Panzer division
During Operation Barbarossa, the regiment was attached to the 11th Panzer Division, a part of Army Group South. The regiment saw action around the areas of Radziechów, Kiev and Bryansk. In July 1942 the regiment was upgraded to brigade status, and then to full division in October 1942 as a Panzer division. While the division was in formation, the Second Battle of El Alamein had forced Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps to retreat to Tunisia. The division was sent to Tunisia piecemeal, where it eventually surrendered with the rest of Panzer Army Africa.