506th Heavy Panzer Battalion

The unit was initiated in Pölten on the 8th of May 1943 from men of Pz.Rgt.33 (9th Panzer Division). Equipped with 45 Tiger Is, it first saw combat on 20 September. The 506th saw extensive action in the Battle of the Dnieper and later fought in the Krivoi Rog area, south of Kirovograd. The unit commander, Major Gerhard Willing, was killed in action on 29 October.[1]

On 28 November, 1943, Hauptmann Eberhard Lange was assigned as commander. On December 16, the unit's 9 operational Tigers were deployed near Kirovograd in support of the 13th Panzer Division. By the 20th of December, none of the battalion's 27 remaining tanks were operational. Four were in running order the next day, but one of these was destroyed by a captured 8,8cm anti-aircraft gun on 25 December. Thirteen of the 506th's remaining tanks were transported by rail to Oratow to support III.Panzer-Korps and fighting would continue throughout the next month. The unit suffered heavy losses during operations alongside the 16th Panzer Division and had lost 16 of its 26 total tanks by the 27th of January, but 6 new tanks were delivered on both the 29th and 30th.[1]

On 1 February, the battalion undertook a 100km road march west of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket in preparation of a relief attempt. With 10 Tigers in running order the 506th took Kutschkowa alongside the 16th Panzer Division on 4 February to begin Operation: Wanda. During the next few days, despite fuel shortages and the subsequent stalling of the advance, the 506th knocked out 49 enemy tanks with no losses of its own. It was strengthened with 5 Tigers and relocated to Winograd with 27 total tanks on 9 February before being attached to schwere Panzer Regiment Bäke on the 11th. Over the next few days, the unit pushed to Lissjanka with support from the Luftwaffe and made contact with the 1st Panzer Division on the 14th. However, the breakout attempt was unsuccessful and the unit was forced to withdraw, destroying 3 of its own tanks in the process. At the beginning of March, the Tiger tanks of the 506th were transferred to the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion and the unit marched to Lemberg for reconstitution.[1]

On the 29th of March, the 506th began receiving Tiger I tanks. A total of 45 were delivered between that day and 8 April. On 2 April, the unit was ordered to Pomorjany with 22 tanks operational. Supporting the 227th Jäger Regiment of the 100th Jäger Division on 4 April, the western portion of Podhajtzi was taken. This was followed with further action with the unit's remaining 18 operational tanks on the 5th. On the 6th of April, the unit had 14 operational Tigers and succeeded in breaking through Soviet defensive positions west of Brangelowka, destroying 12 tanks in the process. The following day, the 506th destroyed 20 tanks while defending against Soviet counterattacks. The unit continued to fight alongside the 100th Jäger Division until the 10th of April.[1]

Following a march to Slobodka, 22 Tigers were assembled before supporting Pz.Gren.Rgt.73 of the 19th Panzer Division in operations on the 16th. The 2nd company, lead by Oberleutnant Brandt, assaulted Isakow on 19 April and followed this with defensive operations on the 20th, during which Oberleutnant Brandt was killed when his Tiger was ambushed by a Soviet self-propelled gun.[1]

On the 21st of April, the 506th was again on the offensive, supporting the 1st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht). Five tanks were also employed with the 23rd Panzer Regiment in a successful attack northeast of Zaborkruki, but all five vehicles broke down. By the 29th of April, Chocimierz had been captured by the 506th in tandem with Panzer-Regiment 23.[1]

Over the next several days, the 506th's remaining Tigers and the 23rd Panzer Regiment fought a series of tug-of-war skirmishes with Soviet forces. IS-1 tanks were encountered during this period, with one captured by German forces on 1 May. A Tiger of the 506th's third company was knocked out by one of these Soviet heavy tanks on the 2nd of May. For the remainder of the month, the unit was attached to the 17th Panzer Division.[1]

On the 1st of June, the 506th was equipped with 2 Bergetiger recovery vehicles. With 39 operational Tiger Is, the unit supported the retreat of the 1st Infantry Division across the Dnjestr for much of June before being recalled to an assembly area in Slobodka. In mid-July, it marched 100km towards Zlozow, where it fought in a series of unsuccessful relief attempts (for the encircled XIII. Armee-Korps) from the 16th to the 21st of July. Oberleutnant Panzl, commander of the 3rd company, was killed in action on 17 July when his tank was destroyed, leaving the unit with 40 operational tanks as of 18 July.[1]

