Soviet T-34 Model 1941 Medium Tank: Demolished in the Snow

      In 1941 and into 1942, the sight of knocked out Soviet tanks was a fairly common sight. This demolished T-34 was struck at least twice in the rear, one shot breaking the right track and a hit into the engine compartment. The penetration blew apart the back of the tank, rending the rear and deck armor. The tank was also set ablaze by the strike and this can be seen in the scorched remains of the rear hull and along the turret where the paint shows the evidence of the now died out fire. If one looks carefully, smoke is still issuing from the wreckage.

     When the T-34 was first encountered by the Germans in combat during the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa), starting on June 22, 1941, the tank came as a nasty surprise. In part, this was due to the belief in the higher levels of German command that the Soviets were incapable of fielding a modern tank. This notion was strengthened by the fact that the Soviet tank forces were equipped primarily with tanks that were adapted from foreign tank designs from the late 1920s and early 1930s. For example, the Soviet T-26 light tank was derived from the British Vickers 6-ton tank (whose design started in 1928) and the BT fast tank from the American M1931 tank. These tanks made up the bulk of Soviet tank forces in 1941 but Soviet tank designers knew that these tank designs were on borrowed time. As a side, it should be noted that the Soviets deployed three new heavy tanks in their war with Finland during the Winter War which occurred from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940. These new heavy tanks, the SMK, T-100, and KV-1, were reported to the Germans by the Finnish. In particular, the Finns told the Germans that the KV-1 was a formidable foe due to its thick armor. However, this appeared to have little effect on the German command's opinion of Soviet armor.

     The Soviets, though, as far back as 1937, began work on a replacement for the BT series of tanks. What resulted was the A-20 which utilized a diesel fuel engine (less flammable) but more importantly, used sloped armor derived from experimental BT projects (such as the BT-IS). By sloping the armor, it increases the effectiveness of the armor both by shot deflection potential as well as increasing the relative thickness of the armor based on the angle of the plate. Lessons learned from the Soviet skirmishes with the Japanese in Manchuria in 1938 saw the A-20 prototype joined by a newer, improved tank designated the A-32. More heavily armored and armed, the A-32 went against the A-20 in trials and it was the A-32 that came out the victor. Approval for production was granted for the A-32 as the T-34. Deliveries of the new T-34 medium tank began in 1940.

     Many consider the T-34 tank the best medium tank of World War Two and on paper, the T-34 did combine armor protection, mobility, and firepower very well. However, the T-34, when it first appeared in Soviet units in 1940 and then in battle in the summer of 1941, had many flaws that blunted the impact of the new tank. Mechanically, the T-34 had problems. Initial low production quality saw the expected life span of the engines diminished. In addition, the gearbox and transmission was also prone to breaking. The latter saw some crews strapping a replacement transmission onto the engine deck of their tanks on the chance their unit's supply train had no spares if difficulties arose. Only into 1943 could the factories guaranty a service life of at least 100 hours. Another issue was the poor deployment of the T-34 in combat and the crews that were, as a whole, little trained on the T-34. By consequence, these two factors squandered the capability of the tank. It was not long before German troops in the field got over their initial reactions to the new tank and simply adjusted tactics to deal with them effectively. Nevertheless, the T-34 became the de facto Soviet medium tank of World War Two and later models, such as the T-34-85, continue to see service in the world today.

     Returning to the destroyed tank here, it is notable for the cross-hatch camouflage pattern seen on the turret. The tank is likely a T-34 Model 1941 built by the STZ Factory if judging by the bolted rear plate on the turret. This same tank was designated by the Germans as the T-34/76B. Many sources attribute the cross-hatch camouflage to select units, such as the 11^th. Tank Brigade or the 1^st. Guards Tank Brigade. This, however, would be incorrect. The reason is because the camouflage, consisting of white wash over the tank's base dark green paint, was applied at the factory and not by units in the field. Thus, any unit that was shipped replacement tanks (or equipped with them from the outset) from the factory would receive them with the camouflage already applied. It does appear, however, that this particular camouflage pattern appeared in the winter of 1941 disappeared after the winter of 1942. As a note, this same style of camouflage was also applied to other equipment, such as trucks and even artillery, and was not exclusive to armor.

Primary Source:

Michulec, Robert and Zientarzewski, Mirosław T-34: Mythical Weapon (Mississauga, Ontario: Air Connection, 2007)

Ordnance QF 3.7" Mountain Gun: Veteran of the Indian Artillery Arm

     Photographed sometime in the summer or early fall of 1962, Sikh artillerymen of the Indian Army train with a well worn Ordnance QF (Quick Firing) 3.7” (94mm) mountain howitzer. The crew's training is being overseen by a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) who holds the rank of Naib Subedar. This can be told by the shoulder boards on his uniform shirt that are olive drab in color with a red and yellow band and a gold-hued metal rank pip. For training purposes, the gun shield wasn't needed but as the firing table was affixed to the right portion of the shield, it has been fitted to the gun carriage for the crew to reference.

     It is likely that the men are part of the Sikh Regiment, a prestigious and highly decorated unit that was formed on August 1, 1846. Today, the Sikh Regiment is made up of twenty infantry battalions with another three Sikh battalions in the the Territorial Army (a volunteer reserve force). The unit saw combat in many campaigns through the years, including the Second Opium War (in China), the Second and Third Anglo-Afghan Wars, World War One and Two, and numerous post-World War Two conflicts such as the Indo-Pakistani War (1947-48) and the Sino-Indian War which occurred from October 20, 1962 through November 21, 1962.

