5.Panzer-Armee
The first 5. Panzer-Armee had fought in Africa and disappeared with the capitulation of Tunisia in May 1943. A new one originated from France as Panzer Gruppen Kommando West on January 24, 1944; under the command of General Geyr von Scweppenburg it faced the Allied invasion in Normandy and became the 5.Panzer-Armee in August 1944. General Hasso Mantueffel took command on September 12 and led it in the Lorraine battles and around Aaechen.
LXVI.Armeekorps
Created as the LXVI. Reservekorps to take command of second line divisions within Ob.West on September 21, 1942,it became the LXVI Armeekorps on February 25 the following year. The corps was based at Clermond-Ferrand when the Allied breakout from Normandy forced its withdraw to Germany. In December 1944 its commander was General der Artillerie Walter Lucht.
18.Volks-Grenadier-Division
From being the 571. Volks-Grenadier-Division assembling at Ersbjerg in Denmark with the usual gamut of conscripts filling in the gaps around the remnants of the 18. Luftwaffe-Feld-Division , it was renamed the 18.Volks-Grenadier-Division on Spetember 2, 1944. Oberleutnant i. G. Dietrich Moll, chief-of-staff of the new division, gave an insight into the activation of the division in Denmark: ‘The division was allocated a cadre of 2,500 men from the Luftwaffe division near the Siene in August and 3,000 men from other Luftwaffe and naval units. The division also received 5,000 men, largely rehabilitated personnel, combed out of the various establishments in the zone of the interior, the so-called ‘indispensables’ who hitherto had occupied key positions in industry. These groups also included very few recent draftees so that the personnel of the division could scarcely be described as young. Not many of the officers or men had seen much action, a fact which was to bear significantly on the coming operations. Germany was in her sixth year of war, yet few men of this division had campaign ribbons or decoration.’
It was put into the line at the end of October to take over a section of the West Wall north of the Schnee Eifel, a quiet sector in which it was able to rotate units, thus providing its conscripts with some experience and training the majority of them badly lacked and licking the division into shape/ Its Stu.Gesh.Kp. 1818, equipped at Milowitz, possessed fourteen Jagdpanzer 38(t).
62.Volks-Grenadier-Division
As the 583. Volks-Grenadier-Division it began from scratch assembling at Neuhammer early in September 1944, and although from September 22 it bore the number of the 62. Infanterie-Division destroyed near Jassy in Romania during the summer, there was no connection between the two. From Neuhammer it was moved at that end of November to the Wittlich area, and from there during the night of December 15 into a part of the line held previously by elements of the 26. Volks-Grenadier-Division which was shifting southwards into its own attack positions. The division’s Stu.Gesh.Kp. 1162 possessed fourteen Jagdpanzer 38(t) with which it was equipped at Milowitz.
LVIII. Panzerkorps
Created on July 28, 1943, as the LVIII.Reservekorps, it took part in the occupation of Hungary (Operation ‘Margarethe’) in March 1944 and then moved west, It became LVIII. Panzerkorps on July 7 and as such was heavily engaged against the Allied in Normandy; in the atumn it was engaged in Lorraine. The corps commander was General der Panzertruppen Walter Krger who had taken command in February 1944.
116. Panzer-Division
The original 16. Infanterie-Division had been motorized in Spetember 1940 and took part in the Balkans campaign and the invasion of Russia. Being re-designated a panzergrenadier division on the Eastern Front in March 1943, it distinguished itself in the Ukraine in the Zaporozhe area but was badly battered near Uman and withdrawn to France where it was refitted with elemnts of 179. Reserve-Panzer-Division to become the 116. Panzer-Division on March 1944. It fought in Normandy and the ensuing withdrawal across France, which tok it to Aaechen , and had to be refitted again near Düsseldorf. During the Aachen battles its highly-decorated commander, Generalleutnant Gerhard Graf von Schwerin was relieved following serious allegations of about his loyalty made by Nazi officials, prominent among them was Gauleiter Grohe and Reichsführer Himmler. Von Schwerin (who in February 1945 was promoted to LXXVI. Panzerkorps in Italy.) was succeeded on September 14 by Oberst Siegfried von Waldenburg, promoted to Generalmajor on November 1. On December 10 the division’s Panzer-Regiment 16 consisted of I.Abteilung with forty-three Panthers operational and II. Abteilung with twenty-six Panzer IVs. The division’s Panzerjger-Abteilung 228 reported thirteen Jagdpanzer IV/70s operational.
560.Volks-Grenadier-Division
The Division was formed on October 10 at Moss in Norway and incorporated various elements of garrison units stationed in Norway and Denmark. By the eve of the attack only half of its men had arrived, the rest making their was by foot or train.
As the division’s commander, Generalmajor Rudolf Bader, was in the hospital at the time, the initial assault was led by the commander of one of its infantry regiments, Oberst Rudolf Langhaeuser, Grenadier-Regiment 1128, who handed over to Bader on his return on December 27. The division’s Stu.Gesch.Kp. 1560 was equipped with the Jagdpanzer 38(t) at Milowitz but it would seem none of its assault guns were present when the attack opened; just ten being available some days later.