The 506th fought a series of engagements from the 18th of July to the 24th, withdrawing southwest to evade encirclement. During this period, most of the units Tigers had to be destroyed to avoid capture. This was followed by a march for the next couple of days, during which one Tiger I broke through a 24-ton bridge. From the 27th to the 28th of July, the 506th fought near Kudlatowka and Kalesch before being relieved and relocated to Munkatsch. The unit's 6 remaining operational Tigers were transferred to the 507th Heavy Panzer Battalion. On the 15th of August, the unit began transfer to Ohrdruf for refitting. This marked the end of the 506th's service on the Eastern Front. It would remain in the West for the remainder of the war.[1]

The 506th received a full complement of 45 Tiger II tanks from 20 August to 12 September 1944 and reached the Netherlands for deployment on the 23rd and 24th. The battalion's HQ and 1st Company were deployed to Aachen, while the 2nd and 3rd companies were assigned to Arnhem.[1][3]

2./s.Pz.Abt. 506, commanded by Hauptmann Wacker, was attached to the 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" and employed with Kampfgruppen Spindler and Allworden in an attack on Oosterbeek. The third company of the 506th, commanded by Hauptmann Otto, was attached to the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" and saw fighting in and around Elst, south of the Rhine River.[1]

The 2nd company had limited success overall in helping to eliminate the pocket of British Paratroopers in Oosterbeek. The company lost a single Tiger to after it, to the dismay of Hauptmann Wacker, drove into town where its tactical capabilities were greatly reduced. The Tiger in question sustained ineffectual hits from a Polish 6-pounder anti-tank gun, slight damage from a 75mm howitzer, and was finally knocked out by two hits from PIAT launchers. By this time, the 506th had a number of inexperienced crew with minimal training. As was commonplace with German armor units as the war drew to a close, avoidable losses like this became more frequent as experienced and well-trained crews became less readily-available.[3]

Destroyed Tiger II of 2./s.Pz.Abt.506 in Oosterbeek

On the 25th of September, a Tiger was destroyed when mortar fire hits the air valves of a fuel tank, resulting in the 506th's second tank loss in the Netherlands. Operations alongside the 10th and 11th SS-Panzergrenadier Regiments on 1 October result in 8 further Tigers lost, but 4 of these are recovered later. By the next day, 33 Tigers are operational of the 40 remaining in the unit. 5 vehicles of the 2nd company are deployed with the 116th Panzer Division "Windhund" in an attack northeast of Elst, but the advance is halted by Allied counterattacks. On the 7th, 3 of the 4 tanks in a platoon employed at Alsdorf are knocked out by the American 743rd Tank Destroyer Battalion. Further fighting ensued on the 11th and 12th while the unit was in the midst of redeployment. Assembly was finished by October 14th and this was followed by fighting alongside the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division starting in the Probsteier Forest over the next several days. On the 15th, Unteroffizier Wiedeschitz's tank shot down an enemy aircraft; he would receive a commendation certificate for this occurrence. By the 20th of October the 506th had 18 tanks operational out of 35 total. The unit was redeployed to Gereonsweiler after the fall of Aachen the next day.[1]

The unit had 35 operational Tigers by the 1st of November when it saw action with XXXVII Panzer Korps. Two additional Tigers were delivered the next day, and the unit had 36 operational tanks out of 37 total when it was reassembled on 15 November near Merken.[1]

Early in the morning on 17 November, the 506th supported Panthers of the 9th Panzer Division under Generalmajor Harald Freiherr von Elverfedt in a counterattack against the 2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels" at the town of Puffendorf. 2nd Armored was itself initiating an attack, and the two tank forces clashed outside the town. The Americans suffered heavy losses during the fighting; the 2nd Battalion of "Hell on Wheels" alone lost 19 tanks. In the soft ground outside Puffendorf, the M4's high ground pressure (about 13PSI compared to <10PSI for Tiger and Panther[4]), proved a great detriment to the Americans' ability to maneuver.[1][5][6]

During the battle, infantry was largely inconsequential as both sides found their troops pinned by artillery fire for much of the fighting. The 506th lost 3 Tigers set ablaze by artillery fire from the 67th Artillery Regiment. The commander of one of these tanks, Stabsfeldwebel Kannenberg, would be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross posthumously. Exhausted of supplies and with few tanks left at 1600 hours, 2nd Armored was forced to withdraw into Puffendorf.[6][1]

