Intelligence attached to Field Order No.1 101 Airborne Division dated 13 September, located 9 and 10 SS Panzer Division south of Eindhoven.
And correctly so, as there were elements of both divisions operating there. On the original can you make out the figures in brackets - is it 5 and 10 tanks? So I guess they would have received this information from the Airborne Corps? Thanks for posting, Tom
what is the query ? if the info on the board is supported by any of surviving veterans here ? b.t.w.; 5 and 10 tanks (and assuming not all fat Tiger tanks)..in the whole area...that is nothing....that can't be an obstacle not being cleared in less than couple of hours ?! right ? (with all men and material dominance of the allies in that sector..on land and sky )
Yes, not sure what query or context is but operational estimates are pretty accurate. 9th SS left Normandy with 20-25 tanks total of all types but had to give 10 to 11th Pz dvn (per Zetterling). 10th SS had no tanks fit when Normandy finished, so the 5 mentioned would have either been replacements or repaired. Even though they had few tanks and were understrength, the panzergrenadier regiments and recce bn were equipped with armoured cars, half tracks, automatic weapons and some artillery. I take it you have Tieke's Firestorm? This is not an operation I have studied much but is this document proof that the British knew there were panzer divisions in the area before MG? Cheers
It also mentions 2 (?) SS (Pz) Div with (unreadable number of) tanks - but this division at the time was deployed in the Eifel near Prüm, I believe.
No query, I wanted to share the information. It is part of the operational orders of 101 Airborne Division. It only "proves" that elements of the two SS divisions - at a certain date - were south of Eindhoven. Days later, they later moved north, to the Arnhem-Apeldoorn area. Every bit of intelligence was always just a snapshot in time.
Cross referencing several sources the best I have is as follows; 9th SS Hohenstaufen SS-Pz.Jg.Abt.9 2 x Jagdpanzer IV 10th SS Frundsberg I./SS-Pz.Rgt.10 8 x Panther II./SS-Pz.Rgt.10 16 x Panzer IV 4 x StuG III G
This would make the 10th SS quite a strong force of 28 AFVs. The 1st battalion (Panthers) was not present in Normandy fighting and its arrival was uncertain in September. What is your source for this?
The information for the I./SS Pz Regt 10 comes from German Armored Units at Arnhem by Marcel Zwarts, they arrived at Zutphen on the 21st September and were sent to Elst as part of Kampfgruppe Knaust. Just checked my Operation Market Garden Then and Now book and Vol.2 confirms the above info on I./SS Pz Regt 10.
Very interesting information. Are there any details known on the whereabouts of the tanks of the 10.SS during OMG and the post-OMG German counterattack on The Island?
Here's some brief info. On the 22nd September, around 18:30 in the evening, several tanks were ambushed by the British 214th Inf Bde, 43rd (Wessex) Inf division a the Valburgsseweg/Hollandebroekstraat crossing west of Elst. Five tanks were lost including a couple of I./SS Pz Regt 10's Panthers. On the 25th September 2 Panthers and 1 Tiger I were knocked out during an attack west of Elst around Valburgseweg. The Panthers were from I./SS Pz Regt 10, on the same day British armour on the way from Driel to Nijmegen was fired on by a Panther which came from the direction of Elst. By the time that Elst was liberated I./SS Pz Regt 10 had lost 6 of their Panthers. Following the 43rd Inf Divisions capture of Elst there was a period of rest, during this time the 9th SS Hohenstaufen was sent back to Germany for refit, whilst the 10th SS Frundsberg received reinforcements, namely the 9th and 116th Pz divisions. These were deployed for the counter attack to capture the Nijmegen road bridge. On Tuesday the 19th September pioneers from SS Pz Pio. Btl. 10 built a pontoon capable of carrying 40t and on the night of the 19/20th september it was used to ferry 6 tanks from II./SS Pz Regt 10 over the Pannerdens Kanal so they could join the defense line around Elst. The Guards Armoured division led the British advance, they tried to head towards Arnhem over the Griftdjk(the highway between Nijmegen and Arnhem) on the 21st September. The Irish Guards tanks were blocked near the Oosterhout/Ressen crossing, the German opposition was the 6 tanks that had been ferried across the canal, strongly supported by infantry, the deadlock here lasted until the 25th September.
