Active 1942–45 Branch Army | Type Panzer | |
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The 23rd Panzer Division (English: 23rd Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army during World War II. Formed in France in late 1942, the division spend its entire combat history on the Eastern Front.
Contents
History
The 23rd Panzer Division was established on the 14 March 1942 in France. It was built around the 101st Panzer Brigade and two infantry regiments and initially equipped with "booty tanks" which were soon after exchanged for German tanks.
In April 1942, the division went to the Eastern Front near Kharkov as a subdivision of the German Sixth Army. It was to remain within the Army Group South for the major part of its service until surrender. The division part in the German advance to the Caucasus but was subsequently send north to Stalingrad. It escaped encirclement when the 6th Army was trapped there and took part in the subsequent failed relief attempt. At the end of its first year on the Eastern Front the 23rd Panzer Division had lost 90 percent of its tanks.
The 23rd Panzer Division was part of the German defence and retreat in the southern Ukraine, frequently being moved between crisis points. Between April and July 1944 it was a part of the 8th Army within the Army Group South Ukraine defending the area in the north of Jassy.
After being send to Poland in mid-1944 the division returned to the southern sector during the collapse of the German frontline in Romania. After the retreat into Hungary the division fought in defensive battles there. The majority of the division was trapped and destroyed in Szekesfehervar in March 1945. The remainder of the division surrendered to British forces in May 1945.
Commanders
The commanders of the division:
