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| German Tankman, 1st Panzer Division Wehrmacht |
The German 1st Panzer Division was an elite armoured division in the German Army during World War II. Its divisional insignia was a white oakleaf emblem.
The 1st Panzer Division was formed on October 15, 1935 from the 3rd Cavalry Division, and was headquartered in Weimar. Initially it consisted of two panzer regiments organized into brigades, a motorized infantry brigade, a reconnaissance battalion, a divisional artillery regiment, and supporting ancillary formations.
In 1938 the division participated in training exercises with the XVI Corps, a fully motorized formation. By the start of the Polish Campaign in September 1939, the 1st Panzer Division was one of six panzer divisions in the Wehrmacht. It was deployed with the XVI Corps, Tenth Army, Army Group South, in the upper Silesia region.
XVI Corps, with the 1st and 4th Panzer Divisions, drove northeast into Poland, rapidly penetrating toward Warsaw. In September 16–20 they eliminated a Polish counter-attack along the river Bzura. With the double-encirclement of the Polish Army by the panzer divisions, resistance soon came to an end.
In May 1940 the 1st Panzer Division joined Guderian's XIX Corps for the advance into France through the Ardennes forest. The corps achieved a decisive breakthrough at Sedan and by May 16 the panzer formations were advancing rapidly toward the English Channel coast. First Panzer Division came within 25 km of Dunkirk despite determined British resistance, but was ordered to stop by Hitler.