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Panzer Battles



Principal Tank Campaigns and Battles of World War II.

Location / Codename: Date: Contestans: Tanks engaged (approx.):
Poland
Fall Weiss		 September 1-October 6, 1939 Germany vs. Poland 3195 German tanks
574 Polish tankettes
190 Polish (light) tanks
Poland
September 17th		 September 17 - October 6, 1939 Russia vs. Poland 6191 Russian tanks
250 Polish tankettes
85 Polish (light) tanks
Finland
Winter War and Offensive of the Mannerheim Line		 November 30, 1939 - March 13, 1940 Russia vs. Finland 1500-1800 Russian tanks
50-60 Finnish tanks
Denmark and Norway
Weserubung		 April 9 - June 25, 1940 Germany vs. Denmark, Norway, Britain, France and Poland 60 German tanks
Low Countries & France
Fall Gelb		May 10 - June 25, 1940 Germany vs. Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, France, Britain and Poland3379 German tanks
3063 French tanks
310 British tanks
325 Belgian and Dutch tanks
Cyrenaica
Operation Compass		June 1940 - February 1941Britain vs. Italy275 British tanks
380 Italian tanks
Balkans
Operation Marita		April 6 - May 1941German - Italian Axis vs. Yugoslavia, Greece and Britain843 German tanks
157 Italian tanks
200 Allied tanks
CyrenaicaApril - May 1941Axis vs. British50-130 Axis tanks
120 British tanks
Cyrenaica
Operation Battleaxe		June 1941Britsh vs. Axis200 British tanks
170 Axis tanks
Russia
Operation Barbarossa		June 22 - December 5, 1941Germany vs. Russia3500 German tanks
20000 Russian tanks
Cyrenaica
Crusader		November 18 - December 1941British vs. Axis756 (+ reserve) British tanks
249 German tanks
150 Italian
Russia
Winter counter-offensive		December 1941 - February 1942Russia vs. Germany2000 Russian tanks
1450 German tanks
Cyrenaica
German counter-offensive		January 21, 1942Axis vs. British84 German tanks
89 Italian tanks
150 British tanks
Russia
Baravenko		January 28 - May 17, 1942Russia vs. Germany5000 Russian tanks
3000 German tanks
Cyrenaica/Egypt
Operation Theseus		May - June 1942Axis vs. Britain332 German tanks
228 Italian tanks
849 British tanks
Russia
Caucasus/Stalingrad		June - November 1942Germany vs. Russia3000 German tanks
1250 Russian tanks
Egypt
1st El Alamein		July - August 1942Britain vs. Axis150 British tanks
55 German tanks
30 Italian tanks
Egypt
Alam Halfa		August - September 1942Axis vs. British200 German tanks
240 Italian tanks
935 British tanks
Egypt
2nd El Alamein		October 23 - November 4, 1942British vs. Axis1441 British tanks
210 German tanks
280 Italian tanks
Russia
Stalingrad		December 12, 1942 - January 31, 1943Russia vs. Germany894 Russian tanks
675 German tanks
Russia
Kharkov		February 16 - March 15, 1943Germany vs. Russia350 German tanks
250 Russian tanks
North Africa
Battle for Tunis		November - December 1942British, U.S.A and France vs. Axis80 British and U.S.A tanks
40 German tanks
North Africa
Kasserine		February 1943Axis vs. Allies150 German tanks
20 Italian tanks
350 U.S.A tanks
100 British tanks
North Africa
Final offensive		March 20 - May 13, 1943Allies vs. Axis2200 Allied tanks
130 Axis tanks
Russia
Operation "Citadel"
(Unternehmen "Zitadelle") and Russian counter-offensive		July 5 - September 1943Germany vs. Russia2700 German tanks
3306 Russian tanks
SicilyJuly 10 - August 17, 1943Allies vs. Axis600 Allied tanks
200 Axis tanks
Italy
Advance to Cassino		September - November 1943Allies vs. Germany800 Allied tanks
250 German tanks
Russia
Dneiper		August - December 1943Russia vs. Germany2400 Russian tanks
2100 German tanks
Russia
Smolensk		August - October 1943Russia vs. Germany1400 Russian tanks
500 German tanks
Russia
Ukraine		December 1943 - January 1944Russia vs. Germany2000 Russian tanks
2200 German tanks
Italy
Rome		May - July 1944Allies vs. Germany 1400 Allied tanks
250 German tanks
Western Europe
D-Day Invasion		June 6, 1944Allies vs. Germany5300 Allied tanks
1500 German tanks
Western Europe
Operation Goodwood		July 1944British vs. Germany1350 British tanks
300 German tanks
Western Europe
Operation Cobra		July 1944U.S.A vs. Germany1500 U.S.A tanks
110 German tanks
Eastern Europe
Invasion of Poland		July 17 - August 1944Russia vs. Germany6000 Russian tanks
1800 German tanks
Southern Europe
Invasion of France		August - September 1944Allies vs. Germany700 Allied tanks
100 German tanks
Southern Europe
Gothic Line		August - September 1944Allies vs. Germany1200 Allied tanks
200 German tanks
Western Europe
Ardennes Offensive
(Battle of the Bulge)		December 16, 1944 - January 28, 1945Germany vs. Allies970 German tanks
800-2000 Allied tanks
Eastern Europe
Drive to the Oder		January 1945Russia vs. Germany4100 Russian tanks
1150 German tanks
Western Europe
Drive to the Rhine		February 1 - March 7, 1945Allies vs. Germany5000 Allied tanks
500 German tanks


Russo-Finnish Conflict
(Winter War and Offensive of the Mannerhein Line)
by Konstantin A. Miroshnikov and George Parada.

