Description
A super nice grouping to:
Oberwachtmeister Horst Becker, who was a winner of the Panzer Badge 50.
- Seven Photos of Becker, often in Panzer Wrap, includes a Soldbuch Style Photo. One Photo he can be seen sitting on his Tank.
- Beckers Shoulder Board – Panzer Regiment 24
- Beckers Dog Tag – First issue, MG Company Reiter Regiment 2.
- Panzer Skull belonging to Becker
- 24th Panzer Division Traditions Badge for headdress – Super Rare
A copy of Beckers allowance to wear the traditional badge of the 24th Panzer Division, the Leaping Horseman.
Unit History:
The 1st Cavalry Division was formed shortly after the outbreak of World War II, in November 1939, when the 1st Cavalry Brigade was expanded to division-size.
The division was part of the German invasion of the northern Netherlands where it encountered only weak defences as it was not a strategically important area. After the Dutch surrender, the division took part in the final actions of the battle of France before serving as an occupation force there and, from September 1940, in Poland. It participated in the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, where it was part of the Army Group Center before being sent back to East Prussia for conversion to a tank division.
After initially being stationed in northern France the division served under the Fourth Panzer Army in Army Group South of the Eastern Front from June 1942. The division participated in the capture of Voronezh and, in late December 1942, was encircled in the Battle of Stalingrad and destroyed.
The 24th Panzer Division was reformed in March 1943 and served in Normandy, Italy,[2] and then went back to the Eastern Front where it suffered heavy casualties in around Kiev and the Dniepr Bend. During spring-1944 it took part in the battle of Târgu Frumos, part of the First Jassy-Kishinev Offensive. Near the end of the war, it saw action in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. Parts of the division were evacuated to Schleswig-Holstein and surrendered there to British forces at the end of the war while the remainder surrendered to Soviet forces in East Prussia in May 1945.
In keeping with the Division’s mounted origins, the 24th Panzer’s tank crewmen wore the golden-yellow Waffenfarbe of the cavalry rather than Panzer pink.
Comments:
Sadly at some point Beckers Items were split after his death. His Soldbuch must be out there somewhere, and his medals were sold because of their appeal. Very sad, but still a nice little grouping to a real Panzer man.
