5th SS Panzer Division Wiking

5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
5. SS-Panzerdivision Wiking
	Unit insignia
Active	1941–45
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Waffen-SS
Type	Infantry; Panzer
Role	Armoured warfare
Size	Division
Engagements	Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa; Case Blue; Third Battle of Kharkov; Operation Citadel; Operation Spring Awakening; Operation Harvest Festival;
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Felix Steiner; Herbert Gille; Eduard Deisenhofer; Johannes Mühlenkamp; Karl Ullrich;

The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking (German: 5. SS-Panzerdivision Wiking) or SS Division Wiking was an infantry and later an armoured division among the thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions of Nazi Germany. During World War II, the division served on the Eastern Front. It surrendered on 9 May 1945 to the American forces in Austria.

The division contained small contingents of foreign volunteers from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, the Netherlands and Belgium. These contingents were elevated in wartime propaganda and postwar mythology, including from the former German officers of the division, to give the Wiking Division the reputation of a pan-European force. In truth, the division was at all times equipped with a vast majority of German personnel.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.