9th Panzer Division ( Wehrmacht ) The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the Wehrmacht Heer . The division was only active during World War II , and came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940 . During its existence , the division was headquartered in Vienna , in the German military district Wehrkreis XVII . Originally raised from Austrian forces annexed into Germany during the war , the 9th Panzer Division was part of most of the German Army ' s early Blitzkrieg attacks into western Europe . Sweeping east , the division was then a component of Operation Barbarossa , the German attack on the Soviet Union , where it was badly mauled at the Battle of Kursk . Returning to France to rebuild in 1944 , the division was rushed to counter Operation Overlord . It was destroyed several successive times by British and American forces as the German Army was pushed back across Europe . The division suffered massive casualties in armor and personnel until it finally collapsed in March 1945 . The division ' s few survivors were pushed into the Ruhr Pocket where they surrendered to the Allies at the end of the war . Organization . In 1942 , the division was organized around three regiments . Its Panzer tank s were organized into the 33rd Panzer Regiment , which was supported by two regiments of panzergrenadier s , or mechanized infantry . These were the 10th Panzer Grenadier Regiment and the 11th Panzer Grenadier Regiment . Also assigned to the division were the 102nd Panzer Artillery Regiment , the 9th Motorcycle Battalion , the 9th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion , the 50th Panzer Jager Battalion , the 86th Panzer Pionier Battalion , the 81st Panzer Signal Battalion , the 287th Army Anti - Aircraft Battalion , and the 60th Panzer Divisional Supply Troops . History . Following the Anschluss annexation of Austria in 1938 , the 4th Light Division was formed in Vienna after converting a mobile division of the Austrian army in April of that year . It initially consisted of the 33rd Panzer Battalion , the 102nd Motorized Artillery Regiment , and the 10th and 11th Motorized Cavalry Regiments . In 1939 it fought in the Invasion of Poland , on the right flank of Army Group South , attacking out of Slovakia , pushing over the San River on 10 September and capturing Krakowiec on 12 September . It then moved to establish a bridgehead over the Bug River at Krylow on 14 September . The division then turned west , blocking the escape of several units of the Polish Army . In the process the division took tens of thousands of prisoners . On October 24 , the division departed Salzberg , returning to Vienna by train . That winter it was converted to the 9th Panzer Division and formally redesignated 3 January 1940 . It consisted of the 9th Rifle Brigade , the 33rd Panzer Battalion , the 102nd Panzer Artillery Regiment , and several other divisional units . Early campaigns . Following a further reorganization increasing its strength to two tank battalions and three motorised infantry regiments , the division was sent to the Western Front to participate in the Battle of the Netherlands starting on 10 May 1940 . Part of the 18th Army which defeated The Netherlands in only five days , inflicting 2 , 300 killed and almost 7 , 000 wounded , 9th Panzer Division played an essential role in the German strategy . The division was the only German mechanized force allocated to 18th Army , and was intended primarily to link up with airborne forces to be landed near Rotterdam and The Hague . On 12 May , the division was in the south of The Netherlands launched to exploit a breakthrough by the German infantry divisions , quickly advancing to the Moerdijk bridges which had already been captured by paratroopers . Being at the time the weakest of German armoured divisions , it chanced to pass near Breda the strongest of all Allied divisions , the French 1st Mechanised Light Division , without making real enemy contact . Near Breda , the division split in two , sending one tank battalion northwards over the Moerdijk bridges to enter the Dutch National Redoubt , the Fortress Holland . On 13 May the battalion during its first actual fighting of the campaign suffered considerable losses in a failed assault on the inner city of Dort . On the 14th the battalion stood ready to assault Rotterdam , but the Dutch surrendered the same day after a carpet bombing of that port by the Luftwaffe . The division then pursued the retreating French 7th Army and the Belgian Army towards Antwerp and ultimately Dunkirk . Following the evacuation of Dunkirk , the 9th Panzer Division was assigned to Panzer Group Guderian and participated in the Battle of France . During this latter stage , it was under the command of XXXIX Motorized Corps . It pushed through the Weygand Line towards Paris , crossing the Oise River , Aisne River , Marne River and Loire River and taking thousands of prisoners in the process . By the time of the French surrender , the 9th Panzer Division was in Lyon . During the Western campaign , the division is credited with covering more ground than any other German division . The division returned to Vienna in July , 1940 . There , it continued to reorganize and grow , adopting the organization that it kept for most of the war with one tank regiment , two panzergrenadier regiments and one artillery regiment . In September it was sent to Poland with the XL Panzer Corps . In the spring of 1941 , the 9th Panzer Division participated in the Balkans Campaign . It was shipped to Romania , and was made the armored spearhead of the 12th Army . It and employed the blitzkrieg strategy through the Balkans , pushing through Greece and separating the Greek Army from the Royal Yugoslav Army , then attacking into Yugoslavia itself . As part of the 12th Army , the 9th Panzer Division pushed back the main British Army , Greek and Australian Army forces . Once these armies were in full retreat , the division was sent to Romania in preparation for Operation Barbarossa , the invasion of the Soviet Union . Operation Barbarossa . Once Operation Barbarossa was launched , the 9th Panzer Division , part of XIV Panzer Corps ( Germany ) of the Army Group South , pushed through Ukraine on June 28 , heading to Kiev . The division broke through the Stalin Line on July 7 , took part in the encirclement of Uman , and captured Krivoy Rog and Nikopol on August 17 . The 9th Panzer Division then captured the Dnieper River Dam at Zaporizhia on August 25 . From there , it was made the spearhead of Panzer Group Kleist , driving to Kiev from the south while Panzer Group Guderian drove behind the city from the north . The two groups linked up on September 15 , encircling five field armies of the Soviet Army . The division was part of the force that captured 667 , 000 Soviet prisoners and 900 tanks in the city . Following the capture of Kiev , the 9th Panzer Division was made a part of Panzer Group Guderian for the advance on Moscow . The division then took part in the encirclement of Bryansk and , despite delays due to adverse terrain and weather , captured Kursk on November 2 . It was halted near the Kursk Oblast settlement of Tim . From there the division held a sector near Shchigry on the southern sector , facing the Soviet winter offensives of 1941 and 1942 . The division remained on this sector until Russian attacks abated in March 1942 . During a lull in hostilities in early 1943 , the division was again reorganized and reequipped , sent to Orel and transferred to Army Group Center , where it participated in Operation Citadel and the Battle of Kursk in the summer of that year as a part of XLVII Panzer Corps , 9th Army . Fighting alongside the 2nd , 4th and 20th Panzer divisions and the 6th Infantry Division , it tried unsuccessfully to break through the Soviet defensive belt . The division fought on the front for an extended period of time , suffering heavy casualties . In one engagement , the division lost 70 Panzer tanks to Russian Ilyushin Il - 2 aircraft in just 20 minutes . After an advance of only 15 km and suffering heavy casualties , it abandoned its attempt to reach Kursk . Following the German defeat at Kursk , the 9th Panzer Division was heavily engaged in the German retreat to the Mius - Front , a line of German fortifications along the Mius River . It covered the retreat of the 2nd Panzer Army and the 9th Army , north of Orel and Kirov , then fought in a series of battles east of Bryansk at the end of August . The division participated in fights at Stalino , Zaporozhye , Odessa , and Dnieper . During these fights it suffered mounting losses , and by January 1944 it was reduced to 13 tanks and far understrength infantry and artillery formations . It continued a slow retreat across the Ingulez and the Ingul , until it was pulled out of the fighting in April . Western Front . The division was subsequently sent to Nimes , France to rebuild , as many divisions mauled on the eastern front were . On May 1 , 1944 it absorbed men and tanks of the 155th Reserve Panzer Division to return to its full strength . During this absorption it received 31 Panzer III s , 74 Panzer IV s , 20 assault guns , 15 Panther tank s and 200 other vehicles . The division then conducted training exercises up until June of that year . It was reassigned to an area on the Rhone River for a time . It was in better shape than many of the other divisions in the area , which were refitting , forming , or lacked transportation to move effectively . Following the D - Day landings conducted by the Allies , the division was rushed to northern France to participate in the Battle of Normandy . At this time , its strength was up to 150 tanks and assault guns as well as 12 , 768 men . The division was sent to Avignon , before being sent to support the collapsing 7th Army in Normandy . The division arrived just as the army was encircled by American , British , and Canadian forces at Falaise . In the subsequent furious battle , the division was almost completely destroyed escaping the Falaise Pocket . By late August its strength was at around 1 , 500 organized in one infantry battalion , one artillery battalion , and 5 tanks . However , it continued to cover the escape of Army Group G from Normandy . Following its near - destruction at Falaise , the division remained in the German Siegfried Line where it fought several engagements , most notably the Battle of Aachen . Over the next month it lost over 1 , 000 men , two - thirds of its combat strength . At the end of September 1944 , the 9th Panzer Division was sent into Army Group B ' s reserve and rehabilitated . It was given 11 , 000 more replacements and 178 armored vehicles , including at least 22 Tiger I tanks and 50 Panther tanks . It was to reinforce German units countering Operation Market Garden , but by the time it arrived at Arnhem , the allied forces had been pushed back . The 9th Panzer Division was returned to the line around Geilenkirchen and Aachen , where it launched a spoiling attack against US forces in the Peel Marshes in November , but only succeeded in losing 30 tanks in the process . It then reassembled west of the Ruhr River with a strength of 10 , 000 men , 28 Panther tanks and 14 Panzer IV tanks . It , along with elements of the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division , fought a bitter six - day battle with the US 2nd Armored Division in the Puffendorf - Immendorf sector , knocking out 76 tanks and inflicting 1 , 300 casualties while suffering 1 , 100 men and 86 tanks lost . Following this , the division was sent into the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ' s reserve . It continued fighting to slow the progress of the First United States Army pushing from the west , destroying its 2 , 325th enemy tank near Geilenkirchen . In December 1944 , the 9th Panzer Division was assigned to XLVII Panzer Corps again as part of the Fifth Panzer Army , Army Group B and was one of the units participating in the Battle of the Bulge . The Corps was part of the central attack route during the offensives , attacking the Ninth United States Army and pushing it back . The division initially advanced quickly , but once the tide of the campaign turned in the allies ' favor , the division took extreme losses once again as Adolf Hitler refused to allow the German forces in the campaign to retreat in a timely manner . It was eventually pulled back to the German lines . In early 1945 , the division once again engaged the Allied in fighting around the Eifel mountain range . It also participated in fighting around the Erft River in February , where its armored force was reduced to 29 tanks and 16 assault guns . Late in the month , it launched an attack on the allied Remagen Bridgehead over the Rhine River . The attack was a good showing for the German force , which fought tenaciously , but unsuccessfully to push to the Remagen Bridge . By the end of this fight , the division consisted of only 600 men and 15 tanks . Destruction . The 9th Panzer Division ' s final combat assignment came in a battle near Cologne on March 6 , as a part of the battered LXXXI Corps , alongside the 363rd Volksgrenadier Division and the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division which were in equally poor shape , and the entire corps was barely the strength of one division . Facing them was the US 3rd Armored Division . The division attempted to defend the town from attack , but was unable to make progress against American forces . After its unsuccessful attack , the shattered 9th Panzer Division was counterattack ed by strong Allied forces . The division engaged the Americans in the city center of Cologne , but were quickly pushed back , and the divisional commander was killed . Remnants of the division attempted to flee across the Rhine River . In the fighting that followed , the weak formation finally collapsed . Most of the remains of the division were forced into the Ruhr Pocket , continuing to suffer staggering losses while holding lines on the south flank of Army Group B until they surrendered to American forces in April 1945 . By this time , the demoralized soldiers of the division were entirely out of ammunition and gasoline , and remaining troops surrendering without a fight . The division continued to exist briefly afterward ; Major Halle , the division ' s adjutant , escaped the Ruhr encirclement with a small battle group , and joined the 11th Army in the Harz Mountains . There , on April 26 , 1945 , German commanders of OB West disbanded the 9th Panzer Division , absorbing its survivors into other units . Commanding officers . The division was commanded by 11 people during its total history . This included General Friedrich Wilhelm von Mellenthin , who was acting division commander from December 1944 to February 1945 because General Harald Freiherr von Elverfeldt had been wounded in an Allied air attack .