German Panzers in Poland

Image size: 2048 x 1439 pixel. 840 KB
Date: Sunday, 3 September 1939
Place: Poland
Photographer: Unknown

Poland, on the Brda river.- Panzer soldiers on German Panzer Is and Panzer IIs, along with a medium Schützenpanzer half-track Sd.Kfz. 251/3. The officer in the halftrack vehicle might be General der Panzertruppe Heinz Guderian, Kommandierender General XIX. Armeekorps (motorisiert). The picture was taken circa 3 September 1939 [Date of release?]. Germany declared war on Poland on Friday, September 1, 1939, and attacked with massed motorized columns of armor, infantry, artillery and waves of bombers and fighters in what was dubbed the Blitzkrieg (“Lightning War”). On Sunday, two days later, while German troops continued to pour into Poland, France and Britain declared war on Germany and proceeded to launch no major military land operations in what came to be known as the Sitzkrieg (“Sitting War"), a play on the word Blitzkrieg.


Source :
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1976-071-36
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1976-071-36,_Polen,_an_der_Brahe,_deutsche_Panzer.jpg
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Sitzkrieg

 

Panzer 38(t) and Panzer II on the Move

Image size: 1600 x 1170 pixel. 302 KB
Date: Saturday, 1 June 1940
Place: France
Photographer: Unknown

Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) (SdKfz 140), extreme left, and Panzerkampfwagen II (SdKfz 121) climbing a grade, right, on the move. This is a rare color shot, which may be staged for the German war photographer. Please note that these two tanks have a clean rear deck and the helmets hanging over the side and rear of the Panzer II! It was taken in 1-10 June 1940 during the breakout of 7. Panzer-Division (Generalmajor Erwin Rommel) out of a valley near the Somme river. Originally the picture was published in the book "Entscheidende Stunden", a German propaganda book printed in 1941. When the Germans annexed the whole of Czechoslovakia, they took over management of the Skoda arms works. Skoda had developed the 38(t), which the Czechs called the LT-38, in 1935 and the first orders, for export, were placed in 1938. The Germans took over the production run, substituting the 38(t) for their PzKpfw III in the Panzer Divisions. It was armed with two 7.92mm machine guns and a 37mm main gun. At the time of the Invasion of France in 1940 Czech tanks made up a quarter of the Germans' panzer forces. The small turret didn't allow the tank to be upgraded, and production of the 38(t) ceased in 1942. the chassis was adapted into a number of successful self-propelled guns and tank destroyers. In combat, the Panzer II units would scout for the Panzer III and 38(t) units, identifying targets, troop strength and weak points for the heavier tanks to exploit. The Panzer II could not stand up to the Soviet heavy tanks and losses were high. Many crews fitted their vehicles with additional armor in the field.


Source:
http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii0116
http://www.ww2incolor.com/german-armor/ajr.jpg.html

Panzerkampfwagen II ausf C on Manoeuvre

Image size: 1600 x 903 pixel. 348 KB
Date: Friday, 1 November 1940
Place: Germany
Photographer: Unknown

Panzerkampfwagen II ausf C (abbreviated PzKpfw II: armored combat vehicle, version C) also known as Sonderkraftfahrzeug 121 (abbreviated SdKfz: Special Ordnance Vehicle). At the time this photo was taken, the Panzertruppen was expanding, adding whole new divisions in preparation of the invasion of the Soviet Union. 1113 of the Panzer II A/B/C models were built from March 1937 through April 1940 by Alkett, FAMO, Daimler-Benz, Henschel, MAN, MIAG, and Wegmann. These models were almost identical and were used in service interchangeably. This was the most widespread tank version of the Panzer II. It was armed with a 20mm rapid fire cannon and a 7.92mm machine gun. In 1940 the Panzer II and the Czech designed 35t and 38t made up the bulk of the German armor formations. They were inferior to the French medium tanks like the Char B1bis, but with radio communications and employed en masse they could defeat the French armor. With the experience in Poland and France, additional armor plates were added as losses to antitank weapons were higher than expected. When Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941, the Panzer II (and III) were outclassed by the Soviet T-34, and while new Panzer IIs were produced through 1944, they served in reconnaissance roles and not as antitank weapons. The chassis was adapted to a range of antitank weapons, called the Marder II, mounting a 75mm gun in an open turret. They were moderately successful when employed by a trained crew, but lacked protection from artillery or small arms. The Panzer II was still fighting seven years later when Germany surrendered. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii115

Tanks of Panzer Brigade Koll

Image size: 1600 x 673 pixel. 236 KB
Date: October 1941
Place: Northern Russia
Photographer: Helmut Ritgen

