German medium tank Panzer III from the Nazi Panzerwaffe, destroyed in the Allied military cemetery in the Battle of North Africa. The Second World War.
Location: North Africa
Shooting time: May 9, 1943
The Panzer III is a German medium tank of the Second World War, mass-produced from 1937 to 1943. The abbreviated names of this tank were Pz.Kpfw.III, Panzerkampfwagen III, Pz.III. In the departmental rubricator of military equipment of Nazi Germany, this tank had the designation Sd.Kfz. 141 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 141 – special purpose vehicle 141). In Soviet historical documents and popular literature, the Pz.Kpfw.III was referred to as “Type 3”, T-III or T-3.
These Panzer III fighting vehicles have been used by the Wehrmacht since the first day of World War II. The last records of the combat use of the Pz.Kpfw.III in the staff of the Wehrmacht units date back to the middle of 1944, single tanks fought until the surrender of Germany. From mid-1941 to early 1943, the Panzer III was the basis of the armored forces of the Wehrmacht (Panzerwaffe) and, despite the relative weakness compared to contemporary tanks of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, made a significant contribution to the success of the Wehrmacht of that period. Tanks of this type were supplied to the armies of Germany’s Axis allies. Captured Panzer IIIs were used by the Red Army and the Allies with good results. On the basis of the Panzer III in Germany and the USSR, self-propelled artillery guns for various purposes were created.