During the last weeks of World War II, in Europe, the largely destroyed German Army faced enormous needs in terms of personnel and material. It was the period when a multitude of divisions and brigades were formed, from the entities, which were thrown into battle, with huge shortages in personnel and armament.
One such emergency unit was the Panzer Division (MPa) "Müncheberg", the last German armored formation that operated in the last major battles, in Zeelow and Berlin. The division received its baptism of fire during the German counterattack at Kistrin.
A "young" division
"Müncheberg", after the defeat in Kistrin, was reinforced with various divisions, in order to replace its losses. Thus, it was allocated deputies from the fields, from sections of the Volkssturm and the field of the 1st Grenadier Panzer Regiment, the 1st MPa of the SS. At the beginning of April, after these reinforcements, the strength of the division reached approximately 5,000 men.
The division had, in total, 150 machine guns, 22 mortars, 12 anti-tank guns of 88 and possibly some of 128mm, 25 field guns and howitzers and 42 tanks, assault guns and tank hunters and a small number of other armored vehicles. The armored vehicles at his disposal were, one Pz III Ausf M, four Stug IV assault guns, two Pz IV tanks, 21 Panther tanks, 10 Tiger I tanks, one Jagdpanzer tank hunter, one Jagdpanther, one Nashorn and one Hummel.
On 5 April, 10 Panther tanks fitted with 'Sperber' infrared night vision binoculars were allocated to the division. The command of the division was assumed by Major General Werner Mummert, commander of the 103 th Panzer Brigade, which was incorporated in "Müncheberg".
The division had joined the LVI Panzer Corps (SPA), under General Helmut Weitling . The 9th Parachute Division (MA), the 20th Grenadier Panzer Division (MPa) were assigned to the same corps.
The LVI Spa was deployed defensively on the Zeelow Heights, east of Berlin, on the so-called "Hardenberg Line". "Müncheberg" was the center of the corps formation, with the 9th MA on its left and the 20th MPA on its right, in the area of the village of Chechin, which had become a support point for the divisional formation, right in the center of its position of resistance, northwest of Kistrin.
Against the LVI Spa, the Soviets had deployed the forces of the 5th Assault Army, under Lieutenant General Nikolai Berzarin. This army extended nine infantry divisions, one corps and an independent tank brigade, and two artillery corps. Behind this army, in a second echelon, was deployed the 2nd Guards Tank Army, under General Boganov.
In the week leading up to the final Soviet attack, the "Müncheberg" had the opportunity to test the state-of-the-art infrared equipment that had been made available to her. Lieutenant Razim's company, together with the correspondingly equipped company of grenadiers, under Lieutenant Draeger, formed a group which was placed under Captain Stauer.
Infrared binoculars, counterattack, fanatical defense
The "Stauer Detachment", as it was called, was ordered to launch a night attack against the opposing Soviets. The tanks of the complex were equipped with infrared diopters. The attack was launched on April 13, just three days before the Soviet attack was launched. The attack was successful, according to German records, but no specific details have been recorded.
The first use of an infrared device, however, had already been made by the tank Panther 122, which with crew chief Sergeant Hoffman, executed a reconnaissance strike. On board the tank were grenadiers also equipped with infrared binoculars on the StG 44 assault rifles they carried.
The "Stauer Detachment" never fought as a single unit again. In the ensuing confusion his chariots were scattered and acted, to the end, singly. "122" was destroyed in Berlin at the end of April. Its crew survived. But Sergeant Hoffman lost his hand. Another, unknown, tank, with an infrared device, the "Müncheberg", saw action in the last two days of the battle of Berlin, reinforcing the night counterattack of an infantry group.
On the evening of April 15, a "sinful" silence prevailed on the front. Suddenly an order arrived from the headquarters of the Army Group (OS) "Vistula". The head of the OS, General Heinrich, had ordered the entire force of the 9th Army to retreat to a second location that night, leaving very few men on the front line, as he had security information that a major Soviet attack was imminent. In this way he wanted to protect his men from the barrage of projectiles of thousands of guns, rocket launchers and mortars, the Soviet preparatory bombardment. And to a large extent he succeeded.