On the 19th, the American 702nd Tank Destroyer Battalion counterattacked with M10 GMC tank destroyers and new M36 GMCs mounting powerful 90mm L/53 cannons. An M36 destroyed a Tiger of the 506th north of Fiealdenhoven with a shot to the turret side at 1000m. On 20 November, the Americans again attacked. The 506th and 9. Panzer were able to slow the advance to a halt, but not before the towns of Gereonsweiler and Ederen were captured. The 506th supported the 12th Volksgrenadier Division three days later in a counterattack near Pützlohn. Before 27 November, the 506th lost another Tiger in Ederen when the inexperienced crew made a U-turn after receiving hits. This gave the 2.A.D's M4 tanks a shot at the thinner rear armor and the vehicle was knocked out by a hit to the engine compartment. On 1 December, the 506th was withdrawn to Grevenbroich with 11 tanks operational out of 30 total. From the 8th to the 13th, 12 additional Tigers were delivered, but tank 2-11 (lead vehicle of the 2nd company's 3rd platoon) was captured by the American 129th Ordnance Battalion in Gereonsweiler on the 15th.[6][1]

Tank 2-11 was captured by the 129th Ordnance Battalion on 15, December

The 506th was one of two Tiger battalions to take part in the initial "Operation: Watch on the Rhine," the other being the 501st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. The unit was transported to Eifel in preparation for the offensive, but orders were changed and the unit marched south before engaging in a skirmish at Andler on 17 December. The 506th and schwere Panzerabteilung 301 "Funklenk" were assigned to the 6th Panzer Army and on the 18th schwere Panzer-Kompanie "Hummel" was consolidated with the 506th. This formed the fourth company "Feuerwehr" (fire brigade) and reintroduced the Tiger I to the unit for the first time since being transferred to the Western Front. The same day, one of five Tiger IIs enroute to Lullingerkamp was destroyed at close range, forcing the others to withdraw. The unit saw further action later in the day, knocking out 3 tanks and 6 anti-tank cannons. Another Tiger was knocked out the next day when American tanks enroute to Bastogne engaged the 506th.[1][2]

Over the course of the next several days the 506th fought a number of further engagements in Luxembourg, losing an additional Tiger on the 24th of December during an attack on Adler. The unit's assembly area in Eschdorf was attacked from the air on the 25th and two additional Tigers were destroyed. From the 31st of December to the 1st of January 1945, the 506th fought in the Bastogne area before being transferred west of Michamps to support the 12th SS Panzer Division. On the 2nd, fighting near Wardin alongside the 12th SS saw the destruction of some 15 M4 tanks. The following day, the 506th lost another Tiger to fire from the 81st Anti-tank Battalion; the hit caused an explosion that blew the turret from the hull.[1]

From the 8th of January to the 13th, the 506th fought a series of engagements in the area, losing two vehicles on the 13th to bring the total count of Tigers to 33. One tank suffered a final drive failure while the other was lost to fire from the 6th Armored Division when sent to recover the broken-down tank.[1]

Two further Tiger IIs and a single Tiger I were destroyed by their own crews when the Americans broke out of Bastogne in mid-January. Eberhard Lange, now a Major, was relieved by Generaloberst Hasso von Manteuffel and command given to Hauptmann Heiligenstadt. The Headquarters and four combat companies prepared for reconstitution at the beginning of February with no operational tanks. Heiligenstadt's command was cut short when he was captured along with Hauptmann Wacker and Leutnant Bopp while conducting reconnaissance on 9 February. Hautpmann Jobst-Christoph von Römer was given command and on 16 February the 4th company was detached from the 506th with 5 operational Tiger Is; 8 had seen combat in the Ardennes during the company's time with the 506th. On 26 February a Tiger of the 506th knocked out 3 American tanks near Irsch and the unit would see numerous small skirmishes throughout the month of March near Weinsheim.[1]

The 506th's remaining Tigers continued to fight in the Ruhr Pocket for the remainder of its service. Additional Tigers in transit to reinforce the 506th were not delivered and the unit surrendered when the Pocket collapsed in April 1945. On 14 April, the 506th was officially dissolved in Iserlohn.[1]