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182-531: The division contained small contingents of foreign volunteers from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, the Netherlands and Belgium. These contingents were elevated in wartime propaganda and postwar mythology, including from the former German officers of the division, to give the Wiking Division the reputation of a pan-European force. In truth, the division was at all times equipped with

364-639: A military alliance with the United Kingdom and with France , believing that Polish independence and territorial integrity would be defended with their support if it were to be threatened by Germany. On the other hand, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and his Foreign Secretary , Lord Halifax , still hoped to strike a deal with Hitler regarding Danzig (and possibly the Polish Corridor). Chamberlain and his supporters believed war could be avoided and hoped Germany would agree to leave

546-536: A "last minute" order in the summer of 1939, Poland bought 160 French Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighters and 111 English airplanes (100 light bombers Fairey Battle , 10 Hurricanes and 1 Supermarine Spitfire ; the sale of 150 Spitfires asked by the Polish government was rejected by the Air Ministry). Despite the fact that some of the airplanes had been shipped to Poland (the first transport of purchased aircraft on

728-531: A 'Bomber Brigade', 'Pursuit Brigade' and aircraft assigned to the various ground armies. The Polish fighters were older than their German counterparts; the PZL P.11 fighter—produced in the early 1930s—had a top speed of only 365 km/h (227 mph), far less than German bombers. To compensate, the pilots relied on its maneuverability and high diving speed. The Polish Air Force's decisions to strengthen its resources came too late, mostly due to budget limitations. As

910-623: A 30-millimetre (1.18 in) face-hardened appliqué steel plate welded (later bolted) to the glacis—in total, frontal armour was now 80 mm (3.15 in) thick. This decision to increase frontal armour was favorably received according to troop reports on 8 November 1942, despite technical problems of the driving system due to added weight. At this point, it was decided that 50% of Panzer IV production would be fitted with 30 mm (1.18 in) thick additional armour plates. On 5 January 1943, Hitler decided that all Panzer IV should have 80 mm (3.15 in) frontal armour. To simplify production,

1092-399: A 37-millimetre (1.46 in) anti-tank gun, the new vehicle would have a short-barreled, howitzer -like 75-millimetre (2.95 in) as its main gun , and was allotted a weight limit of 24 tonnes (26.46 short tons). Development was carried out under the name Begleitwagen ("accompanying vehicle"), or BW, to disguise its actual purpose, given that Germany was still theoretically bound by

1274-515: A 50 mm (1.97 in) gun — based on the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun — on a Panzer IV Ausf. D. However, with the rapid German victory in France, the original order of 80 tanks was cancelled before they entered production. In October 1940, the Ausf. E was introduced. This had 30 millimetres (1.18 in) of armour on the bow plate, while a 30-millimetre (1.18 in) appliqué steel plate

1456-574: A German sabotage group which had not heard anything about a delay of the invasion made an attack on the Jablunkov Pass and Mosty railway station in Silesia . On the morning of 26 August, this group was repelled by Polish troops. The German side described all this as an incident "caused by an insane individual" (see Jabłonków incident ). On 26 August, Hitler tried to dissuade the British and

1638-417: A battery of StuG III's to replace earlier losses. In early June 1942, Wiking received its panzer battalion, making it among the first SS Divisions to be given its own armored contingent. The panzer battalion had just under sixty tanks, and was made up of two companies of Panzer IIIs and one company of Panzer IVs . The battalion was commanded by veteran SS officer Johannes Mühlenkamp . In the summer of 1942,

1820-658: A bloody terror and are driven from their homes. The series of border violations, which are unbearable to a great power, prove that the Poles no longer are willing to respect the German frontier." Poland participated with Germany in the partition of Czechoslovakia that followed the Munich Agreement , although they were not part of the agreement. It coerced Czechoslovakia to surrender the region of Český Těšín by issuing an ultimatum to that effect on 30 September 1938, which

2002-433: A church. Shortly afterwards soldiers from my unit started to pour gasoline onto the church and somewhere between 200 and 300 humans were burned inside [the church]. I was assigned as guard, and no one came out." The 2014 Norwegian book Morfar, Hitler og jeg (Grandfather, Hitler and I) quotes the diary of a division soldier from 1941 to 1943: "and then we cleaned a Jew hole". The organisation structure of this SS formation

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2184-538: A conference with Hitler, it was decided to improve the Panzer IV's main armament. Krupp was awarded the contract to integrate again the 50 mm (1.97 in) Pak 38 L/60 gun into the turret. The first prototype was to be delivered by 15 November 1941. Within months, the shock of encountering the Soviet T-34 medium and KV-1 heavy tanks necessitated a new, much more powerful tank gun. In November 1941,

2366-568: A corresponding modification of track width from 380 to 400 mm (14.96 to 15.75 in) to reduce ground pressure. The wider tracks also facilitated the fitting of track shoe "ice sprags ", and the rear idler wheel and front sprocket were modified. The designation Ausf. F was changed in the meantime to Ausf. F1, after the distinct new model, the Ausf. F2, appeared. A total of 471 Ausf. F (later temporarily called F1) tanks were produced from April 1941 to March 1942. On 26 May 1941, mere weeks before Operation Barbarossa , during

2548-510: A formidable opponent. The bocage countryside in Normandy favoured defense, and German tanks and anti-tank guns inflicted very heavy casualties on Allied armour during the Normandy campaign , despite the overwhelming Allied air superiority. German counter-attacks were blunted in the face of Allied artillery, infantry-held anti-tank weapons , tank destroyers and anti-tank guns , as well as

2730-605: A gully, where they were shot. On 7–11 April 1945, members of the division executed another eighteen escaped prisoners. In 2013 the NRK quoted "the first Norwegian [to publicly admit] that he participated in war crimes and extermination of Jews in Eastern Europe" during World War II, former soldier of the division Olav Tuff, who admitted: "In one instance in Ukraine during the autumn of 1941, civilians were herded like cattle—into

2912-770: A joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany , the Slovak Republic , and the Soviet Union , which marked the beginning of World War II . The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, and one day after the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union had approved the pact. One of the aims of

3094-621: A number of SS and army officers who shot the Jews as soon as they entered a bomb crater being used as a mass grave. About 50 or 60 Jews were killed in this manner. In addition, historian Eleonore Lappin, from the Institute for the History of Jews in Austria, has documented several cases of war crimes committed by members of Wiking in her work The Death Marches of Hungarian Jews Through Austria in

3276-638: A realization of any pre-1933 Weimar plans to invade and partition Poland, annex Bohemia and Austria, and create satellite or puppet states economically subordinate to Germany. As part of this long-term policy, Hitler at first pursued a policy of rapprochement with Poland, trying to improve opinion in Germany, culminating in the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934. Earlier, Hitler's foreign policy worked to weaken ties between Poland and France and attempted to manoeuvre Poland into

3458-478: A relief effort codenamed Operation Konrad . As a part of Operation Konrad I, the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking was committed to action on 1 January 1945, fighting alongside the 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf . Near Tata, the advance columns of the Wiking attacked the 4th Guards Army . The Soviet forces halted the German advance at Bicske , 28 kilometres from Budapest . After the failure of Konrad I, Wiking

3640-470: A relief force had been assembled outside of the pocket, led by Obersturmführer Karl Nicolussi-Leck . This force was built around the 8th Company of Wiking's 5th Panzer regiment, which had just received sixteen new Panther tanks . Fighting through determined Soviet resistance and heavy snow, the relief force broke through to the pocket on 30 March. Now able to be resupplied and receive reinforcements, Gille conducted counterattacks throughout April, culminating in

3822-648: A result, the Finnish Army often referred to the PzKpfw IV Ausf.J as the "shaker" for its rough ride, when compared to their StuG IIIs which by comparison had the much better torsion-bar suspension of the PzKpfw III. According to the Finnish this not only affected general crew comfort, but also hampered the accurate aiming of the main gun whilst on the move. What exactly caused these "vibrations" that gave

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4004-465: A support tank for use against enemy anti-tank guns and fortifications . Ideally, each tank battalion in a panzer division was to have three medium companies of Panzer IIIs and one heavy company of Panzer IVs. On 11 January 1934, the German army wrote the specifications for a "medium tractor", and issued them to a number of defense companies. To support the Panzer III, which would be armed with

4186-703: A vast majority of German personnel. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Heinrich Himmler , the head of the SS , sought to expand the Waffen-SS with foreign military volunteers for the Nazi "crusade against Bolshevism". The enrollment began in April 1940 with the creation of two regiments: the Waffen-SS Regiment Nordland (for Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and a minority of Icelandic volunteers), and

