La Panzer-Lehr-Division
Introduction,
In 1939, the Germans created surprise and astonishment by introducing a new doctrine for the use of armoured vehicles; Charles de Gaulle had foreseen it and Heinz Guderian put it into practice. Germany then had the best armored weapon in the world. The elite of its tank officers and mounted infantry met in training schools, the nucleus of a new armored division: the Panzer-Lehr-Division. Heirs of the Prussian and Imperial cavalry, these soldiers of tradition fought to the end, essentially for their homeland and much less for their Führer, the latter even distrusting some of them. This elite division of armoured vehicles was naturally prepared for a decisive front,
the West. It was engaged on the Normandy front “to throw the Allies back not to the coast, but to the sea”, in the words of General Guderian. It was dislocated in this Battle of Normandy under Allied fire: Tilly-sur-Seulles and the Marigny sector, Saint-Gilles, were the milestones of his Way of the Cross. It was necessary, for a better knowledge of the Second World War, to present the detailed history of this division which played an essential role in the Battle of Normandy, by blocking the Tilly front and then the sector west of Saint-Lô before exploding under the blow of “Cobra”. This division, annihilated in the “hell of the Channel”, was to be reborn to counter-attack in the Ardennes and end up in the Ruhr Pocket. It was also necessary to clarify pages of history: many inaccuracies have been written about this division which would have been “100% armored”, equipped with Tiger tanks, this new publication takes stock of the question and, with more than 500 photos, presents the essential iconography on this subject.
- 1943, the turning point of the war
- The origins of the Panzer-Lehr-Division, The training troops
- Setting up the Division, Intervention in Hungary
- The Panzer-Lehr-Division on the eve of D-Day
- The approach march to Normandy
- The Battle of Tilly-sur-SeulThe
- fighting in the English Channel
- The last battles in Normandy and retreat across France .
- The Panzer-Lehr-Division in Lorraine
- The Ardennes Offensive
- The Panzer-Lehr-Division fights its last battles
