The PzKpfw III was designed to be the Wehrmacht’s main combat machine and was developed by Daimler-Benz in the mid 1930s under the pseudonym Zugfuhrerwagen, which means platoon commanders’ truck. The first prototype of the PzKpfw III was produced by Daimler-Benz in Berlin 1936. As the introduction of a 50mm gun would have meant a considerable re-design, the 37mm gun was used instead.
Following numerous modifications, the Ausf A (1-Serie) appeared in May 1937 and : by the end of 1937, 15 were produced. Only 8 of the Ausf As were fully armed and the unarmed machines were used for further testing and modification.
The early version of the Panzer III was equipped with a 37mm main gun. Even before they saw combat these guns were already known to be unsuitable for most tanks.
Daimler-Benz produced 15 Ausf Bs (2-Serie) in 1937, 15 Ausf Cs (3a-Serie) by the beginning of 1938; it continued by introducing the next variant the Ausf D (3b-Serie), 55 of which were produced in 1939. Of the entire Ausf Ds production run, only 30 were armed.
All early models of the Panzer HI, including the Ausf A/B/C/D were pre-prototypes of the whole series and were unsuitable for large scale production. Every new prototype was a marginal improvement on the last. Each model featured a different type of suspension, a variation on the Maybach DSO -such as the HL 108 TR engine. Only a relatively few vehicles saw combat in the early stages of the war; the Ausf D saw service during fighting in Denmark and Norway in May 1940 and in Finland in 1941/42. In February 1940, remaining Panzer Ills Ausf D were handed over to NSKK for training purposes.
The first Panzer III model to go into anything like full-scale production was the Ausf E of which 96 were produced. With a thicker 30mm frontal armour, a Maybach HL 120TR engine and new suspension and gearbox putting its weight up to 19.5 tonnes, the Ausf E was the best machine so far.
The Panzer Mark III was a highly reliable machine mechanically but was undergunned and was phased out in 1942.
By 1940, and during the ‘E’ model production, it was decided to fit all models with a 50mm gun as standard. The L/42 gun was fitted on Ausf E, F, G and H. From 1941, Hitler insisted that the more powerful L/60 (50mm) gun was fitted on Ausf J-1. In 1942, 104 Ausf J’s were converted to Panzerbefehlswagen III and in April 1943, 100 Ausf M’s were converted by Wegmann into the Flammpanzer (Flamethrower Tank); designed to fight in urban areas such as Stalingrad. Although the models produced never actually reached Stalingrad they did see service on the Eastern Front. Additionally, many Ausf Ms were converted into the Sturmgeschütz III or the Ausf N.
The Panzer III provided the main battle tank for the Panzer Divisions in the early years of the war. Yet its production was slow and stopped altogether in August 1943.
However, in 1943/44, the Panzer III prototypes were fitted with dozers and were used to clean up the streets of war-torn cities.
A pair of Panzer III tanks stand guard in a recently captured French town.
CONVERSIONS
• PzKfw III (Flamm) Ausf. M (Sd. Kfz 141/3) - flame-thrower
• Befehlswagen III Ausf. Dl (Sd. Kfz 267-268) - command tank
• Befehlswagen III Ausf. E (Sd. Kfz 267-268) - command tank
• Befehlswagen III Ausf. H (Sd. Kfz 266-268) - command tank
• Befehlswagen III Ausf. K - command tank
• Beobachtungswagen III - observation vehicle (Sd. Kfz 143)
