Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf E

In 1935 construction of prototype vehicles for a new medium class of tank commenced, with prototypes put forward by Daimler-Benz, Krupp, MAN, and Rheinmetall-Borsig. The Daimler-Benz prototype won the initial contract and a limited production run was made of the Panzer III Ausf A model (15 built, but only 8 received turrets). This was closely followed by the Ausf B and C models that included changes to the suspension, with only about 15 vehicles each of the Ausf B and C being manufactured. In 1939 the German army accepted the vehicle and mass production of the Panzer III was commenced, with the vehicle first seeing action during the invasion of Poland. The vehicle itself was made up of four prefabricated assemblies (hull, front & rear superstructure, and turret), which were welded together to form the basic vehicle. The turret included a commander’s cupola to enable him to see all around the vehicle, while the turret itself was of the efficient three man design (gunner, loader, and commander’s positions). The driver and radio operator (who also manned the hull machine gun) were seated in the forward part of the hull.

Full scale manufacture of the Panzer III came about with the introduction of the Ausf E model, with large scale manufacture going on 98 Panzer III Ausf E vehicles were ready to take part in the invasion of Poland, while 350 vehicles were ready by the time of the French Campaign.