Mecklenburg: Situation 2 May 1945 Red – Soviet forces, Orange – British forces, Green – U.S. forces, Grey – German forces Sources: Tieke – p. 447, Allied Situation Map, Ustinow – Map 158 (1) – U.S. 84th Infantry Division, Bold units are 3rd Panzer Army
The 3rd Panzer Group (German: Panzergruppe 3) was formed on 16 November 1940. It was a constituent part of Army Group Centre and participated in Operation Barbarossa and fought in the Battle of Moscow in late 1941 and early 1942. Later it served in Operation Typhoon, where it was placed under operational control of the Ninth Army. Panzergruppe 3 was retitled the 3rd Panzer Army on 1 January 1942.
Orders of battle
At the start of Operation Barbarossa the Group consisted of the XXXIX and LVII Army Corps (mot.).
3rd Panzer Army was formed by redesignating 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942.
In March 1944, the 3rd Panzer Army took part in the forced assembly and deportation of Russian civilians in the Borisov area. The civilians were deported to Germany for use as forced labor.[1]
During Operation Bagration in July 1944, 3rd Panzer Army became part of the encirclement at Tekino, the Duna and Vitebsk, where it was largely destroyed. Surviving units retreated through Lithuania before reforming a line near Courland, fighting and being defeated during the Battle of Memel in late 1944.
In February 1945 the 3rd Panzer Army was one of the armies that made up the new Army Group Vistula. On 10 March 1945, General Hasso-Eccard von Manteuffel was made the commander of the 3rd Panzer Army, which was assigned to defend the banks of the Oder River, north of the Seelow Heights, thus hampering Soviet access to Western Pomerania and Berlin. They then faced an overwhelming Soviet attack launched by General Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front during the Battle of Berlin. On 25 April the Soviets broke through 3rd Panzer Army's line around the bridgehead south of Stettin[2] and crossed the Randow Swamp.
Following the defeat at Stettin, 3rd Panzer Army was forced to retreat into the region of Mecklenburg – the headquarters of 3rd Panzer Army. Manteuffel made negotiations with British generals including Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery at Hagenow on 3 May 1945 so that he with 300,000 German soldiers would surrender to the British rather than Soviet forces.[3]
Commanders
No.
Portrait
Commander
Took office
Left office
Time in office
1
Hoth, HermannGeneraloberst Hermann Hoth (1885–1971)
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
^Richard Lakowski, Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg, Vol. 10/1, pp. 653-654, München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 2008
^Mitcham Jr/Mueller, Samuel W./Gene (2012). Hitler's Commanders: Officers of the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and the Waffen-SS. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 137. ISBN978-1-4422-1154-4.
panzer, army, german, panzerarmee, german, armoured, formation, during, world, formed, from, panzer, group, january, 1942, panzerarmeeactive16, november, 1940, 1945country, nazi, germanybrancharmy, wehrmacht, typepanzerrolearmoured, warfaresizearmyengagementsw. The 3rd Panzer Army German 3 Panzerarmee was a German armoured formation during World War II formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942 3rd Panzer Army3 PanzerarmeeActive16 November 1940 3 May 1945Country Nazi GermanyBranchArmy Wehrmacht TypePanzerRoleArmoured warfareSizeArmyEngagementsWorld War II Operation Barbarossa Moscow Velikiye Luki Memel Berlin XXXII CorpsXXXXVIPz CorpsXXVII CorpsCI Corps402nd DivElements12th Army6th Airborne Div8th Inf Div29th Inf Div82nd Airborne Div 1 65th Army2nd Shock Army3rd GuardsTank Corps49th Army70th Army3rd GuardsCav Corps19th Army5th Inf Div15th Inf Div11th Armd Divclass notpageimage Mecklenburg Situation 2 May 1945Red Soviet forces Orange British forces Green U S forces Grey German forcesSources Tieke p 447 Allied Situation Map Ustinow Map 158 1 U S 84th Infantry Division Bold units are 3rd Panzer Army Contents 1 3rd Panzer Group 1 1 Orders of battle 1 2 2 October 1941 2 Commanders 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links3rd Panzer Group EditThe 3rd Panzer Group German Panzergruppe 3 was