User:MinorProphet/Draft subpages/Panzer Artillery Regiments

A Panzer Artillery Regiment (Panzer Artillerie-Regiment) provided the divisional field artillery support for the Panzer divisions of the German Army during the whole of WW2.



The two most significant division-level artillery pieces were the 10.5 cm leFH 18 light howitzer with c20,000 produced, and the 15 cm sFH 18 heavy howitzer, with later variants firing rocket-propelled shells (over 6,750 examples produced). These two types served as the Panzer divisional artillery's main weapons throughout the war, either towed or self-propelled. Various other artillery pieces were also used such as the 10 cm schwere Kanone 18. As part of an armoured, mechanised division, all the Panzer artillery regiments used half-tracks such as the Sd.Kfz. 11 and Sd.Kfz. 7 to tow their guns.

From c1942–1943, the existing divisional defensive anti-aircraft (Flak) battalions equipped with 2 cm, 3.7 cm and 8.8 cm flak were allocated as a 4th battalion to the artillery regiments, and are mentioned where relevant.
 * Actually, I'm fairly sure that during this period only the 2 cm and 3.7cm light Fla were assigned to the Panzer divisions, (there was considerable conflict among commanders about who actually had control over the units), and the 8.8 cm FlaK were always and only crewed by Luftwaffe personnel, even in the anti-tank role...?

Ian Hogg (p. 197) says that the 7.5 cm Pak 40 was sometimes used as divisional artillery, but with no further details.


 * Move to cites and make sfn!

This article deals only with the above gun types. It does not discuss: a) the anti-tank regiments of Panzer divisions; b) In addition, the divisional infantry regiments had an organic close-support company equipped with the light 7.5 cm le.IG 18 and the heavy 15 cm sIG 33. These companies (often designated as the 13th) were directly attached to the regimental HQ and were crewed by specially-trained infantrymen rather than artillerymen; c) There were also separate regiments of light and heavy motorised rocket artillery ( Werfer-Regiment (motorisiert) employing for example the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41, 21 cm  NbW 42, the 28/32 cm NbW 41 and the 30 cm NbW 42 rocket launchers. None of these are discussed further in this article.

Although the artillery regiments generally retained their unit number throughout the conflict (e.g. the 74th Artillery Regiment of the 2nd Panzer division), individual battalions within each regiment were often transferred to other divisions to replace losses or to form new divisions. As the war progressed, the increasing lack of troops and matériel led to the formation of several under-strength divisions, and by early 1945 battle casualties had reduced several 'divisions' to mere Kampfgruppen (lit. 'Battle Groups'). By 1945, very late in the war, some divisions had only a theoretical existence, known as 'paper divisions'.

Pre-war background


1920s: pp 18-21

1930s: pp 23, 28-30. Costs, pp 32, 34, observation + armoured scout cars, 34-35

etc.

Original divisions
The first five Panzer divisions created before the war were mobilized in 1939. Except for the 2nd Division, they were allocated light one artillery regiment comprising 2 battalions with 3 batteries of four 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzers each, with 24 guns per regiment. In addition to a HQ staff, each regiment had a communications, meteorological, and printing detachment. The 2nd Panzer Division (formed in October 1935) was allocated the 1/74th Artillery Regiment and the 1/110th Artillery Regiment, the latter battalion consisting of 1 battery of four 15 cm sFH 18, and 2 batteries of four 15 cm Kanone 18 (towed by two Sd.Kfz. 7s per gun, one for the carriage and one for the barrel plus one more half-track ?for the battery commander?).

A further five divisions were created by March 1940, and from mid 1940 the artillery regiments were expanded from two to three battalions, one heavy and two light. This also applied to new divisions, and by the end of 1940 a further ten had been formed, giving 20 front-line Panzer divisions numbered 1 to 20.

