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Battalion
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Service
History Summary |
Emblem
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sPz-Abt
501
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Formed
in the summer of 1942, It was shipped to Tunisia in December
1942. Saw action at Tebourba, Hamra and most notably Kasserine
in February 1943. Surrendered with rest of Axis forces
in May 1943 after fierce fighting in the Medjerda Valley.
Battalion reformed around the companies that has remained
in Europe in occupied France. Full battalion then sent
to Eastern Front in November 1943 and fought in Vitebsk
and Gorodok. It was decimated in the Soviet offensive
that destroyed Army Group Centre in July 1944. After being
reformed and refitted with King Tigers, it was sent to
the Eastern Front again as the redesignated 424 Battalion.
Fought in retreat to Germany through Poland and saw action
in the Ardennes and Hungary. Battalion finally disbanded
in February 1945. |
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sPz-Abt
502
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This
was the first heavy tank battalion to be formed during
the Summer 1942. It was also the first unit to see action
on the Eastern Front at Leningrad in August 1942. It was
an inaudacious start. Many broke down or got bogged down
in marshy terrain. Several were captured by the Soviets
infantry due to lack of support from their own infantry.
During the great Soviet counter-offensive of 1944, it
withdrew into Kurland and fought defensively around Memel
and Konigsberg. Saw action in Normandy from July 1944
onwards. Reformed in early 1945 as sPz-Abt 511 and refitted
with King Tigers. Surrendered to Soviets on May 1945.
By that time, this battalion has recorded some 2,000 Soviet
armoured vehicles destroyed. |
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sPz-Abt
503
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Formed
in Spring 1942. First saw action on Eastern Front in January
1943. Spearheaded the German winter counteroffensive.
Took part in the great tank battles at Kursk in July 1943
and the retreat to the Dneiper as part of III Panzer Corp.
In January 1944, it was grouped with a Panther battalion
to form Heavy Panzer Regiment Bake. Fought in battles
around Cherkassy where it destroyed 267 Soviet armoured
vehicles in one action over 5 days.
Withdrew to the West in April 1944 and refitted with King
Tigers. Fought in Normandy after D-day where it suffered
heavy losses to enemy fighter-bombers and naval gunfire.
Fully refitted in September 1944 and despatched again
to Hungary on the Eastern Front. Renamed as sPz-Abt 'Feldherrnhalle'
and attached to the Panzer Grenadier Division of that
name. The entire division was trapped in Budapest in January
1945 by the Soviet winter offensive and was detroyed in
the final battles on the Eastern Front. This was perhaps
the most effective Tiger battalion of the war.
Click here
 for
formation of Heavy Tank Battalion 503 at September 1944. |
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sPz-Abt
504
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Formed
in January 1943, most of this unit was sent to Tunisia
where it was nearly destroyed. Saw action around Maknassy
and Medjerda. The rest of the battalion was sent to Sicily
but withdrew to the Italian mainland after resisting the
Allied Sicily landings. Returned to Holland to refit but
sent back to Italy to resist the Allied beachhead at Anzio
as part of the Hermann Goering Panzergrenadier Division.
Fought in the defence of the Gothic Line. Surrendered
in May 1945. |
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sPz-Abt
505
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Formed
in January 1943, attached to the 9th Army, Army Group
Centre and first saw action in the battle of Kursk in
July of that year around Smolensk. Formed the spearhead
of the northern front of the Kursk Salient. It remain
in this sector until the following summer when it was
almost destroyed during the Soviet summer offensive. Refitted
with King Tiger Late Summer 1944, it fought in defensive
battles in East Prussia supporting the 24 and 25 Panzer
Divisions - heavily involved in the defence of the Narev
Brideghead. Remained in East Prussia until the end of
the war in 1945. Most recognisable of the heavy Tank Battalions
with its distinct emblem. |
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sPz-Abt
506
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Formed
in July 1943, first fought in the defensive battles along
the Dneiper River as part of Army Group South. Saw action
at Lemburg, Tarna and Krivoi-Rog in the Ukraine until
the summer of 1944. Withdrawn from the front to Germany
in August 1944 and refitted with King Tigers. Sent to
help defeat the Allied airborne landings at Arnhem in
September 1944. In November, this battalion received a
4th company - 3 plus one HQ company is more usual. Assigned
to I SS Panzer Corp. Saw action in the Ardennes winter
offensive, Hungary and defence of the Ruhr. Encircled
and forced to surrender to US forces in April 1945. |
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sPz-Abt
507
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Formed
in September 1943, first fought on the Eastern Front in
the defence of Tarnpol, Vitebsk and the Narev River front
during January 1944. Served there until February 1945.
