The 1st Panzer-Division (short: 1. Pz.Div. german: 1. Panzer-Division, en, 1st Tank Division) was an armoured division in the

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

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The division was one of the original three tank divisions established by Germany in 1935. It took part in pre-war occupations of Austria and Czechoslovakia and the invasions of Poland in 1939 and Belgium and France in 1940. From 1941 to 1945, it fought on the Eastern Front, except for a period in 1943 when it was sent for refitting to France and Greece. At the end of the war, the division surrendered to US forces in Bavaria.

History

The 1st Panzer Division was formed on 15 October 1935 from the 3rd Cavalry Division, and was headquartered in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

. It was one of three tank divisions created at the time, the other two being the 2nd and 3rd Panzer Division. Earlier in the year, Germany had renounced the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

, 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. Initially, the division consisted of two panzer

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

s organized into a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

, a motorized infantry brigade, a reconnaissance

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

, a divisional artillery regiment, and supporting ancillary formations. The division was equipped with the sub-standard light

Panzer I The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for (German for "armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as . The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was ''Sd.Kfz. 101'' ...

and

Panzer II The Panzer II is the common name used for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was ''Panzerkampfwagen'' II (abbreviated PzKpfw II). Although the vehicle had originally been designed as a stopgap while la ...

, with the more powerful

Panzer III The ''Panzerkampfwagen III'', commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was Sd.Kfz. 141. It was intended to fight oth ...

arriving in late 1936. While the Pz I saw service in large numbers in Poland in 1939, the division was still using its

's in 1941. In 1938, the division participated in the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

of Austria and the

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

of the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

in 1938 and the subsequent

invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...

in 1939. In September 1939, the 1st Panzer Division took part in the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, reaching the outskirts of

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

after eight days. After Warsaw the division was moved to support the 18th Infantry Division before returning to Germany in November 1939, after the Polish surrender.Mitcham, p. 38 Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1978-062-24, Floing, Pontonbrücke über die Maas

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1978-062-24, Floing, Pontonbrücke über die Maas

In May 1940, the 1st Panzer Division was part of the invasion of France, Luxembourg and Belgium. It took part in the battles of Sedan and

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Weygand Line. It advanced towards the Swiss border and occupied

Belfort Belfort (; archaic german: Beffert/Beffort) is a city in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Northeastern France, situated between Lyon and Strasbourg, approximately from the France–Switzerland border. It is the prefecture of the Territo ...

before the surrender of France. During the battle of France, the division suffered relatively low casualties, having just under 500 men killed in action. The 1st Panzer Division remained in France until September 1940, when it was moved to

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. It supplied a substantial number of units to the new

16th 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

and 18th Panzer Divisions. From 22 June 1941, it took part of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, crossing the former German-Lithuanian frontier as part of the

Army Group North Army Group North (german: Heeresgruppe Nord) was a German strategic formation, commanding a grouping of field armies during World War II. The German Army Group was subordinated to the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH), the German army high comma ...

and the 4th Panzer Group. The division was involved in heavy fighting and, by mid-August, had only 44, of the 155 tanks it had started out with less than two month earlier, left in serviceable condition. It continued to advance towards

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

until early October when it was transferred to the

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army fo ...

to take part in the advance on

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. The division advanced within on Moscow before being forced to retreat during the Soviet counterattack.Mitcham, p. 39 The division was part of the defence of the

Rzhev Salient The Battles of Rzhev (russian: Ржевская битва, Rzhevskaya bitva) were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place ...

during early 1942, initially being very short on tanks and fighting predominantly as infantry until being resupplied during Spring. The 1st Panzer Division was engaged in the defence of the supply lines of the 9th Army in the centre of the Eastern Front. It suffered heavy casualties during the defence against repeated Soviet attacks in the Winter of 1942–43 before eventually being transferred back to France in January 1943 for refitting. After months in northern France, the division was sent to occupied Greece in June 1943 because of the perceived threat of an Allied landing there. Instead, the landing took place in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and the division participated in the disarming of Italian forces in Greece when the former defected from the Axis in September 1943. The 1st Panzer Division was brought up to full strength again in October when it received a substantial number of

Panther Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. *** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...

tanks and returned to the Eastern Front again shortly thereafter. The 1st Panzer Division was engaged in the southern sector of the Eastern Front to serve alternately within the 1st and 4th Panzer Army as an emergency force. It was constantly thrown from crisis location to crisis location as the German front lines retreated, taking part in battles at Kiev, Zhitomir and

Cherkassy Cherkasy ( uk, Черка́си, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy is the capital of Cherkasy Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of Cherkasky Raion (district) within the oblast. The city has a population of Ch ...