XXXXVII. Panzerkorps
Created as the (mot.) XXXXVII. Armeekorps, it became a Panzerkorps on June 21, 1942. From June 1941 to April 1944 the corps commanded units on the Eastern Front before being transferred to the West. It faced an Allied invasion and was later involved in the Lorraine battles. The corps was under command of General der Panzertruppen Heinrich von Lüttwitz
2.Panzer-Division
One of the original three panzer divisions, it was formed on October 15, 1935 at Würzburg and after the Anschluss of March 1938 remained in Vienna. It fought in Poland and France; then in April 1941 in Greece. From there it returned to France and in September joined the drive on Moscow, continuing to fight on the central sector and taking part in the Kursk offensive in the summer of 1943, until transferred to France early in 1944 for refitting after losses suffered defending the middle Dneper. Heavily engaged in Normandy, after withdrawal from France to the West Wall it was in a bad way and was transferred again to rest and refit near Wittlich. A new divisional commander, Oberst Meinrad von Lauchert, took over the very day before the offensive and arrived when the division was already in the assembly area near Neurburg. The division was then about eighty percent strength. On December 10 the Panzer Regiment 3 reported forty-nine Panthers operational in I. Abteilung and twenty-six Panzer IVs and twenty four StuGs in II. Abteilung. The division’s Panzerjäger-Abteilung 38 reported twenty-one StuGs operational.
Panzer-Lehr-Division
Formed on January 10, 1944 around the staff and instructors of Krampnitz panzer training school from the demonstration units of various other training schools, which naturally made it something of a crack unit, the division took part in the occupation of Hungary (Operation ‘Margarethe’) in March 1944 and was moved to France in May. In Normandy it proved one of the main obstacles to the breakout from the bridgehead. It suffered heavily in the Caen and Saint Lô sectors and after the withdrawal across France was transferred to Paderborn to refit. Although already ear marked for ‘Wacht am Rhein’, it committed in late November against a thrust by the American Third Army in the Saar and therefore had to undergo an emergency refit around Mayen in early December. To make good on its losses, the missing I. Abteilung of the Division’s Panzer-Regiment 130 had been replaced by the Schwere-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 559, with about fifteen Jagdpanthers and StuGs; II. Abteilung having twenty-three Panthers and thirty Panzer IVs. The division’s Panzerjäger-Abteilung 130 had fourteen Jadgpanzer IV/70s. When the Panzer-Lehr-Division moved into its assembly area near Kyllburg to take part n ‘Wacht am Rhein’ with 5. Panzer-Armee, it was at about eighty percent strength. The divisional commander was Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein.
26.Volks-Grenadier-Division
Continuously engaged on the Eastern Front since July 1941, the 26.Infanterie-Division was withdrawn for refitting to Poznan, Poland, in September 1944 after the punishing battles of the summer in the Ukraine. Merged Poznan with the 582. Volks-Grenadier-Division which had been assembling there since August, the resultant formation which still had the structure of one of the old infanterie divisions was re-designated as 26.Volks-Grenadier-Division on September 17. Most of its new troops came from the Kriegsmarine, and they were able to blend quickly with the battle-tried members of the old division, so its renamed counterpart continued in good stead. At the end of November-almost at full strength-it took over positions on the West Wall in the Dasburg area, where it was to launch its attack. (It also happened to be well off for horses, having about 5,000 of them including some hardy beasts from Russia.), It Stu.Gesch.Kp. 1026, which moved up from Milowitz, possessed fourteen Jagdpanzer 38(t)
Assault Units
An assault gun brigade, namely Stu.Gesh.Brig.224 and a Panzerjäger battalion, s.Pz.Jg.Abt. 653, were assigned to 5. Panzer-Armee. Both were under strength, the brigade having only fourteen StuGs and the battalion nine Jagdtigers. The Jagdtigers were not used as the unit was moved south for Unternehmen ‘Nordwind’. Pz.Jg.Abt. 741 and St.Gesch.Brig. 243 were assigned later to the army; the former having twenty Jadgpanzer 38(t) and the later twenty StuGs on December 17.
Artillery
Apart from the artillery within its seven divisions, 5.Panzer-Armee received:
a) three volks-artillerie corps-
Volks-Art.Korps 401, Volks-Art.Korps 410 and Volks-Art.Korps 766;
b) three volks-werfer brigades-
Volks-Werf.Brig. 7, Volks-Werf.Brig. 15 and Volks-Werf.Brig. 16
c) one medium howitzer battalion-
H.Art.Abt.460
d) three heavy batteries-
H.Art.Bttr. 1094, H.Art.Bttr. 1095 and Fest.Art.Battr.25/975;
e) four heavy mortar batteries-
Mörs.Bttr.1119, Mörs.Bttr.1099, Mörs.Bttr. 1121 and Mörs.Bttr.638.
This brought its total to 596 guns, or which no more than 180 were 150mm or over, and 367 rocket launchers-232 of 150mm, 81 of 210mm and 54 of 300mm.
Engineers
5.Panzer-Armee was alloted these additional engineer units:
a) two combat engineer battalions-
Pi.Btl.600 and Pi.Btl. 207;
b) two construction engineer battalions
Baupionier-Btl. 803 and Baupionier-Btl. III/999
c) four bridge columns equipped with Brückengerät B-
Brückengerät 22, Brücko 6, Brücko 1/409 and Brücko 957
d) foru bridging columns equipped with with Brückengerät J-
Brüko 850, Brüko 846, Brüko 894 and Brüko 892.
It was also allotted four regiments of OT-Brigade 3.