3rd Panzer Grenadier Division

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3rd Infantry Division
3rd Motorized Infantry Division
3rd Panzer Grenadier Division

Troop registration number of the 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division

Troop registration
active June 23, 1943 to April 16, 1945 (surrender)
Country German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire
Armed forces Wehrmacht
Armed forces army
Type Panzer Grenadier Division
structure structure
Location Frankfurt (Oder)
Second World War Attack on Poland in 1939

Western campaign 1940
War against the Soviet Union 1941–1943
Italy 1943–1944
Western Front 1944–1945

Commanders
list of Commanders

The 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division was a major unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht in World War II . It was the successor to the 3rd Motorized Infantry Division and the 3rd Infantry Division .

Division history

3rd Infantry Division

Shortly after the seizure of power, five new barracks were built around Frankfurt (Oder) in the west of the city. These were located on the western city ring, which was soon continued to the motorway. The 1st Cavalry Division of the Reichswehr was in the city . In the spring of 1934 this was relocated to Potsdam . Parts of the rod, such. B. The Ia Lieutenant Colonel Maximilian Fretter-Pico and the Division Adjutant Captain Hermann Balck stayed behind in Frankfurt to form the nucleus of a new division staff. On October 1, 1934, under Colonel Curt Haase , this staff was given the cover designation "Commander of Frankfurt". It was not officially renamed the 3rd Infantry Division until October 15, 1935.

After the division was operational on August 26, 1939, it crossed the Polish border on September 1, 1939 as part of the II Army Corps of the 4th Army in Army Group North . When the Vistula was crossed, it moved towards Warsaw and was involved in the capture (→ Battle of Warsaw (1939) ).

In October it was relocated to the Eifel to secure the German western front. When the campaign in the west began on May 10, 1940 , she was in the forefront and under the command of III. Army Corps of the 12th Army and crossed the Luxembourg border. The division crossed the Meuse at Nouzonville and took over the flank protection for the armored forces that attacked in the direction of the Channel coast . In the second phase of the campaign, they attacked south and secured the demarcation line after the end of the campaign. Here the reclassification into a motorized infantry division took place.

3rd Infantry Division (motorized)

On June 22, 1941, the newly formed division in the northern section of the Eastern Front under the command of Panzer Group 4 was ready to carry out the attack on the Soviet Union . After she had reached Demyansk by September 1941 , she moved to Army Group Center to support the attack on Moscow . It got as far as Burzewo, 40 kilometers from Moscow , but then had to go over to the defense and withdraw again.

Until April 1942, the division defended the central section of the Eastern Front. When the situation had stabilized somewhat, they were pulled from the front, freshened up and relocated to the southern section of the eastern front. Here the division went in XXXXVII. Panzer Corps of the 4th Panzer Army advanced after the start of the summer offensive on Voronezh- on- Don and captured it on July 7th, 1942. Then it went further south to the 6th Army to take part in the attack in the Donbogen with the XIVth Panzer Corps . On August 11th, Kalatsch-am-Don was reached and the attack continued towards the north of Stalingrad . After the Soviet offensive , which led to the encirclement of the 6th Army, the 3rd Motorized Infantry Division was also included. Only a few units were outside the boiler. On January 31, 1943, the survivors of the Kesselschlacht were taken prisoner.

3rd Panzer Grenadier Division

In July 1943 the newly established 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division (see structure) was relocated from France to Italy. In September she took part in the disarming of the Italian army . This was followed by the deployment of a reinforced combat group at the US landing head in Salerno . There was a slow retreat to the north via Naples in October and Monte Cassino in January. Fight against the US landing at Anzio-Nettuno in January . By mid-June, withdrawal to the north of Rome and defense in the Heinrich position.

The division was withdrawn from the front in mid-August and sent to the 1st Army on the western front . There she came to her first assignments between the Marne and Moselle . Relocated to the battle area around Aachen from mid-October , she fought in the Battle of Aachen . Used from December 20, 1944 as part of the Ardennes Offensive , it fought in the area of ​​the 6th Panzer Army around Bastogne . Several dozen soldiers of the division were victims of the Chenogne massacre on New Year's Day 1945. After the offensive failed, they retreated to the Rhine south of Cologne , into the Siegerland and the area around Iserlohn . There the surrender took place on April 16, 1945.

War crimes

Members of the 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division deployed in southern and central Italy from September 1943 to August 1944 were involved in a series of war crimes against civilians. The first excesses against the civilian population occurred during and after the uprising in Naples by Panzer Division 103. In October, five hostages were hanged in Cassino in response to an attack on Division 103 . Members of the 29th Motorized Grenadier Regiment were responsible for the Caiazzo massacre in the same month , in which innocent women and children were also killed. According to Carlo Gentile, around 60 civilians were killed by members of the grenadier regiment (motorized) in the immediate and wider area of Caiazzo north of Naples . In the summer of 1944 the same regiment was used to fight gangs in Tuscany in the Grosseto area. At the end of July 1944, in response to a partisan attack, 29 civilians were shot near Empoli and another 13 in mid-August in San Piero a Ponti near Florence . Gentile estimates that members of the 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division killed around 200 civilians in Italy between September 1943 and August 1944. The project Atlante degli Stragi Naziste e Fasciste in Italia, financed by the German Federal Government and led by a historians' commission, comes to similar conclusions (German Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy).

