Panzergrenadier Regiment Großdeutschland In June 1943, with the addition
of armoured personnel carriers and a company of Tiger tanks, was re-designated to Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland. Großdeutschland 1 was renamed "Panzergrenadier Regiment
"Großdeutschland". Their counterpart in the division was named
"Panzerfüsilier Regiment Großdeutschland".
The newly
re-equipped division was attached to the 4.Panzer-Armee of Generaloberst
Hermann Hoth, and was to take a major role (again paired with the
SS-Panzerkorps) in Operation Citadel, the battles to sever the Kursk
salient. During the buildup period, a battalion of new Panther Ausf. D
tanks came under the operational control of Großdeutschland. After the
launch of Citadel, the division was heavily engaged in the fight to
penetrate the southern flank of the salient. The new Panthers did not
perform very well, suffering from engine fires and many breaking down
before reaching the battle. Despite this, the division fought on until
it was pulled back to Tomarovka on 18 July 1943.
After the disastrous Kursk offensive, the division was
transferred back to Heeresgruppe Mitte, and resumed its role as mobile
reserve. GD saw heavy fighting around Karachev before being transferred
back to XLVIII Panzerkorps in late August. For the rest of 1943,
Großdeutschland was engaged in the fighting withdrawal from the eastern
Ukraine, taking part in battles around Kharkov, Belgorod, and finally on
the Dnieper, ending the year fighting strong enemy forces near
Michurin-Rog, east of Kryvyi Rih. It was during this period that the
division earned the nickname "die Feuerwehr" (The Fire Brigade).
In 1944 Großdeutschland continued fighting in the area of Krivoi-Rog early
in January 1944 until it was transferred west for rest and refit.
During this period, 1./Panzer Regiment 26 (Panther) joined the Panzer
Regiment GD, and GD's I. Battalion moved to France to refit and train
with the new tanks; they did not rejoin the Division until after the
Normandy invasion.
The Panzergrenadier Regiment GD was a 4-battalion organization in 1944, though by June it was reduced to three.
Over
the next months, the division continued moving from crisis-point to
crisis-point across the front. The division, less the Panzer Regiment,
was involved in heavy fighting from the Dniester to Northern Bessarabia.
In early May 1944, the division, as a part of LVII.Panzerkorps took
part in the Battle of Târgul Frumos, near Iaşi in Romania, an impressive
defensive action which was the focus of several NATO studies during the
Cold War. The 1st Company of the regiment, under Leutnant Dieter
Bernhagen, was wiped out to the last man during a Russian armoured
attack. Oberst Lorenz, the regimental commander, led from the front in
his command vehicle and played a very personal role in these actions,
earning the Oakleaves to his Knight's Cross.
The division was
next involved in the fighting around Podul. After a brief rest in early
July, the division was again committed to heavy fighting in northern
Romania. In late July, the division was transferred to East Prussia.
Over the next months, Großdeutschland was involved in heavy fighting in
both East Prussia and the Baltic States, suffering immense casualties in
both men and materiel. At Wilkowischken, a moderately successful
counter-attack from East Prussia into Lithuania, the Panzergrenadier
Regiment GD mounted a frontal attack with the SPWs of the 1st Battalion
battling into the village itself, as the Panzer Regiment and
Panzerfüsiliers effected a flanking attack.
The success was short
lived, and the division was forced to withdraw into Germany, where it
was virtually annihilated during the battles in the Memel bridgehead.