4368-540: A week before the onset of war, Hitler delivered a speech to his military commanders at the Obersalzberg : The object of the war is … physically to destroy the enemy. That is why I have prepared, for the moment only in the East, my 'Death's Head' formations with orders to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or language. Only in this way can we obtain the living space we need. With

4550-650: Is also known in Poland as the September campaign ( Polish : kampania wrześniowa ) or 1939 defensive war (Polish: wojna obronna 1939 roku ) and known in Germany as the Poland campaign ( German : Überfall auf Polen, Polenfeldzug ). German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west the morning after the Gleiwitz incident . Slovak military forces advanced alongside the Germans in northern Slovakia . As

4732-530: The Panzergranate ( armour-piercing shell ) at 430 metres per second (1,410 ft/s) the KwK ;37 could penetrate 43 millimetres (1.69 in), inclined at 30 degrees, at ranges of up to 700 metres (2,300 ft). A 7.92 mm (0.31 in) MG 34 machine gun was mounted coaxially with the main weapon in the turret, while a second machine gun of the same type was mounted in the front plate of

4914-402: The Panzergranate 39, the KwK 40 L/43 could penetrate 77 mm (3.03 in) of steel armour at a range of 1,830 m (6,000 ft). The longer 7.5 cm guns made the vehicle nose-heavy to such an extent that the forward suspension springs were under constant compression. This resulted in the tank tending to sway even when no steering was being applied, an effect compounded by

5096-486: The Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. Most of the 11 panzer divisions that saw action in Normandy initially contained an armoured regiment of one battalion of Panzer IVs and another of Panthers, for a total of around 160 tanks, although Waffen-SS panzer divisions were generally larger and better equipped than their Heer counterparts. Regular upgrades to the Panzer IV had helped to maintain its reputation as

5278-635: The Anti-Comintern Pact , forming a cooperative front against the Soviet Union . Poland would be granted territory to its northeast in Ukraine and Belarus if it agreed to wage war against the Soviet Union, but the concessions the Poles were expected to make meant that their homeland would become largely dependent on Germany, functioning as little more than a client state . The Poles feared that their independence would eventually be threatened altogether; historically Hitler had already denounced

5460-674: The Battle of Radzymin . The German counterattacks brought the Soviet offensive to a halt and the front line stabilized for the rest of the year. The division remained in the Modlin area, grouped with the 3 SS Totenkopf and the IV SS Panzer Corps . Gille was promoted to the command of the new SS Panzer Corps, and after a brief period with Oberführer Eduard Deisenhofer in command, Standartenführer Johannes Mühlenkamp , commander of

5642-714: The Estonian Battalion Narwa . The division took part in Operation Barbarossa , the invasion of the Soviet Union, advancing through Galicia , today's Ukraine. In July and August, Wiking participated in the encirclement battles at Uman and Kiev . Later in August, the division fought for the bridgehead across the Dnieper River at Dnepropetrovsk . Finally, the division took part in the heavy fighting for Rostov-on-Don before retreating to

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5824-561: The III Panzer Corps , took place 100 kilometres to the south. It started on 20 January and achieved initial tactical success. The quick redeployment of more Red Army troops prevented a German breakthrough, turning the German forces back by 28 January. By the end of January, Wiking and Totenkopf had suffered 8,000 casualties, including 200 officers. On 13 February 1945, the division was ordered west to Lake Balaton , where Oberstgruppenführer Sepp Dietrich 's 6th SS Panzer Army

6006-576: The Mius River line in November, to hold for the winter. In February 1942, the Soviet winter offensive had established breakthroughs on either side of the transportation hub of Izium . A Kampfgruppe was formed around the 1st battalion of the Germania regiment and the division's assault gun battery and sent north to help contain the Soviet thrusts. By the 25th of February, this Kampfgruppe

6188-659: The Panther was not delivered to German units in the Soviet Union until May 1943. The extent of German reliance on the Panzer IV during this period is reflected by their losses; 502 were destroyed on the Eastern Front in 1942. The Panzer IV continued to play an important role during operations in 1943, including at the Battle of Kursk . Newer types, such as the Panther, were still experiencing crippling reliability problems that restricted their combat efficiency, so much of

6370-541: The Panzer IV , is a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War . Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161 . The Panzer IV was the most numerous German tank and the second-most numerous German fully tracked armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War ; 8,553 Panzer IVs of all versions were built during World War II, only exceeded by

6552-703: The Red Army after the end of the war. These tanks were of many different models and were in very bad shape —many of them were missing parts and the side-skirts. These German T4 tanks remained in service until 1950, when the Army decided to use only Soviet equipment. By 1954, all German tanks in Romanian military service had been scrapped. While their numbers remain uncertain, Syria received around 60 Panzers that were refurbished in France between 1950 and 1952, followed by 50 others purchased from Czechoslovakia in 1954, per

6734-700: The Reichsautobahn system, be built in order to connect East Prussia with Germany proper , running through the Polish Corridor. Poland rejected this proposal, fearing that after accepting these demands, it would become increasingly subject to the will of Germany and eventually lose its independence as the Czechs had. Polish leaders also distrusted Hitler. The British were also wary of Germany's increasing strength and assertiveness threatening its balance of power strategy. On 31 March 1939, Poland formed

6916-606: The Romanian Bridgehead could be created. The Polish General Staff had not begun elaborating the "West" defence plan until 4 March 1939. It was assumed that the Polish Army, fighting in the initial phase of the war alone, would have to defend the western regions of the country. The plan of operations took into account the numerical and material superiority of the enemy and, also assumed the defensive character of Polish operations. The Polish intentions were defending

7098-734: The Six-Day War in 1967. Panzer IVs also participated in 1973 Yom Kippur War , with some dug in as pillboxes. Several of Syria's Panzer IVs were captured by the Israeli Army and donated to the Yad La-Shiryon museum, which later traded an Ausf H from this collection to the American Armored Foundation Tank Museum in Danville, Virginia in exchange for an M5 Stuart . In addition, Turkey

7280-675: The Somua S35 and Char B1 . Although the Panzer IV was deployed to North Africa with the German Afrika Korps , until the longer gun variant began production, the tank was outperformed by the Panzer III with respect to armour penetration. Both the Panzer III and IV had difficulty in penetrating the British Matilda II's thick armour, while the Matilda's 40-mm QF 2 pounder gun could knock out either German tank;

7462-710: The StuG III assault gun with 10,086 vehicles. Its chassis was also used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, including the Sturmgeschütz IV assault gun , the Jagdpanzer IV self-propelled anti-tank gun , the Wirbelwind and Ostwind self-propelled anti-aircraft gun , and the Brummbär self-propelled gun . The Panzer IV saw service in all combat theatres involving Germany and

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7644-544: The Treaty of Versailles ban on tanks. MAN , Krupp , and Rheinmetall-Borsig each developed prototypes, with Krupp's being selected for further development. The chassis had originally been designed with a six-wheeled Schachtellaufwerk interleaved-road wheel suspension (as already adopted for German half-tracks ), but the German Army amended this to a torsion bar system. Permitting greater vertical deflection of

7826-672: The United Kingdom . On 3 September, based on their alliance agreements with Poland, the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany; in the end their aid to Poland was very limited . France invaded a small part of Germany in the Saar Offensive , and the Polish army was effectively defeated even before the British Expeditionary Force could be transported to Europe, with the bulk of the BEF in France by

8008-454: The Verfügungstruppe SS Regiment Deutschland . After formation, the division was sent to Heuberg in Germany for training; by April 1941, it was ready for combat. The division was ordered east in mid-May, to take part with Army Group South 's advance into Ukraine during Operation Barbarossa , the invasion of the Soviet Union. In June 1941, the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS was formed from volunteers from that country. This unit

8190-457: The Wehrmacht advanced, Polish forces withdrew from their forward bases of operation close to the Germany–Poland border to more established defense lines to the east. After the mid-September Polish defeat in the Battle of the Bzura , the Germans gained an undisputed advantage. Polish forces then withdrew to the southeast where they prepared for a long defence of the Romanian Bridgehead and awaited expected support and relief from France and

8372-445: The armour protection or upgrading the weapons, although during the last months of the war, with Germany's pressing need for rapid replacement of losses, design changes also included simplifications to speed up the manufacturing process. The Panzer IV was partially succeeded by the Panther medium tank, which was introduced to counter the Soviet T-34 , although it continued to be a significant component of German armoured formations to

8554-413: The " Krali Marko Line", remained in use until the fall of communism in 1989. Twenty Panzer IV Ausf. Hs and ten StuG III Ausf. Gs were supplied to Spain in December 1943, a small fraction of what Spain had originally asked for. The Panzer IV represented the best tank in Spanish service between 1944 and 1954, and was deployed along with T-26s and Panzer Is. Spain sold 17 Panzer IVs to Syria in 1967, with

