German Forces

Gespenster Division

Bundesarchives

Panzer IV of the 11th Panzer Division in Yugoslavia, 1941. The 11th Panzer Division had originally been organized in August 1940, in the then German province of Silesia, now part of Poland. Elements of the division, the 15th Panzer Regiment and the 11th Rifle Brigade, had previously participated in the Polish campaign of 1939 and the 1940 invasion of France and the Low Countries. The infantry brigade allegedly received the nom de guerre of “ghost brigade” from a British officer when the unit appeared unexpectedly behind Allied lines in Holland during the Germans’ May 1940 invasion. In the fall of 1940, as the 11th Panzer was being organized, the new division adopted as a mark of honor the title of “Gespensterdivision” or “Ghost Division.” The 11th incorporated an image of a ghost in its symbol used as part of its combat identification markings.