Fallschirm-Panzer-Korps "Hermann Göring" Division?

[Mark Gallear]

I am trying to do a scenario concerning the Herman Goring Panzer division.

Any grogs out there know the types of tank and tank destroyer the Fallschirm-Panzer-Korps "Hermann Göring" Division was equipped in August 1944.

I found an organisation for 1943 before it was reconstituted but found no information on its late career.

Be grateful for any pointers – suppose I should wait for the new Osprey book.

[Kingfish]

Maybe this will help:

HG panzer division OOB

[MikeT]

WOW, what a great site. Thanks.

MikeT

[JasonC]

You will note that the OOB given is for the division, not the corps. That is because the corps was something of an ad hoc affair, never reaching a planned TOE.

The particular answer to your question seems to be Panthers for the 1st battalion, Pz IVs for the 2nd battalion, as in other Pz divisions. The Pz Jgrs had 2 companies of StuG and 1 of towed PAK.

As near as I have been able to determine, what actually happened with the expansion from division into corps (which was a late war thing, when actually manning the new TOE completely was quite out of the question) was that the tank and Pz Gdr portions of the old division (reduced) continued to fight as the Panzer division portion or "HG 1" (old formation Pz Rgt plus 2xPz Gdr regiment, also keeping most of the artillery). Certainly "HG 1" was built around these units, with the inclusion of the other "divisional extras" not specified in sources I've seen.

Meanwhile the other vehicle assets of the division seem to have been used to support additional infantry, as the "Pz Gdr division" or "HG 2", built around an attached, existing FJ regiment. The two then fought as KGs, in effect. Other vehicle assets means the Pz Jgrs (StuGs), armored recon (light armor, gun halftracks, some HT infantry), armored pioneers (halftrack inf, some gun HTs). With a portion of the artillery.

The basic idea was to increase the defensive power of the formation by increasing its infantry component, while spreading the vehicles over both. The tanks stayed concentrated (organizationally, anyway) in one half, to be used in the doctrinal manner, etc. But it was more like adding an FJ regiment to an existing Pz Division (already reduced) and then cutting the sum into two battle groups, than adding a whole additional division to a full strength one.

This is somewhat speculative on my part. The details are murky from the time of the transfer to Poland in the summer of 44. The prior HG division had already been rebuilt twice - once after the destruction in Tunisia for the Sicily and lower Italy campaigns, and again after being fought out in that campaign, in a spell out of the line in northern Italy.

It has been back in the Italian fighting for several months before being sent to Poland, and so was not at full strength anymore, when it first arrived in the east. It processed in replacements and such while in the east, but never had a full rebuild out of the line, once it got there. The last date at which it would have been at close to TOE strength, as a division, would appear to be in the spring of 1944.

I hope this helps.

[Mark Gallear]

Many thanks Kingfish and JasonC. It is an excellent site and reference.

I did come cross a German site and was able to make out that the division used Jagpanzer IVs and Italy and that one picture was of a Jagpanzer IV in Russia? Otherwise very little on the division's composition can be found, only its commanders and theatre of operations. (There is a site with pictures of motorcycle troops for its early career in Russia and a partially completed site which is supposed to be a history of the unit.)

I got the impression that it was reformed in France and sent out to the Russian Front, rather than been switched from Italy to Russia?

I better get that scenario done now!

[ January 31, 2003, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: Mark Gallear ]