3rd Panzer Army [SEP] dissolved or abolished
in late 1944.
In February 1945 the 3rd Panzer Army was one of the armies that made up the new Army Group Vistula. On 10 March 1945, General Hasso-Eccard von Manteuffel was made the commander of the 3rd Panzer Army, which was assigned to defend the banks of the Oder River, north of the Seelow Heights, thus hampering Soviet access to Western Pomerania and Berlin. They then faced an overwhelming Soviet attack launched by General Rokossovsky's 2nd Belorussian Front during the Battle of Berlin. On 25 April the
Calais area, on the channel coast absorbing replacements.
The German 161st Infantry division participated in the Battle of Kursk, under the 42nd Army Corps whose other divisions were the 39th and the 282nd Infantry divisions. During the battle, the 161st was responsible for protecting the flank of the 3rd Panzer Corps.
In November 1943 the remaining combat elements of the division were incorporated into Corps Abteilung A, and the formation was effectively dissolved.
Combat History The end in Romania.
The division was reformed in July 1944, as