![]() Invasion of Poland The deployment and planned advances for the invasion of Poland with 2nd Panzer Division moving towards the northeast from Slovakia, to take Kraków and continue to Warsaw through the Vistula valley. It formed part of the garrison in Vienna, Austria's capital with most of its personnel now recruited from former Austria. Under the command of Heinz Guderian the division participated in the Anschluss of Austria in 1938, covering 680 kilometres (420 mi) in 48 hours but in the process losing 30 percent of its tanks to accidents and mechanical failures. Germany had renounced the Treaty of Versailles earlier in the year which had forbidden the country, among other things, from having tank forces, a treaty Germany had violated almost from the start by secretly developing tanks and operating a covert tank school in the Soviet Union. It was one of three tank divisions created at the time, the other two having been the 1st and 3rd Panzer Division. The 2nd Panzer Division was formed on 15 October 1935 and was headquartered in Würzburg, Bavaria. It was rebuilt once more and fought in the Battle of the Bulge (1944) and in the defence of the Rhine (1945), surrendering to US forces at war's end. It fought in Normandy and was almost completely destroyed in the Falaise Pocket (1944). After heavy losses on the Eastern Front it was sent to France for rehabilitation (1944). ![]() The division fought with Army Group Centre in the battles of Moscow (1941) and Kursk (1943). It took part in the Balkans campaign (1941) and then transferred to the Eastern Front in September 1941. ![]() ![]() The 2nd Panzer Division (English: 2nd Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the Heer, during World War II.Ĭreated as one of the original three German tank divisions in 1935, it was stationed in Austria after the Anschluss and then participated in the campaigns in Poland (1939) and France (1940) before it returned to Poland for occupation duties (1940–1941). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |