Country Nazi Germany Type Panzer Size Division | Branch Army Role Armoured warfare | |
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Active 15 October 1935 – 8 May 1945 | ||
The 3rd Panzer Division (English: 3rd Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the Wehrmacht, during World War II.
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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
The 3rd Panzer Division was formed on 15 October 1935 from elements of the 1st and 3rd Cavalry Division as well as a variety of other Military and police units, and was headquartered in the German capital Berlin. It was one of three tank divisions created at the time, the other two being the 1st and 2nd Panzer Division. Germany had renounced the Treaty of Versailles 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.
Members of the divisions tank regiment participated in the Spanish Civil War on the Nationalist side as part of the German Legion Condor. The division also took part in the annexation of Austria, the so-called Anschluss.
The 3rd Panzer Division participated in the1939 invasion of Poland, where it was engaged in the northern sector, operating from Pommerania, and advancing via Toruń to Brest-Litovsk. In May 1940 it was part of the German forces invading Belgium, advancing via the Albert Canal to Brussels 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 a rifle regiment instead.
The 3rd Panzer Division was part of Operation Barbarossa, 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 than redirected south to participate in the Battle of Kiev. From there it participated in the Battle of Moscow, 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 defence of Kharkov. The division participated in the Case Blue, 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 altimately a failure, with the division suffering heavy casualties in the process, especially in the fighting around Mozdok. It narrowly escaped encicrlement 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. Following the German failure the division was engaged in the defence and retreat that followed. It remained on the Eastern Front for the remainder of the Second World War, fighting in the 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 captitivity by July 1945.
Commanders
The commanders of the division:
Organisation
The organisation of the division: