Thursday, 8 March 2012

Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 511 History

Formed August 1942. Sent to front near Leningrad in August 1942. First Tiger unit into combat. (2nd Ko. was attached to s.Pz.Abt. 503 and eventually became 3rd Ko. of s.Pz.Abt. 503.) The unit fought on the Eastern Front until the end of the war. Renamed s.Pz.Abt. 511 in January 1945. s.Pz.Abt. 511 picked up several Tiger IIs late in the war.s.Pz.Abt. 502 (later redesignated s.Pz.Abt. 511)

Tigers of sPzAbt. 502 on the Eastern front 1944
(Courtesy of Derek L)


Tiger tank from Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502 passing through a French village in 1943
(Courtesy of Bundesarchiv/Wikimedia, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany)
Resource from axishistory.com 
Area of operations 
Eastern front  (Aug 1942 - Jan 1945) 


Campaign  New issue  Tranfers in  Transfer out  Combat loss  Type of tank 
Eastern Front 115  2  29  88  Tiger I


Awards Receive. 
Holders of high awards (this was the most decorated of the Schwere Panzer-Abteilungen)
Holders of the Commendation Certificate of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army (1)
  Meyer, Herbert, 27.05.1943 (1815), Leutnant, Zugführer i. d. s.Pz.Abt. 502 
Holders of the German Cross in Gold (3)
  Bölter, Johannes, 29.03.1943, Oberfeldwebel, 1./s.Pz.Abt. 502
  Göring, Kurt, 09.10.1944, Oberfeldwebel, 2./s.Pz.Abt. 502
  Meyer, Herbert, 30.12.1943, Leutnant d.R., s.Pz.Abt. 502 
Holders of the Honor Roll Clasp of the Heer (1)
  Meyer, Herbert, 27.03.1944, Leutnant d.R., 1./s.Pz.Abt. 502 
Holders of the Knight's Cross  (10) (8 RK + 2 EL)


Notable members
Johannes Bolter (usually credited with 139 destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Otto Carius (usually credited with 150+ destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Alfredo Carpaneto (usually credited with 50+ destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Albert Kerscher (usually credited with 100+ destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Heinz Kramer (usually credited with 50+ destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown)
Johann Muller (usually credited with 50 destroyed tanks but the exact number is unknown).
Resource From Axishistory.com

1 comment:

  1. Dear Schwere Panzer- Abteilung 511,
    I am looking for information on Unteroffizier Wiegand who served as a tiger commander in 502 and the renamed 511. He was still fighting in April in the battle of Königsburg.
    Do you have any photos or details of him you could post for me?
    David.

    ReplyDelete