I was just wondering if Panzer III's were used in 1944-45. I read several sources on the internet, some of which said they were and some of which said they weren't. If so, on which front and with which formations were they used in, and are there any accounts of them in combat?

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I´m sure the Germans used anything they had left to use during 1944-45. That is if they had any fuel to make them work.

Unfortunately not able to help with any sources but definitely used if they worked.

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is the panzer 111 the one they upgraded from the little main gun to the 75mm
main armourment..krieg

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for thow . will be ours someday.we shall have it all
... und mear.......

It was the Pz IV which was upgraded to the long barrrel version.

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Panzer III

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They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We shall remember them. Lest We Forget

They were becoming increasingly rare as a conventional gun-tank during '44/'45. The last PzKpfw IIIs were produced in March 1943. All subsequent production of the chassis were built as StuG's.

In 1944 eight PzKwIII were converted from the 3.7cm gun to the 7.5cm KwK L/24 completing the order for 700 PzKwIII Ausf N. These were used in the close support role within Panzer divisions.

Also during 1944, 37 PzKwIII were converted to artillery observation vehicles (Artillerie-Panzerbeobachtungswagen III)

In January 1944 an order was given that all PzKwIII returned for overhaul were to be converted to Bergepanzer III with the consequent removal of their turrets which were recycled as static emplacements. Approx 150 such vehicles were rebuilt, and issued to StuG and PzKwIV units. In February 1945, 130 were listed as available.

However, 173 were also converted to StuG 7.5cm.

No PzKwIII conversions occurred during 1945. Either due to lack of resources or lack of enough suitable donor tanks.

The number of Panzer IIIs produced from 1939 to 1943 was appox. 5676 of all marks. Thats not including the 10,635 various marks of the StuG III and StuH 42 from 1940-1945. The Panzer IV had 8298 of all marks from 1939-1945. and 1,141 Stug IV. The majority of Panzer IIIs from 1941 -1943 were used on the Eastern Front.

Most widely used German Tank

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For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

The credit for this goes to m_kenny . I found this post from him on another site from a couple of years ago.


According to Anlage zu Gen.Qu.Nr. I, Panzerlage und Sturmgeschutzlage, Truppenmeldung Stand: 30.12.1944:

from left to right... operational/in repair/on route

AG Sud
Pz. II 6/6/0
Pz.III 20/15/2
Pz. IV 187/127/70
Pz. V 167/180/65
Pz. VI 21/16/45
StuG 185/125/120

AG A
Pz. II 3/0/0
Pz.III 22/6/0
Pz. IV 176/20/99
Pz. V 111/6/72
Pz. VI 52/1/0
StuG 522/76/99

AG Mitte
Pz. II 9/1/0
Pz.III 22/13/0
Pz. IV 165/53/94
Pz. V 150/65/0
Pz. VI 118/24/3
StuG 782/71/49

AG Nord
Pz. II 0/0/0
Pz.III 15/3/0
Pz. IV 22/18/0
Pz. V 17/30/0
Pz. VI 18/11/0
StuG 254/156/0

Norway and Denmark
Pz. II 0/0/0
Pz.III 85/13/0
Pz. IV 30/2/0
Pz. V 0/0/0
Pz. VI 0/0/0
StuG 49/3/0

AG Westen
Pz. II 4/1/0
Pz.III 29/5/3
Pz. IV 345/205/176
Pz. V 240/211/162
Pz. VI 58/58/7
StuG 335/341/413

AG Sud-westen
Pz. II 1/0/0
Pz.III 27/8/0
Pz. IV 137/23/17
Pz. V 20/12/0
Pz. VI 28/4/0
StuG 253/95/17

AG Sud-osten
Pzs all zeros
StuG 16/8/0

Tanks produced January to Febuary 1945:

Pz IV L43/48 330
Pz IV L70 390
Pz V 337
Pz VIa -
Pz VIb 82
StuG III/IV 664
StuH 95
StuPz 14
JagdPz 832
JagdPanther 114
JagdTiger 23

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For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

Interestingly the Mark III was never quite perceived as fully obsolete right up until wars end, though perhaps 'ZW series' is more accurate terminology as it refers to the entire series built on that chassis, from Gun-tanks to stugs and Panzerjager. There were even orders made for a standardised 'hybrid' III/IV chassis to be produced as late as April '44, (Krupp and Alkett seem to have gone quite a way down this route before time ran out).

Last produced, by a quick glance at Spielberger, as a complete functioning 'Gun tank' by Daimler in 1943 but with more than 15,000 ZW vehicles produced since '37 the re-manufacture/repair programme was kept busy well past that.

They were still issued in Beobachtungswagen form to Hummel & Wespe batteries right up to wars end, though not carrying a real gun these were the last of the line that at least looked like a standard turreted vehicle, last produced in April '44 when the above order for a new type to be investigated/prototyped was placed.

Cheers,
Adam

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"Wars cannot be fought with dream stuff" - Sir Percy Hobart.

Thanks for the info guys. Wikipedia says "some were still in use in Normandy and Arnhem in 1944". Any info on that?

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There may have been some Command PZ IIIs in Normandy but none in any front line units I would think. And of course alot were used for training. Some were used by ad-hoc units made up from training units later in the war. At Arnhem the unit was Panzer Kompanie 'Mielke', of Panzer-Ersatz-und-Ausbildungs-Abteilung 'Bielefeld'. The unit had 2 Pzkpfw IV H (both of which were destroyed on the northern approaches to Arnhem Road Bridge) and 2 Pzkpfw III Ausf G and 4 Pzkpfw III L & M. The surviving Pz IIIs crossed over the bridge after its capture and joined KGr 'Knaust' at Elst. At least two of them were lost to 4/7 DGs and 7 SLI at Oosterhout and the rest of the company was destroyed in the battles for Elst.

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For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman.

I'm the "Confederate with a pipe"!! LOL

Jentz's excellent (essential?) 'Panzertruppen' has 39 still serving in the area in June '44 with 11th & 116th Pz. Divisions.

If memory serves some were shipped to Arnhem too.

cheers,
Adam

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"Wars cannot be fought with dream stuff" - Sir Percy Hobart.

I have a photo of a park of PzIIIs in captured in Denmark by the British Army, but I have no idea whether it was just a park or they were actual runners, I suppose not.

I liked the numbers above. m_kenny is quite a reliable guy. He used to post here but has been absent of late, which is a pity.