This Division formed in late 1943 was created from the best and most experienced Panzer Soldiers in the German Army. ‘Lehr’ indicates an elite evaluation and demonstration unit. It was formed by the Generalinspekteur der Panzertrupe, Generaloberst Heinz Guderian, The Division was built around a strong cadre of men who had served as instructors in the Army’s training schools and had already seen extensive combat on the Eastern Front. Guderian also made sure that due to its Elite status it was lavishly equipped in comparison to the ordinary Panzer Divisions. Panzer-Lehr was probably the best equipped formation in the Panzerwaffe. Its Panzer regiment was filled with the latest Panther and Panzer IV models available and moreover all four of the infantry battalions were fully mechanized [ as opposed to a single one of the four in ordinary Panzer Divisions], as were the Divisions Artillery and Reconnaissance formations-the Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion having a company of the new SdKfz 234/2 Puma. The Divisions Panzer Regiment also had the 316. Funklenk-Panzerkompanie [316th Remote Control Panzer company] attached while in Normandy; this company was equipped with 8 tigers, 5 of them the new Tiger II ausf B’s. The Division’s Panzer Regiment had a total complement of 237 tanks. Command of the Division was given to one of his most trusted commanders, Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, who had proved himself in North Africa under Rommel... The 130th Panzer Lehr Division would live up to its crack unit status during its combat service, by providing additional armoured strength for resisting the anticipated allied invasion of Western Europe. By the spring of 1944 the division was at full strength and its first posting was to Hungary before being posted to France to counter the expected Allied invasion. On the 6th of June the division was in the area around Paris, when the full fury of the massive Allied landings against Normandy France finally hit 130.Panzer-Lehr was one of the strongest units in the West and was put under the control of the 1st SS-Panzer-Korps; it was then ordered to move towards the coast in the vicinity of Caen, which it reached on the 8th of June. The division went into combat the next day only to find that part of its assigned area off operations had already been taken by the British 8th Armoured Brigade. Panzer-Lehr attacked, but the situation had already deteriorated to the extent that the operation was called off because of enemy pressure on the Divisions flanks; however they fended off further British attacks around Tilly, operating alongside SS Panzer units. By the 11th of June it was clear the original task which the division had been formed- to smash the Allied bridgehead- was no longer possible and Panzer-Lehr, with the rest of the 1st SS Panzer-Korps, went on the defensive. Panzer-Lehr was then moved to St.Lo in the southern sector of Normandy to counter the Americans and their operation Cobra. Panzer-Lehr took part in the general withdrawal from Normandy and fought at the Falaise gap. In October 1944 it was completely refitted and in December took part in the Ardennes offensive as part of the 5th Panzerarmee under Gen. von Manteuffel, fighting around the Bastogne area after which it withdrew into Holland and then Germany, fighting on the Saar and against the Remagen bridgehead. It finally surrendered to the Allies in April 1945 as part of the Ruhr pocket defence under Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model.