Hi John;
Some answers:
Quote:
Originally posted by John McGillivray
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?
|
The five Panthers were a platoon from the 2 Kompanie I/Pz Regt 6, who arrived at approx. 1500 or 1600hrs (depending on which account) on 10 June at Mondaye, having been sent to fill a request for anti-tank support from the 130th Pz Recce Bn. In three different accounts it is not said from where they came, only that they arrived on 10 June. What is said though, is that these were the only five Panthers of the battalion in the sector until the rest of the I Battalion arrived on 15 June.
Regarding the deployment of the Pz Lehr Div and the I/Pz Regt 6, yes the I/Pz Regt 6 was present in France prior to the invasion, within the Pz Lehr divisional area: Chartres- Le Mans - Orleans. They were loaded on 4 June and on 5 June the first train was in Magdeburg Germany, while the last one was at Paris. It was on 6 June that these trains carrying the I/Pz Regt 6 were ordered back to France. This platoon that showed up at Mondaye on the 10th was more or less the vanguard of the returning battalion, whom it seems starting arriving in the sector, in greater numbers starting on 11 June and finally being ready for operations on 15 June.
Quote:
Originally posted by John McGillivray
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?
|
Yes, on 1 June the Panther strength of Pz Lehr Div was 89 (86 Battle Ready and 3 in workshop), but the Panther establishment for the I/Pz Regt 6 was 22 Panthers per company (4x22= 88) and 3 Panthers in the Bn HQ (88+3 = 91), so they were actually under strength.
I hope this answers your questions John. I, myself am also looking forward to this new book about Pz Lehr. It seems that in a lot of the current books about this time period, the I/Pz Regt 6's return to the field is overshadowed by Wittmann and Villers-Bocage.
Cheers
