- Panzerwaffe
"Panzerwaffe" (German for "Armoured Force" or "Armoured Arm". "Waffe" translates into the English "arm" as in an army, navy, or air force's "combat arm" or "fighting arm": similarly "Ubootwaffe" translates as "U-boat Arm", and "Luftwaffe" translates as "Air Arm") refers to a command within the German
Wehrmacht responsible for the affairs ofpanzer and motorized forces shortly before and during the Second World War. It was originally known as "Schnelltruppen" ("Fast Troops"), a motorized command established in theReichswehr following the First World War, redesignated as "Panzerwaffe" in 1936 by GeneralleutnantHeinz Guderian .The men of the "Panzerwaffe", referred to as "Panzertruppen" (lit. Armoured Troops), were distinguishable by their close fitting black uniforms, known as Panzer wraps. After 1943, the "Panzerwaffe", like most other German branches of service, had relaxed the uniform rules and many "Panzertruppen" wore a variety of clothing, including
camouflage and winter items.Two training schools existed for panzer crews throughout the war,
Panzertruppenschule I and II.Motorized infantry were an early formation, and consisted of infantry transported by trucks. Early in the war, there were a number of light divisions, each a semi-motorizedcavalry force created out of compromise with the Heer's cavalry command. These were judged inadequate following the Invasion of Poland and converted to fully motorized units.The mainstay of the "Panzerwaffe" was the
Panzer division . These consisted of a panzer brigade (two tank regiments) and two motorized or mechanized infantry regiments. All forces of a Panzer division were mobile. Support elements included self-propelled artillery, self-propelled anti-tank, and armored reconnaissance cars. After the campaigns in Poland and France, the Panzer divisions were reduced in size, with only one Panzerregiment per Division. This move was taken to allow the creation of several new divisions with the available tanks.During World War II the German army also fielded a number of
Panzergrenadier divisions consisting of motorized infantry (orarmored infantry for some of the battalions, when sufficient half-tracked armored carriers were available), with self-propelled artillery andJagdpanzer , and in some cases a significant panzer component.A "
panzer corps " consisted of two to three divisions and auxiliary attachments. "Panzergruppen" ("Panzer Groups") were commands larger than a corps, approximately the size of an army, and named after their commander (e.g. "Panzergruppe Hoth"). These were later recognized as "Panzerarmeen" ("Panzer Armies"), an army-level command of two to three corps. These higher-level organizations almost always mixed ordinary infantry units with the "Panzerwaffe". (Folklore holds that in 1944 there was a "Panzerarmee" fighting in Italy which controlled only one "Panzerkorps" along with other assets, and that "Panzerkorps" controlled only one Panzer division, and that division only had four operable tanks, with the result that the entire "Panzerarmee" had the actual armored strength of a tank platoon.)Significant numbers of panzer and motorized formations were of the
Waffen-SS . These did not fall under the "Panzerwaffe" administratively, although operationally they were organized and fought as part of army formations and under army command.ee also
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Panzer ,Tank ,German AFVs of World War II
*Panzerkorps ,Panzer Division ,List of German divisions in WWII
*Blitzkrieg ,Armored warfare ,Maneuver warfare
*Wehrmacht , Heer,Luftwaffe ,Waffen-SS References
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