101st Panzer Brigade
Active5 July – 21 September 1941
15 August - October 1944
Country Nazi Germany
BranchArmy
TypePanzer
RoleArmoured warfare
SizeBrigade
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Oberst Meinrad von Lauchert

The 101st Panzer Brigade was a Panzer Brigade that fought in World War II.

History

The first 101st Panzer Brigade was formed on 5 July 1941 in France with captured tanks.[1] On 21 September 1941, it was used to form the staff of the 23rd Panzer Division.[2] Colonel Botho Elster was briefly in command of the brigade in 1941 before being transferred to OB West.[3]

The second 101st Panzer Brigade was ordered to be formed on 11 July 1944 but was not formed until 15 August 1944.[2] Like most Panzer Brigades, it had a battalion of Panther tanks and a battalion of panzergrenadiers in Sd.Kfz. 251 half tracks. It was a part of the ad hoc Panzerverband Strachwitz under Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz.[4] The 101st, along with the SS Panzer Brigade Gross, participated in Operation Doppelkopf to restore connection between Army Group North and Army Group Center.[4] It was then deployed to the frontline on Estonia.[5] In October 1944, the brigade was reformed near Bobruisk, then it was merged with the remains of the destroyed 20th Panzer Division.[2] The brigade staff formed the Staff/21st Panzer Regiment, the panzer battalion became the 2/21st Panzer Regiment, while the panzergrenadier Battalion became a Jagd-Kommando in the 20th Panzer Division.[2]

Order of battle

1941

  • 203rd Panzer Regiment
  • 204th Panzer Regiment

1944

  • 2101st Panzer Battalion (3 Panther tank companies, 1 Jagdpanzer IV company)
  • 2101st Panzergrenadier Battalion (3 companies)
  • 2101st Brigade Support Units [2]

Commanders

Notes

  1. ↑ Major Friedrich-Wilhelm Breidenbach also served as acting commander, date of command is unknown.

Citations

  1. ↑ Nafziger 1999, p. 202.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Nafziger, George. "Organization History of German Panzer Formations" (PDF). Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  3. ↑ Mitcham 2000, p. 215.
  4. 1 2 Mitcham 2007, p. 140.
  5. ↑ Mitcham 2007, p. 141.

References

Books
  • Mitcham, Samuel (2000). Retreat to the Reich: the German Defeat in France, 1944. Westport: Praeger, Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. ISBN 9780275968571.
  • Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007). The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3371-7.
  • Nafziger, George F. (1999). The German Order of Battle: Panzers and Artillery in World War II. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 9781853673597.
Websites
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