. The latter battle saw the division attempting to break through to the cauldron but falling just short. By March 1944, the division had been reduced to just over 25 percent of its nominal strength. Retreating further westwards, the division was part of the

Kamenets-Podolsky pocket Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...

and, from there, took part in the defence of eastern Poland and Hungary. It was engaged in defensive operations around

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

and took part in the unsuccessful attempt to break through to the

Siege of Budapest The Siege of Budapest or Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet Union, Soviet and Kingdom of Romania, Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital (political), capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the b ...

and once more suffered heavy losses. The final month of the Second World War saw the division engaged in the defence of

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

. From there, it retreated westwards to surrender to US forces rather than Soviet ones, successfully crossing the demarcation line between the two. It surrendered on 8 May 1945 in southern

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and most of its soldiers were released from captivity soon after.

Commanders

The commanders of the division:Mitcham, p. 42–44 *10 January 1935 – 30 September 1937: General der Kavallerie

Maximilian von Weichs Maximilian Maria Joseph Karl Gabriel Lamoral Reichsfreiherr von und zu Weichs an der Glon (12 November 1881 – 27 September 1954) was a field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Born into an aristocratic family, Weichs ...

*10 January 1937 – 2 November 1939: Generalleutnant

Rudolf Schmidt Rudolf Schmidt (12 May 1886 – 7 April 1957) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded the 2nd Panzer Army on the Eastern Front. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leav ...

*2 November 1939– 17 July 1941: Generalleutnant

Friedrich Kirchner Friedrich Kirchner (26 March 1885 – 6 April 1960) was a German general during World War II who commanded 1st Panzer Division and the LVII Panzer Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Ca ...

*17 July 1941 – 1 January 1944: Generalleutnant Walter Krüger *1 January 1944 – 19 February 1944: Generalmajor

Richard Koll __NOTOC__ Richard Koll (April 7, 1897 – May 13, 1963) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the 1st Panzer Division. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. World War I ...

*19 February 1944 – 25 September 1944: Generalmajor

Werner Marcks Werner Marcks (17 July 1896 – 28 July 1967) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several armoured divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Awards and decorations ...

*25 September 1944 – 8 May 1945: Generalleutnant

Eberhard Thunert __NOTOC__ Eberhard Thunert (22 November 1899 – 4 May 1964) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 1st Panzer Division. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Awards and decorations * German Cross in Gol ...

Organization

The organisation of the division: * 1. Panzer-Brigade ** Panzer-Regiment 1 *** Panzer-Abteilung I (deleted July 1941; added Jan 1943) *** Panzer-Abteilung II ** Panzer-Regiment 2 (deleted Oct 1940) *** Panzer-Abteilung I *** Panzer-Abteilung II * 1. Schützen-Brigade ** Schützen-Regiment 1 (renamed Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1 Jul 1941) *** Schützen-Battalion I *** Schützen-Battalion II *** Schützen-Battalion III (added Oct 1939, deleted Nov 1940) ** Schützen-Regiment 113 (renamed Panzergrenadier-Regiment 113 Jul 1941) *** Schützen-Battalion I (added Nov 1940) *** Schützen-Battalion II (added Feb 1941) ** Kradschützen-Battalion 1 – Motorcycle battalion * Artillerie-Regiment 73 ** Artillerie-Abteilung I ** Artillerie-Abteilung II ** Artillerie-Abteilung III (added 1941) * Aufklärungs-Abteilung 4 – Reconnaissance battalion * Panzerjäger-Abteilung 37 – Tank hunter battalion * Heeres-Flak-Abteilung 299 – Air defense battalion (added 1943) * Pionier-Battalion 37 – Pioneer battalion * Grenadier-Ersatz-Abteilung 1009 – Replacement infantry battalion (added 1944 or 1945) * Nachrichten-Abteilung 37 – Signals battalion

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* {{Subject bar , portal1=Military of Germany , portal2=Tanks , portal3=World War II , commons=y , commons-search=1st Panzer Division (Germany) 0*01 Military units and formations established in 1935 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1935 establishments in Germany 1945 disestablishments in Germany