8736-408: The 1,009 cars and trucks and 4,842 horses in the average German infantry division, the average Polish infantry division had 76 cars and trucks and 6,939 horses. The Polish Air Force ( Lotnictwo Wojskowe ) was at a severe disadvantage against the German Luftwaffe due to inferiority in numbers and the obsolescence of its fighter planes. However, contrary to German propaganda, it was not destroyed on

8918-428: The 6th Army, Erich von Manstein , the commander of Army Group South, proposed another attempt towards Stalingrad. To that end, Wiking entrained on 24 December; however, by the time it arrived at Zimovniki on 30 December, the Wehrmacht was retreating westwards. The Wiking Division was tasked with covering the retreat of Kleist's First Panzer Army back across the Don . Wiking held Simovniki for seven days, covering

9100-414: The Allies, Zimmerit paste was added to all the vertical surfaces of the tank's armour. The turret roof was reinforced from 10-millimetre (0.39 in) to 16-millimetre (0.63 in) and 25-millimetre (0.98 in) segments. The vehicle's side and turret were further protected by the addition of 5-millimetre (0.20 in) hull skirts and 8-millimetre (0.31 in) turret skirts. This resulted in

9282-406: The Ausf H was fitted with a hydrostatic transmission but was not put into production. Despite addressing the mobility problems introduced by the previous model, the final production version of the Panzer IV—the Ausf. J—was considered a retrograde from the Ausf. H. Born of necessity, to replace heavy losses, it was greatly simplified to speed production. The electric generator that powered

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9464-410: The Ausf. B. Improvements included the replacement of the original engine with the more powerful 300 PS (220.65 kW) Maybach HL 120TR, and the transmission with the new SSG 75 transmission, with six forward gears and one reverse gear. Despite a weight increase to 16 t (18 short tons), this improved the tank's speed to 42 kilometres per hour (26.10 mph). The glacis plate

9646-518: The British merchant fleet and took part in wartime convoys . The September Campaign was devised by General Franz Halder , the chief of the general staff , and directed by General Walther von Brauchitsch the commander in chief of the German ground forces . It called for the start of hostilities before a declaration of war , and pursued a doctrine of mass encirclement and destruction of enemy forces. The infantry, far from completely mechanized but fitted with fast-moving artillery and logistic support,

9828-417: The Cherkassy Pocket, the division was ordered to the town of Kovel to help contain a Soviet breakthrough. Only a portion of the division's strength, equipped only with small arms, and the division commander Gruppenführer Herbert Gille , made it into Kovel before being surrounded by Soviet forces. A breakout was deemed impractical, as there were over 2,000 German wounded in the city. By the end of March 1944,

10010-402: The Corridor broke down, and months passed without diplomatic interaction between Germany and Poland. During this interim period, the Germans learned that France and Britain had failed to secure an alliance with the Soviet Union against Germany, and that the Soviet Union was interested in an alliance with Germany against Poland. Hitler had already issued orders to prepare for a possible "solution of

10192-430: The Czechoslovakia-Syria arms deal. A Soviet 12.7mm DShK machine gun on an anti-aircraft mount was retrofitted on the cupola. These ex-German tanks were used to shell Israeli settlements below the Golan Heights , together with Soviet-supplied T-34s, and were fired upon in 1965 during the Water War by Israeli Super Sherman and Centurion tanks. Syria received 17 Panzer IVs from Spain, with these seeing combat during

10374-458: The French from interfering in the upcoming conflict, even pledging that the Wehrmacht forces would be made available to Britain's empire in the future. The negotiations convinced Hitler that there was little chance the Western Allies would declare war on Germany, and even if they did, because of the lack of "territorial guarantees" to Poland, they would be willing to negotiate a compromise favourable to Germany after its conquest of Poland. Meanwhile,

10556-408: The German invasion of Poland in September 1939 came to an end, it was decided to scale up production of the Panzer IV, which was adopted for general use on 27 September 1939 as the Sonderkraftfahrzeug 161 (Sd.Kfz. 161). In response to the difficulty of penetrating the thick armour of British infantry tanks ( Matilda and Matilda II ) during the Battle of France , the Germans had tested

10738-428: The German puppet state of Slovakia meant that Poland's southern flank was also exposed. Hitler demanded that Poland be conquered in six weeks, but German planners thought that it would require three months. They intended to exploit their long border fully with the great enveloping manoeuver of Fall Weiss . German units were to invade Poland from three directions: All three assaults were to converge on Warsaw , and

10920-558: The Germans had seven Panzer divisions, with 2,009 tanks between them, using a new operational doctrine . It held that these divisions should act in coordination with other elements of the military, punching holes in the enemy line and isolating selected units, which would be encircled and destroyed. This would be followed up by less-mobile mechanized infantry and foot soldiers. The Luftwaffe (air force) provided both tactical and strategic air power , particularly dive bombers that disrupted lines of supply and communications. Together,

11102-438: The Germans, and these units, dispersed within the infantry, were unable to effectively engage the Germans. Experiences in the Polish–Soviet War shaped Polish Army organizational and operational doctrine. Unlike the trench warfare of World War I, the Polish–Soviet War was a conflict in which the cavalry 's mobility played a decisive role. Poland acknowledged the benefits of mobility but was unable to invest heavily in many of

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11284-448: The L/43 tank gun available. At the time, these were the only German tanks that could defeat T-34 or KV-1 with sheer firepower. They played a crucial role in the events that unfolded between June 1942 and March 1943, and the Panzer IV became the mainstay of the German panzer divisions. Although in service by late September 1942, the Tiger I was not yet numerous enough to make an impact and suffered from serious teething problems, while

11466-426: The Malgobek ridge on 6 October, but the objective of seizing Grozny and opening a road to the Caspian Sea was not achieved. The division took part in the attempt to seize Ordzhonikidze . The Soviet Operation Uranus , the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, brought any further advances to a halt and later necessitated a retreat from the Caucasus. After Operation Winter Storm , the failed attempt to relieve

11648-524: The Matilda II's major disadvantage was its low speed. By August 1942, Rommel had only received 27 Panzer IV Ausf. F2s, armed with the L/43 gun, which he deployed to spearhead his armoured offensives. The longer gun could penetrate all American and British tanks in theater at ranges of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft), by that time the most heavily armoured of which was the M3 Grant . Although more of these tanks arrived in North Africa between August and October 1942, their numbers were insignificant compared to

11830-442: The Panzer IV Ausf. F started. It featured 50 mm (1.97 in) single-plate armour on the turret and hull, as opposed to the appliqué armour added to the Ausf. E, and a further increase in side armour to 30 mm (1.18 in). The main engine exhaust muffler was shortened and a compact auxiliary generator muffler was mounted to its left. The weight of the vehicle was now 22.3 tonnes (24.6 short tons), which required

12012-416: The Polish Army by about 1/3. Germany had a substantial numeric advantage over Poland and had developed a significant military before the conflict. The Heer (army) had 3,472 tanks in its inventory, of which 2,859 were with the Field Army and 408 with the Replacement Army . 453 tanks were assigned into four light divisions, while another 225 tanks were in detached regiments and companies. Most notably,

12194-485: The Polish Army during the invasion of 1939 was the 7TP light tank. It was the first tank in the world to be equipped with a diesel engine and 360° Gundlach periscope . The 7TP was significantly better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and II , but only 140 tanks were produced between 1935 and the outbreak of the war. Poland had also a few relatively modern imported designs, such as 50 Renault R35 tanks and 38 Vickers E tanks. The Polish Navy

12376-414: The Polish Army possessed less than 200 tanks capable of penetrating the German light tanks, Polish anti-tank guns proved more of a threat, reinforcing German faith in the value of the close-support Panzer IV. Despite increased production of the medium Panzer IIIs and IVs prior to the German invasion of France on 10 May 1940, the majority of German tanks were still light types. According to Heinz Guderian,

12558-415: The Polish defeat at the Battle of Kock , German and Soviet forces gained full control over Poland. The success of the invasion marked the end of the Second Polish Republic, though Poland never formally surrendered. On 8 October, after an initial period of military administration , Germany directly annexed western Poland and the former Free City of Danzig and placed the remaining block of territory under

12740-433: The Polish problem by military means" through the Case White scenario. In May, in a statement to his generals while they were in the midst of planning the invasion of Poland, Hitler made it clear that the invasion would not come without resistance as it had in Czechoslovakia: With minor exceptions German national unification has been achieved. Further successes cannot be achieved without bloodshed. Poland will always be on

12922-407: The Polish-German border and lacked compact defence lines and good defence positions along disadvantageous terrain. That strategy also left supply lines poorly protected. One-third of Poland's forces were massed in or near the Polish Corridor, making them vulnerable to a double envelopment from East Prussia and the west. Another third was concentrated in the north-central part of the country, between

