| 1st Panzer Division | |
|---|---|
| 1. Panzer-Division — 1. Pz.Div. — XX | |
 Unit insignia (Oak leaf) | |
| Active | 15 October 1935 – 8 May 1945 |
| Country |  Germany |
| Branch |  German Army |
| Type | Panzer |
| Role | Armored warfare |
| Size | Division |
| Garrison/HQ | Wehrkreis IX:Weimar |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Maximilian von Weichs |
| Insignia | |
| 1935–1940 and1943–1945 | |
| 2nd half 1940 |  |
| 1941–1942 |  |
The1st Panzer-Division (short:1. Pz.Div.German:1. Panzer-Division, English: 1st Tank Division) was an armoured division in theGerman Army duringWorld War II.
The division was one of the original three tank divisions established by Germany in 1935. It took part in pre-war occupations of Austria and Czechoslovakia and the invasions of Poland in 1939 and Belgium and France in 1940. From 1941 to 1945, it fought on the Eastern Front, except for a period in 1943 when it was sent for refitting to France and Greece. At the end of the war, the division surrendered to US forces in Bavaria.
The 1st Panzer Division was formed on 15 October 1935 from the3rd Cavalry Division, and was headquartered inWeimar. It was one of three tank divisions created at the time, the other two being the2nd and3rd Panzer Division. Earlier in the year, Germany had renounced theTreaty of Versailles, 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 coverttank school in the Soviet Union.[1]
Initially, the division consisted of two panzerregiments organized into abrigade, a motorized infantry brigade, a reconnaissancebattalion, a divisional artillery regiment, and supporting ancillary formations. The division was equipped with the lightPanzer I andPanzer II tanks, with the very first pre-production versions of the more powerfulPanzer III Ausf A. arriving by November 1937 for testing,[2] and the first examples of thePanzer IV Ausf. A being delivered from around the same time, and by June 1938 by the latest.[3] While the Pz I saw service in large numbers in Poland in 1939, the division was still using itsPanzer II's in 1941.[4]
In 1938, the division participated in theAnschluss of Austria and theoccupation of theSudetenland in 1938 and the subsequentinvasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939. In September 1939, the 1st Panzer Division took part in theinvasion of Poland, reaching the outskirts ofWarsaw after eight days. After Warsaw the division was moved to support the18th Infantry Division before returning to Germany in November 1939, after the Polish surrender.[5]
In May 1940, the 1st Panzer Division was part of theinvasion of France, Luxembourg and Belgium. It took part in thebattles of Sedan andDunkirk before swinging south to participate in the attack on theWeygand Line. It advanced towards the Swiss border and occupiedBelfort before the surrender of France. During the battle of France, the division suffered relatively low casualties, having just under 500 men killed in action.[5]
The 1st Panzer Division remained in France until September 1940, when it was moved toEast Prussia. It supplied a substantial number of units to the new16th and18th Panzer Divisions. From 22 June 1941, it took part ofOperation Barbarossa, crossing the former German-Lithuanian frontier as part of theArmy Group North and the4th Panzer Group. The division was involved in heavy fighting and, by mid-August, had only 44, of the 155 tanks it had started out with less than two month earlier, left in serviceable condition. It continued to advance towardsLeningrad until early October when it was transferred to theArmy Group Centre to take part in the advance onMoscow. The division advanced within 32 kilometres (20 mi) on Moscow before being forced to retreat during the Soviet counterattack.[6]
The division was part of the defence of theRzhev Salient during early 1942, initially being very short on tanks and fighting predominantly as infantry until being resupplied during spring.[6] The 1st Panzer Division was engaged in the defence of the supply lines of the9th Army in the centre of the Eastern Front. It suffered heavy casualties during the defence against repeated Soviet attacks in the Winter of 1942–43 before eventually being transferred back to France in January 1943 for refitting. After months in northern France, the division was sent to occupied Greece in June 1943 because of the perceived threat of an Allied landing there. Instead, the landing took place inSicily and the division participated in the disarming of Italian forces in Greece when the formerdefected from the Axis in September 1943. The 1st Panzer Division was brought up to full strength again in October when it received a substantial number ofPanther tanks and returned to the Eastern Front again shortly thereafter.[7]
On 20 November 1943, the 1st Panzer Division possessed 140 operational tanks, making it the second-best equipped armored divisions, behind only1st SS Panzer Division with 155 tanks.[8]
The 1st Panzer Division was engaged in the southern sector of the Eastern Front to serve alternately within the1st and 4th Panzer Army as an emergency force. It was constantly thrown from crisis location to crisis location as the German front lines retreated, taking part inbattles at Kiev, Zhitomir andCherkassy. The latter battle saw the division attempting to break through to the cauldron but falling just short. By March 1944, the division had been reduced to just over 25 percent of its nominal strength. Retreating further westwards, the division was part of theKamenets-Podolsky pocket and, from there, took part in the defence of eastern Poland and Hungary. It was engaged in defensive operations aroundLake Balaton and took part in the unsuccessful attempt to break through to theSiege of Budapest and once more suffered heavy losses.[9]
The final month of the Second World War saw the division engaged in the defence ofStyria. From there, it retreated westwards to surrender to US forces rather than Soviet ones, successfully crossing the demarcation line between the two. It surrendered on 8 May 1945 in southernBavaria and most of its soldiers were released from captivity soon after.[10]
The commanders of the division:[11]
The organisation of the division:[12]
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