Panzer-/Panzergrenadierdivision

[l3w]

I hope the question isn't too daft to be posted here:

What is the exact difference between a Panzer- and a Panzergrenadierdivision?
For example, what did really change when the Verfügunsdivision/R/DR was re-organised from mot. Div. to Pz.Gren. and then Pz.Div?

(And when is a unit considered 'motorisiert'?)

I would greatly appreciate some help on these, thanks in advance!

[John W. Howard]

Hello I3w:
I will try to give you a general answer to your questions. "Motorisiert" refers to having transport to haul the infantry of a division. So the infantry is driven to points of contact, rather than having to march on foot. This would be soft-skinned transports such as trucks. A panzergrenadier division would have more infantry assigned to it than panzer division, and in theory all of it would be motorized with some of the infantry mounted on armored personnel carriers (hence the "panzer" in panzergrenadier).
Describing the difference between a Panzer division and Panzergrenadier division is difficult because the organization of both changed during the course of the war, but here is a quick comparison of both around 1944. A 1944 PD would have a Panzer Regiment of two Battalions, and two Panzergrenadier Regiments of two battalions each. One of the Panzergrenadier regiments would be classified as armored, while the other would be classified as motorized in theory. In fact in each of the PzG regiments only one battalion would be armored with the other motorized(Germany was suffering a lack of all the transport it needed).
A 1944 PzGD would have two panzergrenadier regiments of three battalions each (instead of the two battalions per regiment in a Panzer Division). Instead of the panzer regiment of a Panzer Division, the Panzergrenadier division would have one panzer battalion or more likely in 1944 an assault-gun battalion.
I hope this is of some help to you and I have not confused you further Best wishes.

[sebastian]

i had to read it a couple of times

[l3w]

John, thank you very much for the detailed response! That indeed clears things up.
I guess this was the same for both Heer and W-SS (apart from different strenght)?

I have another question concerning assault guns: Is there any difference between StuG and Panzerjäger?

[Tom Houlihan]

Basically, a StuG is a purpose-built assault gun.

Most Panzerjägers were anti-tank guns mounted on obsolete or unused chassis to make tank-killers out of them.

This is a very general statement, and I can even see holes in it, but deeper research will show you those holes.

[l3w]

Thanks Tom! That explanation is sufficient for the moment

[Leo Niehorster]

Hi,
This topic was also covered some time back. See
Degree of Mechanization in a PzG Divison

Cheers
Leo

[John W. Howard]

Hello Sebastian: To tell you the truth I got a little confused myself just writing the thing You are very welcome l3w!! Be sure to read Dr. Niehorster's link for some excellent information. Best wishes folks!!

[Reb]

There is a new and well illustrated book full of boring (wonderful) detail on the panzer grenadier divsions. Author IIRC is Chris Whiting. Also did a book on pz div deployments during the WW2 timeline.

I think the differentionation between pz and pz gren can in some ways be boiled down to the number of armoured battalions: i.e. pz gren is apt to have 1 stug bn (or more rarely [after '42] a pz bn) plus 1 pz jager abt which depending upon what year could be marder or pz jager IV or even more stug.

A pz div would have two pz bns and one of either pz jager or stug bn.

Starting around fourth quarter 1944 all those bounderies went away and all kinds of new and wildly ad hoc formations came into being such as the Fuhrer Escort and Grenadier Divisions, Brandenburg, Kurmark etc. Those are a lot of fun because they are apt to have just about anything.

cheers
Reb

[l3w]

Thanks guys for all the information and clarifications!