503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion
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503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion | |
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schwere Panzerabteilung 503 — s PzAbt 503— | |
Active | 4 May 1942 – 8 May 1945 |
Country | Panzer |
Role | Armoured warfare |
Size | Battalion, up to 45 tanks |
Part of | Wehrmacht |
Equipment | Tiger I (1942–1945) Tiger II (1944–1945) |
Engagements | Eastern Front:
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Insignia | |
Identification symbol |
The 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion (
World War II
The unit was created on May 4, 1942. The unit consisted of 45
In January 1944, the battalion, together with a panzer regiment and infantry units, formed Panzer Regiment Bäke. The regiment was part of the relief force, which tried to unsuccessfully break through to encircled forces in the
In Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, the unit was transferred to the command of 5th Panzer Army. On the launch of Operation Goodwood, the 3rd company, which was based in Cagny, Calvados, was destroyed in the preliminary Allied bombing, with impacts powerful enough to turn a 56-ton Tiger upside down. Only one Tiger was operational at the end of the day. During the first day of Goodwood, the unit reported the loss of thirteen tanks.
At the end of July, the 3rd company received new Tiger II tanks, which were subsequently destroyed in the Allied aerial attacks, with only two brought back to Germany. In October 1944, the refitted 503rd took part in the Battle of Debrecen. In early-November, the battalion provided a mobile reserve for the 6th Army (Wehrmacht), re-designated as Army Group Hermann Balck. By mid-December, the German forces had been pushed back to Budapest. In January 1945, the unit took part in several failed attempts to relieve Budapest, code-named Operation Konrad. Though the 17-24 of February, the 503rd took part in one of the last successful German offensives of the war, Operation Südwind (G:Southwind).
Commanders
- ??? Post (May 1942 - 28 January 1943)
- Erich Hoheisel (28 January 1943 – May 1943)
- Clemens-Heinrich Graf von Kageneck(July 1943 – 30 January 1944)
- Rolf Fromme(February 1944 – December 1944)
- Nordwin von Diest-Körber (December 1944 – February 1945)
See also
- German heavy tank battalion
- Organisation of a SS Panzer Division
- Panzer division
References
Bibliography
- Lochmann, Franz Wilhelm (2009). Erinnerungen an die Tiger-Abteilung 503: die schwere Panzerabteilung 503 an den Brennpunkten der Front in Ost und West [Memories of the Tiger Department 503: the heavy Tank Battalion 503 at the focal points of the Eastern and Western Front] (in German). Flechsig. ISBN 978-3-88189-779-2.