From late 1941 to mid-1942, each artillery regiment had 3 artillery battalions and a 4th Army Flak Btn. The 1st and 2nd Btns had 3 batteries of four 10.5 cm leFH 18 towed by Sd.Kfz. 11, and the heavy 3rd Btn. had 2 batteries of four 15 cm sFH 18 and 1 of four 10 cm schwere Kanone 18, towed by Sd.Kfz. 7

Anti-aircraft battalions
Originally there were no anti-aircraft (AA, FlaK) battalions allocated to any division. After the Fall of Poland, Heeres Flak Abteilungen (Army Flak Battalions) were assigned to panzer divisions.

Beginning in 1942, each Panzer division absorbed an Army Flak battalion from other Army units, many becoming the 4th battalion of the artillery regiment. The 4th (Flak) battalion had one battery of 12 20mm flak towed by Krupp Protzes, and two batteries of four 88mm Flak 18 or 36 towed by a Sd.Kfz. 7.

Although most Wehrmacht anti-aircraft units were crewed by Luftwaffe personnel, by mid-1942 all the regular Panzer divisions were defended from air attack by organic Flak battalions, crewed by regular Army (Heeres-Flak) personnel. By late 1943 most anti-aircraft units had reverted to become separate Army Flak battalions with their old name and unit number within the division.

During the 1940 Battle of France and Operation Barbarossa in 1941 anti-aircraft artillery, both 20mm and 88mm, was used against ground troops and tanks. Although they were often successful in this front-line role, this resulted in considerably higher casualties among the gun crews; and they were diverted from their primary objective of shooting down enemy aircraft. The standard artillery pieces were also used in a direct-fire role against Soviet KV-1 and KV-2 heavy tanks.

Self-propelled battalions
Further divisions numbered 21 to 27 were created by 1943. Also by this time, at least the 1st battalions of all artillery regiments had been equipped with self-propelled artillery, replacing their formerly towed howitzers. The order of battle of January 1944 gave rise to the 'Type 44 Panzer divisions', specifying one towed and two self-propelled battalions for each Panzer artillery regiment. The last complete division to be formed (in March 1944) was the 116th Panzer Division Windhund.

Reserves
The 155th, 179th, 233rd, & 273rd Reserve Panzer Divisions, formed in 1943, were eventually absorbed as reinforcements into other Panzer divisions late in the war. No artillery was allocated to the skeleton Panzer Divisions Nr. 178 and 232 (the latter formed 1945, ex Tatra).

Higher level formations
The heavier field artillery regiments equipped with eg the 15 cm Kanone 18, the 17 cm Kanone 18, the 21 cm Mörser 18, and the 21 cm Kanone 38 (only a handful produced) were allocated at the Panzer corps level. Sometimes an entire corps artillery was assigned to support a divisional thrust, for example the 48th corps artillery was subordinated to the 11th Panzer Division for its counter-attack during the battles of the River Chir in December 1942.


 * Move to sources!

The structure of German land forces was continually changing during the war. The panzer divisons were originally assigned to panzer groups (Panzergruppen). Some (??) became Army motorised corps (Armeekorps (mot) or AK(mot)), which were again renamed to Panzer corps in 1941. Around the same time some panzer groups were re-designated as full Panzer Armies. It's all rather complex and probably not worth trying to sort out...

List of divisions and their artillery regiments
The individual battalions of many regiments were often transferred and re-named from existing artillery units. Several organizational shake-ups took place during the war, and the changes in the makeup of divisional artillery during the course of the war can be quite complex. The German Kriegsstärkenachweisungen (KstN) documents showed the theoretical composition of military units, but often captured equipment was substituted, and many divisions never reached their full strength.

The date in brackets is the date of formation. Sources for Panzer divisions and regiments mentioned in this section: and further volumes, and


 * Move to sources! NB! All Tessin volumes are freely available online, possibly at Austrian or German National Libraries somwewhere...?

