Pz Kw III Ausf. E in Poland 1939.

[tigre]

Hello to all ; a new topic..........................

Pz Kw III Ausf. E in Poland 1939.

I did not find much information regarding the employment of the Pz Kw III Ausf. E in this campaign. But Steven J. Zaloga in his work Panzer III vs Somua S 35: Belgium 1940, specifies that a handful of Ausf. E went into action in Poland, because until June 1939 only 19 tanks of this model had been accepted by the Army and at the beginning of the war were available about 50 out of 96 built until October 1939. Having in mind that a total of 87 Pz Kw III of all types were employed in the campaign is a significant percentage (although I think they were concentrated in the instruction unit). According Panzertruppen. The Complete Guide to the Employment Creation & Combat Force of Germany's Tank 1939-45, the units with a large number of Pz Kw III were: the PR 1 with 20 tanks (some Ausf E.?) And the Pz. Lehr Abt. with 37 (most of them Ausf. E?). Does anyone have more details?

Sources: http://www.pwm.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=1 ... &start=105

Cheers. Raul M .

[Brevity]

Hey Raul, as you say Panzer Lehr Abteilung appears to have been outfitted completely with Ausf.E/F but it wasn't the only one, Panzer Regiment 1 also had a few, take a look

Jentz has them with 16 Pz.III in mid-August 1939 and then with 20 just two weeks later... They must have received some brand new tanks at the last minute.


I think there is every early Panzer III variant possible in this photograph, from A to E. The unit should be 2./Pz.Rgt.1 .

[tigre]

Hello Brevity ; thanks for sharing those pictures here. Although AFAIK the PR 1 left behind at home its 1. and 7. Companies, I see here tanks with the figures 741 and 742, may be it can be explained because the regiment left the companies but took with it the newest tanks.......Also it could explain the vast numbers of Pz Kw III in the regiment.

Source: http://www.pwm.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=1 ... &start=105

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello Brevity ; speaking of Ausf E.........................

Production and distribution of Pzkw III Ausf. E.

Due to transmission problems the first full tank Pz Kw III Ausf. E was accepted by the inspection of the Army just in December 1938. Timetable of reception until the beginning of the campaign:

Dec 1938-1
Jan 1939-2
Feb 1939-2
Apr 1939-2
May 1939-4
Jun 1939-8
Jul 1939-1911
Aug 1939-20

Prior to the start of operations were received 50 units.

As for Panzerbefehlswagen III E from March to August 1939 were received 12 units.

Sources: Panzer Tracts 03-2 - Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf EFGH
http://odkrywca.pl/panzer-1939-czesc-siodma,645449.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Brevity]

Hello Brevity ; thanks for sharing those pictures here. Although AFAIK the PR 1 left behind at home its 1. and 7. Companies, I see here tanks with the figures 741 and 742, may be it can be explained because the regiment left the companies but took with it the newest tanks.......Also it could explain the vast numbers of Pz Kw III in the regiment.

Cheers. Raúl M .

Hey Tigre, just to clarify, since the photographs commonly attributed to 1. Pz.Div. seem to show
- solid white numbers starting with 2 3 4
- underlined numbers starting with 5 7 8
- smaller white numbers with a dot starting with 1 2 4 5 6 8

I figure out the solid and underlined ones should mean Pz.Rgt.1 and the dotted ones have to indicate Pz.Rgt.2. Hopefully it's that simple

Regards

[tigre]

Hello to all ; thanks for that tip Brevity . Now a little more..........................

Pzkw III Ausf. E in action.

Sources: http://odkrywca.pl/panzer-1939-czesc-12,701119.html

Cheers. Raul M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; a little more..........................

Pzkw III Ausf. E in action.

Sources: http://odkrywca.pl/panzer-1939-czesc-15 ... tml#731510

Cheers. Raul M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; a little more..........................

Pzkw III Ausf. E in action.

A column of tanks Pz Kw III Ausf. E somewhere in Poland, fall of 1939.

Sources: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Foto-Kampfwagen- ... rmvSB=true

Cheers. Raul M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; a little more..........................

Pz Kw III in Poland 1939. Pz Kw III Ausf. E of Pz Lehr Abt in action.

Sources: http://odkrywca.pl/panzer-1939-czesc-13,713626.html.

Cheers. Raul M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; a little more..........................

Pz Kw III in Poland 1939. Pz Kw III Ausf. E of Pz Lehr Abt in action.

Sources: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Panzer-Deutsch-P ... 7675.l2557.

Cheers. Raul M .