History

The 10th Panzer Division was formed in Prague on 1st April 1939 and based in Stuttgart. Its personnel were mainly from Southern Germany. The division saw service in Poland, France and on the Eastern Front.

During the invasion of France, the 10th served as part of the southern thrust under the XIX Corps, which was led by one of Germany's most audacious commanders, Lieutenant General Heinz Guderian. When the code word "Danzig" reached the division on the morning of May 10, 1940, the division exploded forward, advancing 45 miles on the first day. The 10th was the first division to encounter the enemy and quickly routed the 2nd French Cavalry. By May 12, the 10th Panzer had reached the Meuse River near Sedan, France. On May 24 it arrived at the coastal town of Calais. The 10th Panzer took Calais two days later, capturing 20,000 prisoners.

In Russia it took part in the attacks on Minsk and Smolensk as well as the defensive battles against the first Soviet offensive during the terrible winter of 1941/42.  During these defensive actions the division was severely mauled and as a result was sent back to Vichy France for re-fitting and occupation duties. It was a reserve force during the allied landings at Dieppe, and was sent to North Africa in November 1942.

The division was immediately committed to action around the Tunis bridgehead and quickly proved itself a formidable fighting force. The division was split into several kampfgruppen for the battle for Sidi-Bou-Zid and again committed itself well. During the defensive battles of April and May 1943 they acted as a mobile reserve and were heavily engaged in constant fighting which severely weakened their numbers. They were eventually pushed back to hills north of Bizerte and surrendered on 9th May 1943.

Oberst Rudolf Gerhardt

Commanded the II./Panzer Regiment 7 during the invasion of Russia, with the rank of Oberstleutnant.

Won the Knights Cross 22^nd Sep 1941.

Promoted to Oberst, he commanded the regiment during the Tunisian campaign. Evacuated before the surrender, he went on to command the Panzer Lehr division in 1944.

Operation Frühlinswind

It was bitterly cold in the Fa'id Pass in the hours before dawn on St Valentine’s Day, 14 February 1943. A strong wind whipped up a sandstorm making hearing difficult and visibility poor.

The 10. PanzerDivision was split into three Kampfgruppen, Gerhardt turned north to circle around behind the American positions at Sidi-Bou-Zid, Reimann followed them through the pass with orders to take the road straight to Sidi-Bou-Zid, eliminating all opposition in the way. Lang remained in reserve.

Further south, two Kampfgruppen from the 21. PanzerDivision came through Maizila Pass to complete the encirclement.

Facing the Germans were fragmented units of the 1st Armored Division, stretched thin to cover a 60-mile front. It was the first American division to engage the Germans in combat.
 

Two thousand men of the 168th Regimental Combat Team, divided among the Lessouda, Garet Hadid and Ksaira djebels (hills), were bypassed and quickly marooned.

At midday, 51 M-4 Sherman tanks of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Armored Regiment, were ordered to “clear up the situation”. Heavily engaged with Gerhardt to the west of Lessouda, they were hit in the flank by the Tigers from Kampfgruppe Reimann. Only nine of the American tanks escaped.

The American commanders in the rear prepared to counterattack the next morning in order to rescue the isolated infantry, retake Sidi-Bou-Zid and drive the Germans back.

In the vanguard of the counterattacking force was Alger's 2nd Armoured Battalion, reinforced by a tank destroyer company with halftrack mounted 75mm. In support was the 68th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, less Battery A, and the 6th Armored Infantry Battalion, riding behind in halftracks.

Ward's order read as follows: "Mission to CC C....This force will move south, and by fire and maneuver, destroy the enemy armored forces which have threatened our hold on the Sbeitla area. It will so conduct its maneuver to aid in the withdrawal of our forces in the vicinity of Djebel Ksaira, eventually withdrawing to the area north of Djebel Hamra for further action."

The tankers rolled toward Sidi-Bou-Zid, confident that their new Shermans would see them through. One tank destroyer platoon was dive-bombed and brought to a halt but the rest carried on until they reached the second of several steep-sided and damp wadis. Bunching together on a single crossing the leading tanks hesitated under accurate gunfire and air attacks and ran straight into the German ambush.

Having observed the axis of Alger's advance, the Germans had sent part of their armour to the north-east of Sidi-Bou-Zid and another to the south-west: as the pincers closed intensive fire poured into the Shermans from the flanks. Caught in the trap the battalion was scattered and reduced to a series of wrecked and fiercely burning hulks.