Five divisions (formed 1935–1938) were mobilised in 1939 at the start of the war.
 * 1st Panzer Division (September 1935) - 73rd Artillerie-Regiment
 * Major Eduard Crasemann joined as a battery commander on 1 April 1939
 * Riebenstahl in his book of pics shows a 15 cm sFH 18 howitzer of the I/A.R.73 firing near Poltava on 6 September 1939. The pic caption says the commander was Major de:Walther von Hünersdorff, but the German WP article says he was Erster Generalstabsoffizier (Ia) and he was promoted Oberstleutnant on 1 June 1938. But Stoves p. 12 says it was the III battalion which was the heavy one. NB I knew that starting this draft article this would be a big mistake...

A further 5 divisions were created in the wake of the Fall of Poland. A decision was taken in mid-1940 to create 10 new divisions, partly by transferring units from existing Panzer and other Army divisions. From 1941 a third (heavy?) battalion was being added to artillery regiments, and new divisions were formed with three as standard.
 * 2nd Panzer Division (October 1935) - 74th Artillerie-Regiment
 * 3rd Panzer Division (October 1935) - 75th Artillerie-Regiment
 * 4th Panzer Division (November 1938) - 103rd Artillery Regiment
 * 5th Panzer Division (November 1938) - 116th Artillery Regiment
 * 5th Panzer Division (November 1938) - 116th Artillery Regiment
 * 6th Panzer Division - (October 1939) - 76th Artillery Regiment - In August 1940, 1/76 was transferred to the new? 16th Panzer Division, gaining a new 1/ and 3/76.
 * 7th Panzer Division (October 1939) - 78th Artillery Regiment - later absorbed remains of destroyed ?27th Pz.Div.
 * 8th Panzer Division (October 1939) - 80th Artillery Regiment - third battalion formed from the 645th Heavy Artillery Battalion on 1/1/1941
 * 9th Panzer Division (March 1940) - 102nd Artillery Regiment - Rebuilt in March 1944 from the 155th Reserve Panzer Div.
 * 10th Panzer Division (March 1939, Prague, complete by November 1939) - 90th Artillery Regiment - destroyed in Tunis in May 1943, never re-formed.
 * 11th Panzer Division (August 1940) - 119th Artillery Regiment - Later 76th Panzer Art. Regt. - Rebuilt from 273rd Reserve Panzer Div. in Feb. 1944 (see also Elvira Chaudoir, a Peruvian double agent for the British)
 * 12th Panzer Division (October 1940) - 2nd Artillery Regiment
 * 13th Panzer Division (October 1940) - 13th Artillery Regiment - later rebuilt as 2nd Feldherrnhalle Panzer Division in March 1945
 * 14th Panzer Division (August 1940) - 4th Artillery Regiment
 * 15th Panzer Division (November 1940) - 33rd Artillery Regiment - Destroyed in Tunis in May 1943, rebuilt in July 1943 from the Sizilien Division as the 15th Panzergrenadier Division
 * 16th Panzer Division (November 1940) - 16th Artillery Regiment - Destroyed in 1943 at Stalingrad.  Re-formed in March 1943 from 890th Motorized Grenadier Regiment and other units.
 * 17th Panzer Division (November 1940) - 27th Artillery Regiment - By January 1945 heavy losses on the Vistula had reduced it to a Kampfgruppe with a single artillery battalion.
 * 18th Panzer Division (October 1940) - 88th Artillery Regiment - Disbanded in September 1943. Minus the tanks, most of the rest of the division along with the 88th Artillery Regiment became the 18th Artillery Division.
 * 19th Panzer Division (November 1940) - 19th Panzer? Artillery Regiment - In June 1944 the division was sent to the Netherlands where it reformed and reformed as a Type 44 Panzer Division.
 * 20th Panzer Division (October 1940) - 92nd Artillerie-Regiment - Reduced to a Kampfgruppe in 1944 after Kholm and Lublin, reorganised and fought on the Romanian Front.
 * 21st Panzer Division - (August 1941, N. Africa) - 115th Artillery Regiment - Destroyed in 1943 when Allies recaptured N. Africa: rebuilt in France in July 1943, with the new 155th Panzer Artillery Regiment coming from the 931st Artillery Regiment.  Destroyed in the Falaise Pocket. Reformed a third time in September 1944 in Lorraine.