Thank you Steelers. On Tuesday the 19th September pioneers from SS Pz Pio. Btl. 10 built a pontoon capable of carrying 40t and on the night of the 19/20th september it was used to ferry 6 tanks from II./SS Pz Regt 10 over the Pannerdens Kanal so they could join the defense line around Elst. Those probably were the Pz IV's that were ferried across the Pannerdens Canal. Is there anything known about the tank strength of the 10.SS at the start of the German counterattack against the British Nijmegen bridgehead, which started on 1 Oct 44. Picture of the ferry site now-a-days as seen from the east shore of the Pannerdens Canal. The capture of the Arnhem bridge by the British Paras forced the 10.SS to use this river passage to shuttle its forces towards Nijmegen. The ferry of the Looveer at Huissen was rendered useless by the ferryman, who removed the security valves which caused it to sink.
From what I can tell I./SS Pz Regt 10 had 15 Panthers by October 1944, of the 15, 5 must have been survivors from the original 8, as 10 were delivered in late September to I./SS Pz Regt 10 The above comes from the following: PanzerTruppen: 1943-1945 v. 2: The Complete Guide to the Creation and Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force by Thomas L. Jentz Fire Brigades: The Panzer Divisions 1943-1945 by Kamen Navenkin The Panthers delivered above were the only armoured vehicles delivered to the 10th SS Frundsberg until November 1944 and therefore the strength of II./SS Pz Regt 10 would have been the same as before, less any losses, that so far I haven't been able to find. Don't forget though that the actual tank strength would be greater than this as the following reinforcements were put under the command of the 10th SS Frundsberg: Panzer-Ersatz-Regiment”Bielefeld” Pz.Kp. Mielke 2 x Panzer IV ([1 Ausf G and 1 Ausf H) 6 x Panzer III (Ausf Gs, Ls and Ms) Schwere-Panzer-Kompanie Hummel 14 x Tiger I Schwere-Panzer-Abteilung 506(sent to Aachen between 10th and 13th October) 2./s.Pz.Kp.506 14 x Königstiger StuG-Brigade 280 10 x StuG III G (of which 3 Stu.H. 42G) Also the 9th and 116th Panzer divisions arrived as reinforcements, apparently it is unknown what 'tanks' they brought with them but it is known that the 116th had I./Pz Regt 24 of 24th Panzer division at it's disposal and they were equipped with 26 Panthers. They were sent to Heaverdorp where they formed up along the bank of the Rhine and from 1st October they performed the job of artillery support for the German counter-attacks.
Thanks Steeler, again very useful information. Of the 9th Pz Div few if any tanks saw action in the II. SS Pz Corps October counterattack on The Island; see (post # 13) http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/49363-nijmegen-bridgehead-iiss-pz-corps-counterattack-in-october-1944/ I will need some time to digest the data you gave, but hope to insert them into my thread on the October counterattack. The 10.SS had more tanks at its disposal than I assumed. Would you sent me the relevant pages of the sources you mention ?
The page number for Jentz is 195, for Navenkin it's 898, if you want copies of the actual pages I'll post them here when I get my camera back later today. you'll also find the Panther deliveries for the Frundsberg here: http://www.panther1944.de/en/sdkfz-171-pzkpfwg-panther/truppenteile/panther-zuweisungslisten/panther-zuweisungsliste-1944.html I just read your thread on the Nijmegen Bridgehead, just curious as to whether you have a copy From Normandy to the Ruhr - With the 116th Panzer Division in World War II by Heinz Gunther Guderian as it covers the fighting there in a fair bit of detail.
Steeler, I have a copy of the original German version of the book. Thanks for the link which is really very useful.
