101st Panzer Brigade

The first 101st Panzer Brigade was formed on 5 July 1941 in France with captured tanks.^[1] On 21 September 1941, it was used to form the staff of the 23rd Panzer Division.^[2] Colonel Botho Elster was briefly in command of the brigade in 1941 before being transferred to OB West.^[3]

The second 101st Panzer Brigade was ordered to be formed on 11 July 1944 but was not formed until 15 August 1944.^[2] Like most Panzer Brigades, it had a battalion of Panther tanks and a battalion of panzergrenadiers in Sd.Kfz. 251 half tracks. It was a part of the ad hoc Panzerverband Strachwitz under Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz.^[4] The 101st, along with the SS Panzer Brigade Gross, participated in Operation Doppelkopf to restore connection between Army Group North and Army Group Center.^[4] It was then deployed to the frontline on Estonia.^[5] In October 1944, the brigade was reformed near Bobruisk, then it was merged with the remains of the destroyed 20th Panzer Division.^[2] The brigade staff formed the Staff/21st Panzer Regiment, the panzer battalion became the 2/21st Panzer Regiment, while the panzergrenadier Battalion became a Jagd-Kommando in the 20th Panzer Division.^[2]

• Oberst Botho Elster - 1941
• Oberst Meinrad von Lauchert - July - August 1944
• Oberst Richard Schmidthagen - August 1944
• Oberstleutnant Guido von Wartenburg - August - September 1944
• Major Eberhard Zahn - September - October 1944^{[note 1]}