The first military engagement of the new Panzer Division took place during the operation “Fall Gelb”, the attack on Belgium, Holland and northern France. Army Group “B” (Heeres Gruppe “B” - HG “B”), under the command of Generaloberst Fedor von Bock, was to launch an attack between the coast and the Maas River. The group consisted of the 6th Army (6. Armee - AOK 6) and the 18th Army (18. Armee - AOK 18) with a total of 29 divisions, including three armoured and one motorised. The operations of Group “B” were intended to divert Allied attention from the main assault, and to lure as many defending forces as possible. The 9th Panzer Division was among the units of Generaloberst von Bock, serving as part of the XXIV Army Corps (XXIV. Armeekorps – XXIV AK) assigned to the 18th Army. One of its tasks was to invade Dutch territory with the assistance of paratroops.
On May 10 1940, at the start of “Fall Gelb”, the 33rd Panzer Regiment had 30 Pz.Kpfw. I, 54 Pz.Kpfw. II, 41 Pz.Kpfw. III, 16 Pz.Kpfw. IV and 12 Pz.Bf.Wg. tanks, while the 9th Reconnaissance Battalion had 62 armoured cars.1 The invasion of Holland began with the attack of German paratroopers from the 7th Airborne Division (7. Flieger-Division) on the river Mass bridges near Moerdijk. After the surprise attack, their objective was to hold the bridges until the arrival of the land forces. The 9th Panzer Division advanced from the border region of Goch – Kleve2 in order to join the airborne units as quickly as possible. In the morning of May 11, the 9th Division and the supporting SS Combat Division (SS-Verfugungsdivision) were able to cross Mass River in Gennep over the railroad bridge, the only one captured intact. Both German units entered the region of North Brabant experiencing sporadic opposition from Dutch troops. A bigger challenge was the terrain configuration, numerous rivers and canals impeded movement of the armoured columns. In the meantime, the Allies reacted to the German offensive. On the same day, a French Motorised Division from the 7th Army under General Henri Giraud arrived at Breda. From there, two groups were dispatched, one of them with the objective to block the German advance in North Brabant. As a counter-measure to the French move, Generalleutnant von Hubicki also divided his forces. Half of the 9th Division joined by the SS Division was directed southwest to intercept the French. The rest of the Division continued an advance towards Moerdijk in order to relieve the paratroopers. In the afternoon, the French column reached Tilburg and engaged the enemy. German tanks and motorised infantry, supported by the Luftwaffe, were able to force the French into a retreat. The success allowed the German troops to rejoin the main force the following day, May 12.3 At around six in the afternoon of the same day, the 9th Reconnaissance Regiment dispatched from the 9th Panzer Division reached the airborne troops in Zevenbergschen Hoek near Moerdijk by the river Maas. From that point the German units, grouped together, pressed forward towards Rotterdam. On the morning of May 13, the 9th Panzer Division began an assault on Dordrecht, a town along the path to Rotterdam. The exchange of fire with the Dutch troops lasted until noon, when the defenders surrendered. On the same day, north of Breda, the 9th Division was reinforced by the “LSSAH” Motorised SS Regiment (SS-Regiment (mot) “LSSAH” - Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler). On the next morning both units reached the region northwest of Dordrecht. Late in the evening of May 13, the commander of German paratroopers, General Kurt Student, established contact with the 9th Division in the vicinity of the Rotterdam bridgehead. In the afternoon of May 14, the 9th Division’s units were preparing for an attack on the city. The units of Group A concentrated in the Feijenoord District on the left bank of the river, at the southern bridgeheads. The Group consisted of the 33rd Panzer Regiment tanks and III battalion of the 16th Infantry Regiment (III./Infanterie Regiment 16 - III./Inf. Rgt. 16) led by Oberstleutnant Dietrich von Cholitz. Support was provided by two artillery groups and two pioneer companies. The assault was to commence after a Luftwaffe air strike.
1 Solarz, Fall Gelb, Warszawa 1999, p. 10 and Jentz T. L, Die deutsche Panzertruppe1933-1942 Band I, Wölfersheim-Berstadt 1998, p. 121.
