- Panzergrenadier
Audio|De-Panzergrenadier-pronunciation.ogg|"Panzergrenadier" (abbreviated "PzGren" or "Pzg") (Literally; armored grenadeer) is a German term for motorised or
mechanized infantry , as introduced duringWorld War II . It is used in the armies of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.Forerunners
The term "Panzergrenadier" was not adopted until 1942. Infantry in panzer divisions from 1939 onwards were known as "Schützen" Regiments; they wore the same rose pink piping on their uniforms as the tank crews. Soldiers in special Motorized Infantry units wore the standard white piping of the Infantry. In 1942, when Infantry Regiments were renamed as
Grenadier Regiments by Hitler as a historical homage toFrederick the Great 's Army, the Schützen regiments (and the soldiers in them) began to be redesignated as Panzergrenadier regiments, as did Motorized Infantry units and soldiers. Theirwaffenfarbe was also changed from either white (in the case of Motorized Infantry) or rose pink (with an "S" cypher that distinguished the "Schützen" from the tank and anti-tank units that also wore that colour) to a grass green shade previously worn by motorcycle troops. Some units did not change over their designations and/or waffenfarbe accoutrements until 1943.Panzergrenadier Units
The term "Panzergrenadier" was applied equally to both the infantry component of
Panzer Division s as well as the new divisions known as "Panzergrenadier Divisions". Most of the Heer's PzGren. divisions evolved via upgrades from ordinary infantry divisions, first to Motorized Infantry divisions and then to PzGren. divisions, retaining their numerical designation within the series for infantry divisions throughout the process. This included the 3rd, 10th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 25th, and 29th divisions. Others, such as the "Großdeutschland Division ", were built up over the course of the war by repeatedly augmenting the size of an elite regiment or battalion. TheWaffen SS also created several PzGren. divisions by the same methods, or by creating new divisions from scratch later in the war. A number of PzGren. divisions in both the Heer andWaffen SS were upgraded to Panzer divisions as the war progressed.The Panzergrenadier divisions were organized as
combined arms formations, usually with six battalions of truck-mounted infantry organized into either two or three regiments, a battalion oftank s, and an ordinary division's complement ofartillery ,reconnaissance units,combat engineers ,anti-tank andanti-aircraft artillery, and so forth. All these support elements would also be mechanized in a PzGren. division, though most of the artillery, anti-tank, and anti-aircraft elements were equipped with weapons towed by trucks rather than the relatively rare armored and self-propelled models. In practice the PzGren. divisions were often equipped with heavyassault gun s rather than tanks, due to a chronic shortage of tanks throughout the German armed forces. A few elite units, on the other hand, might have the tanks "plus" a battalion of heavy assault guns for their anti-tank element, and armored carriers for some of their infantry battalions as well.On paper a "Panzergrenadier" division had one tank battalion less than a Panzer division, but two more infantry battalions, and thus was almost as strong as a Panzer division, especially on the defensive. Of 226 panzergrenadier battalions in the whole of the German Army, Luftwaffe and Waffen SS in September 1943, only 26 were equipped with armoured half tracks, or just over 10 percent. The rest were equipped with trucks.
econd World War equipment
The use of armoured
half-track s was exceedingly rare in the German Army, and even the eliteGroßdeutschland Division , with two panzergrenadierregiments , only mustered a few companies' worth of the vehicles, generallySdKfz 251 troop carriers. The vast majority of Schützen/Panzergrenadier soldiers were mounted in trucks. Additionally, vehicles in the early war period suffered from poor off-road performance.Current Equipment
Germany
Today the main Infantry fighting vehicle of the Panzergrenadier in Germany is the Marder IFV which is going to be replaced by the Puma IFV in 2009.
witzerland
In 2000, the
Swiss Army purchased 186 CV 90 infantry fighting vehicles fromHägglunds of Sweden.cite web | url=http://www.army-technology.com/projects/cv90/ | title=Army Technology - CV 90 | accessdate=2008-09-17 | format= | work= ] They are in use with Panzergrenadier troops.Notes
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