13104-593: The PzKw IV Ausf. J such a bad name among Finnish tank crews remains somewhat unclear as it isn't mentioned in any German or Allied descriptions, but the inadequate leaf spring suspension and comparison with the very smooth ride of the StuG III seems to be the most likely cause. After 1945, Bulgaria incorporated its surviving Panzer IVs into defensive bunkers as strongpoints along its border with Turkey , along with Soviet T-34 turrets. This defensive line, known as

13286-637: The Red Army's advance to a standstill in that sector, Wiking was dispatched to Poland on July 13, 1944. In late-August 1944, the division was ordered back to Modlin Fortress on the Vistula River line near Warsaw where it joined the newly formed Army Group Vistula . Fighting alongside the Luftwaffe's "Hermann Göring" Panzer Division and SS Division Totenkopf the division participated in

13468-490: The SGR ;75 transmission with five forward gears and one reverse, achieving a maximum road speed of 31 kilometres per hour (19.26 mph). As main armament, the vehicle mounted the short-barreled, howitzer -like 75 mm (2.95 in) Kampfwagenkanone 37 7.5 cm KwK 37 tank gun, 24 calibres in length which was a low-velocity weapon mainly designed to fire high-explosive shells. Against armoured targets, firing

13650-816: The SS Divisions Totenkopf and Das Reich, was sent to the Mius- Bogodukhov sector. The Soviets took Kharkiv on 23 August and began advancing towards the Dnieper . In October the division was pulled out to a quiet sector of the line just as the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive overtook Army Group South. In November 1943 the division participated in Operation Harvest Festival , engaging in the mass murder of thousands of Jews at Majdanek concentration camp . In

13832-647: The SS Panzer Regiment 5 Wiking , took command. Battles around Modlin followed for the rest of the year. In October, Mühlenkamp was replaced by Oberführer Karl Ullrich , who led the division for the rest of the war. In late-December 1944, the German forces, including IX SS Mountain Corps , were encircled in Budapest . The IV SS Panzer Corps was ordered south to join Hermann Balck's 6th Army for

14014-567: The September Campaign, not all of those aircraft were mobilized. By 1 September, out of about 120 heavy bombers PZL.37s produced, only 36 PZL.37s were deployed, the rest being mostly in training units. All those aircraft were of indigenous Polish design, with the bombers being more modern than the fighters, according to the Ludomił Rayski air force expansion plan, which relied on a strong bomber force. The Polish Air Force consisted of

14196-401: The Soviet Union but instead ended up being used against Nazi Germany during their withdrawal through Lapland . After the war, they served as training tanks and one portrayed a Soviet KV-1 tank in the movie The Unknown Soldier in 1955. The additional weight, going from the 18.4 tons (Ausf. A) to about 25 tons (Ausf. J), of these modifications strained the simple leaf springed suspension. As

14378-658: The Soviets agreed to divide Eastern Europe, including Poland, into two spheres of influence ; the western one-third of the country was to go to Germany and the eastern two-thirds to the Soviet Union. The German assault was originally scheduled to begin at 4:00 a.m. on 26 August. However, on 25 August, the Polish-British Common Defence Pact was signed as an annex to the Franco-Polish alliance. In this accord, Britain committed itself to

14560-467: The Spring of 1945 . On 28 March 1945, 80 Jews from an evacuation column, although fit for the journey, were shot by three members of Wiking and five military policemen. On 4 April, 20 members of another column that left Graz tried to escape near the town of Eggenfelden , not far from Gratkorn . Troops from the division stationed there apprehended them in the forest near Mt. Eggenfeld, then herded them into

14742-465: The T-34 at ranges of up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) at any angle. The 75 mm KwK 40 L/43 gun on the Panzer IV could penetrate a T-34 at a variety of impact angles beyond 1,000 m (3,300 ft) range and up to 1,600 m (5,200 ft). Shipment of the first model to mount the new gun, the Ausf. F2, began in spring 1942, and by the summer offensive there were around 135 Panzer IVs with

14924-565: The Turmzielfernrohr 5f/1 optic. The next version, the Ausf. H, began production in June 1943 and received the designation Sd. Kfz. 161/2. The integrity of the glacis armour was improved by manufacturing it as a single 80-millimetre (3.15 in) plate. A reinforced final drive with higher gear ratios was introduced. To prevent adhesion of magnetic anti-tank mines, which the Germans feared would be used in large numbers by

15106-646: The Waffen-SS Regiment Westland (for Dutch and Flemish volunteers). The Nordic formation, originally organised as the Nordische Division (Nr. 5), was to be made up of Nordic volunteers mixed with German Waffen-SS personnel. The SS Infantry Regiment Germania of the SS-Verfügungs-Division , which was formed mostly from Germans, was transferred to help form the nucleus of a new division in late 1940. In December 1940,

15288-623: The Wehrmacht dearly. Of the 2,300 tanks and assault guns it had committed to Normandy (including around 750 Panzer IVs ), over 2,200 had been lost. Field Marshal Walter Model reported to Hitler that his panzer divisions had remaining, on average, five or six tanks each. During the winter of 1944–45, the Panzer IV was one of the most numerous tanks in the Ardennes offensive , where further heavy losses—as often due to fuel shortages as to enemy action—impaired major German armoured operations in

15470-456: The Wehrmacht invaded France with 523 Panzer Is, 955 Panzer IIs, 349 Panzer IIIs, 278 Panzer IVs, 106 Panzer 35(t)s and 228 Panzer 38(t)s . Through the use of tactical radios and superior tactics, as well as greater mobility generally, the Germans were able to outmaneuver and defeat French and British armour. However, Panzer IVs armed with the KwK 37 L/24 75-millimetre (2.95 in) tank gun found it difficult to engage French tanks such as

15652-490: The West thereafter. The Panzer IVs that took part were survivors of the battles in France between June and September 1944, with around 260 additional Panzer IV Ausf. Js issued as reinforcements. Finland bought 15 new Panzer IV Ausf. Js in 1944. The remainder of an order for 40 tanks and some StuG IIIs were not delivered and neither were necessary German tank instructors provided. The tanks arrived too late to see action against

15834-502: The administration of the newly established General Government . The Soviet Union incorporated its newly acquired areas into its constituent Byelorussian and Ukrainian republics , and immediately started a campaign of Sovietization . In the aftermath of the invasion, a collective of underground resistance organizations formed the Polish Underground State within the territory of the former Polish state. Many of

16016-782: The aftermath of the fall of Kiev in late December 1943, the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army encircled several German divisions during the Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket in January 1944. Over 60,000 soldiers, including the Wiking division, were trapped along the Dnieper River. Roughly half of German forces broke out of the encirclement. Similar to other formations in the pocket, Wiking suffered heavy casualties and lost nearly all of its heavy equipment. In early March 1944, while still refitting after its ordeal in

16198-507: The amount of matériel shipped to British forces. The Panzer IV also took part in the invasion of Yugoslavia and the invasion of Greece in early 1941. With the launching of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, the unanticipated appearance of the KV-1 and T-34 tanks prompted an upgrade of the Panzer IV's 75 mm (2.95 in) gun to a longer, high-velocity 75 mm gun suitable for anti-tank use. This meant that it could now penetrate

16380-518: The armed forces time to complete its mobilization and execute a general counteroffensive with the support of the Western Allies . In case of a failure to defend most of the territory, the army was to retreat to the south-east of the country, where the rough terrain, the Stryj and Dniestr rivers, valleys, hills and swamps would provide natural lines of defence against the German advance, and

16562-695: The assembly lines. The Panzer IV was one of the most widely exported German tanks of the Second World War. In 1942, Germany delivered 11 tanks to Romania and 32 to Hungary, many of which were lost on the Eastern Front between the final months of 1942 and the beginning of 1943 during the battles around Stalingrad, at which the Hungarian and Romanian troops there were almost annihilated by the attacking Soviet forces. Romania received approximately 120 Panzer IV tanks of different models throughout

16744-549: The core of Germany's armoured divisions, including elite units such as the II SS Panzer Corps , through 1944. In January 1945, 287 Panzer IVs were lost on the Eastern Front. It is estimated that combat against Soviet forces accounted for 6,153 Panzer IVs, or about 75% of all Panzer IV losses during the war. Panzer IVs comprised around half of the available German tank strength on the Western Front prior to

16926-449: The decision to up-gun the Panzer IV to the 50-millimetre (1.97 in) gun was dropped, and instead Krupp was contracted in a joint development to modify Rheinmetall 's pending 75 mm (2.95 in) anti-tank gun design, later known as 7.5 cm Pak 40 L/46. Because the recoil length was too great for the tank's turret, the recoil mechanism and chamber were shortened. This resulted in the 75-millimetre (2.95 in) KwK 40 L/43. When

