The origins of the 1st Armored Division of the US Army can be traced back to two Cavalry units - the 1st Cavalry Regiment and the 7th Cavalry Brigade. In the 1930s, both those units were slowly changing their horses for trucks, jeeps and armored cars.

The 4th Heavy Tank Regiment of the People's Army of Poland was formed in the vicinity of Berdichiv, a town situated in today's Ukraine in August 1944. 

The 21. Panzerdivision was a German tank division active in North Africa during the Axis campaigns in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. It fought in the theatre's major battles until eventually laying down arms in Tunisia.

The origins of the 1st Polish Armored Division in the West started even before the Second World War. In 1937 the 10th Cavalry Brigade of the Polish Army began transforming into a motorised brigade.

The Battles of France in 1940 and the rapid and decisive victories there were to prove to the High command in the Wehrmacht that more Panzer Divisions were needed to compliment the armies existing panzer elements.