By 1540 hours the armoured infantry had been forced to make a run for safety in order to avoid German tanks coming up rapidly from the south. The 68th Field Artillery Battalion, after being surrounded, managed to march westward and reached safety after dark. The remains of Alger's battalion, struggled back towards their rallying area at Kern's Crossroads. Only four of the new Shermans returned with a few dismounted crews. Two months later when the area was re-captured, it was seen that all but one, which had broken down, had been badly holed. The battalion had virtually been annihilated, with 15 officers and 298 men listed as missing in action.

The American infantry trapped on Djebels Lessouda and Ksaira were written off and told to get back as best they could, most were surrounded on the open plain and captured. In just two days, the strength of the 1st Armored Division had been depleted by a total of 98 tanks, 10 tank destroyers, 16 self-propelled 105s, 57 halftracks, 29 other artillery pieces and 2,500 men (including over 1500 POWs).

On the 17th, Kampfgruppe Gerhardt was re-enforced by the Tiger tanks of 1.Kompanie schwerePanzerabteilung 501, transferred from Kampfgruppe Reimann. The Gruppe was on the move again, to the ancient Roman town of Sbeitla, to clear the way to the passes of Kasserine and Sbiba.

The Historical Makeup of Kampfgruppe Gerhardt

2^nd Battalion of 7^th Panzer Regiment

Each of the regiment’s two battalions had, three companies of Pz III with 50mm L/60, mostly Ausf.L or M, and one company of Pz IV with 75mm L/43, mostly Ausf.F2 or G. The division also had up to eight Ausf.F1 with the 75mm L/24, but I have no information on which units they were with.

The command tanks were a mixture of older G and H models with dummy main guns and only a single MG34, and the new model J with a short 50mm and coax machine gun. In all cases the hull machine gun was replaced by the extra radio equipment. Note that in German tanks it is the hull gunner that is the radio operator.

The official TOE also lists a platoon of five Pz II as part of the battalion head quarters. These were in short supply however, and they may have only existed at the regimental level.

2^nd Battalion of 69^th Panzer Grenadier Regiment.

This was division’s Gepanzert (half-track mounted) unit.

The regiment’s two battalions each had three companies of infantry plus a heavy company. The first battalion was truck mounted. The regiment also had a company of heavy (150mm) infantry guns, which may have been present.

1^st company from 90^th PanzerJager battalion less 1 platoon with Reimann.

The company had three platoons in total, each of three Marder III SdKfz 139 with the Russian PaK 36(r). One source says only one platoon was present.

3rd company from 90^th PanzerJager battalion.

This was a self propelled anti-aircraft unit, with two platoons of four SdKfz 10/4 or 10/5 (single barrel 20mm), and one platoon of  two SdKfz 7/1 (quad barrel 20mm). One source says only one platoon was present.

3^rd company from 49^th Panzer Pioneer battalion.

Two platoons mounted in trucks and one platoon in SdKfz.250 half-tracks.

This was the only half-track mounted platoon in the battalion, the other two companies being entirely truck-borne. The battalion did have some Stuka zu Fuss half tracks, so they where presumably part of the third platoon. One source says only one platoon was present.

1 Battery from the 90^th Panzer Artillery Regiment.

Identity unknown. I have found only one source with any further information, which lists it as “light field howitzers” i.e. 10.5cm howitzers from the first or second battalion. 

References

The best visual reference for 10.PanzerDivision in Tunisia is the recently published book:

The Combat History of the 10. Panzer Division, In Action in the East, West and North Africa: 1939-1943
By J. Restayn and N. Moller.
Published by J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Inc 

The other major source of information has been the internet and the Flames of War forum/Yahoo group.

Some of the many general sites containing useful information on vehicles and equipment:

http://www.wwiitech.net/main/germany/vehicles/

http://www.wwiivehicles.com/html/germany/

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Pit/3515/251/index.htm

http://members.tripod.com/George_Parada/pzgal.htm

Here is one with some specific information on the 10. Panzer Division:

 http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Panzerdivisionen/10PD.htm

The following sites contain useful material on some of the independent units that where added to the division:

Independent Artillery Units

http://members.tripod.com/~Sturmvogel/artillery.html#regimenter

Independent Sturmgeschütz Units

http://members.tripod.com/~Sturmvogel/stug.html

Tigers in Tunisia

http://www.geocities.com/firefly1002000/501tigers.html

Here are some sites with information about the Sidi-Bou-Zid/Kasserine operation.

http://africanhistory.about.com/library/prm/blambushedbytheafrikacorps1.htm

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Den/7664/sidibouzid.html

http://www.greenhillbooks.com/extracts/Tunis.html                                                      

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