1st Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)

1st Panzer Division
Active	1935–1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Heer
Type	Armoured Formation
Role	Panzer
Size	Division
Home Station	Weirmar, later Erfurt in Wehrkreis IX
Engagements	World War II
Insignia
1935–1940 and 1943–1945
2nd half 1940
1941-1942

The 1st Panzer Division (1. Panzer-Division) was an elite armoured division in the German Army during World War II. The division would see service through the entire war, from the invasion of Poland to the Invasion of the Soviet Union, and the eventual fall of the Reich in 1945.

History

The 1st Panzer Division was formed on October 15, 1935 from the 3rd Cavalry Division, and was headquartered in Weimar, in Wehrkreis IX. Initially it consisted of two panzer regiments organised into brigades, a motorised infantry brigade, a reconnaissance battalion, a divisional artillery regiment, and supporting ancillary formations.

In 1938 the division participated in training exercises with the XVI Corps, a fully motorised formation. By the start of the Polish Campaign in September 1939, the 1st Panzer Division was one of six panzer divisions in the Wehrmacht. It was deployed with the XVI Corps, Tenth Army, Army Group South, in the upper Silesia region.

XVI Corps, with the 1st and 4th Panzer Divisions, drove northeast into Poland, rapidly penetrating toward Warsaw. In September 16–20 they eliminated a Polish counter-attack along the river Bzura. With the double-encirclement of the Polish Army by the panzer divisions, resistance soon came to an end.

Elements of the division crossing the Maas near Sedan, May 1940.

In May 1940 the 1st Panzer Division joined Guderian's XIX Corps for the advance into France through the Ardennes forest. The corps achieved a decisive breakthrough at Sedan and by May 16 the panzer formations were advancing rapidly toward the English Channel coast. First Panzer Division came within 25 km of Dunkirk despite determined British resistance, but was ordered to stop by Hitler.

First Panzer Division was next deployed as part of XXXIX Corps on the Aisne River line for the advance south against the remaining French forces. Breakthrough was achieved by June 12 and the division advanced rapidly toward Belfort. An armistice with France was accepted on June 22, ending the campaign.

In October 1 Panzer Division was reorganized as part of the Wehrmacht's increase in the number of mechanized divisions. The 2nd Panzer Regiment and selected cadres were removed for the formation of the 16th Panzer Division. In compensation, the 113th Panzergrenadier Regiment was added to balance the divisional organization.

Operation Barbarossa was the plan for the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The 1st Panzer fought in Army Group North as part of the XLI Panzer Corps, advancing northward through Estonia. By July 14 the corps had reached the Luga River, only 110 kilometres from Leningrad. Here the corps waited for three weeks because Army Group North's flanks had become too extended.

With the army now at Lake Ladoga and the city of Leningrad cut off, 1st Panzer Division formed part of the general attack against the city perimeter on September 8. The attack was making good progress and the corps advanced to within sight of the city. However the corps, including 1st Panzer Division, was ordered removed from the line on September 18.

On October 2 1 Panzer Division joined the drive toward Moscow (Operation Typhoon) under XXXXI.Armeekorps (Mot.), assigned to Panzergruppe 3. The division achieved one of the closest approach to Moscow among the German forces, reaching Belyi-Rast at the end of November, only some 50 km from the Russian capital.

For the next two months 1st Panzer was on the defensive with the remainder of the German Army against the Russian winter offensive. It was defending Klin, to the northwest of Moscow, on December 7. In January and February 1942, the division fought against the Soviet Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive, some 150 kilometers west of Moscow. The division remained in the Rzhev area through the end of the year, before being withdrawn to France for refitting in January–February, 1943.

In June 1943 the division was deployed to the Balkans region, then to Greece for coastal defence duties against a possible Allied invasion (Operation Mincemeat). It remained there until October, then returned to the Eastern front in November, where it participated in the defence of the Ukraine. The division did not attack as part of Battle of Kursk, but it fought in the desperate defence against the Russian advance west of Kiev.

During early 1944 the division was attached to III Panzer Corps and took its place in the relief of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket. In April 1944, as a part of Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube's First Panzer Army, the division was trapped in the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket and was involved in the breakout.

In September 1944 the division was withdrawn to the Carpathian Mountains, as the Germans strove in vain to stem the Russian advance. By October the division was in Hungary, and in January, 1945 it fought in Operation Konrad, the abortive attempt to relieve the encircled city of Budapest.

Following the general German retreat to the west, the division finally reached the eastern Austrian alps where they surrendered to the US Army.

Composition

1939 (Poland)

• Divisional Headquarters
• 4th Reconnaissance Battalion
• 1st Panzer Brigade
  • 1st Panzer Regiment
  • 2nd Panzer Regiment
• 1st Rifle Brigade
  • 1st Rifle Regiment
  • 1st Motorcycle Battalion
• 73rd Artillery Regiment
• 4th Anti-Tank Detachment
• 37th Engineer Detachment
• 37th Propaganda Detachment
• Divisional Administrative and Supply Services (join on mobilisation)

1940 (France)

• Divisional Headquarters
• 1st Panzer Brigade
  • 1st Panzer Regiment
  • 2nd Panzer Regiment
• 1st Rifle Brigade
  • 1st Rifle Regiment
  • 1st Motorcyclist Battalion
  • 702nd Heavy Weapons Infantry Company (from 477th Infantry Regiment)
• 73rd Artillery Regiment
• 37th Anti-Tank Detachment
• 37th Engineer Battalion
• 81st Field Post Office
• 81st Supply Services
• 81st Medical Services
• 81st Military Police Troop
• 37th Propaganda Detachment
• 73rd Education Detachment
• 37th Administrative Troops

1943 (Eastern Front)

• Divisional Headquarters
• 37th Panzer Signal Battalion
• 4th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion
• 1st Panzer Regiment
• 1st Panzergrenadier Regiment
• 113th Panzergrenadier Regiment
• 1st Motorcycle Battalion
• 73rd Panzer Artillery Regiment
• 37th Tank Destroyer Battalion
• 299th Army Anti-Aircraft Battalion
• 37th Panzer Engineer Battalion
• 81st Divisional Supply Troops

Commanders

Commanding officers of the division included (final ranks shown only):

• 1 October 1935—1 October 1937; General of Cavalry Baron Maximilian von Weichs
• 1 October 1937—3 November 1939; Lieutenant General Rudolf Schmidt
• 3 November 1939—17 July 1941; Lt Gen Friedrich Kirchner
• 17 July 1941—8 August 1943; Lt Gen Eugen Walter Krüger
• 8 August 1943—9 September 1943; Colonel Oswin Grolig
• 9 September 1943—September 1943; Col Walter Soeth
• September 1943—1 January 1944; Lt Gen Eugen Walter Krüger
• 1 January 1944—20 February 1944; Maj Gen Werner Marcks
• 20 February 1944—18 September 1944; Lt Gen Eberhard Thunert
• 18 September 1944—23 April 1945; Col Helmut Huppert

References

• Mitcham, Jr., Samuel W. (2007). German Order of Battle, Volume III; Panzer, Panzer Grenadier, and Waffen SS Divisions in World War II. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3438-7. OCLC 122526978. 
• Pettibone, Charles (2005). written at Rochester, New York, United States. The Organization and Order of Battle of Militaries in World War II, Volume I - Germany. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Trafford. ISBN 978-1-4120-7498-8. OCLC 64670086.