Befehlspanzer III ausf H, rear view
In January of 1939, an order was placed for the third series of the large armoured command vehicle, with a total of 145 to be produced. Lessons learned from battles in Poland and France led to the addition of an extra 30mm armor plate to be bolted onto the front of the hull and the superstructure, as well as the rear of the hull. After the completion of the first series, a second series of 30 “old type” vehicles was ordered in October of 1941, with most of them featuring the old Ausf H hull design, although a few were built on the chassis of the Panzer III Ausf J. The Ausf H model had the same hull and suspension as the PzKpfw III Ausf H. The main differences were in the armament, with a dummy gun resembling the 3.7cm KwK L/45 on early models, which was later replaced with a dummy gun resembling the 5cm KwK L/42 on later models. Additional vision and pistol ports were added to the superstructure sides, and a pistol port was also included in place of the machine-gun on the superstructure front. The turret was bolted in place and a TSF1 periscope was mounted in the turret roof.
As production increased, the number of Panzerbefehlswagen at Panzerabteilung and Tank Regiment headquarters was raised to two. Additionally, the revised organization of the Pz Nachrichten (Signals) Abteilung in the Panzer divisions called for seven PzBefWg Sd Kfz 267 and 268. At the beginning of the summer offensive in 1941, a total of 120 grosse PzBefWg Ausf E and H were assigned to the 17 Panzer divisions. The second series of PzBefWg Ausf H was primarily used to equip new units such as the 25th Panzer Division, 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Division ‘Das Reich’, and the Armoured Infantry Division ‘Grossdeutschland’. By the start of the summer offensive in late June of 1942, there were approximately 75 grosse PzBefWg in operation at the front.