The German Seventh Panzer Division was formerly known as the Second Light Panzer Division, which was formed in 1935 with only one battalion of tank armor, subordinate to the 6th and 7th Cavalry Infantry Regiments, the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment, the 66th Panzer Battalion, and the 78th Artillery Regiment, with 85 tanks. It was one of germany's most famous armored units in World War II. During the Battle of France, Rommel led the Seventh Panzer Division to capture 100,000 Anglo-French troops and destroy more than 450 Allied tanks.
On September 1, 1939, the German blitzkrieg in Poland, several German light divisions performed very badly on the battlefield, compared with the panzer division, the German light armored division was obviously insufficient in armored strength and inflexible, resulting in inefficient operations. After the Polish Campaign, the German High Command ordered that all light armored divisions be converted into armored divisions. On October 18, 1939, the German 1st, 2nd and 3rd Light Divisions took the lead in reorganizing and renaming them the 6th, 7th and 8th Panzer Divisions.
On 12 February 1940, Major General Erwin Rommel succeeded Lieutenant General Stump as the second commander of the Seventh Panzer Division. Prior to the Battle of France, the subordinate units of the Seventh Panzer Division included the 25th Panzer Regiment, the Seventh Infantry Brigade, the 37th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, the 78th Artillery Regiment, the 42nd Anti-Tank Battalion, the 83rd Communications Battalion, the 58th Engineer Battalion, and the Division's Logistics Unit. Equipped with 34 Panzer I tanks, 68 Panzer II tanks, 91 38 (T) tanks and 24 Panzer IV tanks, together with command tanks, the Seventh Panzer Division had 225 tanks.
On May 10, 1940, the Battle of France broke out. Both the Seventh Panzer Division and the Fifth Panzer Division were subordinate to the German 15th Motorized Corps. At that time, the main task of the German 15th Motorized Army was to forcibly cross the Ardennes region, bypass the French heavily fortified Maginot Line, launch an attack on the British and French forces from behind, and surround and annihilate the main force of the Allied forces.
At the beginning of the battle, the German Seventh Panzer Division pursued and fought fiercely against the British and French troops, the French army was caught off guard, and from May 16 to 17, the German Seventh Panzer Division took two days to break through the French defense line, and interspersed more than 40 kilometers inside it, 5 French divisions were severely damaged, more than 10,000 people were captured, and successfully crossed the Sambre River. On 20 May, the Seventh Panzer Division had advanced to Dunkirk less than 100 km.
On 21 May, the Anglo-French forces launched a counterattack against the Seventh Panzer Division in the Arras area. The German Seventh Panzer Division, with its 88mm anti-aircraft guns and the Stuka bombers supported by the German Air Force, blocked the fierce counterattack of the Anglo-French forces. On 30 May, the German Seventh Panzer Division completed the encirclement of the Allies, but the German high command gave the German infantry the task of attacking Dunkirk. The Seventh Panzer Division withdrew from the front line to recuperate and prepare to participate in the second phase of the French campaign. Nearly 400,000 Allied troops besieged in Dunkirk escaped.
On 16 June 1940, the Seventh Panzer Division, under the command of Rommel, launched an attack on Cherbourg, an important seaport on the Kotantin Peninsula. By the morning of 19 June, the vanguard of the Seventh Panzer Division had attacked the western outskirts of Cherbourg. The Luftwaffe sent bombers to bomb the harbor, the artillery units of the Seventh Panzer Division bombarded the French positions, and the Seventh Motorized Brigade attacked the port from the east of Cherbourg, and the French soon stopped resisting. At 5 p.m. that day, the French forces in Cherbourg surrendered to the German Seventh Panzer Division.
In the Battle of France, Rommel became famous in the First World War. The German Seventh Panzer Division destroyed 42 tanks, captured 100,000 British and French Allies and destroyed or captured more than 450 tanks at a small cost of nearly 700 killed and more than 1,600 wounded or missing. Under Rommel's command, the German Seventh Panzer Division advanced and attacked so quickly on the battlefield that the division often lost contact with the rest of the German army. The German Seventh Panzer Division was also awarded the title of "Ghost Division" for its exploits and outstanding performance in the Battle of France.