17th Panzer Division ( Wehrmacht ) The 17th Panzer Division was a formation of the German Army in World War II . It was formed on November 1940 from 27th Infantry Division . It took part in Operation Barbarossa , the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 , and in the winter of 1941 – 42 participated in the abortive German attack on Moscow . In November 1942 , the Division was sent to the southern sector of the Eastern Front where it participated in the failed attempt to relieve the surrounded troops at Stalingrad . The Division was held in reserve during Germany ' s failed Kursk Offensive in 1943 , and thereafter contributed to the Wehrmacht < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > fighting withdrawal through Ukraine and Poland , before ending the war in Czechoslovakia . History . 27th Infantry Division . The " 27th Infantry Division " was formed in October 1936 in Augsburg , Bavaria ( " Wehrkreis VII " ) , as a peace - time division of the new German Wehrmacht . The division was mobilised on 26 August 1939 and took part in the campaigns in Poland and France . In 1943 , a propaganda book was published about the " 27th ID " in France 1940 , titled " Über Somme , Seine , Loire " ( English : " Across the Somme , the Seine , the Loire " ) . Formation . The " Panzer Division " was formed in late 1940 , when the " 27th Infantry Division " was converted to an armored division . In part , the " 2nd Panzer Division " provided personnel for the new division . The majority of its troops came from the Bavarian region of Swabia , then the Nazi Gau Swabia 1941 . In May 1941 , the division was transferred to the central sector of the planned attack on the Soviet Union , codenamed " Operation Barbarossa " , and became part of the " XXXXVII Panzer Corps " , which in turn was part of the " Panzergruppe 2 " , commanded by Heinz Guderian . The division ' s commander , Hans - Jürgen von Arnim , was seriously wounded within the first few days of the campaign , on 24 June , but later returned to his unit . His temporary replacement , Karl Ritter von Weber , was mortally wounded south of Smolensk on 17 July , putting Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma in charge until von Arnim returned . The division crossed the Bug River and advanced south of Minsk , where it made contact with the " Panzergruppe 3 " . It took part in the Battle of Białystok – Minsk , where it recorded up to 100 Soviet tanks destroyed in a single day , 9 July , at Orsha . It then crossed the river Dnjepr south of Orsha and took part in defensive operations south of Smolensk in August and September . In October , it took part in the run up to the Battle of Moscow , taking Bryansk on 15 October . The division was then concentrated at Orel and advanced towards Tula , where it was engaged in a failed attempt to encircle the city . With the Soviet counterattack on 5 December , the division had to take defensive positions and started retreating on the 8th , after having reached a point 120 km south east of Moscow . The " 17th Panzer Division " then took defensive positions west of Orel , where it remained until the Summer of 1942 . 1942 . After the winter battles , the division was reconstituted near its front line positions in the early summer of 1942 . It received approximately 50 tanks of the type " Panzer III " and " Panzer IV " . It was engaged in minor attacks north of Orel in September but then went into defensive positions again . The division was then held in Army Group Centre reserve near Bolkhov . At this stage , it only fielded 45 to 50 tanks of varying types ( down from a nominal strength of around 200 ) . On 5 July , consistent with changes throughout the Wehrmacht , the " 40th Schützen - Regiment " and " 63rd Schützen - Regiment " were renamed " 40th Panzergrenadier Regiment " and " 63 Panzergrenadier Regiment " . In October 1942 , when Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin took command of the division , it had only 30 operational tanks , and one - third of its trucks were unservicable . After the Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad , the division was quickly transferred to the " Heersesgruppe B " in the area of Millerovo . From there , it marched towards Kotelnikovo and joined the " 4th Panzer Armee " for a relief attack , " Operation Wintergewitter " , for the " 6th Armee " at Stalingrad , together with the " 6th Panzer Division " and the " 23rd Panzer Division " . The operation failed however , and the " 17th Panzer Division " was forced to retreat at the end of December . Losses were so heavy that the command of the " 63rd Panzer Grenadier Regiment " laid in the hands of a lieutenant , its original commander having been killed in action . By Christmas Eve 1942 , the division fielded only eight operational tanks and one anti - tank gun . 