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6th Panzergrenadier Division (Bundeswehr)

6th Panzergrenadier Division (Bundeswehr)

FieldValue
unit_name6th Panzergrenadier Division
image6. Panzergrenadierdivision (Bundeswehr).svg
image_size100
caption6th Panzergrenadier Division insignia
country
branchArmy
dates1 Nov 1958 - 30 Sep 1997
specializationMechanized infantry
command_structure[[Image:I. Korps.svg20px]] I Corps (Bundeswehr) (Peace time)
Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland (War time)
sizeDivision

Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland (War time)

20px]] [[LANDJUT]] (Hostilities)

The 6th Panzergrenadier Division (6. Panzergrenadierdivision) was a West German mechanized infantry formation. It was part of the I Corps of the Bundeswehr during peacetime, but fell under Allied Land Forces Schleswig-Holstein and Jutland Command in case of war. In the wake of military restructuring brought about by the end of the Cold War, the 6th Panzergrenadier Division was disbanded in 1994, although a military readiness command incorporated the division's name until 1997.

The then-named 6th Grenadier Division was constituted in November 1958 as part of the I Corps of the Bundeswehr. Initially, the division was organized with two brigade-sized battle-groups, "A6" and "B6". In 1959, these units were renamed and a third brigade was added, with the brigades being the 16 and 17th Panzergrenadier Brigades and the 18th Panzer Brigade. At this time, the division was retitled the 6th Panzergrenadier Division. Division headquarters was located at Neumünster.

The division provided assistance to civilians during floods in 1962 and 1976, and also fought forest and moor fires in 1959.

In the 1980s, it had a strength of around 30,000 men, 5,800 wheeled vehicles and 1,200 tracked vehicles, including 252 Leopard I tanks.

The division was given the strategic mission of defending Schleswig-Holstein had a Soviet attack against Germany taken place during the Cold War. In such an event, the division would have been subordinated to NATO's AFNORTH command. With the end of the Cold War, the German Army restructured and the 6th Panzergrenadier Division was disbanded in 1994.

Commanders

Nr.NameStart of commandEnd of command
12Generalmajor Jürgen von Falkenhayn19901995
11Generalmajor Klaus-Christoph Steinkopff19861990
10Generalmajor Wolfgang Malecha19841986
9Generalmajor Dieter Clauß19831984
8Generalmajor Konrad Manthey19791983
7Generalmajor Hans-Joachim Mack19781979
6Generalmajor Johannes Poeppel19731978
5Generalmajor Franz-Joseph Schulze19701973
4Generalmajor Karl Schnell19681970
3Generalmajor Gerd Niepold19651968
2Generalmajor Werner Haag19621965
1Generalmajor Peter von der Groeben19581962

References

  • John Keegan, World Armies, New York: Facts on File, 1979, .

References

  1. Keegan, ''World Armies'', p. 248
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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