3rd Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

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3rd Panzer Division

Troop registration number of the 3rd Panzer Division

Troop registration 1939–1940
active October 15, 1935 to May 1945 (surrender)
Country German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) 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

Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg , Walter Model

insignia
Troop plates during the Citadel Company Troop plates during the Citadel Company
Troop registration number summer 1943 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.

Memorial plaque for the 3rd Panzer Division on the
Lilienthalstrasse cemetery in Berlin-Neukölln
War memorial 3rd Panzer Division near Fürstenfeld (Austria)

structure

1939 Poland 1943 Eastern Front
  • Panzer Brigade 3
    • 5th Panzer Regiment
    • Panzer Regiment 6
  • Panzer Regiment 6
  • Army Flak Artillery Department 314
  • Panzer Reconnaissance Division 3
  • Panzer Pioneer Battalion 39
  • Panzer News Department 39
  • Resupply Troops 83

Commanders

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 0July 9, 1941 Lieutenant General Kdr. 3rd Pz.Div
Wilhelm Philipps Knight's cross 0March 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 04th 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 0July 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 0Oct 7, 1942 Lieutenant colonel Leader Pz.Rgt 6
Ferdinand Schneider-Kostalski Knight's cross 0July 9, 1941 Captain Kdr. III./Pz.Rgt 6
Karl-Heinz Sorge Knight's cross 0Feb 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 0Apr 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 0Oct 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 0Sep 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 04th 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 04th July 1944 Sergeant Group leader id 1./Pz.Gren.Rgt 394
Herbert Mueller Knight's cross 08 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 0May 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 08 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 0July 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

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

Individual evidence

  1. 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.
  2. ^ Stefan Kuzmany: On the death of Vicco von Bülow. In: Spiegel Online, 23 August 2011.