Friday, March 18, 2022

Rommel and Officers of Panzer-Regiment 25


Divisionskommandeur Rommel is having a casual discussion with his officers from the Panzer-Regiment 25 / 7.Panzer-Division near the banks of the river Seine (France), mid-June 1940. From left to right: Major Franz von Lindenau (Kommandeur I.Abteilung / Panzer -Regiment 25), Oberst Karl Rothenburg (Kommandeur Panzer-Regiment 25), Major Casimir Kentel (Kommandeur II.Abteilung / Panzer-Regiment 25), Hauptmann Adelbert Schulz (Chef 1.Kompanie / I.Abteilung / Panzer-Regiment 25), Generalmajor Erwin Rommel (Kommandeur 7. Panzer-Division), and Major iG Otto Heidkämper (Ia Erster Generalstabsoffizier 7. Panzer-Division). In the Battle of France, 7. Panzer-Division was equipped with outdated Czechoslovakian tanks (some of them are visible in the background). The division, resuming its advance on 5 June, drove for the River Seine to secure the bridges near Rouen. Advancing 100 kilometres (62 mi) in two days, the division reached Rouen to find the bridges destroyed. From here they moved north, blocking the westward route to Le Havre and the Operation Cycle evacuations and forcing over 10,000 men of the 51st (Highland) Division, French 9th Army Corps and other supporting troops to surrender at Saint-Valery-en-Caux on 12 June.

Source :
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-045-08
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7th_Panzer_Division_(Wehrmacht)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-045-08,_Westfeldzug,_Rommel_bei_Besprechung_mit_Offizieren.jpg

Thursday, March 3, 2022

Two Regimentskommandeur of Grossdeutschland

 

 
Oberst der Reserve Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche (left, Kommandeur Panzer-Regiment "Grossdeutschland") standing in front of his Panzerbefehlswagen's "three-ruble note" with number 0. To the right of Strachwitz is Oberstleutnant Karl Lorenz (Kommandeur Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Grossdeutschland"). This picture was taken in the summer of 1943 in the Eastern Front, during Unternehmen Zitadelle (Battle of Kursk). At the beginning of 1943, Panzer-Abteilung "Grossdeutschland" was upgraded into a tank regiment. At first, the commander's tanks carried two-digit tactical numbers: "01", "02", "03". And already in the summer of the same year, their numbering changed and in the Battle of Kursk the "befehl" of the regimental headquarters carried the numbers: "0", "01", "02". The same numbering, it seems, remained until the end of the war. At least for the summer of 1944, two command Panthers of the regiment headquarters with the numbers "0" and "01" are known. The battalion headquarters apparently had "classic" numbers with Roman numerals I and II.

Source :
http://tigerscorner.ru/gallery/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89:2019-01-11-16-46-13&catid=34:2010-12-02-12-49-34&Itemid=53