In March 1942 the existing divisional units were renamed from Artillerie-Regiment to Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment, which also became the title of new regiments. Until the winter of 1941/42, the above 21 divisions included a motorised artillery regiment of two light (10.5 cm) and one heavy (15 cm) battalions.


 * 22nd Panzer Division - (September 1941, France) - 140th Artillery Regiment - Disbanded February 1943, some elements reinforced the 6th Pz. Div. During the Soviet campaign in 1942, by 16 September Hitler had ordered the Division and 113th Infantry Div. from the Sixth Army sector (attacking Stalingrad) to back up the Italian 8th Army E. of Kharkov where a Soviet was most likely to occur. While the division had stood in reserve, mice had chewed through the insulation off the radio wires in the tanks, "hampering the division's communications."


 * (NB file is split into 3 parts) MOVE TO SOURCES!


 * 23rd Panzer Division - (September 1941, France) - 128th Artillery Regiment
 * 24th Panzer Division - (November 1941) - 89th Artillery Regiment - Destroyed in January 1943 at Stalingrad. Reformed in 1943 in France. By 1945 there was no artillery at all. Surrendered to the Allies May 1945
 * 25th Panzer Division - (February 1942, Norway) - 91st 100mm Cannon and 91st Self Propelled (88mm) Batteries. - (full strength June 1943) - 91st Panzer Artillery Regiment - Sent to the Eastern Front via France after the disaster of Kursk in June 1943.


 * "After the 25th Panzer Division was activated in Norway in early 1942, progress in bringing it up to strength had been slow. In March 1943 it was just beginning to receive some German Mark III and IV tanks, but, for the most part, its tank armament consisted of obsolete German Mark II's and French Hotchkiss and Suoma [sic, Somua] tanks. It had a ration strength, probably somewhat higher than the actual strength, of 11,000 men."


 * "On 23 March the OKW informed Falkenhorst that...the 25th Panzer Division was to be brought up to full strength before the end of June. It would be given ten Panzer IV's, five self-propelled assault guns, and ten heavy antitank guns per month during April, May, and June."


 * "By the end of June 1943 the division had been completely re-equipped with German artillery and small arms; it had received well over 1,000 trucks and other vehicles; and its strength (ration strength) stood at 21,000 men. It had 7 Mark II tanks, 41 Mark III's, 16 Mark IV's, 40 Hotchkiss (French), 15 Suomas [sic Somuas] (French), and 15 self-propelled assault guns. [...] In July additional shipments of tanks brought the totals up to 14 Mark II's, 62 Mark III's, and 26 Mark IV's."


 * "In August [after the disastrous Battle of Kursk] Hitler could no longer afford the luxury of a strong operational reserve in Norway. At the middle of the month, with the Army Group South retreating in the Ukraine and Italy about to defect, he ordered the 25th Panzer Division to the Channel coast at top speed [and thence to the Eastern Front]. Two weeks later the Army of Norway recorded in its monthly activity report that orders for the fall maneuvers [exercises to test a proposed invasion of Sweden, Operation Polarfuchs ("Arctic Fox")] had been issued but "were rendered, in part, purposeless by the transfer of 25th Panzer Division."


