1st Panzer Division 1935-1945

Formed on October 15, 1935, the 1st Panzer Division initially included the 1st Schuetzen (Rifle) Brigade (1st Rifle Regiment and 1st Motorcycle Battalion) and the 1st Panzer Brigade (1st and 22n Panzer Regiments), as well as the 73rd Artillery (later Panzer Artillery) Regiment.and assorted divisional troops. The division consisted mainly of Thuringians, with significant numbers of Saxons and Prussians, and (later) with draftees from other parts of Germany. The bulk of its troops came from the 3rd (Motorized) Cavalry Division at Weimar and the II Motor Transport Demonstration Command (Kraftfahr-Lehrkommando II) in the Thueringen (Wehrkreis IX) region. The majority of the divisional staff came from the Lehr command, and the operations staff was from the 3rd Cavalry Division. The signal battalion was formed around the 6th (Signal) Company of the 16th Cavalry Regiment. The staff of the rifle brigade was largely taken from the 1st Motorcycle Rifle Battalion at Langensalza, and many of the brigade's men came from the I/16th Cavalry Regiment at Erfurt. The 1st Rifle Regiment was formed in Weimar from the 11th Cavalry Regiment and I/14th Infantry Regiment (Rifle Regiment Meiningen). The staffs of the 1st Panzer Brigade and 1st Panzer Regiment were from I/Motor Transport Demonstration Command Ohrduf and their personnel were from the 5th and 6th (Prussian) Cavalry Regiments. The 2nd Panzer Regiment at Eisenach was formed from the former 7th Cavalry Regiment Breslau and part of the II/Kraftfahr-Lehrkom-mando Ohrdruf. That summer the 4th Motorized Reconnaissance Battalion had already been formed from the 4th (Leipzig) Motor Transport Battalion, and the 37th Panzerabwehr (Antitank) Battalion formed at Eisenach/Muehlhausen around cadres supplied by the 3/5th Motorized Transport Battalion at Kassel.