3rd Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
3rd Panzer Division |
|
---|---|
Troop registration 1939–1940 |
|
active | October 15, 1935 to May 1945 (surrender) |
Country | German Empire |
Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
Armed forces | army |
Branch of service | Armored force |
Type | Panzer Division |
structure | structure |
garrison | Berlin |
Nickname | Bear Division |
commander | |
list of | Commanders |
Important commanders |
|
insignia | |
Troop plates during the Citadel Company | |
Troop registration number summer 1943 |
The 3rd Panzer Division was a major unit of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War . It is not to be confused with the 3rd SS Panzer Division of the Waffen SS .
history
Lineup
The 3rd Panzer Division was reorganized on October 15, 1935 in Wünsdorf in Wehrkreis III . The headquarters of the division staff was Berlin.
The tank regiments 5 ( Bernau location ) and 6 ( Neuruppin ) emerged from the former Zossen motor vehicle training command, parts of the 4 cavalry regiment and newly trained recruits.
The 3rd Rifle Brigade with 3rd Rifle Regiment (3 SchtzRgt, Eberswalde ) was formed from parts of the Meiningen Rifle Regiment, parts of the 16 Cavalry Regiment, parts of the Köslin State Police School and units of the Silesian State Police. In November 1940, the 394 rifle regiment, consisting of 394 infantry regiment and parts of the 3rd rifle regiment, was set up as the second rifle regiment.
The artillery regiment 75 (Eberswalde) emerged from the artillery training department Ohrdruf and supplementary units.
The motorcyclist battalion 3 ( Bad Freienwalde (Oder) ) consisted of parts of the 16 cavalry regiment and motorized parts of the Silesian state police.
The reconnaissance department 3 ( Stahnsdorf ) was the renamed and reclassified motor vehicle department Wünsdorf. News Department 39 was also in Stahnsdorf.
The Panzerabwehrabteilung 39 ( Rheinsberg ) was part of the former combat vehicle defense department 3 in Döberitz.
The Pioneer Battalion 39 ( Rathenow ) was renamed the Pioneer Battalion 37.
Calls
When the attack on Poland began on September 1, 1939 , the 3rd Panzer Division was also ready in the front line. She went as part of the XIX. Army Corps (motorized) of the 4th Army in the northern section through the Polish corridor towards the Vistula . After she had crossed the Vistula near Graudenz , she transferred to the 3rd Army in East Prussia and from there attacked from September 11 to the south in the direction of Brest-Litovsk . On September 16, she met Red Army units there. She returned to her home base by the end of September.
In January / February 1940 the 3rd Panzer Division was relocated to the western border, first to the area around Osnabrück , and later to Krefeld . On May 10th (beginning of the western campaign ) she crossed the German-Dutch border, crossed the Meuse near Maastricht and proceeded to Charleroi (Belgium). This was followed by a march towards the Somme , which she crossed at the beginning of June. After the Seine had been overcome at Nogent - Troyes , it reached Grenoble at the end of the western campaign . From July the entire division was relocated back home.
Shortly before the attack on the Soviet Union began, the 3rd Panzer Division was moved to the Soviet border near Brest-Litovsk. It was subordinate to the XXIV Army Corps (motorized) of Panzer Group 2 in Army Group Center . With this corps she took part in the battle of the Białystok and Minsk kettles, reached the Berezina over the Bug and was involved in the enclosure of Smolensk . After that, it swung south to close the Kiev pocket. From October 1941, the attack on Moscow via Tula followed until the beginning of December. At the end of December they began to withdraw towards Kursk and Abwehr until the end of February 1942.
At the beginning of March 1942 she was transferred to Army Group South in Kharkov . After the start of the German summer offensive , it crossed within the XXXX. Panzer Corps with the 1st Panzer Army crossed the Don at Nikolayevka and advanced into the Caucasus . By the end of 1942 she reached Mosdok on the Terek .
In early 1943 the division withdrew from the Caucasus to the Mius north of Rostov . There she was in the defense until mid-March and was then refreshed. When the Citadel began on July 4, 1943 , the division was on the southern section at XXXXVIII. Armored Corps of the 4th Panzer Army ready. After the offensive failed, it was immediately relocated south to the Mius, as Soviet units had broken through there.
In the last two years of the war, the division shared the fate of many tank divisions on the Eastern Front that were used as "fire brigades". If the enemy breached the front, one or more tank divisions were called in to close the gap again in a counterattack. Meanwhile, the front broke elsewhere, so that the tank divisions had to be relocated again without having any far-reaching success. Due to the frequent relocations and combat missions, the material wore out particularly quickly. Personnel losses were no longer adequately compensated, the combat strength sank.
