A column of tanks from "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" at Kharkov.  Third Battle of Kharkov. March 1943.

greetz,brummbar


 Kharkov operation  1943 

Tank crew of the 11th Panzer Division take a break.  Their PzKpfw IV carries both the "broken circle and bar" and the "Ghost" emblems of the 11th Panzer.  The Bundesarchiv caption says only that the photo was taken in Yugoslavia.

11th Panzer was formed on 1 August, 1941, utilizing elements of the 5th Panzer Division and a number of infantry and specialist units.  This was part of a general reorganization of the panzer divisions at this time, the principal objective of which was to reduce the number of panzer regiments in a division from two to one.  Commentators tend to differ as to whether this was a vanity change (increasing the nominal rollcall of panzer divisions) or whether it was a sensible response to lessons learned in France as to the proper balance between infantry and tanks in such a division.  

The 11th was almost immediately engaged in the Balkans Campaign of August, 1941 (presumably, where this photo was taken), and subsequently served on the Eastern Front, suffering near-annihilation in the Cherkassy Pocket encirclement.  They were then sent west, and fought on that front for the remainder of the war, eventually surrendering to the US Army.

Taking a break ... 11th Panzer Division.

Oberleutnant Bodo Spranz, Chef 1.Batterie/Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 237/330.Infanterie-Division/ IX.Armee-Korps/4.Armee/Heeresgruppe Mitte, with his crew and StuG III Ausf.G. (c. Mid.'43) 