Wilhelm Ritter Von Thoma - Panzer Commander

Panzer Commander

After the Nazi Party gained power in 1933, the German government greatly expanded and heavily invested in the military, and armour was given particular emphasis during this period of rearmament. With his extensive experience in mechanised military formations, von Thoma was a logical choice to head one of the world's first completely mechanised units. On 1 August 1934, he was transferred to the Motorized Demonstration Command Ohrdruf. This unit was formed in 1934 at Ohrdruf, the Kraftfahr-Lehrkommando (Motorized Demonstration Group) and was Germany's first dedicated tank unit and—in von Thoma's own words, the "grandmother of all the others." Initially composed of one battalion, the unit later gained a second battalion and was equipped with Germany's first new tank, the small two-man Panzer I light tank armed with two machine guns. A second Motorized Demonstration Group was later established at Zossen. These two groups provided the nucleus from which several panzer regiments were born.

Von Thoma's promotion within the new armoured formations was rapid. On 15 October 1935, he was appointed commander of the II Battalion, Panzer Regiment 4, 2nd Panzer Division. This date marked the official formation of Germany's first three armoured divisions. The 1st Panzer Division commanded by General der Kavallerie Maximilian Freiherr von und zu Weichs an der Glon at Weimar; the 2nd Panzer Division commanded by Oberst (later Generalmajor) Heinz Guderian at Würzburg; and the 3rd Panzer Division commanded by Generalleutnant Ernst Feßmann at Berlin. From 9 to 14 December 1935, von Thoma was detached to the Army and Luftwaffe Signals Course at the Halle/Salle Signals School—presumably to learn how to coordinate the movements of air and armoured units.