2 Stoves R, Die gepanzerten und motorisierten deutsche Grossverbände 1935-1945, Eggolsheim, p. 69.
3 Stein G. H., Hitler’s Elite Guard at War The Waffen SS 1939-1945, p. 64.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE CHART OF THE 9th PANZER DIVISION IN MAY 1940
Meanwhile that afternoon, the surrender was being negotiated at Rotterdam’s port. The Dutch authorities were almost willing to capitulate. Therefore, an effort was made to call off the air strike planned for the afternoon. The attempt was not quite successful, as some of the bombers from the 54th Bomber Regiment dropped their load over the city around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The bombardment caused a multitude of fires that had to be put out throughout the night. It also influenced the stance of the defenders, so around 5pm the Dutch units in the city surrendered. On May 15 1940, capitulation was offered by the Dutch government. On the same day, as the first in the 9th Division, Major Fritz Iwand from the I Battalion of the 10th Rifle Regiment received the Knight’s Cross.4
Beginning May 15, despite the Dutch surrender, the 9th Division along with the “LSSAH” Regiment was involved in a “show of force” while marching through the remaining parts of the country. The intent was to demonstrate German superiority to the citizens of Holland. The route of the units led from Leiden to Haarlem and Amsterdam, where a victory parade was held, and then through Utrecht, Arnhem, Nijmegen, Venlo and Roermond across the Belgian border to Tongeren, where they arrived on May 18. From that point, the 9th Division was dispatched to join Army Group “A” (HG “A”) near the Somme River. On May 24 the Division reached Doullens, a township in which Marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander in chief of the Entente forces, established his headquarters during the First World War. In the following days, the 9th Division, deployed with the XIV Motorised Army Corps (XIV AK (mot)), remained in the area of Abbeville and Amiens by the lower Somme River as a rearguard. The infantry troops were to hold positions in that sector, while the 9th Panzer Division grouped north of the river, near Abbeville, was intended as an operational reserve/emergency manoeuvre unit. Before long, a decision was made to press the Division into front line action, in order to achieve a decisive breakthrough on the shores of the English Channel.
At the end of May, the Division was directed north, from Amiens towards Gravelines, where it arrived on June 1, to join other German units in besieging Dunkirk. Allied units, mostly remnants of the British Expeditionary Force, were evacuating from the port under heavy aerial assault by the Luftwaffe. Before the operation at Dunkirk ended, the Division was moved again to operate in the southern region of France. The concentration point was once more the German foothold at Amiens.
A group of Allied prisoner taken by the 9th Panzer Division in the region of Dunkirk.
Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. B medium tank destroyed by French anti-tank mine on June 5 1940 near Amiens. The “xx” divisional symbol is displayed to the left of the Balkenkreuz. Graves of the crew members are visible behind the tank.
The new German offensive, code name “Fall Rot”, was planned for June 5. The 9th Panzer Division was, as before, part of the XIV Army Corps, now assigned to “Kleist” Group (Gruppe Kleist)5 from Army Group “B” under Generaloberst von Bock. At the time, 9. Pz.Div. was the only German armoured division to still have just a single, two battalion armoured regiment. Generalleutnant Alfred Ritter von Hubicki, as early as the end of the Dutch campaign, voiced a strong complaint about the lack of operational equipment. Thus the Wehrmacht’s High Command was concerned that the Division might not be ready for action in time for the “Fall Rot” offensive.6
On June 4, the 33rd Panzer Regiment received as a replenishment one Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. F (Sd.Kfz. 141) tank, chassis number Fgst.Nr. 61401 manufactured at the Henschel factory in Kassel, and one tank of the same version with 3.7 cm Kwk cannon, from the MAN factory, with chassis number Fgst. Nr. 61057. The latter is the highest, so far, identified chassis number of the Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. F manufactured by that factory.7
The German attack on France commenced on 5 June 1940. As a part of the “Kleist” Group, the 9th Panzer Division advanced from the west side of the Somme River bridgehead near Amiens. The defending French 16th Infantry Division was the opponent. The advance was preceded by a German artillery barrage which began at 4 o’clock in the morning. Ten minutes after it subsided, the infantry, supported by the tanks, pressed forward. The first waves of the 9th Division’s troops were brought to a halt by land mines and very well aimed machine gun and anti-tank gun fire coming mostly from French positions around the village of Dury. The attack failed. The field guns of the 9th Division, along with the artillery of the Army Corps, commenced bombardment of the village, progressively setting homes and farm buildings on fire. The shelling