Refitted with King Tigers while still in the line, it
fought in the defence of Czechoslovakia in the closing
months of the war where it lost all its Tigers in action. |
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sPz-Abt
508
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Formed
in August 1943 and sent to Italy in January 1944. Spearheaded
the German offebsive against the Allied bridgehead at
Anzio and fought at Nettuno where it suffered heavy casualties
and during retreat through Italy. Re-equipped with King
Tigers early 1945, it was sent to fight on the Western
Front. It was disbanded in February 1945 after all its
tanks were either destroyed or disabled and the personnel
reallocated to other units. |
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sPz-Abt
509
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Formed
in September 1943, first fought on the Eastern Front where
it saw heavy action at Kirovograd, Zhitomir and Kiev.
Briefly attached to the 2 SS Panzer Division 'Das reich'
in late 1943 and fought at Kaminets-podosk. In 1944, it
was committed heavily to defensive action after the great
Soviet counter-offensive in the Southern sector. In late
1944, it returned to Germany where it was refitted with
King Tigers. In January 1945, it was sent to Hungary as
part of IV SS Panzer Korps. Eventually surrendered to
US forces in Austria after losing all its tanks in action. |
Not
Known
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sPz-Abt
510
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Formed
in June 1944. One of the last Tiger I battalions. It was
rushed to the Eastern Front in the northern sector to
try to halt the Soviet summer offensive in the central
sector. In East Prussia, the battalion was divided into
two parts. One part supported 30 Infantry Division. The
other part supported 14 Panzer Division and saw heavy
action in the Kurland Peninsula in early 1945. In March,
two companies were withdrawn to Kassel in Germany. 13
Tigers remained with 14 Panzer Division. The last
tiger were lost on 8th May and the battalion surrendered
along with the other survivors after the fierce Kurland
battles. This is the only tiger battalion never to have
been equipped with King Tigers, all of its tanks being
late model Tiger 1s. |
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sPz-Abt
512
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Battalion
created for Jagdtiger Tank Destroyers. |
Not
Known
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sPz-Abt
301
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Formed
in the summer of 1944, this unit was equipped with Tiger
1s and the BIV remote-controlled demolition robot vehicles.
Sent to the Western Front in November 1944, it saw action
during the Ardennes Offensive, where it was all but destroyed. |
Not
Known
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sPz-Abt
Kummersdorf
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Formed
as a scratch unit in February 1945 to defend Berlin, It
went into action with the Munchenberg Panzer Division
the following April and was destroyed as Soviet troops
swept into Berlin. |
Not
Known
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Waffen-SS
Heavy Tank Companies
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The
Leibstandarte, Totenkopf and Das reich Divisions were
all provided with Tiger 1 companies in late 1942. They
saw action on the Eastren Front during the following year. |
Not
Known
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101
SS
Heavy Tank Battalion
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Formed
from the Leibstandarte'ds Tiger company in the autumn
of 1943 as the heavy battalion assigned to the newly formed
I SS Panzer Corp. It was sent to fight in Normany in June
1944. Michael Wittmann eventually commended the unit until
he was killed in action near Caen. It was later re-equipped
with King Tigers and saw action in the Ardennes and Humgary.
Front during the following year. (later redesignated 501)
Click here
for
formation of Heavy Tank Battalion 101 at August 1944. |
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102
SS
Heavy Tank Battalion
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Formed
to support II SS Panzer Corp. It was sent to fight in
Normany from June 1944 onwards. It was re-equipped with
King Tigers towards the end of 1944. (Later redesignated
502) |
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103
SS
Heavy Tank Battalion
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Formed
in 1943 with Tiger 1s, it never saw action and was later
re-equipped with King Tigers and sent to fight on the
Eastern Front. |
Not
Known
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653
& 654
Panzerjager Battalions
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Formed
to use the 90 Elefant and later Ferdinand heavy self-propelled
guns in early 1943, they first saw action on the northern
wing of the Kursk offensive. They suffered heavy losses
due to the lack of a hull machine gun for close defense
against Soviet infantry attacks. The remaining Elefants
were withdrawn to Italy and fought at Anzio. The 653 was
later re-equipped with the Jagdtiger for the Ardennes
offensive. Two other Jagdtiger battalions were formed
in early 1945. They fought in the West until the end of
the war. |
Not
Known
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