17108-420: The defence of Poland, guaranteeing to preserve Polish independence. At the same time, the British and the Poles were hinting to Berlin that they were willing to resume discussions—not at all how Hitler hoped to frame the conflict. Thus, he wavered and postponed his attack until 1 September, managing to in effect halt the entire invasion "in mid-leap". However, there was one exception: on the night of 25–26 August,

17290-476: The designation Versuchskraftfahrzeug 622 (Vs.Kfz. 622), "experimental motor vehicle 622", production began in 1936 at Fried. Krupp Grusonwerk AG factory at Magdeburg . The first mass-produced version of the Panzer IV was the Ausführung  A (abbreviated to Ausf. A, meaning "Variant A"), in 1936. It was powered by a Maybach HL108 TR , producing 250 PS (183.87 kW), and used

17472-523: The development of industry, especially in the armaments industry in ethnically Polish areas. Moreover, Poland had to deal with damage caused by World War I . This resulted in the need to build a defense industry from scratch. Between 1936 and 1939, Poland invested heavily in the newly created Central Industrial Region . Preparations for a defensive war with Germany were ongoing for many years, but most plans assumed fighting would not begin before 1942. To raise funds for industrial development, Poland sold much of

17654-509: The division's logistics units led by Obersturmführer Braunnagel and Untersturmführer Kochalty. A gauntlet was then formed by two rows of soldiers. Most of these soldiers were from the Wiking's logistics units, but some were members of the German 1st Mountain Division . The Jews were then forced to run down this path while being struck by rifle butts and bayonets. At the end of this path stood

17836-412: The driver and radio operator, who doubled as the hull machine gunner, seated at the front-left and front-right, respectively. In the turret , the tank commander sat beneath his roof hatch, while the gunner was situated to the left of the gun breech and the loader to the right. The torque shaft ran from the rear engine to the transmission box in the front hull between the driver and radio operator. To keep

18018-426: The effort fell to the 841 Panzer IVs that took part in the battle. Throughout 1943, the German army lost 2,352 Panzer IVs on the Eastern Front; some divisions were reduced to 12–18 tanks by the end of the year. In 1944, a further 2,643 Panzer IVs were destroyed, and such losses were becoming increasingly difficult to replace. Nevertheless, due to a shortage of replacement Panther tanks, the Panzer IV continued to form

18200-464: The elimination of the vision ports located on the hull side, as the skirts obstructed their view. During the Ausf. H's production run, its rubber-tired return rollers were replaced with cast steel, a lighter cast front sprocket and rear idler wheel gradually replaced the previous components, the hull was fitted with triangular supports for the easily damaged side skirts, the Nebelwurfgerät

18382-769: The end of September. On 17 September, the Soviet Red Army invaded Eastern Poland , the territory beyond the Curzon Line that fell into the Soviet " sphere of influence " according to the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact; this rendered the Polish plan of defence obsolete. Facing a second front, the Polish government concluded the defence of the Romanian Bridgehead was no longer feasible and ordered an emergency evacuation of all troops to neutral Romania . On 6 October, following

18564-407: The end of the war. It was the most widely exported tank in German service, with around 300 sold to Finland, Romania, Spain and Bulgaria. After the war, Syria procured Panzer IVs from France and Czechoslovakia , which saw combat in the 1967 Six-Day War . The Panzer IV was the brainchild of the German general and innovative armoured warfare theorist Heinz Guderian . In concept, it was intended to be

18746-409: The engine deck to the rear of the chassis, and cold weather performance was boosted by adding a device to heat the engine's coolant, as well as a starter fluid injector. A new light replaced the original headlight and the signal port on the turret was removed. On 19 March 1943, the first Panzer IV with Schürzen skirts on its sides and turret was exhibited. The double hatch for the commander's cupola

18928-454: The engine was replaced with the improved HL 120TRM. The last of the 140 Ausf. Cs was produced in August 1939. Production changed to the Ausf. D; this variant, of which 248 vehicles were produced, reintroduced the hull machine gun and changed the turret's internal gun mantlet to a 35 mm (1.38 in) thick external mantlet. Again, protection was upgraded, this time by increasing side armour to 20 mm (0.79 in). As

19110-645: The entire war it comprised 30% of the Wehrmacht ' s total tank strength. Although in service by early 1939, in time for the occupation of Czechoslovakia , at the start of the war the majority of German armour was made up of obsolete Panzer Is and Panzer IIs . The Panzer I in particular had already proved inferior to Soviet tanks, such as the T-26 , during the Spanish Civil War . When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, its armoured corps

19292-746: The entire war. To arm Bulgaria , Germany supplied 46 or 91 Panzer IVs, and offered Italy 12 tanks to form the nucleus of a new Italian Army armoured division. These were used to train Italian tank crews while the-then Italian leader Benito Mussolini was deposed shortly after the Allied conquest of Sicily but were then retaken by Germany during its occupation of Italy in mid-1943. The Falangist Spanish government petitioned for 100 Panzer IVs in March 1943 but only 20 were ever delivered by December that same year. Finland bought 30 but only received 15 in 1944 and in

19474-524: The expectation that the Western Allies would honor their treaty obligations and quickly start an offensive of their own, the French and the British expected the war to develop into trench warfare, much like World War I. The Polish government was not notified of the strategy and based all of its defence plans on promises of quick relief by the Western Allies. Polish forces were stretched thinly along

19656-462: The expensive, unproven inventions since then. In spite of this, Polish cavalry brigades were used as mobile mounted infantry and had some successes against both German infantry and cavalry. An average Polish infantry division consisted of 16,492 soldiers and was equipped with 326 light and medium machine guns, 132 heavy machine guns, 92 anti-tank rifles and several dozen light, medium, heavy, anti-tank and anti-airplane field artillery. Contrary to

19838-590: The ground—in fact it was successfully dispersed before the conflict started and not a single one of its combat planes was destroyed on the ground in the first days of the conflict. In the era of fast progress in aviation the Polish Air Force lacked modern fighters, vastly due to the cancellation of many advanced projects, such as the PZL.38 Wilk and a delay in the introduction of a completely new modern Polish fighter PZL.50 Jastrząb . However, its pilots were among

20020-520: The hull. The main weapon and coaxial machine gun were sighted with a Turmzielfernrohr 5b optic while the hull machine gun was sighted with a Kugelzielfernrohr 2 optic. The Ausf. A was protected by 14.5 mm (0.57 in) of steel armour on the front plate of the chassis, and 20 mm (0.79 in) on the turret. This was only capable of stopping artillery fragments , small-arms fire, and light anti-tank projectiles. A total of 35 A versions were produced. In 1937, production moved to

20202-486: The increased number of overflights by high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and cross-border troop movements signaled that war was imminent. On 29 August, prompted by the British, Germany issued one last diplomatic offer, with Fall Weiss yet to be rescheduled. That evening, the German government responded in a communication that it aimed not only for the restoration of Danzig but also the Polish Corridor (which had not previously been part of Hitler's demands) in addition to

20384-535: The initial landings having to wait for port facilities to be ready to land. It was not until July 1944 that American Shermans fitted with the 76 mm gun M1 gun achieved a parity in firepower with the Panzer IV. By 29 August 1944, as the last surviving German troops of Fifth Panzer Army and Seventh Army began retreating towards Germany, the twin cataclysms of the Falaise Pocket and the Seine crossing cost

20566-401: The installation of an auxiliary 200-litre (53 US gal) fuel tank; road range was thereby increased to 320 km (200 mi), The remaining pistol and vision ports on the turret side hatches were removed, and the engine's radiator housing was simplified by changing the slanted sides to straight sides. Three sockets with screw threads for mounting a 2-ton jib boom crane were welded on

20748-448: The introduction of the Ausführung H in March 1943. The Ausf. F tanks that received the new, longer, KwK 40 L/43 gun were temporarily named Ausf. F2 (with the designation Sd.Kfz. 161/1). The tank increased in weight to 23.6 tonnes (26.0 short tons). Differences between the Ausf. F1 and the Ausf. F2 were mainly associated with the change in armament, including an altered gun mantlet, internal travel lock for

20930-580: The invasion to commence soon afterwards. On 29 August, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Józef Beck ordered military mobilization , but under the pressure from Great Britain and France, the mobilization was cancelled. When the final mobilization started, it added to the confusion. On 30 August, the Polish Navy sent its destroyer flotilla to Britain, executing the Peking Plan . On the same day, Marshal of Poland Edward Rydz-Śmigły announced

