22nd Panzer Division
| 22nd Panzer Division | |
|---|---|
| 22. Panzer-Division | |
Unit insignia
|
|
| Active | 1941–43 |
| Country |
 Nazi Germany
|
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Panzer |
| Role | Armoured warfare |
| Size | Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Wehrkreis XII: Schwetzingen |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Hellmut von der Chevallerie |
The 22nd Panzer Division was a German Panzer Division in World War II. It was formed September 1941 in France. It was transferred to the southern sector of the Eastern Front in March 1942. The 22nd was the last Panzer Division to be issued with the Czech-built Panzer 38(t), which was considered under-gunned, under-armoured and obsolete by 1942.
Officially formed on 25 September 1941 in France the division was initially equipped with obsolete Czech, French and German tanks.
The 22nd Panzer Division was send to the Eastern Front in February 1942. After an initial disastrous attack on 20 March, in which the division's units lost 30-40% of their personnel, the division remained in the Crimea and took part in Manstein's Unternehmen Trappenjagd (Operation Bustard Hunt). In May 1942, the division was sent north to the Kharkov area and then took part in the 1942 summer offensive against Soviet forces in the Don River bend leading to the Battle of Stalingrad. The 22nd fought in the Battle of Rostov in July 1942.
Together with the 1st Romanian Armoured Division (equipped with the also obsolete R2, similar to Panzer 35(t)), the 22nd Panzer Division comprised the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps and was next tasked with defending the northern flank of the ill-fated German 6th Army at Stalingrad. Lieutenant General Ferdinand Heim was the corps commander.
On November 19, 1942, Operation Uranus began. The great Soviet counter-offensive encircled the German 6th Army and much of the 4th Panzer Army and smashed the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps, including the 22nd Panzer Division. Many of the division's tanks had been parked in dugouts for an extended period of time and protected from the frost by straw. When the tanks were called on to respond to the Soviet offensive, many could not be started because mice had sought refuge in the straw and then in the tanks where they chewed up the insulation of electric system wires. The ability of the division to put up effective resistance was also compromised by the prior piecemeal deployment of division assets to shore up the Romanian line.
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Wikipedia