The 3rd Panzer Division remained under changing subordinate conditions in the southern section of the Eastern Front and fought at the end of 1943 in the Battle of the Dnepr near Cherkassy, Kanev and Kiev.
At the beginning of 1944 she carried out terror attacks to liberate the German pocket near Cherkassy ; then it withdrew until mid-June via Bug and Dniester in the direction of Chișinău to the Romanian border. Then the unit was moved north to the 4th Panzer Army near Kielce / Tarnów . After the beginning of the Soviet summer offensive in the central section of the Eastern Front, the division moved to the 9th Army in the Warsaw area on the Narew . On December 10th, the 3rd Panzer Division was relocated south to the western Hungarian area near Székesfehérvár .
From January 18, she took part in the unsuccessful relief attack for the enclosed Budapest . After the spring awakening operation, which began in February and which was also unsuccessful, the division withdrew to Austria, where it capitulated on May 8, 1945 in Steyr and was taken prisoner by the Americans.
structure
1939 Poland | 1943 Eastern Front |
---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commanders
- Lieutenant General Ernst Feßmann - October 15, 1935 to June 1937
- Colonel Friedrich Kühn - June / July 1937
- Lieutenant General Ernst Feßmann - July 1937 to October 12, 1937
- Lieutenant General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg - October 12, 1937 to October 6, 1939
- Major General Horst Stumpff - October 7, 1939 to September 31, 1940
- Major General Friedrich Kühn - September to October 3, 1940
- Lieutenant General Horst Stumpff - October 4 to November 12, 1940
- Lieutenant General Walter Model - November 13, 1940 to October 1, 1941
- Major General Hermann Breith - October 2, 1941 to September 30, 1942
- Lieutenant General Franz Westhoven - October 1, 1942 to October 24, 1943
- Major General Fritz Bayerlein - October 25, 1943 to January 4, 1944
- Colonel Rudolf Lang - January 5 to May 24, 1944
- Lieutenant General Wilhelm Philipps - May 25 to December 31, 1944
- Major General Wilhelm Söth - January 1 to April 18, 1945
- Colonel Volkmar Schöne - April 19, 1945 until surrender
Knight's Cross bearer
Surname | Award | date | Rank | unit | comment |
Hermann Breith | Oak leaves | Jan. 31, 1942 | Major general | Kdr. 3rd Pz.Div | as the 69th soldier |
Ernst-Georg Buchterkirch | Oak leaves | December 31, 1941 | First lieutenant | Chief 2./Pz.Rgt 6 | as the 44th soldier |
Ernst Kruse | Oak leaves | May 17, 1943 | Sergeant Major | Platoon leader id 7./Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | as the 245th soldier |
Günther Pape | Oak leaves | Sep 15 1943 | Colonel | Kdr. Pz.Gren.Rgt 394 | as the 301st soldier |
Ernst Wellmann | Oak leaves | Nov 30, 1943 | Lieutenant colonel | Kdr. Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | as 342nd soldier |
Walter Model | Knight's cross | July 9, 1941 | Lieutenant General | Kdr. 3rd Pz.Div | |
Wilhelm Philipps | Knight's cross | March 5, 1945 | Lieutenant General | Kdr. 3rd Pz.Div | |
Franz Westhoven | Knight's cross | Oct 25, 1943 | Lieutenant General | Kdr. 3rd Pz.Div | |
Friedrich Kühn | Knight's cross | 4th July 1940 | Major general | Kdr. 3. Pz.Brig | |
Albert Blaich | Knight's cross | July 24, 1941 | Sergeant Major | Platoon leader id 12./Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Ernst-Georg Buchterkirch | Knight's cross | June 29, 1940 | First lieutenant | Platoon leader id 2./Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Johann Eggers | Knight's cross | Dec 14, 1943 | Sergeant | Gunner id 7./Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Gerhard Reinicke | Knight's cross | July 9, 1941 | sergeant | Soldier id 2./Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Werner Schirp | Knight's cross | March 28, 1945 | Captain | Chief 4./Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Gustav-Albrecht Schmidt-Ott | Knight's cross | Oct 7, 1942 | Lieutenant colonel | Leader Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Ferdinand Schneider-Kostalski | Knight's cross | July 9, 1941 | Captain | Kdr. III./Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Karl-Heinz Sorge | Knight's cross | Feb 7, 1944 | First lieutenant | Chief 5./Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Arno Taulien | Knight's cross | Oct 18, 1943 | First lieutenant | Chief 7./Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Hennecke Volckens | Knight's cross | December 17, 1942 | Captain | Chief 7./Pz.Rgt 6 | |
