3rd Light Division (Wehrmacht)

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3rd Light Division
3. leichte Division

Active	10 November 1938 – 16 October 1939
Disbanded	16 October 1939
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	Army
Type	Mechanized
Role	Mechanized warfare
Size	Division
Garrison/HQ	Cottbus
Commanders
Notable commanders	Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen

Military unit

The 3rd Light Division (sometimes described as Light Mechanized or Light Panzer to distinguish it from the later Light infantry divisions) was raised in November 1938. In 1939 it fought in the Invasion of Poland. On 4 September 1939, soldiers from the division entered the region of Katowice where they met resistance from the local Polish population. In retribution 80 Polish prisoners of war were gathered in Kosciuszko Square by German soldiers and executed.

Due to shortcomings that the campaign revealed in the organization of the Light divisions it was reorganized as the 8th Panzer Division in October 1939.

References

Tessin 1965, p. 175.
Datner 1974.

Bibliography

Datner, Szymon (1974). Zbrodnie Wehrmachtu na jeńcach wojennych w II wojnie światowej [Wehrmacht crimes against prisoners of war in World War II] (in Polish). Warszaw: Wydawnictwo Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej.
Tessin, Georg (1965). Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945. Zweiter Band: Die Landstreitkräfte 1-5 [Units and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in World War II 1939-1945. Volume Two: The Land Forces 1-5] (in German). Frankfurt am Main: E.S. Mittler.