 * Move to sources


 * When the 25th Panzer Division was hastily transferred from Norway to the Eastern Front in August 1943, it left at least 47 Panzer III tanks behind, all of which had faulty transmissions. These tanks formed the basis of...
 * Panzer Division Norway. The division included the Panzer-Artillerie Abteilung Norwegen (Battalion). Formed in October 1943, there were 3 batteries, 2 of FH (howitzers), 1 of Kanone. It became the III/91st Panzer Artillery Regiment when the 25th Division was re-formed in July 1944. Haha, that's where they sent at least some of those Panzer IIIs Ausf. E-G, fitted with the notorious Maybach SRG 32 8 145 gearboxes:
 * "Panzer Division Norway's tank battalion (three companies) had 47 PzKw III tanks, which had been left behind when the 25th Panzer Division was transferred to Russia. All its tanks had unsatisfactory transmissions."
 * Move to sources


 * "The Panzer Division Norway, composed of odds and ends left behind by the 25th Panzer Division, had a strength of about a regiment and was armed with 47 Mark III tanks left in Norway because they were equipped with unsatisfactory transmissions. In the last months of the year the Army of Norway repeatedly urged that a full panzer division be stationed in Norway for the sake of its deterrent effect on Sweden. As a result of stockpiling throughout the year, the Army of Norway was in a position to conduct large-scale operations for eight to nine months with the supplies on hand."


 * The 25th Panzer Division was destroyed in northern Ukraine in February 1944. It was reformed in Denmark in May 1944, and renamed as Panzer Brigade Norway in July 1944, re-absorbing its former offshoot, the Panzer Division Norway.


 * 26th Panzer Division - (September 1942, France) - 93rd Panzer Artillery Regiment (from 23rd Panzer Artillery Regiment)
 * 27th Panzer Division (October 1942) - Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 127 - incomplete, disbanded March 1943



By the summer of 1943, at least the first (and sometimes the second battalion) of each divisional artillery regiment had been re-equipped with self-propelled artillery, mounting the same type of guns as their previously towed pieces. The order of battle of January 1944 gave rise to the 'Type 44 Panzer divisions', specifying one self-propelled and two towed battalions for each Panzer artillery regiment. The armored battalions consisted of two Wespe with the light 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzer, and one heavy Hummel with the 15 cm sFH 18 self-propelled artillery. The towed light battalion had 3 batteries of four similar light howitzers each, the heavy battalion with 2 batteries of six heavy howitzers each.


 * Panzer-Division Hermann Göring (June 1943, from HG Brigade) - Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment "HG" (3, later 4 battalions, 5th was an Assault gun Btn.)
 * Panzer Lehr Division (January 1944) - 130th Panzer Artillery Regiment
 * 116th Panzer Division Windhund (March 1944) - 146th Panzer Artillery Regiment - Formation absorbed the 179th Reserve Pz. Div.
 * Panzer Division Tatra (August 1944, Czechoslovakia) - Tatra Artillery Battalion (3 self propelled batteries) - later 232 Pz. Div., no artillery
 * Führer Begleit (Escort) Division - {January 1945, from the Führerbegleit Brigade) - 120th Panzer Artillery Regiment
 * Führer Grenadier Division (January 1945) - Paper division renamed from Führer Grenadier Brigade - 124th Panzer Artillery Regiment, later renamed 2nd Führer-Panzer Artillery Regiment
 * 45th Panzer Division, aka Panzer Division Clausewitz (March 1945) - A "mixed panzer brigade" consisting of a battalion of 40 tanks, half Panthers and half Panzer IVs, a battalion of mechanized infantry; (and on paper at least) a panzer artillery regiment and support units.
 * Move to sources

——


 * 179th Reserve Panzer Division - (July 1943) - Reserve-Artillerie-Abteilung 29 - Later part of 116th Panzer Division
 * 155th Reserve Panzer Division - (August 1943) - Reserve Artillerie Abteilung (mot) 260 - Later to 9th Division
 * 233rd Reserve Panzer Division - (May '42, August 1943) - 59. Reserve Artillery Battalion situated at Randers - Stationed in Denmark. Became 233rd Panzer Division in April 1945. Absorbed into Panzer Division Holstein and then Panzer Division Clausewitz in 1945, containing 2 battalions of 25 mixed tanks each only.
 * 273rd Reserve Panzer Division - (1943) - 167th Reserve Artillery Battalion - Later to 11th Panzer division