Ulrich Kleemann | Knight's cross | Oct 13, 1941 | Colonel | Kdr. 3rd Schtz Brig | |
Otto Bürger | Knight's cross | Apr. 14, 1945 | First lieutenant | Chief 1./Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | |
Karl-Heinz Dietrich | Knight's cross | June 26, 1944 | Captain dR | Kdr. II./Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | |
Joachim Dittmer | Knight's cross | Apr 3, 1943 | Captain | Kdr. I./Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | |
Hans Erdmann | Knight's cross | Dec 10, 1942 | Captain | Kdr. I./Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | |
Hans Kratzenberg | Knight's cross | Aug 15, 1940 | major | Kdr. III./Schtz.Rgt 3 | |
Ernst Kruse | Knight's cross | Oct 6, 1942 | Sergeant Major | Platoon leader id 7./Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | |
Willy Moder | Knight's cross | Nov 28, 1940 | Sergeant | Group leader id 6./Schtz.Rgt 3 | |
Kurt Schulze | Knight's cross | Apr. 14, 1945 | major | Kdr. I./Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | |
Walter Tank | Knight's cross | Sep 24 1942 | First Lieutenant dR | Chief 6./Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | |
Ernst Wellmann | Knight's cross | Sep 2 1942 | Lieutenant colonel | Kdr. I./Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | |
Martin Weymann | Knight's cross | Feb 10, 1945 | Lieutenant colonel | Kdr. Pz.Gren.Rgt 3 | |
Hermann Zimmermann | Knight's cross | 4th Sep 1940 | major | Kdr. II./Schtz.Rgt 3 | |
Artur Becker (-Neetz) | Knight's cross | Aug 25, 1941 | Sergeant | Gruppenführer id 7./Schtz.Rgt 394 | |
Richard Görlich | Knight's cross | 4th July 1944 | Sergeant | Group leader id 1./Pz.Gren.Rgt 394 | |
Herbert Mueller | Knight's cross | 8 Sep 1941 | major | Kdr. II./Schtz.Rgt 394 | |
Gustav Peschke | Knight's cross | Jan 15, 1944 | major | Kdr. II./Pz.Gren.Rgt 394 | |
Gerhard Steinführer | Knight's cross | May 8, 1943 | Sergeant Major | Platoon leader id 2./Pz.Gren.Rgt 394 | |
Georg Störck | Knight's cross | 22 Sep 1941 | Lieutenant dR | Leader Pi.Zug id StabsKp / Schtz.Rgt 394 | |
Thilo Freiherr von Werthern | Knight's cross | 8 Sep 1941 | First lieutenant | Chief 3./Schtz.Rgt 394 | |
Otto Lempp | Knight's cross | May 14, 1944 | Captain dR | Chief 2./Pz.Art.Rgt 75 | |
Günther Pape | Knight's cross | Feb 10, 1942 | major | Kdr. KradSchtz.Btl 3 | |
Kurt "Charly" dykes | Knight's cross | Sep 10 1943 | Captain dR | Kdr. Pz. Aufkl.Abt 3 | |
Paul-Georg Kleffel | Knight's cross | May 14, 1944 | First Lieutenant dR | Chief 4./Pz. Aufkl.Abt 3 | |
Fritz Beigel | Knight's cross | July 9, 1941 | major | Kdr. Pz.Pi.Btl 39 | |
Friedrich Brandt | Knight's cross | Aug 20, 1942 | First lieutenant | Chef 3./Pz.Pi.Btl 39 | |
Hellmuth Schwing | Knight's cross | Dec 30, 1943 | major | Kdr. Pz.Pi.Btl 39 |
Well-known members of the division
- Werner Adam, second son of Colonel General Wilhelm Adam
- Benno von Arent , (1898–1956), architect and Reich stage designer
- Bernhard Victor Christoph-Carl von Bülow, or Vicco von Bülow for short , (1923–2011), German humorist
- Karl Hanke , (1903–1945), Gauleiter of Lower Silesia and last Reichsführer SS
- Horst Stechbarth , (1925–2016), NCO at the end of the war, was Deputy Minister for National Defense in the GDR Council of Ministers from 1972 to 1989 and Chief of the Land Forces (LaSK) of the National People's Army
- Joachim Ziegler , (1904–1945), later SS Brigade Leader and Major General of the Waffen-SS and finally Commander of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division "Nordland"
literature
- Günther Richter: History of the 3rd Panzer Division Berlin-Brandenburg 1935-1945. Berlin 1967.
- Rolf Stoves: The armored and motorized large German formations 1935–1945 . Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, ISBN 3-89555-102-3 .
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 2. The Land Forces 1–5 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1973, ISBN 3-7648-0871-3 .
Web links
- Organizational History of the German Armored Forces 1939 - 1945. (PDF; 292 kB) Retrieved September 15, 2011 (English).
- Warrior memory. Retrieved November 20, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross from 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , pp. 187 ff.
- ^ Stefan Kuzmany: On the death of Vicco von Bülow. In: Spiegel Online, 23 August 2011.