After the division was transferred to France, members of the division committed further war crimes. At the end of August 1944 in the Saulx Valley near Robert-Espagne , Beurey-sur-Saulx and other neighboring communities where 86 civilians were killed by members of the 29th Motorized Grenadier Regiment.

structure

The 3rd Infantry Division set up in Wehrkreis III (Berlin) in Frankfurt (Oder) consisted of the in August 1939

  • Infantry Regiment 8 (location Frankfurt (Oder))
  • Infantry Regiment 29 ( Guben )
  • Infantry Regiment 50 ( Landsberg an der Warthe )
  • Artillery Regiment 3 (Frankfurt (Oder))
  • Reconnaissance Department 3 ( Fürstenwalde )
  • Anti-tank department 3 (Frankfurt (Oder))
  • Engineer Battalion 3 ( Küstrin )
  • News Department 3 ( Potsdam )

It was reclassified into a motorized infantry division in August 1940. The 50th Infantry Regiment gave the division to the newly established 111th Infantry Division . The remaining units were motorized, partly renamed. In June 1942, the Panzer Division 103 and the Army Flak Artillery Division 312 were added.

The reclassification to the Panzergrenadier Division was practically a reorganization, as the old division went under in the Stalingrad pocket. Only a few sub-units, convalescents and vacationers had still served in the old division. The 386th Motorized Infantry Division, which had just been set up in Lyon / France, was used for the reorganization . Their units were given the same numbers as the old division. On June 23, 1943, the line-up was completed and the division was ready for action.

3rd Infantry Division
August 1939 		3rd Motorized Infantry Division
August 1940 		3rd Panzer Grenadier Division
reorganized June 1943
  • Panzer Division 103
  • 8th Infantry Regiment
  • Infantry Regiment 29
  • 50th Infantry Regiment
  • Motorized Infantry Regiment 8
  • Infantry Regiment (motorized) 29
  • Motorized Grenadier Regiment 8
  • Motorized Grenadier Regiment 29
  • Motorbike Rifle Battalion 53
  • 3rd Artillery Regiment
  • Artillery Regiment (motorized) 3
  • 3rd Panzer Artillery Regiment
  • Army Flak Artillery Department 312
  • Army Flak Artillery Department 312
  • Reconnaissance Department 3
  • Reconnaissance Department (motorized) 53
  • Panzer Reconnaissance Division 103
  • Anti-tank department 3
  • Panzer Jäger Division 3
  • Panzer Jäger Department 3 (only from June 1944)
  • Engineer Battalion 3rd
  • Pioneer Battalion (motorized) 3
  • 3rd Panzer Engineer Battalion
  • News Department 3
  • News department (mot.) 3
  • Panzer News Department 3

Commanders

(The last rank in the respective period is given.)

3rd Infantry Division

3rd Infantry Division (motorized)