formed on 16 November 1940 It was a constituent part of Army Group Centre and participated in Operation Barbarossa and fought in the Battle of Moscow in late 1941 and early 1942 Later it served in Operation Typhoon where it was placed under operational control of the Ninth Army Panzergruppe 3 was retitled the 3rd Panzer Army on 1 January 1942 Orders of battle Edit At the start of Operation Barbarossa the Group consisted of the XXXIX and LVII Army Corps mot Panther on the Eastern Front 1944 2 October 1941 Edit Part of Army Group Centre Commander Colonel General Hermann Hoth Chief of Staff Colonel Walther von Hunersdorff XLI Motorized Corps under General of Panzer Troops Georg Hans Reinhardt 1 Panzer Division under Lieutenant General Friedrich Kirchner 36 Infanterie Division Mot under Lieutenant General Otto Ernst Ottenbacher LVI Motorized Corps under General of Panzer Troops Ferdinand Schaal 6 Panzer Division under Major General Franz Landgraf 7 Panzer Division under Major General Hans Freiherr von Funck 14 Infanterie Division Mot under Major General Friedrich Furst VI Corps under General of Engineers Otto Wilhelm Forster 6 Infanterie Division under Lieutenant General Helge Auleb 26 Infanterie Division under Major General Walter Weiss 110 Infanterie Division under Lieutenant General Ernst Seifert3rd Panzer Army was formed by redesignating 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942 In March 1944 the 3rd Panzer Army took part in the forced assembly and deportation of Russian civilians in the Borisov area The civilians were deported to Germany for use as forced labor 1 During Operation Bagration in July 1944 3rd Panzer Army became part of the encirclement at Tekino the Duna and Vitebsk where it was largely destroyed Surviving units retreated through Lithuania before reforming a line near Courland fighting and being defeated during the Battle of Memel in late 1944 In February 1945 the 3rd Panzer Army was one of the armies that made up the new Army Group Vistula On 10 March 1945 General Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel was made the commander of the 3rd Panzer Army which was assigned to defend the banks of the Oder River north of the Seelow Heights thus hampering Soviet access to Western Pomerania and Berlin They then faced an overwhelming Soviet attack launched by General Rokossovsky s 2nd Belorussian Front during the Battle of Berlin On 25 April the Soviets broke through 3rd Panzer Army s line around the bridgehead south of Stettin 2 and crossed the Randow Swamp Following the defeat at Stettin 3rd Panzer Army was forced to retreat into the region of Mecklenburg the headquarters of 3rd Panzer Army Manteuffel made negotiations with British generals including Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery at Hagenow on 3 May 1945 so that he with 300 000 German soldiers would surrender to the British rather than Soviet forces 3 Commanders EditNo Portrait Commander Took office Left office Time in office1 Hoth Hermann GeneraloberstHermann Hoth 1885 1971 16 November 19405 October 1941324 days2 Reinhardt Georg GeneraloberstGeorg Hans Reinhardt 1887 1963 5 October 194115 August 19442 years 315 days3 Raus Erhard GeneraloberstErhard Raus 1889 1956 4 16 August 194410 March 1945206 days4 Manteuffel Hasso General der PanzertruppeHasso von Manteuffel 1897 1978 11 March 19453 May 194553 daysNotes Edit Hamburger Institut fur Sozial Forschung Verbrechen der Wehrmacht p 18 PDF Archived from the original PDF on 28 September 2011 Retrieved 15 January 2012 Richard Lakowski Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg Vol 10 1 pp 653 654 Munchen Deutsche Verlags Anstalt 2008 Mitcham Jr Mueller Samuel W Gene 2012 Hitler s Commanders Officers of the Wehrmacht the Luftwaffe the Kriegsmarine and the Waffen SS Rowman amp Littlefield p 137 ISBN 978 1 4422 1154 4 Raus Erhard Panzer Operations p 353References EditWilhelm Tieke Das Ende zwischen Oder und Elbe Stuttgart Motorbuch Verlag 1995 D F Ustinow et al Geschichte des Zweiten Welt Krieges 1939 1945 Berlin Militarverlag der DDR 1982External links Edit12th Army Group situation maps Portals Military of Germany World War II Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 3rd Panzer Army amp oldid 1120293725, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
