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That short clip shows German Armored Train Nr. 3 in the Firchau train station on September 1, 1939 just before the invasion of Poland. For this video series I’ve gathered a large assortment of original sources with the most important being the first-hand account of the German officer who ended up in charge of Panzerzug, or armored train Nr 3, during the invasion of Poland. Here in the first part of this series I’ll introduce the crew of the train and we’ll see the beginning of that operation.

We’re specifically interested in the attack on the Polish Corridor that Panzerzug 3 was involved in. The German Heeresgruppe Nord, or Army Group North, was lead by Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock and was made up of the 3rd Army that was situated in East Prussia the and the 4th Army that would be attacking from the West.

On July 23, 1938 4 of the 7 trains that were incorporated into the Wehrmacht had 77 caliber infantry cannons from the First World War installed. As you can see here, these early trains had little armor, with the original wood slats offering little protection to those inside. For this reason the trains that were operating in September 1939, including Panzerzug nr. 3, were actually Kampfzüge, or Battle Trains and not Armored Trains as they are usually called.

Panzerzug 3, originally under the commanded of Lieutenant Eun, had soldiers from the 19th Reserve Infantry Battalion, artillerymen from the 7th Reserve Artillery Regiment, and soldiers from the 7th Reserve Battalion of Communications. In total there was a crew of 160 with 8 of them being officers.

In addition, it was preceded by a 6-wheeled SdKfz 231 armored car that had been adapted to driving on rails, which was to perform reconnaissance tasks.

Panzerzug 3 was to take the train station at Konitz by surprise in order to capture their transit railway to East Prussia and hold it until the IR 90 which was linked to the 20. ID. This is how the German’s elaborate ruse was supposed to work. On the night of August 31/Sept. 1 the armored train was brought forward to the German border station of Linde. The daring plan was as follows.

At 4.14, the traffic dispatcher of the German border railway station Firchau announced the departure of the fast transit train 7-0-4 to Krolewiec, with an expected to arrival time at Konitz at 4:31.

Here again we see the incredible footage of Panzerzug 3 stopping at Firchau station just before crossing over into Poland. In Lieutenant Zettler’s own words, this is what happened.

"We travel on this heavily overcast day to the border. As we approach and pass columns of our advancing infantry thick fog hinders our vision considerably. Passing the last German outposts we can make out the shapes of gun emplacements positioned behind barns and stacks of hay; we call out and wave to our commrades as we pass. (sound effects) Then we’re alone in enemy territory certainly being one of the first German elements to cross the border.

We know that the bridges situated between the border and Konitz have been prepared to be blown. If we hope to complete our mission successfully there is really only one way: Taking advantage of the element of surprise by advancing quickly. At high speed the train barrels forwards.

As we approach the first bridge we realize that we’ll quickly know if we’ve been successful. Will the bridge blow up beneath us? Travelling at at high speed we mount the bridge and make it safely to the other side. Maybe the thick fog which limits vision to no farther than 20 m has been to our advantage and kept the enemy from seeing our advance. Of course with the fog we also can’t see the enemy either whose first line of defense we have already surely raced past.

As with the first bridge, we also make it over the second bridge without incident. Traveling at high speed there were a few stressful moments of waiting and then we were through. As we continue over the third bridge a building suddenly rises up through the fog, then a water tower and farther off the outline of a large city: We’ve made it to the city of “Chojnice” - Konitz. Passing storage buildings and the tall water tower that supposedly has an anti-tank gun built into it, We enter the train-station.

At 4.45 am our train stops directly in front of the main station building and we aren’t met by any kind of resistance. A few bureaucrats run off carrying bundles of papers under their arms.

Lieutenant Eun orders the two groups of troopers lead by Corporals Hahn and Sturm, to rush the station building and take control. In all the confusion this is done quickly with numerous unarmed soldiers, railroad workers and unlucky civilians taken prisoner. Here is a photograph of the prisoners being guarded by German soldiers.

At 5.10 Army Corps is radiod and informed that the train-station is in German hands."

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