On the endless, sun-scorched steppes of northern Russia, Skoda-built Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) and German Panzerkampfwagen II tanks of Panzer-Regiment 25 / 7.Panzer-Division. ; these were brigaded with 6. Panzer-Division tanks in "Panzer Brigade Koll", led by the commander of Panzer-Regiment 11 / 6.Panzer-Division, Oberst Richard Koll, for the battles of October 1941.During Operation Barbarossa, units of 6. and 7. Panzer Division crossed the Moscow-Volga Canal to the north of Moscow, and held a bridgehead across the canal for about a month, before having to withdraw with the onset of winter. Richard Koll, born 7 April 1897 in Koblenz, joined the Army Service, age 17, on 10 August 1914 as a Fähnrich in the 4th Telegraph Battalion and was in the fields of the first war in different Signal Regiments. He remained in the new Reichswehr and retired on 31 January 1931, reactivated to the Army Service again on 1 November 1931 as the Company Chief in the 6th Motor Transport Battalion, being a Hauptmann. He started World War II of the 11th Panzer Regiment until 1 January 1940 and became as Oberst Commander of this Regiment until 1 July 1942 and landed in the Führer Reserve to 1 September 1942, appointed to Chief of Motor Vehicle Repair Matters until 1 July 1943. Chief of Repair Matters in OKW under the General of Mechanisation in OKW until 20 November 1943, meanwhile a Generalmajor. He was detached to the 6th Division Leader Course, in Döberitz-Elsgrund to 14 December 1943 and again in the Führer Reserve OKH until 1 January 1944. Then delegated with the leadership of the 1st Panzer Division to 20 February 1944, succeeded by Oberst Werner Marcks on 18 June 1942 (Marcks died age 71, on 27 July 1967, age 71) and Koll landed for the third time, five days, in the Reserve until 25 February 1944. Following the general German retreat to the west, the  1st Panzer Division finally reached the eastern Austrian alps where they surrendered to the US Army. During early 1944 the 1st Panzer Division was attached to III Panzer Corps under General Hermann Albert Breith a brother of Friedrich Breith, a General of the Artillery, and took its place in the relief of the Korsun Cherkassy Pocket. In April 1944, as a part of Generaloberst Hans Valentin Hube's. 1. Panzer-Division. The division was trapped in the Kaments Podolsky Pocket and was involved in the breakout. In September 1944 the division was withdrawn to the Carpathian Mountains, as the Germans strove in vain to stem the Russian advance. By October the division was in Hungary and in January, 1945 it fought in Operation Konrad, the abortive attempt to relieve the encircled city of Budapest. Following the general German retreat to the west, the division finally reached the eastern Austrian alps where they surrendered to the US Army. Assigned as Chief of Wehrmacht Motor Transport Matters OKW and Plenipotentier for Motors Transport Matters in the Five Year Plan to 9 May 1945 as he landed in British captivity.   Released on 24 February 1946 he lived in Berlin, where he at the age of 66 died on 13 May 1963. Koll is buried on the Waldfriedhof Dahlem, Berlin. Close to the grave of Nazi jurist Roland Freisler who got a an Allied bomb on his head. Also buried there is Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection
Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen

http://ww2gravestone.com/general/koll-richard

Tanks of 6. Panzer Division Advance Toward Cassel

Image size: 1600 x 1094 pixel. 322 KB
Date: Sunday, 26 May 1940
Place: Cassel, Nord départment, Prancis
Photographer: Unknown

Noon, 26 May 1940: row of panzers from Kampfgruppe Esebeck/6.Panzer-Division/16.Armee/Heeresgruppe B advance to attack Cassel (background), defended by the British 145th (South) Brigade/I Corps; a Panzerkampfwagen II follows Skoda's Panzerkampfwagen 35(t). Note air recognition flags, and the detachable tactical number plate on the PzKfw II, '502'! Kampfgruppe Esebeck commanded by Oberst Hans-Karl Freiherr von Esebeck. They successfully established a bridgehead across the Saint-Quentin Canal south of Cambrai on 18 May 1940. On 19 May the Kampfgruppe established bridgeheads on Canal du Nord in co-operation with Kampfgruppe Ravenstein. The Kampfgruppe nearly reached the coast between Abbéville and Montreuil on 20 May, supported by the 57th Reconnaissance Battalion. On 22 May the Kampfgruppe captured Lumbres, 40 kilometers east of Calais. The Kampfgruppe successfully occupied Saint Omer on 23 May and continued advance towards Cassel. On 24 May the Kampfgruppe was withdrawn to hold a bridgehead on the Calais-Saint Omer Canal. During 29 and 30 May the Kampfgruppe supported the operations of Kampfgruppe Koll.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection
Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen

Panzer-Regiment 11 Celebrates its First Birthday

Image size: 1600 x 1068 pixel. 396 KB
Date: Wednesday, 12 October 1938
Place: Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia
Photographer: Unknown

Panzer-Regiment 11 celebrates its first birthday, 12 October 1938, in the recently-occupied Sudetenland. Oberst Dipl.-Ing. Wilhelm Philipps (Regimentskommandeur) stands in his m.gl.Pkw. (mittlerer geländegängiger Personenkraftwagen) a.k.a. Kfz.12, flanked by Panzerkampfwagen II tanks, behind the two battalion's standards. Philipps (29 July 1894 - 13 February 1971) was the first Commandeur of the regiment (12 October 1937 - 1 January 1940), and the two Abteilung (Detachment) commander at the time are Major Friedrich Stephan (I.Abteilung) and Major Richard Koll (II.Abteilung). Panzer-regiment 11 Formed on 12 October 1937 with two Abteilung of three Kompanie each as independent Heerestruppen. The regiment was expanded to eight Kompanie on 10 November 1938. Mobilized with two Abteilung each with two light and one medical Kompanie and assigned to 1. leichte-Division on 1 August 1939. Assigned to 6. Panzer-Division on 18 October 1939. 4. And 8. Kompanie formed from elements of the disbanded Panzer-Abteilung 65 on 3 June 1942. I. Abteilung converted to Panther Abteilung with four Kompanie on 5 May 1943. I. Abteilung was sent to Eastern Front as an independent unit in 1944 and initially attached to 8. Panzer-Division. I. Abteilung returned to the regiment on 15 December 1944.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection

Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen