2nd Panzer Division ( Wehrmacht ) The 2nd Panzer Division ( " 2 . Panzer - Division " ) was created in 1935 , and stationed in Austria after the Anschluss . It participated in the campaigns in Poland ( 1939 ) and France ( 1940 ) , and then returned to Poland for occupation duties ( 1940 – 1941 ) . It took part in the Balkans campaign ( 1941 ) and then transferred to the Russian Front in September 1941 . It fought with Army Group Center in the battles of Moscow ( 1941 ) and Kursk ( 1943 ) . After heavy losses on the Russian Front it was sent to France for rehabilitation ( 1944 ) . It fought in Normandy and was almost completely destroyed in the Falaise Pocket ( 1944 ) . It was rebuilt once more and fought in the Battle of the Bulge ( 1944 ) and in the defense of the Rhine ( 1945 ) , surrendering to the Americans at war ' s end . Division history . Construction . The 2nd Panzer Division was created by the Wehrmacht in the city of Würzburg on 15 October 1935 from two armoured regiments , the " 3rd Panzer Regiment " and the " 4th Panzer Regiment " under the control of Oberst Heinz Guderian . During the Anschluss of Austria by the Third Reich , assisted by Nazi elements within Austria , the division was sent to form a part of the garrison in the Austrian capital of Vienna . At the outbreak of the Second World War the division was bolstered by a contingent of local Austrians , up to the point where the division was nicknamed the " Vienna Division " . Invasion of Poland . In early September 1939 , at the beginning of the war , the 2nd Panzer Division took part in the invasion of Poland as a part of the XII Panzer Corps , of the 14th Army ( Wehrmacht ) , Army Group South . Based in newly formed Slovakia , the objectives of the division initially were the taking of the city of Krakow , where it came against the improvised and well coordinated by Stanislaw Maczek Mechanized Division ( made out of largest Polish tank unit , 10th Cavalry Brigade and light but usually highly mobile infantry of the Border Protection Corps and the local police ) . Throughout the campaign it suffered heavy losses , particularly on 18 September in a bitter tank battle . On the other hand , during the campaign , soldiers of the 2nd Panzer Division committed atrocities against prisoners of the Polish Army . On 5 September , some Polish soldiers who were apprehended near Toporzysko - Bystra were removed from their unit and executed under the assumption that they were attempting to flee . Battle of France ( Fall Gelb and Fall Rot ) . In January 1940 , the 2nd Division was reassigned to the Western front , around the area of Eifel . When May came of that same year , the unit took part in the Battle of France , as a part of the XIX Army Corps ( Germany ) under the command of Heinz Guderian , their former commander . The panzergruppe of which the division formed a part was under the command of Ewald von Kleist . The division helped the push through the Ardennes and was involved in fighting in Belgium and the Mosel River valley . On 17 May , along with the 1st Panzer Division they managed to hold the banks of the River Oise , spearheaded an attack Moy , and took the town of Peronne in the Somme on 19 May ; arriving in the town of Abbeville on 20th . Later they would form the armoured element which flanked the British Expeditionary Army and forced their extraction from the European Continent in Dunkirk , while engaging the French 2nd Armoured Division led by General Charles de Gaulle who would carry on to lead the Free French forces . The invasion was typical of newly developed Blitzkrieg tactics used by the German army which utilised armoured elements under the support of the Luftwaffe . After a rest of a week to conduct repairs and to regroup the unit , the 2nd Panzer division advanced along the River Aisne into the interior of France . At the end of the campaign in the last months of 1940 , the Division lost its 4th Panzer Regiment which was used as the basis for the soon to be formed 13th Panzer Division . Romanian Garrison and Operation Marita . In April 1941 the 2nd Panzer division was sent to Romania , with the mission of protecting the country , and perhaps more importantly the resources from Ploesti , keeping it from Soviet influence and sidestepping the Romanian authorities , all the time positioning for a possible invasion by Germany into the Soviet Union . Meanwhile an alliance was formed with Bulgaria and this assured southern protection for Romania . The division was reassigned to the XVIII Mountain Corps ( Germany ) of the 12th Army on 6 April 1941 to play a role in Operation Marita , which was the invasion of Greece . The German army pushed through the south of Yugoslavia , taking the important city of Strumica and then carrying on southward towards the Grecian border , where they made contact with the 19th Motorised Infantry ( Greece ) in the area of Lake Dojran and on 9 April the Division took the city of Salonika . Eventually on the same day they forced the surrender of the 2nd Greek Army which was on the east of the River Vardar . The division , together with the 5th Mountain Division , the 6th Mountain Division and the 72nd Infantry Division formed an attack group with the mission of securing the advance into the south of Greece . After the 6th Division had taken Verroia and formed a Spearhead , on the other side of the River Haliacmon , the 2nd Panzer Division crossed the river , taking Katerini on 14 April . During an attack on 15 April , the area around Mount Olympus was taken . On the 16th , New Zealand troops that were part of the Anzac force came under attack in the Platamon Valley . After determined resistance , the Germans broke through , taking Larissa on 19 April . Here they captured a large British supply depot , which the 2nd Panzer Division made immediate use of to allow them to push the attack without waiting any further . After the final resistance was broken at the Valley of Thermopalyae , the 2nd Panzer Division entered Athens together with the 6th Mountain Division . In September 1941 the Division lost some of its comprising units , and was reassigned the 22nd Panzer Division . Russian Front ( Operation Barbarossa ) . Before the campaign , the Division had to recover from losses suffered from wear , as well as their heavy weapons , which had been sunk in the Mediterranean by Allied submarines ; it was shipped by sea to Italy , to be redirected from there by heavy railway to the east . After they had recovered , in October 1941 , 2nd Panzer Division was sent to the Eastern Front , reinforcing Army Group Centre in their progress towards Moscow . They became an active component of the XL Panzer Corps of the 4th Panzer Army . During the Battle of Moscow , vanguard elements of the Division reached the outskirts of the city reaching 9 km from the centre of Moscow ; some of its units even claimed to have sighted the domes of the Kremlin in the distance . After being on the defensive , the Division was forced to withdraw following a counterattack of the Red Army in the winter of 1941 , taking part in various battles defensive as a component in the 9th German Army during the first months of 1942 . In 1943 the 2nd Panzer Division took part in Operation Citadel , fitted in the XLVII Panzer Corps of the 9th German Army of Army Group Centre . The German offensive was stopped by the Soviets , who began pushing the German army back . The 2nd Panzer conducted a fighting retreat where it suffered heavy losses . France and the Battle of Normandy . As a result of combat fatigue and wear , the Division was sent in late 1943 to France , specifically to Amiens in the Somme , for its restructuring and reorganization . It remained in the area to deal with a hypothetical invasion of France by Allies . However , when there was the invasion of Normandy by the Allies on June 6 , 1944 , the 2nd Panzer Division was not sent immediately to Normandy but remained in the Somme due to the erroneous assumption that there was to be a second Allied landing in the region of Calais ; an idea fostered by the British through their use of double agents for exactly this purpose . Due to this , to damage and delays caused by the action of groups of partisans and allied air raids , the Division did not reach the front in Normandy until July . When it arrived , it clashed with British troops of the 50th Infantry Division and the 7th Armoured Division . Having participated in various battles and confrontations , it took part with its last 25 tanks in the failed counterattack at Mortain . It was later enclosed in the Falaise pocket , but managed to escape at a high cost in material and human casualties . However , the defense of the position was crucial in not allowing the Allies to close the pocket until a high number of German soldiers had escaped . Germany . Completely dismantled , the Division was sent to Bitburg in Germany to be reorganized again , absorbing the few remnants of the 352 . Infantry Division . Due to the shortage in material resources which afflicted the Third Reich , was significantly reduced its complement of tanks , some of their companies with only assault guns . although a battalion received Panzer V Panther tanks . Battle of the Bulge . After the rest period the Division was sent again to the Western Front , being attached to XLVII Panzer Corps , 5th Panzer Army which was preparing an offensive in the area of the Ardennes , Belgium . By the start of the battle , it was well - equipped , with 103 tanks and assault guns . During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 - January 1945 , the 2nd Panzer Division attacked towards the crucial road junction of Bastogne . However , the town ' s defences was quickly reinforced by the veteran 101st Airborne Division . Various attacks directed against the town failed , and the 2nd Panzer Division had lost precious time in trying to take down Bastogne ' s defenders . When it was diverted to the Meuse on December 18 , in accordance with the original plan , the division was unable to break reach the river . American reinforcements to the area threatened its flanks and to cut it off from its supply line . Eventually , the vanguard of the division came to reach within 4 km the Meuse River where on the 24 December they were stopped by the British 3rd Royal Tank Regiment . It was forced to retreat by fierce counterattacks conducted by American forces as well as the lack of gasoline for the German mechanized forces . Finally , most of the 2nd Panzer Division was surrounded by the U . S . 2nd Armored Division on Christmas Day , with very few tanks of the Division able to escape back to German lines . Strikes by ground - attack aircraft hindered attempts by the 2nd Panzer Division to retreat back to friendly lines in large formations . Battle of the Rhine . Now operating at an extremely reduced effectivness , the 2nd Panzer Division took part in the Spring of 1945 in the Battle of the Rhine . In this , the Wehrmacht tried to halt the passage of the Allies across the River Rhine , and the Division assisted as a component of the XIII Army Corps , of the 7th German Army , Heeresgruppe B . The final fate of the unit was to defend the city of Fulda in April 1945 , along with the rest of the XII Army Corps of the same 7th Army , and surrendered to the American forces on 7 May . It was considered one of the finest units of World War II .