1st Panzer Division | |
---|---|
1. Panzer-Division — 1. Pz.Div. — XX | |
Active | 15 October 1935 – 8 May 1945 |
Country | Germany |
Branch | German Army |
Type | Panzer |
Role | Armored warfare |
Size | Division |
Garrison/HQ | Wehrkreis IX: Weimar |
Engagements | World War II |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Maximilian von Weichs |
Insignia | |
1935–1940 and 1943–1945 | |
2nd half 1940 | |
1941–1942 |
The 1st Panzer-Division (short: 1. Pz.Div. German: 1. Panzer-Division, English: 1st Tank Division) was an armoured division in the German Army during World War II.
The division was one of the original three tank divisions established by Germany in 1935. It took part in pre-war occupations of Austria and Czechoslovakia and the invasions of Poland in 1939 and Belgium and France in 1940. From 1941 to 1945, it fought on the Eastern Front, except for a period in 1943 when it was sent for refitting to France and Greece. At the end of the war, the division surrendered to US forces in Bavaria.