1943 . The division continued its retreat towards the Don bridgehead at Rostov , which it reached at the end of January . The " 39th Panzer Regiment " was re - equipped with 50 new " Panzer IV " shortly after and the division took part in counterattacks between the Mius and the Donets river . By 27 February , the division had been reduced to less than 2 , 000 men , six tanks and ten anti - tank guns but was saved by the Soviet forces retreating behind the Donets river . After this , it was engaged in tank battles near Belgorod until the end of April . The division did not take part in the " Operation Zitadelle " , the Battle of Kursk . Instead , the " 17th " stayed in reserve , behind the front line , as part of the " XXIV Panzer Corps " . It did take part in some successful counterattacks after the battle , in the Donets - Izium area . On 20 July , Generalleutnant Walter Schilling became the second division commander of the " 17th " to be killed in action . In July , the division had the following strength in tanks , of which 84 % were operational : In September , it retreated from the Donets to positions behind the Dnjepr river , taking up a defensive line on the western side of the river . Initially it was posted at Krivoi Rog , in November it moved to Kherson , as part of the re - formed " 6th Army " . 1944 . In late January and early February 1944 , the " 17th Panzer Division " took part in the relief operations for the Korsun - Cherkassy Pocket , as part of the " III Panzer Corps " . In the end , the involved German tank divisions were halted by the Red Army 12 km from the pocket but the troops inside managed to break through , abandoning their heavy equipment . It was then part of the " 1st Panzer Armee " in the Kamenets - Podolsky Pocket , where it lost most of its own heavy equipment , but escaped as a whole . On this occasion , 200 , 000 German soldiers were trapped in a pocket due to Hitlers orders against strategic withdrawals . Erich von Manstein eventually convinced Hitler to let the army retreat but he was relieved from his command afterwards . It remained in reserve again in April and May , stationed behind the frontline , before taking part in operations around Lviv to counter the Soviet Lvov – Sandomierz Offensive . Until the end of October , the unit took part in operations in the Tarnów region and then south of the Baranow bridgehead , near Sandomierz . From November , it became part of the reserves once more , receiving some badly needed re - supplies of tanks , 80 " Panzer IV " and " Panzer V " ( Panthers ) . The " 63rd Panzergrenadier Regiment " of the division was disbanded , one of its battalions however stayed with the division . 1945 . With the start of the Soviet Vistula – Oder Offensive on 12 January 1945 , the " 17th Panzer Division " , alongside the " 16th Panzer Division " were the main reserve forces in the sector , retained for a counterattack to the Soviet advance . Both divisions , stationed too close to the front line due to Hitlers " restraining order " , suffered heavy casualties through bombardment and had their communications destroyed . Their task , to throw back the Soviet advance , was impossible to achieve . The division found itself in constant retreat as part of the " XXIV Panzer Corps " commanded by Walther Nehring , first towards Łódź , then crossing the Oder , where it took positions near Głogów in February . It took part in defensive operations near the Ścinawa ( German : " Steinau " ) bridgehead in mid - February . The division had suffered heavy losses during those events and was re - supplied near Görlitz , now renamed " Kampfgruppe 17th Panzer Division " due to being severely under strength and being no more in size than a regiment . It continued its defensive actions in the region during the Silesian Offensives . The division was eventually forced to retreat into Czechoslovakia , heading towards Brno . Surrender . In February 1945 , the 17th Panzer Dovision , by now reduced to a Kampfgruppe , was attached to Army Group Center on the Oder River . By March 1945 , it had pusehd back as far as Jägerndorf by the overwhelming might of the Red Army . Early in April , it had retreated southwest into Moravia , where in quick succession it came under the order of 17th Army and 1st Army . The division finally surrendered to the Sovier army near Görlitz at the end of April 1945 . Order of battle in 1944 . The order of battle in 1944 . The " 63rd Panzergrenadier Regiment " was disbanded in late 1944 . The regiments first battalion replaced the third battalion of " 40th Panzergrenadier Regiment " . The second battalion of the " 63rd " became the second battalion of the " 79th Panzer - Füsilier Regiment " . The " 297th Army Flak Battalion " had only joined the division in 1943 and the " Panzergrenadier Regiment " had been called " Schützen Regiment " until July 1942 . HQ 39th Panzer Regiment 40th Panzergrenadier Regiment 27th Panzerjäger Battalion 27th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 27th Panzer Artillery Regiment 297th Army Flak Battalion 27th Panzer Signals Battalion 27th Panzer Pioneer Battalion Awards . The members of the " 17th Panzer Division " received the following awards ( selection ) :