21112-472: The invasion was to divide Polish territory at the end of the operation; Poland was to cease to exist as a country and all Poles ("inferior people") were to be exterminated. The Soviets invaded Poland on 17 September. The campaign ended on 6 October with Germany and the Soviet Union dividing and annexing the whole of Poland under the terms of the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty . The invasion

21294-511: The late-model Panzer IV. The late-model Panzer IV's 80 mm (3.15 in) frontal hull armour could easily withstand hits from the 75 mm (2.95 in) weapon on the Sherman at normal combat ranges, though the turret remained vulnerable. The British up-gunned the Sherman with their highly effective 76 mm QF 17-pounder anti-tank gun , resulting in the Firefly ; although this was

21476-402: The longer 75 mm (2.95 in) L/70 tank gun from the developing Panther Ausf. F tank design, and partly developed by Rheinmetall from early 1944 onwards — to a Panzer IV hull. This failed and confirmed that the chassis had reached the limit of its adaptability in both weight and available volume. The Panzer IV was originally intended to be used only on a limited scale, so initially Krupp

21658-707: The main Polish army was to be encircled and destroyed west of the Vistula . Fall Weiss was initiated on 1 September 1939 and was the first operation of Second World War in Europe . The Polish determination to deploy forces directly at the German-Polish border, prompted by the Polish-British Common Defence Pact, shaped the country's defence plan, " Plan West ". Poland's most valuable natural resources, industry and population were along

21840-692: The main weapon, new gun cradle, new Turmzielfernrohr 5f optic for the L/43 weapon, modified ammunition stowage, and discontinuing of the Nebelkerzenabwurfvorrichtung in favor of turret mounted Nebelwurfgerät . Three months after beginning production, the Panzer IV Ausf. F2 was renamed Ausf. G. During its production run from March 1942 to June 1943, the Panzer IV Ausf. G went through further modifications, including another armour upgrade which consisted of

22022-517: The major Soviet armoured force named after Markian Popov during the Third Battle of Kharkov . As the post-Stalingrad Soviet offensive exhausted itself, Manstein was able to stabilize the front. In 1943, Herbert Gille was appointed to command the division. The SS Regiment Nordland, along with its commander Fritz von Scholz , were removed from the division and used as the nucleus for the new SS Division Nordland . The Finnish Volunteer Battalion

22204-426: The major cities of Łódź and Warsaw. The forward positioning of Polish forces vastly increased the difficulty of carrying out strategic maneuvres, compounded by inadequate mobility, as Polish units often lacked the ability to retreat from their defensive positions, as they were being overrun by more mobile German mechanized formations. Panzer IV The Panzerkampfwagen IV ( Pz.Kpfw. IV ), commonly known as

22386-752: The military exiles who escaped Poland joined the Polish Armed Forces in the West , an armed force loyal to the Polish government-in-exile . On 30 January 1933, the National Socialist German Workers' Party , under its leader Adolf Hitler , came to power in Germany . While some dissident elements within the Weimar Republic had long sought to annex territories belonging to Poland, it was Hitler's own idea and not

22568-531: The mobilization of Polish troops. However, he was pressured into revoking the order by the French, who apparently still hoped for a diplomatic settlement, failing to realize that the Germans were fully mobilized and concentrated at the Polish border. During the night of 31 August, the Gleiwitz incident , a false flag attack on the radio station, was staged near the border city of Gleiwitz in Upper Silesia by German units posing as Polish troops, as part of

22750-461: The modern equipment it produced. In 1936, a National Defence Fund was set up to collect funds necessary for strengthening the Polish Armed forces. The Polish Army had approximately a million soldiers, but not all were mobilized by 1 September. Latecomers sustained significant casualties when public transport became targets of the Luftwaffe . The Polish military had fewer armored forces than

22932-569: The new KwK 40 was loaded with the Pzgr. 39 armour-piercing shell, the new gun fired the AP shell at some 750 m/s (2,460 ft/s), a substantial 74% increase over the howitzer-like KwK 37 L/24 gun's 430 m/s (1,410 ft/s) muzzle velocity. Initially, the KwK 40 gun was mounted with a single-chamber, ball-shaped muzzle brake , which provided just under 50% of the recoil system's braking ability. Firing

23114-405: The new SS motorised formation was to be designated as SS-Division Germania, but after its formative period, the name was changed, to SS Division Wiking in January 1941. The division was formed around three motorised infantry regiments: Germania, Westland, and Nordland; with the addition of an artillery regiment. Command of the newly formed division was given to Felix Steiner , the former commander of

23296-766: The new methods were nicknamed " Blitzkrieg " (lightning war). While historian Basil Liddell Hart claimed "Poland was a full demonstration of the Blitzkrieg theory", some other historians disagree. Aircraft played a major role in the campaign. Bombers also attacked cities, causing huge losses amongst the civilian population through terror bombing and strafing. The Luftwaffe forces consisted of 1,180 fighters , 290 Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, 1,100 conventional bombers (mainly Heinkel He 111s and Dornier Do 17s ), and an assortment of 550 transport and 350 reconnaissance aircraft. In total, Germany had close to 4,000 aircraft, most of them modern. A force of 2,315 aircraft

23478-545: The nominally independent Free City. Hitler sought to use this as casus belli , a reason for war, reverse the post-1918 territorial losses, and on many occasions had appealed to German nationalism , promising to "liberate" the German minority still in the Corridor, as well as Danzig. The invasion was referred to by Germany as the 1939 Defensive War ( Verteidigungskrieg ) since Hitler proclaimed that Poland had attacked Germany and that "Germans in Poland are persecuted with

23660-500: The offensive, in the area between Lake Velence - Székesfehérvár . As the operation progressed, the division was engaged in preventing Soviet efforts to outflank the advancing German forces. On 16 March, the Soviets forces counterattacked in overwhelming strength, causing the Germans to be driven back to their starting positions. On 24 March, another Soviet attack threw the IV SS Panzer Corps back towards Vienna ; all contact

23842-520: The only Allied tank capable of dealing with all current German tanks at normal combat ranges, few (342) were available in time for the Normandy invasion. One Sherman in every British troop of four was a Firefly. By the end of the Normandy campaign, a further 550 Fireflies were built. which was enough to make good any losses. A second British tank equipped with the 17-pdr gun, the Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger , could not participate in

24024-459: The remaining three left conserved. These can be found in Madrid, Burgos and Santovenia de Pisuerga (Valladolid). Most of the tanks Romania had received were lost during combat between 1944 and 1945. These tanks, designated T4 in the army's inventory, were used by the Army's 2nd Armoured Regiment. On 9 May 1945, only two Panzer IVs were left. Romania received another 50 captured Panzer IV tanks from

24206-428: The requested Polish representative had failed to arrive by midnight. When Polish Ambassador Lipski went to see Ribbentrop later on 31 August to indicate that Poland was favorably disposed to negotiations, he announced that he did not have the full power to sign, and Ribbentrop dismissed him. It was then broadcast that Poland had rejected Germany's offer, and negotiations with Poland came to an end. Hitler issued orders for

24388-408: The requirement for an immediate arrival of a Polish representative with full signing powers as an unacceptable ultimatum . On the night of 30/31 August, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop read a 16-point German proposal to ambassador Nevile Henderson . When the ambassador requested a copy of the proposals for transmission to the Polish government, Ribbentrop refused, on the grounds that

24570-671: The rest of Poland alone. German hegemony over Central Europe was also at stake. In private, Hitler said in May that Danzig was not the important issue to him, but the creation of Lebensraum for Germany. With tensions mounting, Germany turned to aggressive diplomacy. On 28 April 1939, Hitler unilaterally withdrew from both the German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact of 1934 and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935. Talks over Danzig and

24752-574: The rest of the Reich. The Polish Corridor constituted land long disputed by Poland and Germany, and was inhabited by a Polish majority. The Corridor had become a part of Poland after the Treaty of Versailles . Many Germans also wanted the urban port city of Danzig and its environs (comprising the Free City of Danzig) to be reincorporated into Germany. Danzig city had a German majority, and had been separated from Germany after Versailles and made into

24934-488: The retreat of several large German formations, taking high casualties in the process. The division escaped through the Rostov gap and took up a new defensive position at Stalino on 5 February. In early 1943, the division fell back to Ukraine south of Kharkov , recently abandoned by the II SS Panzer Corps commanded by Paul Hausser . In the remaining weeks of February, the Corps, including Wiking, engaged Mobile Group Popov,

25116-488: The right of Poland to independence in 1930, writing that Poles and Czechs were a "rabble not worth a penny more than the inhabitants of Sudan or India. How can they demand the rights of independent states?" The population of the Free City of Danzig was strongly in favour of annexation by Germany, as were many of the ethnic German inhabitants of the Polish territory that separated the German exclave of East Prussia from