Fire direction
To control and direct the aim of the gun batteries, Panzer artillery regiments had a motorised observation battery. By 1942 the motorised observation battalions had around 350 men and 128 vehicles to transport their specialised equipment. At the start of the war they were carried in road vehicles such as the Kfz. 3 car and Horch 901 Kfz. 16, and the heavier 6-wheeled 'Einheitsdiesel' Kfz. 62 and 63 trucks. By late 1941 the light cars were mostly replaced by half-tracked Sd.Kfz. 250/12 leichter Messtruppanzerwagen (The Headquarters also had one fully-armoured Sd.Kfz. 253 leichter Gepanzerter Beobachtungskraftwagen') The trucks were replaced by the Sd.Kfz. 251/18 Beobachtungskraftwagen. These were fitted with various combinations of FuG 4, 5, 8 and FuSpr.f. radios. [Some units had fully tracked vehicles based on the Panzer IV chassis (Panzerbeobachtungswagen IV) and later Panther chassis.]

Much of the success of the German field artillery was down to the extensive use of forward observers who radioed back the results of indirect fire to the battery commanders. With the use of a map, compass and books of range tables the commanders could direct accurate fire towards the target. For direct fire the guns were equipped with a sighting periscope which the gunlayer used to direct the angle and direction of fire.

In the opening stages of the war, part of the German success was "due to its ability to coordinate effectively artillery support of infantry attacks, and this, in turn, was largely due to their use of forward observers.[2] In fact, with few exceptions, artillery doctrine was very similar to that of the United States."


 * [2]. In December 1941, the editors of the Field Artillery Journal recognized the contribution of German forward observers to the success of their combined infantry-artillery efforts, noting that: ―The special importance of observed fire has shown itself clearly… the co-operation between infantry and artillery necessary for the successful support of an attack was always good; and in this case the artillery forward observer played a very important part.‖ Editor, ―Reasons for the Success of the German Field Artillery,‖ Field Artillery Journal (December 1941) p. 990.


 * "Further evidence of the importance of artillery observation to successful German operations is found in a translation of a German field manual in 1944. Regarding the use of observation posts, it stated that infantry and artillery may at times share the same observation post, but the ranking officer present will decide priority and would generally allot to artillery the best observation points, although he would still arrange for a reliable inter-communication for exchange of observations.‖  This revealed the high priority the German Army typically gave its artillery over infantry with regard to observation.

During the siege of Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942) Luftwaffe tactical reconnaissance aircaft directed the artillery's fire.

Seeking the Philospher's Stone: Luftwaffe Operations during Hitler's Drive to the South-East, 1942-1943]''. J. S. A. Hayward D. Phil Thesis University of Canterbury, New Zealand. 1996. p. 142 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35463983.pdf

Fire direction for the organic heavy Flak battalions in 1942–1943 was controlled by the Kommandogerät 36 (NB! User draft!), an electrical analogue fire direction computer with a crew of 11 which automatically determined the elevation and azimuth settings of the 88 mm cannon, and also controlled the fuze settings for the shells. Each Battalion HQ and each battery had its own detachment of 2 light machine guns.

Other support units
There were also sound-ranging and flash-ranging detachments and a meteorological platoon, which reported weather conditions such as temperature, wind and barometric pressure several times a day for gun laying corrections; and a map printing section.

Calibration batteries carried out the process of measuring muzzle velocity which is increasingly affected by bore wear. Muzzle velocity directly affects the range of a gun, which needs to be compensated for by its elevation. Velocity was calculated by a pair of 'skyscreens' connected to a chronometer. Skyscreens incorporate a telescopic sight and a photoelectric cell, which accurately measure the flight time of a shell between two points by starting and stopping the chronometer. The US military used a similar system, allowing a whole battalion of 12 guns to be calibrated in one day.

The Regimental HQs also had a military band, whose members could be used as normal infantry in the field. Music was deemed very important for maintaining morale, which ranged from impromptu sing-songs with a couple of instrumentalists to semi-formal band concerts for each company within a regiment.