" (Trojan Horse), in which six transport trains carrying two panzergrenadier battalions and supporting panzers would report in Hungary for transport through to Rumania. These would then detrain in the Budapest area on orders, seize important buildings, and disarm any Hungarian troops in the city. The Pahzer-Lehr was to provide the majority of the troops for this action, while the rest of the Division would march overland and meet up with these leading units in the capital.

Meanwhile the rail transport from France to Austria went without major problems or delays. By 15 Mar, the units of the Division were all in their respective assembly areas. It was perhaps indicative of the technical problems associated with the automotive system of the"Panther", that the Division experienced 10 cases of engine failure in the tanks during the course of the move. The brand new II./Parizerartillerie-Regiment 130 also arrived at about this time in Austria, even though Bayerlein had preferred himself to leave the unit in France. It was still not adequately manned, and many of its soldiers had now to be exchanged with others from the Artillerie-Lehr-Abteilung in Gross-Born.

There were other problems too, not the least of which was fuel. The Division lacked over 400 cubic meters of barrel capacity, and despite orders to the contrary, it received 530 cubic meters of fuel in large railway container trucks rather than canisters, the famous "jerry cans". It had to improvise, and about half of the delivery was put into the available barrels. A little more was held in canisters, but the rest had to be abandoned. A total of 31 Jagdpanzer IV were issued to the Parizerjager-Abteilung, but these were held up in poor weather conditions and would not arrive in time for the operation. Bayerlein however decided to make at least one Kompanie operational, and allocated the 10 StuGs from the Funklenk-Kompanie 316 (which was expecting to receive a number of Panzer VI "King Tiger" instead) to the 3.Kompanie. The rest of the Abteilung would have to remain behind in Austria until its equipment finally arrived, but there were compensations. The doors of the vehicle depots finally seemed to open, and the Division received the final 850 trucks which it had been missing; even if not in time for the forthcoming operation.

The March into Hungary

By 15 Mar, the troops from the Panzer-Lehr-Division assigned to Operation "Trojanisches Pferd" were loaded up on their trains, ready to move off into Hungary. With them was a Sonderkommando (Special Command) from the 4. Regiment "Brandenburg". All now depended upon the outcome of Hitler's last minute discussions with Horthy; the two men were due to meet at Klessheimn castle in Salzburg on 18 Mar. If the talks broke down without result, the lead units would detrain in some open country outside Budapest and strike into the capital seizing both town and castle.

Despite some problematical moments during the meeting, Horthy backed down and was convinced to go along with Hitler's plans for his country. The operation had been postponed as a result of the last ditch negotiations, but now the date was set for 19 Mar 1944. Although things had been resolved in Hitler's favor at Klessheim, down at the frontline the troops of the Panzer-Lehr-Division still did not know whether they would be greeted with a hail of fire, or flowers from the locals. It was 23.30 hours on 18 Mar before they finally learned of the outcome of the Klessheim talks. They would not have to take on the Hungarian armed forces. It was probably as well.

In the early hours of 19 Mar, at 04.00 hours, the troops of the Division began to cross the border into Hungary on a number of different roads and paths. Even in the absence of defensive fire, it soon became clear that the young and inexperienced drivers were lacking somewhat in match discipline. Traffic jams soon built up, and delays became inevitable. Fortunately though, the Hungarian garrisons in Gyor, Komarom, and Esztergom remained in their barracks, and the local population waved the young soldiers on. It might have been very different had there been determined resistance, but there was no fighting and there were no casual ties.

The "Troganisches Pferd" units detrained outside Budapest as planned and entered the city without difficulty; the city police even helped clear the entrance to the castle when this proved too narrow for the supporting Panzer IVs, and on the next day German panzers were able to stand as guard of honor for Horthy on his return from Klessheim. The rest of the Division meanwhile rolled through western Hungary towards Budapest, and the majority of units reached their respective assembly areas west of the capital before evening. Only the last groups to cross the border failed to make it the same day, having been delayed by up to 4 hours by the various traffic problems, and even they caught up the next day. Among the late arrivals was the "Panther" battalion which, to save wear and tear on the tanks' engines, had been moved by rail.

The political situation was still not entirely clear however, and the Panzer- Lehr- Division was given orders to secure the road and rail net in the Komarom-Szedesfehervar-Godollo-Ascod area, and also the communications network in the same area. It also assumed responsibility for the security of industrial and other economically important installations in the region. For various reasons, the establishment of a "new" regime in Hungary, particularly one which was now run by a cabinet without support from parliament, had caused a degree of bad feeling among the population. Despite and because of this, Generalfeldmarschall von Weichs, commanding Army Group F, was keen not to get involved in disarming the Hungarian armed forces.

He tried instead to foster the image of the Wehrmacht as "guests" of the Hungarians rather than "occupiers" of the country. With very few exceptions for example, German troops were not allowed into Budapest, and the Panzer-Lehr-Division even organized a number of joint exercises and sports events with their opposite numbers in the Hungarian army. Outward appearances notwithstanding though, the Germans were laying plans to enter the capital and disarm the Hungarians should the political situation deteriorate, and the Panzer-Lehr-Division stood alert, ready to move on the code-word "Donaustadt" (Danube town), supported by elements of the 4.Regiment "Brandenburg" and the Grenadier-Regiment (mot.) 92.

To the Eastern Front?

Meanwhile, the military situation in the Ukraine was deteriorating from day to day, and the decision was made to continue and extend German control throughout Hungary. This necessitated a reorganization of forces. On 25 Mar, the 16SS Panzergrenadier-Division "Reichsfuhrer SS" was ordered into eastern Hungary, leaving the PanzerLehr-Division to extend the area under its control and assume responsibility for the Rakosliget-Kidtarcsa-Cinkoda area formerly occupied by the SS Division. Two days later, the Hungarian forces were allowed once more to leave their barracks to take over responsibility for the security of bridges, rail and industrial installations. The Panzer-Lehr-Division was finally able to resume its training program by 28 Mar, but no sooner had it done so than a new concern raised its head.

The Division received orders to reconnoitre the two main Carpathian passes to establish the conditions of the roads, the chances of blocking the passes, and the possibilities for deployment in that area. The spectre of operations on the Eastern Front was suddenly raised in front of the young Division; and to make matters worse, it was terrain hardly suitable for armored warfare. Bayerlein appealed to Guderian, and the Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen was able to put his mind at rest the OKW still intended that the Division would be moved to another theatre following another 4 weeks training in Hungary.

Training therefore went ahead as planned, with full use being made of the Hungarian training facilities. The II./Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130 practiced armored attacks near Esztergom; in the same area the Panzerpionier-Bataillon 130 practiced bridgelaying and ferrying across an arm of the Danube together with the tanks of the "Panther" battalion; the Panzerartillerie-Regiment 130 took the opportunity of practicing its first gun-, battery-, and battalion-fires in Veszprem near Lake Balaton. They even had the chance to practice combined arms assaults with elements of the Panzer-regiment. The panzergrenadiers meanwhile exercised on the training area at Varpalota, practicing infantry tactics and also combined arms with the panzers and artillery.

More Panzer Lehr

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