25298-404: The road wheels, this was intended to improve performance and crew comfort both on- and off-road. However, due to the urgent requirement for the new tank, neither proposal was adopted, and Krupp instead equipped it with a simple leaf spring double-bogie suspension, with eight rubber-rimmed road wheels per side. The prototype had a crew of five; the hull contained the engine bay to the rear, with

25480-537: The safeguarding of the German minority in Poland. It said that they were willing to commence negotiations, but indicated that a Polish representative with the power to sign an agreement had to arrive in Berlin the next day while in the meantime it would draw up a set of proposals. The British Cabinet was pleased that negotiations had been agreed to but, mindful of how Emil Hácha had been forced to sign his country away under similar circumstances just months earlier, regarded

25662-442: The same year a second batch of 62 or 72 was sent to Hungary (although 20 of these were subsequently diverted to replace German military losses). The Croatian Ustashe Militia received 10 Ausf. F1 and 5 Ausf. G in the autumn of 1944. In total, 297 Panzer IVs of all models were delivered to Germany's allies. The Panzer IV was the only German tank to remain in both production and combat throughout World War II, and measured over

25844-488: The scattering of Soviet forces around Kovel on 24 April. Through May, the division received replacements for earlier losses, including Panzer IVs , Stug IVs , and Panther tanks . In early June the division was ordered west, to new defensive positions at Maciejow . On 6 July, the Soviet armored advance reached Maciejow. Wiking's tanks and AT guns were well dug-in and camouflaged, and were able to destroy over 300 Soviet armored vehicles in three days of fighting. After bringing

26026-462: The shaft clear of the rotary base junction, which provided electrical power to the turret including the motor to turn it, the turret was offset 66.5 mm (2.62 in) to the left of the chassis centre line, and the engine was moved 152.4 mm (6.00 in) to the right. Due to the asymmetric layout, the right side of the tank contained the bulk of its stowage volume, which was taken up by ready-use ammunition lockers. Accepted into service under

26208-410: The ship "Lassel" sailed from Liverpool on 28 August ), none of them would take part in combat. In late 1938, the Polish Air Force also ordered 300 advanced PZL.46 Sum light bombers, but due to a delay in starting mass production, none of them were delivered before 1 September. When in the spring of 1939 it turned out that there were problems with the implementation of the new PZL.50 Jastrząb fighter, it

26390-479: The side of our adversaries... Danzig is not the objective. It is a matter of expanding our living space in the east, of making our food supply secure, and solving the problem of the Baltic states. To provide sufficient food you must have sparsely settled areas. There is therefore no question of sparing Poland, and the decision remains to attack Poland at the first opportunity. We cannot expect a repetition of Czechoslovakia. There will be fighting. On 22 August, just over

26572-418: The simplicity of the Panzer IV and the large number of captured parts allowed for long-term repair and continued use. At least one captured Panzer IV Ausf. H was used by the Warsaw Tank Brigade of the Polish 2nd Corps in Italy during 1944. One Panzer IV Ausf. J was used by the 5th Independent Armored Artillery Divizion from 1945. The 1st GMR (Groupement Mobile de Reconnaissance) of the FFI (French Forces of

26754-404: The surprise signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August, the result of secret Nazi–Soviet talks held in Moscow , Germany neutralized the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and war became imminent. In fact, the Soviets agreed not to aid France or the UK in the event of their going to war with Germany over Poland and, in a secret protocol of the pact, the Germans and

26936-399: The tank's turret traverse was removed, so the turret had to be rotated manually. The turret traversing mechanism was modified and fitted with a second gear which made hand-operation easier when the vehicle was on sloping terrain. On reasonably level ground, hand operation at 4 seconds to traverse to 12.5° and 29.5 seconds to traverse to 120° was achieved. The resulting space was later used for

27118-492: The turret roof while the hull roof was thickened from 11-millimetre (0.43 in) to 16-millimetre (0.63 in). In addition, the cylindrical muffler was replaced by two flame-suppressing mufflers. In June 1944 Wa Prüf 6 had decided that because bomb damage at Panzerfirma Krupp in Essen had seriously jeopardized tank production, all plates which should have been face-hardened for the Panzer IV were instead made with rolled homogeneous armour plate. By late 1944, Zimmerit

27300-664: The ubiquitous fighter-bomber aircraft. The side skirt armour could predetonate shaped charge anti-tank weapons such as the British PIAT , but could be pulled away by rugged terrain. German tankers in all theaters were "frustrated by the way these skirts were easily torn off when going through dense brush". The Allies had also been improving their tanks; the widely used American-designed M4 Sherman medium tank, while mechanically reliable, repairable, and available in large numbers, suffered from an inadequate gun in terms of armour-piercing. Against earlier-model Panzer IVs, it could hold its own, but with its 75 mm M3 gun , struggled against

27482-412: The unit took part in Army Group South's offensive Case Blue , with orders to capture Rostov and the Maikop oil fields. After capturing both targets, the division came to a halt in the foothills of the Caucasus on 14 August. In late September 1942, Wiking participated in the operation aimed to capture the city of Grozny , alongside the 13th Panzer Division . After much difficulty, the division captured

27664-406: The vision ports on either side of the turret and the loader's forward vision port in the turret front were removed, while a rack for two spare road wheels was installed on the track guard on the left side of the hull. Complementing this, brackets for seven spare track links were added to the glacis plate. For operation in high temperatures, the engine's ventilation was improved by creating slits over

27846-445: The western border in Eastern Upper Silesia . Polish policy centred on their protection, especially since many politicians feared that if Poland retreated from the regions disputed by Germany, Britain and France would sign a separate peace treaty with Germany like the 1938 Munich Agreement and allow Germany to stay in those regions. The fact that none of Poland's allies had specifically guaranteed Polish borders or territorial integrity

28028-579: The western regions that were judged as indispensable for waging the war, taking advantage of the propitious conditions for counterattacks by reserve units and avoiding it from being smashed before the beginning of Franco-British operations in Western Europe. The operation plan had not been elaborated in detail and concerned only the first stage of operations. The British and the French estimated that Poland would be able to defend itself for two to three months, and Poland estimated it could do so for at least six months. While Poland drafted its estimates based upon

28210-474: The wider Operation Himmler . On 31 August, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 4:45 the next morning. However, partly because of the earlier stoppage, Poland finally managed to mobilize only about 70% of its planned forces (only about 900,000 of 1,350,000 soldiers planned to mobilize in first order), and because of that many units were still forming or moving to their designated frontline positions. The late mobilization reduced combat capability of

28392-480: The world's best trained, as proven a year later in the Battle of Britain , in which the Poles played a notable part. Overall, the Germans enjoyed numerical and qualitative aircraft superiority. Poland had only about 600 aircraft, of which only PZL.37 Łoś heavy bombers were modern and comparable to their German counterparts. The Polish Air Force had roughly 185 PZL P.11 and some 95 PZL P.7 fighters, 175 PZL.23 Karaś Bs, 35 Karaś as light bombers. However, for

28574-697: Was a buyer, with 35 Panzer IVs received until 4 May 1944 in exchange for some chromium ore. Delivery began with the Ausf. G and probably went on with Ausf. H versions. Other sources state only 15 to 22 tanks were delivered in 1943, all of the Ausf G version. The Soviet Army captured significant numbers of German armoured vehicles, including Panzer IVs (its Russian designation was "T-4"). Some of them were pressed into temporary service and some others were used for driver or anti-tank training. Sometimes, captured tanks were used in different temporary units or as single tanks. While captured Tiger I/IIs and Panthers were only permitted to be used until they irrecoverably broke down,

28756-450: Was a small fleet of destroyers , submarines and smaller support vessels. Most Polish surface units followed Operation Peking, leaving Polish ports on 20 August and escaping by way of the North Sea to join with the British Royal Navy . Submarine forces participated in Operation Worek , with the goal of engaging and damaging German shipping in the Baltic Sea , but they had much less success. In addition, many merchant marine ships joined

28938-484: Was accepted by Czechoslovakia on 1 October. This region had a Polish majority and had been disputed between Czechoslovakia and Poland in the aftermath of World War I. The Polish annexation of Slovak territory (several villages in the regions of Čadca , Orava and Spiš ) later served as the justification for the Slovak state to join the German invasion. By 1937, Germany began to increase its demands for Danzig, while proposing that an extraterritorial roadway, part of

29120-510: Was added to the glacis as an interim measure. A new driver's visor, adopted from the Sturmgeschütz III was installed on the hull front plate. A new commander's cupola, adopted from the Panzer III Ausf. G, was relocated forward on the turret eliminating the bulge underneath the cupola. Older model Panzer IV tanks were retrofitted with these features when returned to the manufacturer for servicing. 206 Ausf. Es were produced between October 1940 and April 1941. In April 1941, production of

