Quote:
Originally posted by John McGillivray
Hello Mark,
Sorry for the delay in replying, my younger daughter had a soccer game last night. They won 8 to 1.
It is not very clear in Georges Bernage’s book exactly when those Panthers arrived in Normandy. He states that they “were present right from the beginning of the deployment of the division in Normandy.” They arrived in Mondaye on the 10th of June, but were did they arrive from? Had they just arrived in Normandy or had they only relocated to Mondaye?
Panzer Lehr was made up of various training units. The Panther Battalion was I./Panzer-Regiment 6 which was actually part of the 3rd Panzer Division and was in France for re-fit. It had just started its return journey to rejoin its parent unit on the eastern front when the invasion occurred. On page 42 in Bernage’s book it is shown that I./Panzer-Regiment 6 had its full complement of 76 Panthers. Four companies of 17 Panthers plus a recce section of 5 Panthers and three Panthers in the Battalion HQ section. However, Panzer Lehr, on the 1st of June had a total of 89 Panthers (86 Combat ready and 3 short-term repair). Where were the other 13 Panthers on the 8th of June? Where they also being transferred to the East, or were they part of the training establishment in the Division? The five Panthers at Mondaye, were they from the 76 Panthers bound for the Eastern front or were they from the 13 surplus Panthers?
I don’t know the answers to these questions.
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Hi John;
I have the answers to these questions, will post what I have tomorrow (Wed. 15 Jun), rather busy with something else at the moment.
Cheers