3rd Panzer Grenadier Division

Knight's Cross bearer

Surname Award Award date Rank unit comment
Grasses, Fritz Hubert Oak leaves June 26, 1944 Lieutenant General Kdr. 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division as the 517th soldier
Haen, Rudolf Oak leaves 21 Sep 1944 major Kdr. Pz.Abt 103 as the 590th soldier
Schlömer, Helmuth Oak leaves Dec 23, 1942 Major general Kdr. 3rd Inf.Div (motorized) as the 161st soldier
Littmann, Walter Knight's cross Apr 17, 1945 Captain Fhr. I./Pz.Gren.Rgt 8
Zillis, Karlheinz Knight's cross Dec 11, 1944 Lieutenant dR Fhr. 10./Gren.Rgt 8 (motorized)
Baron von Beaulieu-Marconnay, Sigurd-Horstmar Knight's cross Jan. 20, 1943 Colonel Kdr. Gren.Rgt 29 (motorized)
Borchert, Ernst Knight's cross 29 Sep 1941 First lieutenant Chief 1./Inf.Rgt 29 (mot.)
Jettung, Ernst Knight's cross 0June 4, 1944 Sergeant Major Platoon leader id 1./Gren.Rgt 29 (mot.)
Kracht, Hermann Knight's cross Dec 25, 1944 Sergeant Major Zugführer id 12. (MG) /Gren.Rgt 29 (mot.)
Semrau, Norbert Knight's cross 0Apr 6, 1944 Lieutenant dR Platoon leader id 1./Gren.Rgt 29 (mot.)
Turk, Gerhard Knight's cross December 17, 1942 First Lieutenant dR Chief 3./Inf.Rgt 29 (mot.)
Walter, Gerhard Knight's cross 0Jan. 1, 1944 Sergeant Major Zugführer id 5./Gren.Rgt 29 (mot.)
Beschnidt, Werner Knight's cross 0Oct. 4, 1944 First lieutenant Fhr. 2./Pz.Abt 103
Haen, Rudolf Knight's cross Dec 18, 1942 Captain Chief 1./Pz.Abt 103
Scherf, Fritz Knight's cross Sep 30 1944 Sergeant Major Platoon leader id 2./Pz.Abt 103
Stünzner von, Ewald Knight's cross Sep 10 1942 Captain Chief 3./Pz.Abt 103
Walz, Hans Knight's cross Apr. 14, 1945 First lieutenant Chief 1./Pz.Abt 103
Wolf, Wilhelm Knight's cross 0Aug 7, 1942 Staff Sergeant Platoon leader id 2./Pz.Abt 103
Apitzsch, Karl-Arthur Knight's cross 0Nov 4, 1943 First lieutenant VB id 4./Art.Rgt 3 (mot.)
Becker, Paul Knight's cross Oct 25, 1942 Richtkanonier id 10./Art.Rgt 3 (mot.)
Schwarz, Heinrich Knight's cross Jan 15, 1943 Corporal Richtkanonier id 10./Art.Rgt 3 (mot.)
Tippelskirch von, Adolf-Hilmar Knight's cross 29 Sep 1941 First lieutenant Chief 1./Art.Rgt 3 (mot.)
Speckenheier, Helmut Knight's cross 0Oct 7, 1942 First lieutenant Fhr. 3./Heeres -Flak.Art.Abt 312
Mirau, Harry Knight's cross Nov 13, 1942 Private Gunner id 3./Pz.Jäg.Abt 3
Ball, Gerhard Knight's cross Nov 23, 1941 Captain Fhr. Aufkl.Abt 53 (motorized)
Erdmann, Albrecht Knight's cross Sep 12 1941 Lieutenant colonel Kdr. KradSchtz.Btl 53
Stracke, Walter Knight's cross Nov 21, 1942 First Lieutenant dR Chef 2./KradSchtz.Btl 53
Heinze, Otto Knight's cross 0Nov 6, 1942 Sergeant Major Zugführer id 2./Pi.Btl 3 (mot.)
Schubert, Paul-Georg Knight's cross 0March 2, 1944 Sergeant Major Platoon leader id 3./Pi.Btl 3 (mot.)
Wegener, Werner Knight's cross December 24, 1944 Major dR Kdr. Pi.Btl 3 (mot.)
Wehrmann, Gerhard Knight's cross 0Nov 3, 1944 Captain Fhr. Felders.Btl 3

Well-known members of the division

literature

  • Carlo Gentile : Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in Partisan War: Italy 1943–1945. Schöningh, Paderborn 2012, ISBN 978-3-506-76520-8 . (Cologne, Univ., Diss., 2008.)
  • 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 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ralf-Rüdiger Targiel : Frankfurt (Oder) in the mirror of the photographs by L. Haase & Co. / Foto-Fricke , Erfurt 2012, p. 103.
  2. ↑ David T. Zabecki / Dieter J. Biedekarken (eds.): Order in Chaos - The Memoirs of General of Panzer Troops Hermann Balck , Lexington 2015, p. 154.
  3. ↑ Georg Tessin: German associations and troops 1918–1939 , Osnabrück 1974, p. 229.
  4. ^ A b Rolf Stoves: The armored and motorized large German associations 1935-1945 . Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, ISBN 3-89555-102-3 , p. 33-34 .
  5. ↑ Rolf Stoves: The armored and motorized large German associations 1935-1945 . Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, ISBN 3-89555-102-3 , p. 36 .
  6. ↑ Rolf Stoves: The armored and motorized large German associations 1935-1945 . Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, ISBN 3-89555-102-3 , p. 36-37 .
  7. ↑ Carlo Gentile: I crimini di guerra tedeschi in Italia 1943-1945. Einaudi, Turin 2015 ISBN 978-88-06-21721-1 pp. 395-396
  8. ↑ 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division. In: straginazifasciste.it. Retrieved October 24, 2019 (Italian).
  9. ↑ Vallée de la Saulx (Saulx Valley). In: gedenkorte-europa.eu. Retrieved October 24, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Rolf Stoves: The armored and motorized large German associations 1935-1945 . Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, ISBN 3-89555-102-3 , p. 32-33 .
  11. ↑ Rolf Stoves: The armored and motorized large German associations 1935-1945 . Ed. Dörfler im Nebel-Verlag, Eggolsheim 2003, ISBN 3-89555-102-3 , p. 35 .
  12. ↑ 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 Veit Scherzer : Ritterkreuzträger 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.