Description
5th Panzer Division Wiking ring
Sterling silver 925 Ring, Size USA: 10 1/2 or (20,10 mm)
5th Panzer Division Wiking ring
The 5th SS Panzer Division “Wiking” (German: 5. SS-Panzerdivision „Wiking“)[1] was a Panzer division among the thirty eight Waffen-SS divisions of Nazi Germany. It was recruited from foreign volunteers in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands and Belgium under the command of German officers. During the course of World War II, the division served on the Eastern Front. It surrendered in May 1945 to the American forces in Austria.
nvasion of the Soviet Union[edit]
Troops of the division in the Soviet Union in 1941.
The division took part in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union, advancing through Galicia, today’s Ukraine. In August the division fought for the bridgehead across the Dniepr River. Later, the division took part in the heavy fighting for Rostov-on-Don before retreating to the Mius River line in November. In the summer of 1942, the unit took part Army Group South’s offensive Case Blue, aimed at capturing Stalingrad and the Baku oilfields. In late September 1942, Wiking participated in the operation aimed to capture the city of Grozny, alongside the 13th Panzer Division. The division captured Malgobek on 6 October, but the objective of seizing Grozny and opening a road to the Caspian Sea was not achieved. The division took part in the attempt to seize Ordzhonikidze. The Soviet Operation Uranus, the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, brought any further advances in the Caucasus to a halt.
After Operation Winter Storm, the failed attempt to relieve the 6th Army, Erich von Manstein, the commander of Army Group South, proposed another attempt towards Stalingrad. To that end, Wiking entrained on 24 December; however, by the time it arrived on 31 December, it was forced to cover the withdrawal of Army Group A from the Caucasus towards Rostov. The division escaped through the Rostov gap on 4 February.
5th Panzer Division Wiking ring see here:SS Totenkopf rings
More info see here: Wikipedia.org
