So, why does no one love the 8th Panzer?

Commissar D, the Evil · Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:16 pm

Regard this as a shameless plug for the books I'm selling. But, it strikes me as a curiosity that no one is interested in 8th Panzer. Did these guys lose the war on their own? Just curious....

Best,
~D, the EviL

Tom Houlihan · Post by **Tom Houlihan** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:22 pm

Well, playing off comments made elsewhere, they were Heer, not SS, and they didn't play with Tigers, so mayhap they're just not as interesting?

(Here's hoping a snide comment will spark interest!)

Commissar D, the Evil · Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:33 pm

These guys spent their entire career on the Ostfront. Must have had at least some interesting times....

But, I suppose they were only Heer, so no one cares.....

Best,
~D, the EviL

Terje · Post by **Terje** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:10 pm

Sounds interesting to me. I'll check out that book list.

Jan-Hendrik · Post by **Jan-Hendrik** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 11:37 pm

I still have not read theier unit history , so I can't say much about that

Jan-Hendrik

cpa95 · Post by **cpa95** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:16 am

Commissar D, the Evil wrote:These guys spent their entire career on the Ostfront. Must have had at least some interesting times....

Hi,

and dont forget the campaign in France

some interesting engagements in the east:
- HG Nord with Mansteins corps in 1941
- Rollbahnschlachten end of 42/43 Smolensk
- battle in the Orel bow against russian tank corps
- some defensive battles of HG Süd and HG Nordukraine in 1944.
...

but you are right, some PDs are rare in the discussions, another one for example is the 12th Panzerdivision.

Greetings
Thomas

Jan-Hendrik · Post by **Jan-Hendrik** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:24 am

12.PD ?

That mayde due to the rare documentation , the two ones of Niepold and this extraordinaire expensive one about the IR 5

Not to forget that this unit was on Eastern Front seldom enough employed as a "real" PzDiv but splittered to many Battlegroups to various units ...

Jan-Hendrik

cpa95 · Post by **cpa95** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 5:04 am

... and the 5th, 8th and 12th PD were german key divisions in the battle of Orel.

Commissar D, the Evil · Thu Sep 07, 2006 4:11 pm

Don't forget that 8th Panzer was involved in the relief of the Brody Pocket and fought in Hungary!

For all the interest I've seen in this unit, you'd think they spent all their time jerking off in Norway instead of dodging bullets on the Ostfront!

Best,
David

David W · Post by **David W** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 11:43 pm

you'd think they spent all their time jerking off in Norway

Don't knock it, 'till you've tried it!

panzerschreck1 · Post by **panzerschreck1** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:58 am

As Tina would say : What's love got to do with it, ?

Commissar D, the Evil · Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:33 am

Okay, I might not have stated that correctly for a research board.....

Very Best,
David

Roger Griffiths · Post by **Roger Griffiths** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:41 pm

I love 8PD. The least you hear about a division, the better it was. 4PD was the ace, they must have held the record for NOT losing equipment.

Roger.

cpa95 · Post by **cpa95** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:01 pm

Commissar D, the Evil wrote:Don't forget that 8th Panzer was involved in the relief of the Brody Pocket and fought in Hungary!

Hi Com.D,

whats about the desciption in Balcks memoirs ("Ordnung im Chaos", published by Biblio), that the commander of 8.PD was drunken and lost his nerves at the beginning of the russian attack, which led to the Brody pocket?

Has anyone more informations? Haupt (Die 8. Panzerdivision) doesnt report this incident.

Thomas

Commissar D, the Evil · Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:54 pm

Hmm, Balck criticized just about everybody he worked with. His criticisms in Hungary were particularly facetious, as was his criticism of 9th and 10th S.S. earlier in the war during the relief effort of, I believe, Tarnopal.

Balck was sort of the ultimate "prima donna" and you should remember that when dealing with the units under his command. After all, Balck never made a mistake! (Or at least not one he couldn't blame on someone else. Remember the the 44th infantry!)

Best,
David