Panzer Aces

General major Dr. Franz Bake With the 6th Panzer Division in the East and West; Company Commander during the French Campaign On 30 January 1940 the 6th Panzer Division, which had been formed from the 1st Light Division, left its garrisons in Germany. The division was commanded by Generalmajor Kempf, one of the pioneers of Germany's panzer arm. By 2 February the division had assembled in the Euskirchen area. The division headquarters was established in MYnstereifel. In the west, German and French forces still faced each other across the frontier. The French promise of help to the Poles, which was to see French forces attack Germany no later than the beginning of the second week after a German attack on Poland, had proved to be a pipe dream. France missed its opportunity to simply overrun Germany's weakly defended western frontier and end the war in 1939. When Britain and France declared war, Germany did not have a single panzer division in the west. With the return of Germany's six panzer divisions from Poland, any chance of a quick Allied victory disappeared for good. The core of the new 6th Panzer Division was provided by the 65th Panzer Battalion, commanded by Major Thomas. This battalion, which had been part of the 1st Light Division, was joined by the two battalions of the 11th Panzer Regiment, which was commanded by Oberst Dipl. Ing. Wilhelm Phillips. The two battalions were commanded by Major Stephan and Major Koll. The period of quiet on the Western Front allowed the newly formed division to carry out regimental exercises commencing 18 October 1939. On 1 March 1940 the 6th Panzer Division was moved into the Westerwald, where one week later it was incorporated into XXXXI Army Corps under General der Panzertruppe Hans-Georg Reinhardt. Also included in XXXXI Corps were the 8th Panzer Division and the 29th Motorized Infantry Division. The corps was one of three assigned to Operation Sichelschnitt (Sickle Cut), the German armored thrust through the Ardennes. XXXXI Corps, together with XIX Army Corps under General Guderian and XIV Army Corps under Gen. Gustav von Wietersheim, made up Panzergruppe Kleist. Under the command of General der Kavallerie Ewald von Kleist, it was to drive through to the River Meuse. The Panzergruppe's vehicles all wore a large "K." The Panzergruppe faced the difficult task of moving 41,140 vehicles of all types through the Ardennes over only four advance roads, which were also being used by the infantry units. On 9 May the 6th Panzer Division's 11th Panzer Regiment was moved forward into the Mayen area; the main body of the division was still in the Westerwald, east of the Rhine. The French campaign began on the morning of 10 May. The 6th Panzer Division moved westwards in four march groups, led by Oberst Freiherr von Esebeck, commander of the 6th Rifle Brigade, Oberst von Ravenstein, commander of the 4th Rifle Regiment, and Oberstleutnant von Seckendorff, commander of the 6th Motorcycle Battalion. The light columns and the combat train were under the command of Major Dr. Topf. A general halt was ordered when the division came upon units of the 2nd Panzer Division, which were still waiting in their readiness positions. The division was held up for one day and crossed the Luxembourg frontier on 12 May, reaching the Belgian border at 1600. The division's objective was the Meuse crossing at Montherme. The battle group commanded by Oberst von Esebeck led the way. The division Ia, Maj. Helmut Staedtke, requested "strong air support." The requested air support arrived, but a unit of HE-111s dropped some of its bombs on the 76th Artillery Regiment's 4th and 8th Batteries, commanded by Major Aschoff and Major Graf respectively. This error resulted in twenty dead and twenty-six wounded, the division's first casualties of the French campaign. The briefings for the Meuse crossing were conductedKurowski, Franz is the author of 'Panzer Aces' with ISBN 9780345448842 and ISBN 0345448847.