The 3rd Panzer Division () was an armoured division in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

, the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The division was one of the original three tank divisions established by Germany in 1935. The division participated in the Invasions of Poland, Belgium, France and the Soviet Union. From 1941 to 1945 it continuously fought on the Eastern Front.

History

Before World War II

The 3rd Panzer Division was formed on 15 October 1935Battistelli 2007, p. 19. from elements of the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and 3rd Cavalry Division as well as a variety of other military and police units, and was headquartered in the German capital

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. It was one of three tank divisions created at the time, the other two being the

and 2nd Panzer Division.Battistelli 2007, p. 19. Germany had renounced the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

earlier in the year which had forbidden the country, among other things, from having tank forces, a treaty Germany had violated almost from the start by secretly developing tanks and operating a covert tank school in the Soviet Union.Mitcham, p. 53 Members of the divisions tank regiment participated in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

on the Nationalist side as part of the German Legion Condor. The division also took part in the annexation of Austria in March 1938, the so-called ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

''.

Action During World War II

The 3rd Panzer Division participated in the 1939

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, where it was the most numerically powerful Panzer Division, with 391 tanks. It was engaged in the northern sector, operating from

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

, and advancing via

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

to Brest-Litovsk. In May 1940 it was part of the German forces invading Belgium, advancing via the Albert Canal to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and into France. Like the other German tank divisions the 3rd lost one of its two tank regiments in late 1940 to allow for the creation of further tank divisions, and gained an Infantry regiment instead.Mitcham, p. 54 The Division was ordered to prepare for service in Libya, North Africa that same year to help support the Italian efforts there. The deployment was cancelled by Hitler due to the invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940. The Division was instead diverted to Operation Felix though the operation was never initiated. The 3rd Panzer Division was part of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, the invasion of the Soviet Union, which began on 22 June 1941. Initially it was engaged in the central sector of the advance but was then redirected south to participate in the Battle of Kiev. From there it participated in the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

, advancing towards Tula. With the Soviet counterattacks in the winter of 1941–42 the division acted as a stand-by emergency force and, in March 1942, participated in the defense of

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. The division participated in the

Case Blue Case Blue (German: ''Fall Blau'') was the ''Wehrmacht'' plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku ( Azerb ...

, the German attack in the southern sector of the Eastern Front in June 1942, in which the 3rd Panzer Division advanced towards the Caucasus. Initially successful the operation was ultimately a failure, with the division suffering heavy casualties in the process, especially in the fighting around Mozdok. It narrowly escaped encirclement on its retreat by crossing the frozen

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

near Rostov. The 3rd Panzer Division took part in the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk, also called the Battle of the Kursk Salient, was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in ...

, attacking west of Belgorod. Following the German failure the division was engaged in the defense and retreat that followed. It remained on the Eastern Front for the remainder of the Second World War, fighting in Ukraine, Romania, Poland and Hungary. At the end of the war saw the division engaged in

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

where it evaded Soviet forces and managed to surrender to the US Army instead. The majority of the divisions soldiers were released from captivity by July 1945.

Commanders

The commanders of the division:Mitcham, p. 55–58 *Generalmajor Ernst Fessmann (15. October 1935 – 30 September 1937) *Generalleutnant

Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg Leo Dietrich Franz Reichsfreiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg (2 March 1886 – 27 January 1974) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II, noted for his pioneering stance and expertise in the field of armoured warfare. He commanded th ...

(1 October 1937 – 7 October 1939) *Generalleutnant Horst Stumpff (7 October 1939 – September 1940) *Generalleutnant

Friedrich Kühn General Friedrich Kühn (7 August 1889 – 15 February 1944) was a General der Panzertruppe in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. World War II At the start of World War ...

(September 1940 – 4 October 1940) *Generalleutnant Horst Stumpff (4 October 1940 – 13 November 1940) *Generalleutnant

Walter Model Otto Moritz Walter Model (; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German during World War II. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare. H ...

(13 November 1940 – 1 October 1941) *Generalleutnant Hermann Breith (1 October 1941 – 1 October 1942) *Generalleutnant

Franz Westhoven __NOTOC__ Franz Westhoven (7 December 1894 – 9 October 1983) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several panzer divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Westhov ...

(1 October 1942 – 25 October 1943) *Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein (25 October 1943 – 5 January 1944) *Oberst Rudolf Lang (5 January 1944 – 25 May 1944) *Generalleutnant Wilhelm Philipps (25 May 1944 – 1 January 1945) *Generalmajor Wilhelm Söth (1 January 1945 – 19 April 1945) *Oberst Volkmar Schöne (19 April 1945 – 8 May 1945)

Organisation

The organisation of the division:

References

Bibliography

* * * * David M. Glantz.''"The Battle of Kursk"'' * {{Subject bar , commons=y , commons-search=3rd Panzer Division (Germany) 0*03 Military units and formations established in 1935 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945