The 3rd Panzer Division ( en, 3rd Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the

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

, 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. 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 or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

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 Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. 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 (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 1 ...

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 ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

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 (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...

''.

Action During World War II

The 3rd Panzer Division participated in the 1939

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 af ...

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

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to t ...

, and advancing via

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

Brest-Litovsk Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

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

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

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 Operation Felix (german: Unternehmen Felix) was the codename for a proposed Nazi German invasion of Spain and seizure of Gibraltar during the Second World War. Subject to the co-operation of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, the operatio ...

though the operation was never initiated. The 3rd Panzer Division was 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 afte ...

, 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 (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

, 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 ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

. The division participated in the

Case Blue Case Blue (German: ''Fall Blau'') was the Wehrmacht, German Armed Forces' 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 o ...

, 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 near Rostov. The 3rd Panzer Division took part in the Battle of Kursk, attacking west of

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of B ...

. 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 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 Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975- ...

(15. October 1935 – 30 September 1937) *Generalleutnant Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg (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 I ...

(September 1940 – 4 October 1940) *Generalleutnant Horst Stumpff (4 October 1940 – 13 November 1940) *Generalleutnant Walter Model (13 November 1940 – 1 October 1941) *Generalleutnant Hermann Breith (1 October 1941 – 1 October 1942) *Generalleutnant Franz Westhoven (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 __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Philipps (29 July 1894 – 13 February 1971) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on ...

(25 May 1944 – 1 January 1945) *Generalmajor Wilhelm Söth (1 January 1945 – 19 April 1945) *Oberst

Volkmar Schöne Volkmar is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Volkmar Andreae (1879–1962), Swiss conductor and composer *Volkmar Leimert (born 1940), German composer and dramaturg *Volkmar Sigusch (born 1940), Germ ...

(19 April 1945 – 8 May 1945)

Organisation

The organisation of the division:

References

Bibliography

* * * * David M. Glantz.''"The Battle of Kursk"'' * {{Subject bar , portal1=Military of Germany , portal2=Tanks , portal3=World War II , commons=y , commons-search=3rd Panzer Division (Germany) 0*03 Military units and formations established in 1935 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945