The conflict started on November 30th of 1939 (following the signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact) and ended on March 13th of 1940. Reasons for the conflict vary as both sides make claims about them. Official Soviet version states that Finland rejected the USSR's offer to trade part of Karelia for 30 sq.km of Vyborg peninsula land to move the USSR border farther from Leningrad (St.Petersburg) and made some border provocations. There is also an unsupported version about planned Soviet agression with already formed pro-Soviet puppet Finnish government headed by Otto Kuusinen, a deputy head of Soviet military intelligence. Southern part of Finland borders Leningrad military territory (okrug) and in 1939, Leningrad okrug included 4 armies: 7th, 8th, 9th and 14-th. In the peacetime each army consisted of 3-4 infantry divisions (ca. 3000 troops each) and a mechanised or tank regiment (30 to 100 tanks and/or armoured cars). After (or before) the beginning of a military operation the 7th army (commanded by gen. Kirill Meretskov), which was in direct contact with Finnish troops, was rapidly reinforced by one tank corps with 700 machines, 3 tank divisions (330 machines each, all of them light T-26, BT-5 and BT-7 tanks), artillery divisions and additional infantry corps. At the time, light tanks proved to be useless without much room to maneuver, while their poor armor protection was inadequate against 20mm and 37mm anti-tank guns. In January 1940, the Red Army overcame mine fields, swamp ambushes and sniper attacks, finally approaching the fortified Mannerheim Line. The heavily outnumbered Finns under commander in chief of Finnish forces Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim put up a skillful defense and won initial successes against greatly superior Soviet forces. By February of 1940, heavy Russian bombardments breached the Finns' southern defenses and situation became desperate. Capitol of Finland, Helsinki was also damaged by Russian bombing raids. At the time, the 7th army was equipped with appropriate winter clothing and 5 additional separate tank batallions (30-36 machines each) armed with medium T-28 and heavy T-35 were added. Also an "experimental tank column" equipped with KV-1, 55-ton twin-turreted SMK and 57-ton T-100, participated in the offensive, in order to decide which of the tanks will be the main heavy tank of the Red Army. During the offensive, SMK was damaged by a mine, while KV-1 and T-100 passed the test, but at the end KV-1 was selected as the new heavy tank. In January of 1940, a new turret for KV carrying 152mm howitzer was designed, resulting in a new variant designated as KV-2. KV-2 is probably the only tank in the history carrying a gun of such caliber in a rotating turret. KV-2 also participated in last battles of the Finnish campaign. In the early March of 1940, the Red Army broke through the Mannerheim Line (named after Marshal Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim), however the losses of the Red Army were more than 100,000 troops and the offensive was halted. On March 13th, the peace offer from Finland was admitted, ending the conflict. Treaty of Moscow, ceded the desired 30 sq.km of territory near Vyborg (western Karelia) to USSR and allowed construction of a Soviet naval base on the Hanko peninsula. After the Winter War, T-28 and T-35's were returned to plants and additional 50mm plates were mounted to the frontal armor, increasing the protection to 80mm. The total number of Russian tanks participating in the conflict can be estimated as 1800, of course not all of them were employed simultaneously.


Strength of Panzer Units - Operation Barbarossa - June 22, 1941

Unit

PzKpfw I

PzKpfw II

PzKpfw III (37mm)

PzKpfw III (50mm)

PzKpfw IV

PzKpfw 35(t) incl. PzBef

PzKpfw 38(t) incl. PzBef

PzBef

Flammpanzer

Captured Tanks

Total

1st Pz Div  

43

 

71

20

   

11

   

145

3rd Pz Div  

58

29

81

32

   

15

   

215

4th Pz Div  

33

31

74

20

   

8

   

166

6th Pz Div  

47

   

30

160

 

8

   

245

7th Pz Div  

53

   

30

 

174

8

   

265

8th Pz Div  

49

   

30

 

125

8

   

212

9th Pz Div

8

32

11

60

20

   

12

   

143

10th Pz Div  

45

 

105

20

   

12

   

182

11th Pz Div  

44

24

47

20

   

8

   

143

12th Pz Div

40

33

   

30

 

117

     

293

13th Pz Div  

45

27

44

20

   

13

   

149

14th Pz Div  

45

15

56

20

   

11

   

147

16th Pz Div  

45

23

48

20

   

10

   

146

17th Pz Div

12

44

 

106

30

   

10

   

202

18th Pz Div

6

50

99

15

36

   

12

   

218

19th Pz Div

42

35

   

30

 

121

     

228

20th Pz Div

44

31

   

31

 

123

     

229

Pz.Abt.211

Captured French Tanks - NO DATA

 
Pz.Abt.z.b.V.40

NO DATA

 
Pz.Abt.(F) 102

Captured Tanks / Flammpanzers - NO DATA

 
Pz.Abt.(F) 101  

25

5

     

1

42

 

73

Pz.Abt.(F) 100  

25

5

     

1

42

9

82

 

152

782

269

707

439

160

660

146

84

9

3483





George Parada
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