When the German Bundeswehr (Federal Defense) was founded on November 12, 1955, much of the equipment it received was supplied by the United States. In part, this was due to the fact that the German arms industry was not fully recovered from World War Two but also that there was some surplus of German wartime weapons (mainly the Karabiner 98k bolt-action rifle) as well as ready availability of U.S. arms, field equipment, and uniform items. In the latter, it was purposely designed that the new Bundeswehr uniforms bore almost no resemblance to the Wehrmacht uniforms of the war and so they had a very U.S. Army influence such as uniform cut, the wearing of U.S. steel helmets, and usage of U.S. Army style boots.
By the end of the 1950s, the main anti-tank weapon for Bundeswehr infantry panzerjäger (tank hunter) was the U.S. Army M20A1 and M20B1 “Super Bazooka” which fired a 88.9mm HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) rocket out to a maximum range of 1,000 yards. At an effective range of 200-300 yards, the HEAT round could penetrate up to 280mm of armor. The U.S. Army also unloaded many obsolete M9 and M9A1 60mm “Bazooka” weapons on the Bundeswehr, most of which had been built during the war. The HEAT round on the M9 could penetrate 102mm of armor at 120 yards. The M9, however, was typically kept for training rather than utilized as a front-line anti-tank weapon. Despite the decent performance of the M20, the Bundeswehr wanted a German designed and built anti-tank weapon developed that could replace the M20 but more importantly, surpass it in terms of capability.
In 1960, Dynamit Nobel AG commenced work on just such a weapon and the result was the reloadable Panzerfaust 44mm DM2 Ausführung 1 (Tank Fist 44mm DM2 Version 1). The PzF 44, nicknamed the “Lanze” (“Lance” or “Spear”), utilized a smooth launch tube which was 44mm in diameter. Fitted to the tube was the fire control handle, pistol grip, firing mechanism, and an optical sight. During travel, the optical sight was removable and to protect it, the PzF 44 operator carried it in a case. In an emergency, the PzF 44 had a simple mechanical sight graduated out to 180 meters. The PzF 44, perhaps not to any surprise, encompassed some aspects of the German wartime Panzerfaust. Like the Panzerfaust, the PzF 44 operated on a recoilless principle. The projectile was propelled out of the launch tube by a charge which, at the same time, blew a counterweight of finely grained iron powder out the back of the tube, thereby canceling out the recoil. However, unlike the wartime Panzerfaust which lobbed an unpowered warhead, the PzF 44 launched a rocket. After firing, folding fins deployed (as they did with the Panzerfaust) and several meters away from the firer, the rocket motor ignited, propelling the rocket towards the target at a speed of 210 meters per second. The original rocket, the DM-22, had a oversize 67mm warhead shape that was very similar to the Panzerfaust 150m which had managed to enter troop trails in the final weeks of World War Two. At an effective range of 300 meters, the DM-22 could penetrate 280mm of armor. This, however, was on par with the M20 and so the 90mm DM-32 was introduced that could punch through 375mm of armor but at the cost of a reduced effective range of 200 meters. The actual launch of the rocket was done by an ignition cartridge. A magazine held several cartridges with the magazine fed into the pistol grip and a bolt-action mechanism loaded a new cartridge and expelled the spent cartridge case after each firing. Following trials, the PzF 44 was accepted for service in 1963 and was later supplemented by the Leuchtbüchse 84mm, the German designation for the Swedish 84mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle. Each infantry platoon was equipped with one PzF 44. By 1992, the PzF 44 was replaced by the disposable Panzerfaust 3 (Pzf 3) anti-tank weapon, the latter of which was also developed by Dynamit Nobel AG.
The photograph shows a gathering of soldiers and civilians in which a Heer (Army) officer is holding a PzF 44. His rank appears to be that of Oberst (Colonel) as is the rank of the officer across from him. Both of the men, as are a few of the soldiers behind them, are wearing the Bundeswehr-Splittermuster (Splinter Pattern) camouflage feldbluse. This pattern was derived from the World War Two German Heer camouflage but was not an exact copy. Curiously, the camouflage was deliberately printed with slipped printing screens which caused the white border on some of the edges of the camouflage pattern. This Kampfanzug (battle suit) encompassed both the tunic as well as trousers and was issued beginning in 1956 before being phased out in the mid-1960s. Some of the feldbluse did not have epaulets and so the rank which would have been fitted to them was sewn directly onto the shoulders. Interestingly, the Oberst on the left has his rank both on the epaulets as well as the shoulder while the Oberst on the right does not. The soldier directly behind the Oberst does not appear to have epaulets at all. A noticeable uniform feature which the Bundeswehr managed to retain from the outset was the World War Two style M43 Einheitsmütze (field cap) that the PzF 44 holding officer is wearing as are a number of the soldiers behind him.
The PzF 44 seen here may be a prototype and it is not fitted with a rocket. There is a simple folding bipod seen to good effect but this did not appear to have been kept as production models used a pistol foregrip. There is a basic cheek-pad for the firer but again, on production PzF 44 weapons, it does not appear as it does here. The magazine for the ignition cartridges can be seen at the bottom of the pistol grip while the cocking handle for the bolt can be seen between the officer's fingers. The PzF 44 was also fitted with an adjustable wire shoulder stock, shown here fully collapsed. This, too, changed to an adjustable stock with a single shoulder piece, not the wire type seen here, on the production PzF 44.
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