101st Panzer Brigade

The 101st Panzer Brigade is a Panzer Brigade that fought in World War II.

101st Panzer Brigade
Active5 July – 21 September 1941
15 August - October 1944
Country Nazi Germany
BranchArmy
TypePanzer
RoleArmoured warfare
SizeBrigade
EngagementsWorld War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Oberst Meinrad von Lauchert

History

The first 101st Panzer Brigade is formed on 5 July 1941 in France with captured tanks.[1] On 21 September 1941, it was used to form the staff of the 23rd Panzer Division.[2] Colonel Botho Elster was briefly in command of the brigade in 1941 before being transferred to OB West.[3]

The second 101st Panzer Brigade is ordered to be formed on 11 July 1944 but was not formed until 15 August 1944.[2] Like most Panzer Brigades, it has a battalion of Panther tanks and a battalion of panzergrenadiers in Sd.Kfz. 251 half tracks. It was a part of the ad hoc Panzerverband Strachwitz under Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz.[4] The 101st, along with the SS Panzer Brigade Gross, participated in Operation Doppelkopf to restore connection between Army Group North and Army Group Center.[4] It was then deployed to the frontline on Estonia.[5] In October 1944, the brigade was reformed near Bobruisk, then it was merged with the remains of the destroyed 20th Panzer Division.[2] The brigade staff formed the Staff/21st Panzer Regiment, the panzer battalion became the 2/21st Panzer Regiment, while the panzergrenadier Battalion became a Jagd-Kommando in the 20th Panzer Division.[2]

Order of battle

1941
  • 203rd Panzer Regiment
  • 204th Panzer Regiment

1944
  • 2101st Panzer Battalion (3 Panther tank companies, 1 Jagdpanzer IV company)
  • 2101st Panzergrenadier Battalion (3 companies)
  • 2101st Brigade Support Units [2]

Commanders

Notes
  1. Major Friedrich-Wilhelm Breidenbach also served as acting commander, date of command is unknown.

Citations
  1. Nafziger 1999, p. 202.
  2. Nafziger, George. "Organization History of German Panzer Formations" (PDF). Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  3. Mitcham 2000, p. 215.
  4. Mitcham 2007, p. 140.
  5. Mitcham 2007, p. 141.

References
Books
  • Mitcham, Samuel (2000). Retreat to the Reich: the German Defeat in France, 1944. Westport: Praeger, Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. ISBN 9780275968571.
  • Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007). The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3371-7.
  • Nafziger, George F. (1999). The German Order of Battle: Panzers and Artillery in World War II. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 9781853673597.
Websites
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