Taking a break ... 11th Panzer Division. - German Armored Forces & Vehicles | Gallery

Taking a break ... 11th Panzer Division.

Tank crew of the 11th Panzer Division take a break. Their PzKpfw IV carries both the "broken circle and bar" and the "Ghost" emblems of the 11th Panzer. The Bundesarchiv caption says only that the photo was taken in Yugoslavia. 11th Panzer was formed on 1 August, 1941, utilizing elements of the 5th Panzer Division and a number of infantry and specialist units. This was part of a general reorganization of the panzer divisions at this time, the principal objective of which was to reduce the number of panzer regiments in a division from two to one. Commentators tend to differ as to whether this was a vanity change (increasing the nominal rollcall of panzer divisions) or whether it was a sensible response to lessons learned in France as to the proper balance between infantry and tanks in such a division. The 11th was almost immediately engaged in the Balkans Campaign of August, 1941 (presumably, where this photo was taken), and subsequently served on the Eastern Front, suffering near-annihilation in the Cherkassy Pocket encirclement. They were then sent west, and fought on that front for the remainder of the war, eventually surrendering to the US Army.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://ww2incolor.com/gallery/german-armored-forces-vehicles/51998/taking-a-break-...-11th-panzer-division.

The tank in the background is, as far as I can make out, a PzKpfw III Ausf J. This would have been quite new production, as the Ausf J entered production in March, 1941. Difficult to be certain at this resolution, however. Best regards, JR.

Hi JR, this tank is an Ausf. E, the one in the background is another PzKpfw IV, unknown version.

Full size:
http://www.ww2incolor.com/d/809752-1/11th+Panzer+Division+Rests+During+Yugoslavian+Campaign

Regards