Panzer III - General reference on various versions

[David Lee]

Thought this may be of help for future reference when we start our build.
The website also recommends some books.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/we ... r_III.html

Introduction

The Panzer III Medium Tank was the main German battle tank for the first two and a half years of the Second World War, only beginning to lose that status after the appearance of the Panzer IV Ausf F2 in March 1942. Until then the Panzer III had been the only German designed tank armed with a gun designed to penetrate enemy armour.

Serious work on the Panzer III began in 1936, when a number of German tank manufacturers produced prototypes for a tank in the 15 ton category. This tank would be the main anti-tank weapon, firing armour piercing shot from its 3.7cm gun, while the Panzer IV would be the close support tank, firing high explosive shells at soft-shelled vehicles or anti-tank guns.

The development and production of the Panzer III progressed very slowly. On 1 September 1939 only 98 had been completed (compared to 211 Panzer IVs, 1,223 Panzer IIs and nearly 1,500 Panzer Is). The situation had somewhat changed by the start of the campaign in the west in May 1940, by which time there were over 300 Panzer IIIs on the front line, but it would only be available in really large numbers for the start of the invasion of Russian in the summer of 1941.

The Panzer III was laid out in the same way as the earlier Panzer I and II, with the engine at the rear and the gearbox at the front. The turret was an enlarged version of the one used on the Panzer II, now carrying three of the crew of five (commander, gunner and loader), an arrangement that dramatically improved the fighting power of the tank by increasing the rate of fire and allowing each member of the crew to concentrate on one job.

Combat Record

Poland

Only 98 Panzer IIIs were available for the invasion of Poland. This compares to 1,445 Panzer Is, 1,223 Panzer IIs and 211 Panzer IVs. As a result little can be said about the impact of the Panzer III. In theory there were meant to be eight Panzer IIIs in each light tank company, but some divisions had none.

Norway

A smaller number of Panzer III Ausf Ds took part in the invasion of Norway, fighting with Pz Abt z b V 40 (Tank Detachment for Special Employment 40). All four of the early versions of the Panzer III had been withdrawn from the front line in February 1940, but the Ausf D was the least unsatisfactory of them. As a secondary theatre Norway also saw the surrender of the last Panzer III equipped unit, Panzerbrigade “Norwegenâ€

[Tim Bowman]

Hi David

Wow! Great info. Thanks for posting.

Regards

Tim

[David Lee]

No problameo, mate. Since I have already spent the time in this, might as well throw this info around.

[Jim Fowler]

Yes! This is great info. But, i have a question: Approximately when did the "L" (the version of the base kit) debut?

I have a 1/6 Stuart that I am going to refit to be my P3's playmate. So, I am trying to decide what variant of the Stu and region to choose for both.

[Tim Bowman]

Yes! This is great info. But, i have a question: Approximately when did the "L" (the version of the base kit) debut?

Hi Jim

Congratulations on your PIII. According to the book "Panzer III and it's Variants" Walter J. Spielberger, the Ausf L was produced in 1941-42.

A North African campaign, early Stuart would be cool. I'm sure some PIIIs were still in use in France Summer of 1944 as well. So don't rule out a pair of Normandy tanks.

Kind regards

Tim

[David Lee]

Yes! This is great info. But, i have a question: Approximately when did the "L" (the version of the base kit) debut?

I have a 1/6 Stuart that I am going to refit to be my P3's playmate. So, I am trying to decide what variant of the Stu and region to choose for both.

Hi Jim,

If you follow the link I provided at the top of the post, the information in the website indicates 1942, 653 units produced. Quite inline with Tims information.