Sicily In July 1943 a new 15th Panzergrenadier Division, commanded by
Generalleutnant Eberhard Rodt, was formed by redesignating the Division Sizilien and incorporating personnel awaiting assignment to
15th Panzer Division, which had surrendered, along with the rest of Panzerarmee Afrika on 13th May, 1943. On 10th July, of the same year the Allies executed
Operation Husky), landings on Sicily's southern coast during which the division, like the Luftwaffe's Panzer Division Hermann Goring fought a series of delaying actions that included clashes with 1st Canadian Infantry Division at Piazza Armerina, Leonforte, Assoro and Valguarnera prior to defending the hilltop town of
Troina along Highway 120 where 15th Panzergrenadier suffered heavy losses battling
US 1st Infantry Division, nicknamed "The Big Red One", commanded by Major General
Terry Allen from August 1–6 during which 15th Panzergrenadier suffered heavy losses. Like the rest of the Axis forces, on the island the division was evacuated, via the port at Messina to the Italian mainland in August.
Italy By August 17, 1943, the 15th Panzergrenadier along with the
29th Infantry, the
1st Parachute and the
Hermann Göring Divisions would escape across the
Strait of Messina to the mainland and participate in the
Italian Campaign. Beginning on September 9, 1943, the Allied invasion of mainland Italy, (code-named
Operation Avalanche), at
Salerno and along the beaches to the southeast, found the 15th Panzergrenadiers among the principal defenders. On September 11, elements of the
British 46th Infantry Division encountered stiff resistance from the 15th Panzergrenadier and
Hermann Göring Divisions around Salerno itself and to the east. By mid-November 1943, the 15th Panzergrenadier Division had fallen back to help defend the
Bernhardt Line in the vicinity of
Mignano along Highway 6. On December 7, 1943, two battalions of the 15th Panzergrenadier, commanded by Captain
Helmut Meitzel, held strong defensive positions in the town of
San Pietro Infine and on the vitally important and strategic
Monte Lungo to the southwest. Elements of the
71st Infantry Division, held the German left flank on the heights of
Monte Sammucro to the north, while the
29th Panzergrenadier Division held the rear near the town of
San Vittore, two miles to the northwest. The
36th Infantry Division, commanded by Major General
Fred L. Walker, launched flanking attacks on their right, while the
1st Italian Motorized Group attacked the left up
Monte Lungo. The
Battle of San Pietro Infine ensued. After ten days of intense attack and counter-attack, the Allies finally succeeded in gaining the high ground on both flanks. With the advantage lost, the 15th Panzergrenadier and its supporting units fell back to defensive positions in the vicinity of San Vittore in the early hours of December 17; they would hold these positions for the next three weeks. Between January 20 and 22 1944, two battalions of the 15th Panzergrenadiers repulsed an ill-conceived assault by the
US 36th Infantry Division, when the Allies were attempting to establish a
bridgehead in the vicinity of the town of
Sant' Angelo, to launch attacks on the
Gustav Line near
Monte Cassino. On May 11, 1944, the Allies launched
Operation Diadem which finally resulted in the collapse of the Gustav Line and the capitulation of the German defences along the
Winter Line. From May 15–19, the 15th Panzergrenadiers fought a retreating battle through the
Aurunci Mountains against the
3rd Algerian Infantry and
4th Moroccan Mountain Divisions of the
French Expeditionary Corps, commanded by General
Alphonse Juin.
North-west Europe The 15th Panzergrenadiers fought the rest of the war on the
Western Front. It fought in the
Battle of the Bulge, where it participated in the
Siege of Bastogne and in
Operation Blockbuster, serving under the
First Parachute Army. It surrendered to the British at war's end. ==Order of battle (1944)==