January 19, 2022
7 indicates the Kompany NO. and the style of single digit tactical NO. was frequently applied by 15 Pz. Div.. Actually I did not find any direct evidence to support that Pz. III M was equipped by 15 Pz. Div. or 1 Kp. of 504 Abt.; the only photo I have is a Pz. III M in Tunisia with tactical NO. 6, so I infer that Pz. III M might also be equipped by 7 Kp., however, I cannot figure out which organization they came from.
Moreover, I believe the total quantity of Pz. III M in North Africa was pretty low if they have been served in Tunisia. The HQ of German Army initially placed order for 1,000 Pz. III M, but only 250 have been produced in the end [1/4 of order was canceled due to the lack of resources in building Panther & Tiger and a lot of Ms were modified to StuG (165), FlamePanzer (100), and version N (213)]. Most of Pz. III M did show up in Sicily Island (49) and Kursk, so there was very few of Pz III M left that could be showed up in Tunisia.
Another assumption of mine is the Pz. III M have never been to North Africa, they stayed at Sicily and waited to be sent to Tunisia (2 Kp. of 504 Abt.), unfortunately, the 5th army surrendered to Allied forces in early May 1943, so they did not have chances to ‘travel’ to Tunisia. All the backup supplies on Sicily Island were then distributed to Hermann Goring Div., 15 Pz. Gren. Div. and 2 Kp. of 504 Abt..