The 14th
Panzer Division was formed in August 1940 from units of the
4th Infantry Division and
4th Panzer Division. The 4th Infantry Division provided both divisional staff and the infantry components, while the 4th
Panzer Division provided the tank element by transferring 36th
Panzer Regiment to the new division. In April 1941, the 14th
Panzer Division took part in the
Invasion of Yugoslavia, reaching
Sarajevo on 15 April. Soon after, it returned to Germany in preparation for
Operation Barbarossa. In June 1941, as part of
Army Group South, the division took part in the invasion of the
Soviet Union. It was involved almost continuously in the fighting throughout 1941, including the first winter on the
Eastern Front. In early 1942, the division took part in the German summer offensives as Army Group South advanced through the
Kharkov and
Don regions. It was transferred to
Friedrich Paulus'
VI Army, which was encircled at
Stalingrad soon after. By February 1943, the division had been destroyed in the fighting at the
Battle of Stalingrad. The division was reformed in
Brittany, France. By November 1943, it was combat ready, transferring back to Army Group South on the Eastern Front. It now had an additional battalion of StuG
assault guns, the III/36
Panzer Regiment. The division was part of Army Group South up to June 1944. In August, after being refitted, it was transferred to
Army Group North to the
Courland area (now
Latvia and
Lithuania). The refit included delivery of
Panther tanks. In January 1945, the Red Army launched a number of major offensives across the Eastern Front. Much of Army Group North - including the 14th
Panzer Division - was bypassed and became trapped in the
Courland Pocket, and remained there until Germany's surrender in May 1945. The division was disbanded during the last weeks of the war, with its personnel being formed into two
panzer brigades. Parts of the division were evacuated to Germany in the last week of the war and surrendered to the Western Allies while those units remaining surrendered to Soviet forces on 10 May 1945. == Organization ==