130 Panzer Lehr

Discussion in 'Axis Units' started by GUMALANGI, Feb 8, 2008.

  1. While there is an element of truth to that there is also an element of misunderstanding. Technically, most of the units brought together to form Panzer-Lehr-Division were not "training troops" (Schule-Truppen) but indeed were rather originally drawn from demonstration units (Lehr-Truppen) organized prewar for the school system of the Ersatzheer. While that may seem like niggling, the thing is most of them had a long history assigned as troops of the Feldheer in the war.

    For example, the original "Panzer-Lehr-Regiment" was organized 12 October 1937 as the Panzer-Lehr-Abteilung as Lehr-Truppen for the Panzerschule Wünsdorf. On 15 April 1939 it was redesignated I./Panzer-Lehr-Regiment and on 15 August 1939 was assigned as the III. Abteilung of Pz.-Regt. 5, which role it filled until 2 February 1940, when it became I Abteilung of Pz.-Regt. 33, until 1 June 1941 when it was transferred to be the III. Abteilung of Pz.-Regt. 39., until 16 August 1941 when it reverted to I./Panzer-Lehr-Regiment again, where it stayed until 4 January 1943 when it was reorganized and redesignated Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130, becoming the cadre for that units Stab and Stabskompanie, II. Abteilung, and Instands and Versorgungs einheiten. It's wartime existence as a school demonstration unit was only about 18 months, from September 1941 to the end of 1942.

    The Panzer-Lehr-Regiment created 15 April 1939 also included a II. and III. Batallion, which were Infanterie (motorisiert) and a StuG Batterie. Those on 19 December 1942 joined the Stab and II. Batallion of the Infanterie-Lehr-Regiment to form Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 901 and 902. The Infanterie-Lehr-Regiment then reformed its Stab and II. Batallion and on 6 November 1943 was designated as an emergency combat reserve of the Ersatzheer in case of an invasion of western Europe, which is how they ended up being sent to Anzio in early February 1944.

    The Aufklärungs-Lehr-Abteilung was originally organized in August 1939 and participated in the Polish Campaign as a corps reconnaissance asset through the French Campaign and BARBAROSSA and was in France in October 1943 when it was redesignated as 21. Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung.

    Pz.-Artl.-Regt. 130 was partly created from II. Lehr-Abteilung of the Artillerie-Schule Suippes but also from s.Artl-Abtl. 985, which had been organized at Suippes for the Feldheer in November 1943, then was reformed on 21 January for Panzer-Lehr-Division as an entirely new unit from recruits.

    H-Flak-Artl.-Abtl. 311 was a newly organized battalion formed in December 1943 in Poland.

    Nachrichten-Abteilung-Lehr was simply the redesignated Infanterie-Division Nachrichten-Abteilung 113. It was organized in March 1943 to replace the original lost at Stalingrad.

    Its Nachschub, Verwaltungs, and Sanitäts units were all newly raised.

    Probably the closest to "school troops" personnel Panzer-Lehr-Division got was its Divisions-Stab, which were drawn from the Panzerschule I (Bergen, formerly at Wünsdorf) and Panzerschule II (Krampnitz).
     
  2. Can you post it please?
     
  3. steelers708

    steelers708 Junior Member

    Here's the Gliederung dated the 20th January 1944. It has some intersting and unusual features such as both a Fkl Kompanie and a Tiger II Kompanie, the 4./I.Pz.Regt.6 was to have JagdPanthers and the Panzerjager Abt. shows Jagdtiger Kompanie the division was supposed to have. I was going to include some remarks.my thoughts on these based on other documents and orders etc I have on my PC and I was also going to show that in April 1944 they had 4 Tiger I aswell as the 5 Tiger II but at the moment I just don't have the time to go through the 3,000 pages of Pz Lehr documents I have. I'll be interested to read your thoughts and I'll respond with my own as soon as I have the time.
     

    Attached Files:

    Richard Anderson likes this.
  4. Thank you, but do you have a better quality image? That is almost unreadable. Obviously it is not from RH 10/172 but it is a probably BAMA. Do you have a reference?

    I suspect the 4. Kompanie in the Panzer-regiment shown on the Gliederung is not actually I./Panzer-Regiment 6 but is a possible organization for the planned I./Panzer-Regiment 130. As of 22 January 1944, the attachment of I./Panzer-Regiment 6 was six days old and it had no such organization. At the time it was at Mailly, where it had been since late September 1943 converting to Panther. By 22 January 1944, it had received 38 of its Panther tanks, with 16 more in route and arriving on 29 January 1944, 8 on 30 January, and 17 on 31 January, although 11 of the last 17 shipped were diverted to 12. SS-Pz.-Div., leaving the battalion 68. It was nearly complete.

    Yes, it is possible that one of the seven Tiger I sent out in March was still counted with the division in early April but it would not have been a runner.

    Yes, please I would love to discuss more since I am fascinated by the subject but also have much else on my plate as well.

    As an aside, it is such a pleasure to see some old friends I only knew as black and white microfilm in color now. :D
     
  5. steelers708

    steelers708 Junior Member

    The original file is to big(3.5Mb) to be uploaded, I'll try again to make it smaller(Mb wise) but readable.

    It's definately Pz.Regt. 6 as I have an order from February that says the 4./I.Pz.Regt.6 will be equipped with Panthers and the Jagdpanthers will be omitted due to manufacturing reasons.
     
  6. I would appreciate it but it might just be easier to cite the BAMA reference? Unfortunately, I'm having no luck figuring out where that page is on the Invenio site.

    Well, yes, of course, since the first Jagdpanther didn't get shipped to Mielau until 27 March and only seven were completed through January. :D Martin Block also does not mention it in his summary of Panther organizations and I don't know if he follows this site. I may try to tweak him on this question. So these were all speculative organizations to one degree or another.
     
  7. Oh I do see now on page 249 of RH 10/23, dated 30 April 1944, the mention of reorganizing the Funklenk-Kompanie of the Panzer-Lehr-Regiment with Tiger II from Ohrdruf "such as the 3./Pz.-Jg.-Lehr-Abtl. with Jagdtiger".

    Then on 25 May (page 247) the message regarding the reorganization of Pz.-Kp.(Fkl) 316, which it says was acting as a Versuchs (trial) unit for the Tiger II. It confirms it was to reorganize as a Tiger II (Fkl) unit and was to be transferred to Paderborn, implying it was unattached from Lehr at that time.

    Sadly that is all that is there for Lehr so off to dig more into the wilds of Invenio.
     

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