lasted most of the day with occasional 10 to 15 minute pauses. Ultimately, it destroyed the village. German artillery also targeted other French strongholds at Rumigny and Hébécourt. The second onslaught began at 13:00 hours, as the front line infantry attacked Dury and Cagny. Not much was achieved, nevertheless the Divisional tanks managed to penetrate the flank and destroy two French 155 mm howitzer batteries. Even so, the remaining French artillery continued to provide support to the defending units. The effective use of French artillery was one of the reasons why the German infantry were unable to infiltrate the breach made by the tanks. The entire area was covered by French artillery and machinegun fire. It was only on the next day that the Germans, after five attempts, broke through the French lines.8
In the following days, the 9th Division, after penetrating the “Weygand defence line”, took part in intense battles near Sains-en-Amiénois. The anti-tank artillery proved particularly successful, while the light anti-aircraft guns from the 94th Regiment of Light Anti-aircraft Artillery (leichte Flak-Abteilung 94 (mot) - leichte Flak-Abt. 94(mot))9 attached to the Division, were also engaged against ground targets near Bosquel10. During the course of the action, Generalleutnant von Hubicki remained at the front line at all times. On the fourth day of the invasion, June 8, the Division crossed the Seine and Yonne Rivers and cleared the path to Paris, which in the meantime was declared an open city. German units entered the French capital on June 14 1940. While in Paris, the motorised SS Regiment “LSSAH” was attached to the 9th Panzer Division, still serving at the time as part of the “Kleist” Group. Both units moved south, crossing the Oise, Aisne and Marne Rivers. Many German military cemeteries, remnants of the First World War, marked the sites along the way. Once the town of Coulommiers was reached, a few detached combat groups were formed and dispatched south towards Sens and Auxerre to capture the Loire River crossings.On the afternoon of June 16, the 9th Panzer Division captured the town of La Charité -sur-Loire, where the French managed to detonate explosives under one of the bridges. The second one however, was secured intact by the 9th Reconnaissance Regiment. This action allowed them to establish a bridgehead on the other bank of the river. On the same day, the classified archives of the French General Staff fell into German hands. The events, as described by Janusz Piekałkiewicz, took the following turn: “On that same evening, during a routine patrol at the La Charité railway station Oberfunkmeister Balzereit from the regimental communication platoon, makes an amazing discovery in one the railcars of the military echelon; he finds classified documents of the French high command. About the same time, in yet another railcar coupled to one of several freight trains forming a nearly 25 kilometre line up along the La Charite Masves-sur-Loire track (trapped there due to Loire bridge destruction), Schütze Kenzer, a trooper of an adjoining division, discovers another batch of files.”11 The documentation belonged to Grand Quartier General (French General Headquarters) and Section Interallie du Gabinet du General Gamelin (Inter-allied section of general Gamelin staff), and contained classified protocols of the Allied command briefings.
An abandoned French light tank Renault FT 17 examined by a group of German officers. French Army insignia may be noted.
An overturned French armoured artillery tractor Renault UE encountered along the 9. Pz.Div. combat path.
It should also be mentioned that a number of prisoners were taken as the result of the Loire operation.
On June 17, a detached combat group led by Oberleutnant Edwin-Oskar Dietz from the I battalion of the 11th Rifle Regiment (I./Schützen-Rgt 11) under Major Wilhelm Schmalz, seized the Loire bridge at Nevers in a surprise attack. Both officers were awarded Knight’s Crosses for this performance. Capture of the bridge allowed the 10th Rifle Regiment to continue its advance towards the south. Meanwhile, the 9th Panzer Division progressed towards Lyon. The 50th Tank Destroyer Battalion was spearheading the advance and on some occasions, particularly during battles at Moulins and Lapalisse, protected the flanks as the Division launched an attack. When Burgundy was taken on June 19, so was the town of Roanne. At that point, further advance of the Division was brought to an end. It was transferred to southwest France near Bordeaux. The relocation required a 600 kilometre road march through Montargis and Orleans, the latter was reached on June 22, then through Poitiers into the Perigord region. The last combat encounter with the dispersed French Army took place south of Orleans, in the vicinity of Angoulême. On 25 of June the 9th Panzer Division reached the town of Branne in Aquitaine. The troops were fatigued by combat and intensive marches. Any stops were used for recuperation, preferably sleep. As the French defence efforts were overwhelmed by the German onslaught, Marshal Petain proposed a cease fire. By that time, the 9th Division had forced its way across the Dordogne River in Aquitaine.