So when at 03.00 on April 16 the Soviet guns roared, their shells hit the void . A short time later the first divisions of the 5th Soviet Assault Army rushed out. The time of the great test for "Müncheberg" and its commander had come.
Opposite the division were the three divisions of the Soviet 32nd Rifle Corps (60th Guards Rifle Division, 295th and 416th Rifle Divisions). "Müncheberg" had taken up positions on the fringes of the Seelöf heights, at the height of the Alt Oder. There was her first location. A second site had been set up on the ridge of the heights and a tentative one a little further back.
The Soviet attack failed to break the German defenses, both in the sector of "Müncheberg", and in the sector of the neighboring 20th MPA, against which the Soviet 8th Guards Army, under the famous general Chuikov, rushed. The 8th Guards Army and the 5th Assault Army, along with the 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies, were under the command of Field Marshal Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front.
The attack on Zeelov Heights was the famous marshal's worst moment. Pressured by Stalin to capture Berlin as soon as possible, Zhukov threw his forces into battle quite disorganized . And when his infantry was intercepted by the fanatical defense of the Germans, he decided to throw his two armored armies into battle, immediately, before his infantry managed to break through the enemy's defense line.
But again, the "Müncheberg", beyond all expectations, withstood the combined Soviet raid, which was closely supported by the Red Air Force. The men of "Müncheberg" fought, literally, heroically. Mummert had deployed his anti-tanks, in the first echelon, supported by his infantry, keeping his tanks in reserve, with which he launched highly lethal counter-attacks. Dozens of Soviet tanks lay burning in front of the "Müncheberg" positions.
Fight with the teeth
To the left of "Müncheberg", however, the 9th MA, Geiring's "pride", immediately began to show signs of weakness, as its men were neither properly trained nor properly commanded. The crisis on his left flank obliged Mummert to deploy, following orders from the 9th Army, his tanks to support the 9th MA.
The counterattack of the few tanks of "Müncheberg" was highly successful, pushing back the Soviets , who were pinned down on the slopes of the Zeelov heights, suffering catastrophic losses. Although the commander of the Soviet 5th Offensive Army reported capturing 33,000 German prisoners – in reality, there were not that many Germans facing him to capture – his own losses were at least three times that of the Germans.
Even worse, the three divisions of the Soviet 9th Rifle Corps of this army, which was thrown into battle, at the junction of "Müncheberg" with the 9th MA, due to poor coordination, were fiercely bombarded by the Soviet artillery and aviation.
As 16 April drew to a close the German line withstood overwhelming Soviet pressure, with 'Müncheberg' forming the linchpin of the German defence, in the center of the 9th Army. Both the commander of the 9th, General Busse, and the commander of OS "Vistula", General Heinrichi, could not have expected anything better. But both knew that since there were no strong, available reserves, no matter how heroically their forces fought, in the end their defenses would collapse from the incredible Soviet numerical superiority.
Over the next two days Heinrich threw his last reserves into battle. In the sector of the LVI Spa, the 11th SS Volunteer Division "Nordland" was directed. From the beginning, however, it appeared that the collaboration between its commander, SS Brigadier General Ziegler, with Weitling's corps commander and his colleague Mummert, would not be good.
On April 19, the 9th MA collapsed for good, opening a huge gap in the "Müncheberg" flank, which there were no forces to fill. At the time when the German defensive line on the Zeelov heights began to disintegrate, further south the 1st Ukrainian Front of Marshal Koniev, broke up the left wing of the German 4th Army and began to encircle Berlin from the south.
The German 9th Army was split and cut into three. In the center LVI Spa continued its desperate struggle, but was finally forced to retreat. "Müncheberg" formed the rearguard of the corps. The battle on Zeelov Heights was over. The battle of Berlin was beginning.