View source for 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion

{{Short description|SS Panzer Battalion}}
{{unreliable sources|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion
|native_name= '''''schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 102'''''
| image =
| caption = 
|dates= July 1943
|country = {{flag|Nazi Germany}}
|branch = [[File:Flag Schutzstaffel.svg|border|23px]] [[Waffen-SS]]
|type= [[Panzer]]
|role=[[Armoured warfare]]
|size=[[Battalion]], up to 45 [[Panzer]]
|equipment= [[Tiger I]] ''Panzer''
|battles= [[operation Overlord|Battle of Normandy]]<br />[[Battle of Verrieres Ridge]]<br />[[Operation Totalize]]<br />[[Operation Tractable]]<br />[[Falaise Pocket]]
|disbanded= }}

The '''102nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion''' ({{langx|de|schwere SS-Panzerabteilung 102}}) was a [[German heavy tank battalion]] of the [[Waffen-SS]] during [[World War II]]. It fought as part of the [[II SS Panzer Corps]] during the [[Operation Overlord|Battle of Normandy]] and was nearly destroyed. Renumbered as 502nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion in late 1944, the unit was destroyed in the [[Battle of Halbe|Halbe Pocket]] in Spring 1945.

==Operational history==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Zschaeckel-198-28, Russland, Raum Charkow, Heinrich Himmler.jpg|thumb|[[Heinrich Himmler]] inspecting tanks of the battalion, Soviet Union, 1943]]
In April 1943, the [[Waffen-SS]] ordered the creation of a series of [[German heavy tank battalion|heavy tank battalions]] equipped with the new [[Tiger I]] tanks &mdash; for use in offensive actions on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]].<ref>Ripley, p. 230</ref>  Each of the heavy tank battalions would be attached to a Corps of the Waffen SS.  Upon formation, the 102nd was attached to the [[II SS Panzer Corps]].<ref>Fey, p. xviii</ref>  Originally, each heavy tank battalion was composed of a single company of Tiger I's, attached to each respective SS Panzer Division in the Panzerkorps.<ref name=Fey19>Fey, p. 19</ref>  By July 1943, the predecessor of the 102nd &mdash; SS Panzer Regiment 2 of the [[SS Division Das Reich]] &mdash; was equipped with 14&nbsp;Tiger I's.<ref name=Fey19/>

The battalion was sent to [[Normandy]] after the Allied [[Normandy Landings|D Day]] landings. The battalion was almost completely destroyed during the fighting in Normandy; in September 1944 it was pulled back to Germany to reform. Stationed in [[Sennelager]] the battalion was renumbered the 502nd Heavy SS Panzer Battalion on September 9, 1944.<ref>Schneider, Tigers in Combat II, p. 271</ref> Equipped with [[Tiger II]] tanks, the battalion took part in the defense against the Red Army at the Oder front. During the [[Battle of Berlin]], the battalion was encircled in the [[Battle of Halbe|Halbe Pocket]] in 1945 and destroyed.

==See also==
*[[Panzer division]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* Fey, William [1990] (2003). ''Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS''. Stackpole Books. {{ISBN|978-0-8117-2905-5}}
* Ripley, Tim (2005). ''The Waffen-SS at War: Hitler's Praetorians 1925-1945''. Zenith Imprint. {{ISBN|0-7603-2068-3}}
* Schneider, Wolfgang (2005). ''Tigers in Combat II''. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. {{ISBN|0-8117-3203-7}}

==External links==
* [http://www.alanhamby.com/unithist.shtml Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 102 unit history]

{{German heavy tank battalions of World War II}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:German heavy tank battalions]]
[[Category:German units in Normandy]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1943]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the Waffen-SS|102]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945]]