29302-435: Was advocated by some generals, including Heinz Guderian , would have had the armour punching holes in the enemy's front and ranging deep into rear areas, but the campaign in Poland would be fought along more traditional lines. That stemmed from conservatism on the part of the German High Command, which mainly restricted the role of armour and mechanized forces to supporting the conventional infantry divisions. Poland's terrain

29484-404: Was also withdrawn and they were replaced by the Estonian Battalion Narwa . In the summer of 1943, the division, along with the 23rd Panzer Division, formed the reserve for Manstein's Army Group in Operation Citadel . Immediately following the German failure in the Battle of Kursk , the Red Army launched two counter-offensives, Operation Kutuzov and Operation Rumyantsev . Wiking, together with

29666-419: Was another Polish concern. These reasons made the Polish government disregard French advice to deploy the bulk of its forces behind natural barriers, such as the Vistula and San Rivers, despite some Polish generals supporting the idea to be a better strategy. The West Plan allowed the Polish armies to retreat inside the country, but that was supposed to be a slow retreat behind prepared positions intended to give

29848-402: Was as follows: Invasion of Poland German–Soviet–Slovak victory Baltic coast 4–10 September Northern Front Southern Front Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The Invasion of Poland , also known as the September Campaign , Polish Campaign , and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was

30030-488: Was assigned to Weiss . Due to its earlier participation in the Spanish Civil War , the Luftwaffe was probably the most experienced, best-trained and best-equipped air force in the world in 1939. Emerging in 1918 as an independent country after 123 years of the Partitions of Poland , the Second Polish Republic , when compared with countries such as United Kingdom or Germany, was a relatively indigent and mostly agricultural country. The partitioning powers did not invest in

30212-405: Was attached to the SS Regiment Nordland of the division. About 430 Finns who fought in the Winter War served in the SS Division Wiking from the beginning of Barbarossa. In spring 1943, the Finns' two-year contract ended, and the Finnish battalion was withdrawn. During that same timeframe, Regiment Nordland was transferred to help form the core of the new SS Division Nordland . They were replaced by

30394-476: Was augmented to a maximum thickness of 30 millimetres (1.18 in), while a new driver's visor was installed on the straightened hull front plate, and the hull-mounted machine gun was replaced by a covered pistol port and visor flap. The superstructure width and ammunition stowage were reduced to save weight. A new commander's cupola was introduced which was adopted from the Panzer III Ausf. C. A Nebelkerzenabwurfvorrichtung (smoke grenade discharger rack)

30576-493: Was composed of 1,445 Panzer Is, 1,223 Panzer IIs, 98 Panzer IIIs and 211 Panzer IVs; the more modern vehicles amounted to less than 10% of Germany's armoured strength. The 1st Panzer Division had a roughly equal balance of types, with 17 Panzer Is, 18 Panzer IIs, 28 Panzer IIIs, and 14 Panzer IVs per battalion. The remaining panzer divisions were heavy with obsolete models, equipped as they were with 34 Panzer Is, 33 Panzer IIs, 5 Panzer IIIs, and 6 Panzer IVs per battalion. Although

30758-406: Was decided to temporarily implement the production of the fighter PZL P 11.G Kobuz. Nevertheless, due to the outbreak of the war, not one of the ordered 90 aircraft of this type were delivered to the army. The tank force consisted of two armored brigades, four independent tank battalions and some 30 companies of TKS tankettes attached to infantry divisions and cavalry brigades. A standard tank of

30940-480: Was discontinued, and a mount in the turret roof, designed for the Nahverteidigungswaffe , was plugged by a circular armoured plate due to initial production shortages of this weapon. These modifications meant that the tank's weight increased to 25 tonnes (27.56 short tons). In spite of a new six-speed SSG 77 transmission adopted from the Panzer III, top speed dropped to as low as 16 km/h (10 mph) on cross country terrain. An experimental version of

31122-510: Was diverted to manufacture the Sturmgeschütz IV and, in the spring of 1944, the Vomag factory began production of the Jagdpanzer IV , leaving the Nibelungenwerk as the only plant still assembling the Panzer IV. With the slow collapse of German industry under pressure from Allied air and ground offensives—in October 1944 the Nibelungenwerk factory was severely damaged during a bombing raid—by March and April 1945, production had fallen to pre-1942 levels, with only around 55 tanks per month coming off

31304-481: Was its sole manufacturer. Prior to the Polish campaign, only 217 Panzer IVs had been produced: 35 Ausf. A; 42 Ausf. B; and 140 Ausf. C; in 1941, production was extended to Vogtländische Maschinenfabrik ("VOMAG") (located in the city of Plauen ) and the Nibelungenwerk in the Austrian city of St. Valentin. In 1941, an average of 39 tanks per month were built; this rose to 83 in 1942, 252 in 1943, and 300 in 1944. However, in December 1943, Krupp's factory

31486-401: Was lost with the neighbouring I SS Panzer Corps, and any resemblance of an organised line of defence was gone. Wiking withdrew into Czechoslovakia. The division surrendered to the American forces near Fürstenfeld , Austria on 9 May. Following the killing of Hilmar Wäckerle , one of the division's high ranking field officers, in the city of Lviv , Jews in the area were rounded up by members of

31668-459: Was mounted on the rear of the hull starting in July 1938 and was back fitted to earlier Ausf. A and Ausf. B chassis starting in August 1938. Forty-two Panzer IV Ausf. Bs were manufactured. The Ausf. C replaced the B in 1938. This saw the turret armour increased to 30 mm (1.18 in), which brought the tank's weight to 18.14 t (20.00 short tons). After assembling 40 Ausf. Cs, starting with chassis number 80341,

31850-478: Was moved south of Esztergom , near the Danube bend. The second relief attempt, Operation Konrad II, got under way on 7 January with Wiking advancing south towards Budapest. By 12 January, the SS Panzergrenadier Regiment Westland had reached Pilisszentkereszt , 20 kilometres from Buda. Despite initial successes, the division was unable to exploit its breakthrough and was ordered to pull back and regroup. A third attempt, Operation Konrad III, in cooperation with

32032-405: Was no longer being applied to German armoured vehicles, and the Panzer IV's side-skirts had been replaced by wire mesh, while the gunner's forward vision port in the turret front was eliminated and the number of return rollers was reduced from four to three to further speed-up production. In a bid to augment the Panzer IV's firepower, an attempt was made to mate a Schmalturm turret — carrying

32214-402: Was preparing Operation Spring Awakening , an offensive at Lake Balaton. Gille's remained as a support to the 6th SS Panzer Army during the beginning of the operation. Dietrich's army made "good progress" at first, but as they drew near the Danube, the combination of the muddy terrain and strong Soviet resistance ground them to a halt. The division performed a holding operation on the left flank of

32396-402: Was replaced by a single round hatch from very late model Ausf. G. and the cupola was up-armoured from 50 mm (1.97 in) to 95 mm (3.74 in). In April 1943, the KwK 40 L/43 was replaced by the longer 75-millimetre (2.95 in) KwK 40 L/48 gun, with a redesigned multi-baffle muzzle brake with improved recoil efficiency. The longer L/48 resulted in the introduction of

32578-597: Was the only German tank to remain in continuous production throughout the war. It was originally designed for infantry support, while the similar Panzer III was to fight armoured fighting vehicles . However, as the Germans faced the formidable T-34 , the Panzer IV had more development potential, with a larger turret ring to mount more powerful guns, so it swapped roles with the Panzer III whose production wound down in 1943. The Panzer IV received various upgrades and design modifications, intended to counter new threats, extending its service life. Generally, these involved increasing

32760-412: Was to be supported by Panzers and small numbers of truck-mounted infantry (the Schützen regiments, forerunners of the panzergrenadiers ) to assist the rapid movement of troops and concentrate on localized parts of the enemy front , eventually isolating segments of the enemy, surrounding, and destroying them. The prewar "armoured idea", which an American journalist in 1939 dubbed Blitzkrieg , which

32942-406: Was virtually annihilated in defensive battles near Izium against superior Soviet armored forces. Ultimately the front had been stabilized however, and conditions had been set for the devastating Axis counterattack at the Second Battle of Kharkov a few months later. During the spring of 1942, the division received reinforcements for the coming offensive, including a battalion of Finnish infantry and

33124-478: Was well suited for mobile operations when the weather co-operated; the country had flat plains , with long frontiers totalling almost 5,600 km (3,500 mi). Poland's long border with Germany on the west and north, facing East Prussia, extended 2,000 km (1,200 mi). It had been lengthened by another 300 km (190 mi) on the southern side in the aftermath of the 1938 Munich Agreement. The German incorporation of Bohemia and Moravia and creation of

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