Formation The 11th Panzer Division was formed on 1 August 1940 from the 11th
Schützen-Brigade and the
Panzer Regiment 15 removed from the
5th Panzer Division and elements of the
231st Infantry Division,
311th Infantry Division and
209th Infantry Division. Most of its members were from
Silesia (
Wehrkreis VIII). s of the 11th Panzer Division during the
invasion of Yugoslavia The 11th Panzer Division saw action for the first time in the
invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Passing through
Bulgaria, it arrived in
Belgrade and assisted in the capture of that city. The division was engaged in retreat and defensive operations after the Soviet counteroffensive in December 1941. The 11th Panzer Division's advance finally came to a halt due to the strong resistance of the
316th Rifle Division and the
78th Rifle Division. Harsh weather conditions were also a factor.
Case Blue and the Chir River Battles The 11th Panzer Division was part of
Case Blue from June 1942 onward, participating in the capture of
Voronezh and the drive towards
Stalingrad. It avoided being entrapped with the 6th Army in the city but suffered substantial losses during the winter of 1942-43. 11th Panzer, as part of
48th Panzer Corps, was originally earmarked for
Operation Winter Storm, the German effort to rescue
6th Army from encirclement, but attacks from the Soviet
5th Tank Army tied it down and prevented the division from participating in the counteroffensive. In the course of defending the lower
Chir river from Soviet 5th Tank Army, the 11th Panzer Division fought a series of tank battles in support of the besieged infantry of 48th Panzer Corps. Detraining on December 7, 1942, 11th Panzer Division's 15th Panzer Regiment immediately had to drive north to push back the 8th Motorcycle Regiment, the leading element of 1st Tank Corps, which had broken through the German front line southwest of
Ostrovsky earlier in the day. The next day, the 11th Panzer Division enveloped the bulk of the Soviet 1st Tank Corps at State Farm No. 79, counting 53 Soviet tanks destroyed before the remnants of 117th, 159th, and 216th Tank Brigades fought their way out of the trap and retreated behind friendly lines. Before 11th Panzer could eliminate the Soviet bridgehead, 5th Tank Army's fresh
5th Mechanized Corps crossed the Chir river West of
Surovikino, while elements of the
3rd Guards Cavalry Corps crossed the Chir southeast of Surovikino and captured Linsinskii, threatening the rear of the
336th Infantry Division. The next day,
Balck dispatched half of 11th Panzer's 15th Panzer Regiment, supported by elements of the 336th Infantry Division, to smash the advance elements of 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps, while the remainder of 15th Panzer Regiment, supported by the division's 111th Grenadier Regiment, counterattacked and reduced 5th Mechanized Corps' bridgehead over the Chir. On 19 December 1942 the 11th Panzer Division destroyed 42 Russian tanks without losing any of its own tanks just south of Oblivskaya. The division engaged a second Soviet attack destroying 65 more Soviet tanks without suffering any losses. By the end of the day the 11th Panzer Division had destroyed an entire Soviet Mechanized Corps. ==Commanders ==