History of the PzKW III

The Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf A was the first developmental version of the Panzer III, but even though only ten were produced the type still saw active service in Poland in 1939. Serious work on the Panzer III began in 1936, when a number of German arms manufacturers produced prototypes for a tank in the 15 ton category. The Daimler-Benz design was judged to be the best, and early in 1937 the company was ordered to produce a developmental series.

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.

The Ausf A was armed with one 3.7cm gun and two 7.92mm coaxial machine guns in the turret and a third machine gun in the superstructure (fired by the radio operator). Armour on all of the development versions of the Panzer III was only 15mm thick, enough to block armour-piercing rounds from contemporary anti-tank rifles, but vulnerable to heavier fire.

It would be the track system that saw the most changes during the development process. All versions of the Panzer III had the drive wheels at the front and the idler at the rear. The Ausf A used five large road wheels with coil spring suspension, and two return rollers. This arrangement would prove to be unsatisfactory.

By May 1937 the first five Panzer III Ausf As were complete, and were issued to the panzer regiments as the 1 Serie Zugführerwagen (1st Series Platoon Commander’s Vehicle). Although ten were built, it is possible that not all of them were completed. Those that were saw service in Poland before being withdrawn in February 1940 because of their poor suspension and thin armour.

The first production version of the Panzer I had been found to be underpowered and its engine prone to overheating. To solve these problems the superstructure and turret from that version were matched with a longer chassis designed for the Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen command vehicle to produce the Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B. The new version was also given a more powerful 100hp Maybach water cooled engine to replace the 60hp Krupp air cooled engine of the Ausf A. The two versions of the Panzer I can easily be told apart by the number of road wheels – four on the Ausf A and five on the Ausf B.

The Ausf B was otherwise similar to the Ausf A, featuring the same hand cranked turret armed with two 7.92mm machine guns. At the start of the Second World War the major of Ausf Bs were still in service with front line units, serving in Poland and France, despite not having been designed as a combat vehicle. Most had been withdrawn from front line units by the start of Operation Barbarossa.