Publisher's Synopsis
This work has been a stop start project going back several years but I hope the present format is a contribution for researchers who have an interest in the Panzerwaffe of the Waffen-SS and the battles they fought in. I've presented a lot of statistical data which I feel has been sorely missed from various works, more so regarding SS-Panzer Regiment 3. This Regiment has been overlooked when compared to its fellow Panzer Regiments from the other SS-Panzer Divisions. The Archival material is there but it's a real task trying to find it all, whether it be in Germany, Russia or the USA. Interviewing Veterans was a much harder task, especially when a lot of the Veterans had died over the last ten years.
The Veterans who I could meet and interview were gracious and spent their time telling me all sorts of accounts from the War. Sometimes I had to find friends who could conduct interviews over the phone or meet them in a Cafe and record their accounts. It was during these interviews that they would mention organisational changes or Kampfgruppen that could not be found in official reports or orders. The Regiment spent just under two and half years on the battlefields of Eastern Europe fighting against the Russian Armed Forces and had to be rebuilt twice between 1943 and 1944. The Regiment was issued some 418 tanks and assault guns during its service life span and these vehicles.
In short I hope this work can provide a contribution to further research and a continued interest in the German Panzerwaffe of World War II and the units involved whether they be from the regular German Army or the Waffen-SS.