On June 26 1940, the military operations in the west came to an end. The Division received an order directing it back to Germany. Travelling through Tours, Melun and Reims, the unit reached the German border. From there, using an autobahn leading past Munich, it reached its garrison in Vienna. The combat route of the 9th Panzer Division between the initial engagement in Holland and its return to Vienna, extended some 7,000 kilometres. It is very probable that among all the Wehrmacht units participating it the Western Campaign, the 9th Division was the one to cover the longest distance. Upon arrival, the Division was enthusiastically greeted in the Third Reich, particularly in the town of Ried, located on the old Austro-German border. Stationed in the area of Vienna and St. Pölten, the unit restored its combat readiness, while the new equipment was being delivered.
In July, the 9th Panzer Division was co-opted into the XXXX Motorised Army Corps (XXXX AK (mot))12. On August 1 1940, the structure of the Division was altered. The 9th Reconnaissance Regiment was disbanded. In its place, independent new units were created: the 59th Battalion of Motorcycle Rifles (Kradschützen-Bataillon 59 - Kradsch.Btl. 59) was formed in place of the I Battalion of 9th Reconnaissance Regiment (I./Aufkl.Rgt. 9); and the 9th Reconnaissance Battalion (Aufklärungs Abteilung 9 - Aufkl.Abt. 9) replaced the II Battalion of the 9th Reconnaissance Regiment (II./Aufkl. Rgt 9). The 6th Company of the retired 9th Reconnaissance Regiment became the 1st Company of the 341st Reconnaissance Battalion (1./Aufkl.Abt. 341) assigned to the 16th Motorised Infantry Division (16. Infanterie Division (mot) - 16. Inf.Div. (mot)).13
According to the same order, the 102nd Artillery Regiment was reinforced with the mixed heavy III Detachment (III Abteilung), which until this point was the II Battalion of the 50th Artillery Regiment (II./Art.Rgt. 50) stationed in Lipsig. At the same time the 102nd Artillery Regiment obtained the 321st Spotting/Observation Battery - Armoured (Beobachtungs Batterie 321 (Pz.) -Beob.Bttr. 321 (Pz.)).
As for the minor changes, the 3rd Company of the 86th Armoured Pioneer Battalion (3./Pz.Pi. Btl. 86) was once again given two light tank platoons of Pz.Kpfw. I and II tanks, as well as two armoured pioneer vehicle platoons, most likely equipped with half-tracked Sd.Kfz. 251 transporters including six vehicles carrying the “Do-Werfer”14 150 mm rocket launchers (m. SPW mit Wurfrahmen). The support units of the 9th Division were also strengthened, a third repair company (Werkstatt-Kp.) was added, alongside four light supply columns (leichte Krafwagen Kolonne) and two motorised heavy supply columns (Kw. Kolonne (mot))15. The Division remained at its garrisons in Vienna and St. Pölten until the end of August of 1940. In September and October, the entire XXXX Army Corps along with the 9th Division was transferred to Poland, where it performed various occupational tasks, probably until the end of January 1941.
A group of Wehrmacht tank crew and soldiers, probably photographed after the end of the French campaign next to a Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. F armed with 37 mm cannon. The tank’s tactical number “422”, as well as the divisional “xx” symbols, are evident.
4 Hermann C. H. Die 9. Panzer-Division 1939-1945, Eggolsheim, p. 172.
5 P. P. Battistelli claims that none of the operational units were referred to as a Panzergruppe at the time; this particular nomenclature was introduced in July of 1941. During the invasion on Western Europe, such operational units were called Gruppe, even if their combat potential was equal that of an army. (Battistelli P. P., Niemieckie dywizje pancerne Lata Blitzkriegu 1939-1940, Warszawa 2010, p.11)
6 Solarz J., Fall “Rot”, Warszawa 2000, p. 8.
7 Jentz T., Doyle H. L, Panzer Tracts No. 3-2 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. E, F, G und H, p. 18
8 English J. A., Gudmundsson B. I., On Infantry, Westport 1994.
9 http://www.ww2.dk/ground/flak/abt/le94.html
10 Hermann C. H, op. cit., p. 39.
11 Piekałkiewicz J., Cel Paryż Kampania 1939-1940, Janki k. Warszawy 2008, p. 213.
12 XXXX AK may be recorded as XXXX or XL. This publication will follow the manner used by G. Tessin - XXXX.
13 Tessin G, op. cit. p. 140.
14 Stoves R, op. cit, p. 69.
15 Ibidem.