8th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) - History

History

In 1938, the 3rd Light Division was formed, consisting of the 67th Panzer Battalion, and the 8th and 9th Mechanized Cavalry Regiments as well as the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment.

The division was sent to participate in the 1939 Invasion of Poland. In the winter of 1939 it was converted to the 8th Panzer Division, losing its two reconnaissance battalions to the 10th Panzer Division, but gained the 10th Panzer Regiment from East Prussian forces. It gained the 8th Rifle Brigade, controlling the 8th Rifle Regiment and the 8th Motorcycle Battalion. The battalion was equipped primarily with Czech tanks.

It was made a part of XLI Motorized Corps for the Battle of France. In the Battles of the Meuse Crossings, the as French forces were initially able to repel German attacks. Eventually, however, the French were forced to retreat in the face of overwhelming attack by German Panzer tanks. The division was involved in the destruction of the French 1st Army and the French 7th Army in May 1940, and remained on the line in France until the country's conquest in June 1940. After a brief service in the Balkans in 1941, it was sent to the Eastern Front in July 1941, where it remained until the end of 1944.