The rational for the Panzer-Lehr-Division

[Kingfish]

What exactly was the rational for creating the Pz.-Lehr-Division?

Wouldn't it had made more sense to distribute the high quality assets, men and machines, to other resource-starved formations?

[militaryhistoryvisualized]

good question, the Panzer-Lehr-Regiment was already used during the Operation Barbarossa. Furthermore, the Luftwaffe also used a lot of it's training personnel during conflicts, both seem to be the result of a "short-war-doctrine", but well, around the time of the Panzer-Lehr-Division it didn't made much sense in that regard. I can only guess that has something to do with creating "elite" units for "special occasions".

[Jan-Hendrik]

Well, per Helmut Ritgen a tank force against the expect landing in France was needed in 1943.

The existing tank divisions were in combat, exhausted and in neccisitty of being totally refreshed. So Guderian offered his last Reserve, the Lehr-Truppen.

For sure to test purposes, too. See OoB and equiptment of the division.

Jan-Hendrik

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi Guys,

Some Lehr-Truppen of all arms had been fielded in virtually every campaign since Spain. Guderian had used some himself in Poland and France. Others were used in the USSR and against the Anzio landings in Italy, etc., etc. However, these deployments disrupted their normal activities.

The creation of a standing Reserve-Panzer-Lehr Division from assorted Lehr units certainly had an element of political grandstanding by Guderian. Hitler reportedly said something to the effect that it was, "An unexpected reinforcement which I had not anticipated."

However, it also had undoubted, but unquantifiable, detrimental consequences for the normal functioning of the demonstration units, whose role was to assimilate new equipment and develop new tactics using officers and men with recent combat experience.

A US officer in one of the Iraq Wars described the use of similar US demonstration units in combat as being like, "Eating your own seed corn". This might apply even more aptly to the Panzer-Lehr Division, which suffered very heavy losses when committed to battle in Normandy.

The normal functioning of the Ersatzheer was damaged in several areas. Apart from the combat commitment of Lehr units to front combat, each Wehrkreis had to supply two reserve divisions of men under training for occupation duties. The more severe the demands of occupation and anti-partisan operations, the less training got done and the poorer the quality of the recruits reaching the Feldheer at the front.

Cheers,

Sid.