- 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion (Germany)
Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=502nd heavy tank battalion
caption=
dates=1942 to 1945
country=Germany
allegiance=
branch=German Army (German: "Heer")
type=Armored
role=
size=Battalion
command_structure=
garrison=
garrison_label=
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors=
colors_label=
march=
mascot=
equipment=Tiger I
equipment_label=
battles=Eastern front, 1942 to 1945
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=
commander1=
commander1_label=
commander2=
commander2_label=
commander3=
commander3_label=
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_label=
identification_symbol_2=
identification_symbol_2_label=
aircraft_attack=
aircraft_bomber=
aircraft_electronic=
aircraft_fighter=
aircraft_interceptor=
aircraft_patrol=
aircraft_recon=
aircraft_trainer=
aircraft_transport=The 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion ( _de. Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502) was a GermanWorld War II independent armouredbattalion (German: "Abteilung ") equipped with heavy tanks. The battalion was the first unit to receive and field theTiger I or "Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E" heavytank . It fought all of World War II on the Eastern front, and was one of the most successful German heavy tank battalions, destroying 1,400 tanks and 2,000 guns.Formation
The 502nd was formed on
25 May 1942 atBamberg from the 35th Panzer Training Battalion ( _de. Panzer-Ersatz-Abteilung 35). On23 July Hitler ordered that the first Tiger I tanks be sent to the Leningrad Front. The 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion became the first unit to receive Tiger I tanks [Doyle and Jentz. "Tiger I Heavy Tank", p.21] when on 19 and20 August 1942 four Tiger I's were sent to the unit, which only partially equipped one company (German regulations called for a heavy tank battalion of three companies, with 45 tanks in total). On29 August 1942 the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion arrived at theLeningrad Front , but was not immediately deployed for combat.Operations
Tiger I tank
On
16 September 1942 the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion took the Tiger I into combat for the first time [Klages, p.4] south ofLake Ladoga near Leningrad. On22 September after crossing a causeway a Tiger became bogged down in the mud, and due to enemy fire the tank could not be recovered despite a number of attempts; on25 November 1942 the tank was destroyed to prevent its capture by the enemy. This marked the first total loss of a Tiger I tank [Doyle and Jentz. "Tiger I Heavy Tank", p.21] . On25 September several more Tiger tanks andPanzer III tanks arrived and were used to completely equip the 1st company of 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion. In February 1943 several more Tiger I’s were issued to the unit as replacements for losses. On1 April 1943 a second and third company were formed for the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion, and 31 Tiger I tanks shipped to the unit in mid to late May 1943, bring the battalion up to full strength. In June 1943, due to a change in the organization of heavy tank battalions, the 1st company was completely outfitted with Tiger I tanks rather than a mix of Tiger Is and Panzer IIIs.Tiger II tank
The 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion only received a few
Tiger II tanks. The last 13 Tiger IIs built were picked up directly at the factory by crews of the 3rd Company of 510th Heavy Tank Battalion and the 3rd Company of 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion on31 March 1945 [Doyle and Jentz. "Kingtiger Heavy Tank", p.39] . The 502nd received eight of the Tiger IIs and took the tanks into combat on1 April 1945 .End of unit
On
5 January 1945 the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion was renamed to 511th Heavy Tank Battalion. The 511th (502nd) Heavy Tank Battalion fought on the Eastern Front until27 April 1945 when the battalion was disbanded and surrendered to the Russians on9 May 1945 . By then the battalion had been issued 105 Tiger I and eight Tiger II tanks [Schneider, p.112] and destroyed 1,400 enemy tanks [Klages, p.9] [Schneider, p.92] and 2,000 guns [Schneider, p.92] .Battalion commanders
*Major Märker (August to November 1942)
*Hauptmann Wollschläger (November 1942 to February 1943)
*Major Richter (February to July 1943)
*Hauptmann Schmidt (July to August 1943)
*Hauptmann Lange (August to October 1943)
*Major Jähde (October 1943 to March 1944)
*Major Schwaner (April to August 1944)
*Hauptmann von Foerster (August 1944 to April 1945)See also
*German heavy tank battalions of World War II
Footnotes
External links
* [http://www.alanhamby.com/tiger.html Unit history of the 502 and other Tiger units at the Tiger I Information Center]
References
*Doyle, H. and Jentz, T. "Kingtiger Heavy Tank, 1942 –1945". Osprey Publishing, 2002.
*Doyle, H. and Jentz, T. "Tiger I Heavy Tank, 1942 –1945". Osprey Publishing, 2003.
*Klages, R. "Trail of the Tigers". Lyonsbrook Publishing, 2002.
*Schneider, W. "Tigers in Combat I". Stackpole Books, 2004.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.