Panzer Brigade

Panzer Brigade is a formation in the German Heer during World War II.

Concept

From the beginning of the war in 1939 Panzer Brigades were present and operational in the German Order of Battle until at least the summer of 1943. Apart from the official Order of Battle, German tank forces often operated in ad hoc formations, especially after the reverse of fortunes on the battlefield required makeshift units to tackle crisis situations more often. The philosophy behind these brigades was that smaller but stronger tank units could manoeuvre and counteract more swift than cumbersome panzer divisions, which can be easily detected by enemy intelligence. Nevertheless when Hitler ordered the creation of the Panzer Brigades in July 1944, they were rather born out of necessity than a new defence doctrine of the German armed forces. Ten Panzer Brigades are created on July 7, 1944 on the orders of Adolf Hitler to stabilize the Eastern Front. The order resulted from observations on the successes of ad-hoc kampfgruppes like Schwere Panzer Regiment under Oberst Franz Bäke. Hitler stated that the small, mobile, fast and armored Kampfgruppes could be useful during this situation and such Kampfgruppe could quickly be sent into action to meet the attacking enemy armored spearheads. He thought that the appropriate organization for these Kampfgruppe should be one panzergrenadier battalion mounted in half-tracks, one panzer battalion with thirty to forty Panther tanks, one Pak-Kompanie and several Flak-Wagon. He also requested about twelve of such Kampfgruppe, named as Brigaden. The creation of Panzer Brigades was opposed by Generaloberst Heinz Guderian, Inspector General for Armor, because these new units would hinder the replacement of losses and the necessary refitting of worn-out Panzer Divisions.

Organization

There are two types of Panzer Brigades, the first ten (101st to 110th) contains a reduced panzer battalion and a battalion of panzergrenadiers in half-tracks. The second wave (111th to 113th) were created in early September 1944. The organization of these three brigades was quite different from that of previous ones. The Panzer Abteilung was equipped with Panzer IV and the Panzergrenadier component of the brigade was expanded to a full regiment with two battalions, but the detail composition of the regiment was unclear. The other supportive components included one Panzer Aufklaerung-Kompanie, one Panzer Pioniere-Kompanie and one Sturmgeschuetz Kompanie. The strength of these brigades was further reinforced by one Panther-Abteilung which had been previously created for a Panzer Division. Thus these brigades could field two Panzer and two Panzergrenadier battalions. Aside from the Panzer Brigades above, there is also ad hoc units that were known as Panzer Brigades. There is even a Panzer Brigade that is actually a commando unit (Panzer Brigade 150).

Panzer Brigades, 1944-45

• 101st Panzer Brigade - part of Panzerverband Strachwitz, absorbed by 20th Panzer Division
• 102nd Panzer Brigade - absorbed by 7th Panzer Division
• 103rd Panzer Brigade
• 104th Panzer Brigade
• 105th Panzer Brigade - absorbed by 9th Panzer Division
• 106th Panzer Brigade - absorbed by Panzer Division Clausewitz
• 107th Panzer Brigade - upgraded to 25th Panzergrenadier Division
• 108th Panzer Brigade
• 109th Panzer Brigade
• 110th Panzer Brigade - absorbed by 13th Panzer Division
• 111th Panzer Brigade
• 112th Panzer Brigade - absorbed by 21st Panzer Division
• 113th Panzer Brigade - absorbed by 15th Panzergrenadier Division
• SS Panzer Brigade Gross - part of Panzerverband Strachwitz
• SS Brigade Westfalen
• Panzer Brigade 150 - known as a Panzer Brigade, but actually was a commando unit in the Battle of the Bulge

Results

With few exceptions, like the 106th Panzer Brigade, the Panzer Brigades are short-lived. These are disbanded by absorption to existing Panzer and Panzergrenadier Divisions.