Franz Bäke was a German officer and tank commander during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. In post-war popular culture, Bäke was memorialised in the historical fiction series Panzer Aces by German author Franz Kurowski.
The 2nd Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army. The division played important roles during World War II in the invasions of Germany, North Africa, and Sicily and in the liberation of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. During the Cold War, the division was primarily based at Fort Hood, Texas, and had a reinforced brigade forward stationed in Garlstedt, West Germany. After participation in the Persian Gulf War, the division was inactivated in 1995.
The M18 Hellcat is a tank destroyer that was used by the United States Army in World War II and the Korean War. A top speed of up to 55 mph (89 km/h) was attained by keeping armor to a minimum, using the innovative Torqmatic automatic transmission, and by equipping the relatively light vehicle with the same main gun used on some variants of the much larger Sherman tank.
A Panzer division was one of the armored (tank) divisions in the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Panzer divisions were the key element of German success in the blitzkrieg operations of the early years of World War II. Later the Waffen-SS formed its own panzer divisions, and even the Luftwaffe fielded an elite panzer division: the Hermann Göring Division.
Panzer Division Feldherrnhalle 2 was a late World War II German Wehrmacht panzer division. Commanded by Franz Bäke, it was formed in March 1945 of the remnants of other divisions and stationed with a home base at Wehrkreis XX. It was moved to Slovakia in 1945, where it fought its only battles. It was later disbanded.
The Panzer-Lehr-Division was an elite German armoured division during World War II. It was formed in 1943 onwards from training and demonstration troops stationed in Germany, to provide additional armored strength for the anticipated Allied invasion of western Europe. On 4 April 1944, the division was officially designated as the 130th Panzer Division; however, it is usually referred to as the Lehr Division. It was the only Wehrmacht Panzer division to be fully equipped with tanks and with halftracks to transport its mechanized infantry. On several occasions it fought almost to destruction, in particular during Operation Cobra, and by the end of the war in Europe bore little resemblance to the unit that had originally been activated.
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich or SS Division Das Reich was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT). The division served during the invasion of France and took part in several major battles on the Eastern Front, including in the Battle of Prokhorovka against the 5th Guards Tank Army at the Battle of Kursk. It was then transferred to the West and took part in the fighting in Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, ending the war fighting the Soviets in Hungary and Austria. The division committed the Oradour-sur-Glane and Tulle massacres along with others on the Eastern Front.
The 6th Panzer Division was an armoured division in the German Army, the Heer, during World War II, established in October 1939.
The Panzerkorps Großdeutschland was a German panzer corps in the Wehrmacht which saw action on the Eastern Front in 1944/1945 during World War II.
The 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Götz von Berlichingen" was a German Waffen-SS division that saw action on the Western Front during World War II.
A German heavy tank battalion was a battalion-sized World War II tank unit of the German Army (1935–1945), equipped with Tiger I, and later Tiger II, heavy tanks. Originally intended to fight on the offensive during breakthrough operations, the German late-war realities required it to be used in a defensive posture by providing heavy fire support and counter-attacking enemy armored breakthroughs, often organised into ad hoc Kampfgruppen.
The Battle of Arracourt took place between U.S. and German armoured forces near the town of Arracourt, Lorraine, France between 18 and 29 September 1944, during the Lorraine Campaign of World War II. As part of a counteroffensive against recent U.S. advances in France, the German 5th Panzer Army had as its objective the recapture of Lunéville and the elimination of the XII Corps bridgehead over the Moselle River at Dieulouard.
The 116th Panzer Division, also known as the "Windhund (Greyhound) Division", was a German armoured formation that saw combat during World War II.
The 501st Heavy Panzer Battalion was a German heavy Panzer Abteilung equipped with heavy tanks. The battalion was the second unit to receive and use the Tiger I heavy tank, changing to Tiger IIs in mid-1944.
Horses in World War II were used by the belligerent nations for transportation of troops, artillery, materiel, and, to a lesser extent, in mobile cavalry troops. The role of horses for each nation depended on its military strategy and state of economy and was most pronounced in the German and Soviet Armies. Over the course of the war, both Germany and the Soviet Union employed more than six million horses.
SS Panzer Brigade Gross was a unit of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, under the command of Obersturmbannführer Martin Gross. The brigade was formed from the SS Panzer Training and Replacement Regiment based in Dundaga, Latvia and the SS Panzer Troop Training Regiment Seelager based at the training grounds at Ventspils together with the SS Reconnaissance Training Battalion in August 1944. The brigade consisted of two infantry battalions, a panzer battalion of two companies with Panzer III and Panzer IV, a reconnaissance battalion, a StuG battalion, a pioneer company and a Flak company.
The Battle of Clervaux or the Battle for Clervaux was an opening engagement of the Battle of the Bulge that took place in the town of Clervaux in northern Luxembourg. It lasted from December 16 to 18, 1944. German forces encircled numerically inferior American forces, primarily from the 110th Regiment and the 109th Field Artillery Battalion, and quickly forced them to surrender. The battle has been referred to as the Luxembourg "Alamo".
Panzer Brigades were formations in the German Army during World War II.
Nazi Germany 
Waffen-SS