     The catalyst for the Sino-Indian War was the disputed Himalayan border between China and India. As far back as 1959, Chinese and Indian troops fought the occasional skirmish as India's pro-Tibet stance was objected to by China, not the least of which China blamed India for supporting the 1959 Tibetan Uprising. In 1960, India commenced the Forward Policy which saw Indian forces setting up outputs behind Chinese troops in order to sever Chinese supply lines, the intent being to force Chinese troops to retreat. The history of the events that led up to the Sino-Indian War is rich with political machinations, far too many to cover but suffice it to say, on October 20, 1962, the Chinese abandoned a diplomatic resolution to the many issues of contention and outright pushed forces into the disputed territory which ultimately resulted in the Chinese pushing Indian forces out and the Chinese held their Line of Actual Control, a demarcation line that some historians believe was created following the Chinese military gains during the war. Even to this day, the border area remains in dispute despite a formalizing of the line in 1993 under the Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement. 

     During the brief conflict, Subedar Joginder Singh Sahnan of the 1st. Battalion, Sikh Regiment was the only member of the regiment to be decorated for valor with the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), though it was done so posthumously. During the Battle at Bum La which occurred on October 23, 1962, twenty men (including Singh) from the 1st. Battalion manned a post at the Bum La Pass that connects Cona County, Tibet and the Tawang District in India. Chinese troops, marching on Tawang, hurled two waves of attacks against the post to dislodge the defenders. Despite each wave numbering some 200 men, the Sikh soldiers threw the Chinese back but lost half their number in the process. When the third and final wave came, Singh (who was, by this time, wounded) refused to leave his post and out of ammunition, his men fixed bayonets and charged the Chinese troops. This bold counter-attack initially caused panic in the Chinese but soon, their superior numbers won the day and Singh and his men were cut down or captured. Singh himself survived the battle but died of his wounds in Chinese captivity. Singh had been in service since 1936 and saw combat in World War Two and the Indo-Pakistani War in 1947. The PVC is India's highest military decoration, awarded for distinguishing acts of valor during wartime.

     Returning to the QF 3.7” mountain gun, the design dates back to 1912 when the Indian military of the British Army wanted a more modern mountain gun to replace the aging 10-pounder mountain gun that had entered service in 1901. The new gun first entered service in 1917, being blooded in battle during the later stages of the Mesopotamian Campaign during World War One. Later versions built in the early 1930s saw the carriage modified with a new gun shield and rubber tires on metal rims rather than the original wooden, spoked wheels shown here. As can be seen, even well after World War Two, the Indian Army still retained these guns as there was nothing suitable to replace them. The gun was also manufactured in India during World War Two. As a mountain gun, it was able to be broken down into eight pack animal (mules, usually) loads. A well trained crew could set up the gun in just under two minutes and break it down in three minutes. A gun crew consisted of six men: commander, gunner, breech operator, loader, and two ammunition handlers. Total weight was 1,610 pounds with a barrel length of 3.8 feet. The gun used a hydro-pneumatic recoil system and the split-trail carriage permitted a maximum gun depression of 5 degrees, a maximum elevation of 40 degrees and a left and right traverse of 20 degrees. The typical muzzle velocity was 973 feet per second that provided a maximum range of 3.4 miles. The gun fired High-Explosive, fragmentation, smoke/chemical, illumination, and High-Explosive Anti-Tank ammunition.

     The 3.7” mountain gun remained in service into the early 1970s in the Indian Army though the British had declared it obsolete in 1960. Today, the Indian Army is equipped with the Italian designed and built OTO-Melara Mod 56 105mm pack howitzer for use in mountainous terrain.

Primary Sources:

Clarke, Dale British Artillery 1914-19 (Botley, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004)

Hogg, Ian V. Allied Artillery of World War Two (Ramsbury: The Crowood Press, Ltd., 2001)

On the March: German Stoßtruppen

      Somewhere at the front in 1918, a German stosstrupp (assault troop) unit is shown on the march. The stosstruppen, by 1918, were elite soldiers with a strong esprit de corps whose tactics had a marked influence on post-World War One small unit employment methodology. First authorized on March 2, 1915, the stosstruppen were used to punch through enemy lines and they did so using a combination of weapons, including light field guns or mortars that the troops would drag through No Man's Land in order to engage enemy positions at short range. The structure of a stosstrupp was often in flux but a typical Sturmbataillone consisted of a Stab (headquarters), five Sturmkompagnien (with 255 men in total), one to two Maschinengewehrkompanie (machine-gun companies with up to twelve machine-guns), one Flammenwerfertrupp (flamethrower platoon with four to eight flamethrowers), and one Infanterie-Geschutz-Batterie (infantry gun battery with four guns) or one Minenwerferkompagnie (mortar company with four mortars).

     The burden of the individual soldier is evident here. It isn't possible to tell what type of uniform he is wearing but it is likely the simplified M1915 bluse (tunic) and for hosen (trousers), he possibly has a pair of baggy M1917 hosen. Upon his head, he is wearing the stahlhelm (steel helmet) which was introduced in 1916. Without being able to see the chinstraps and liner inside the helmet, it isn't possible to tell what model of the stahlhelm (M1916, M1917, or M1918) he has. On his back, we can see his “Angriff Gepäck”, or “assault pack”. In this case, he has wrapped his mantel (greatcoat) inside his M1892 zeltbahn (tent half) and secured it with leather straps. Attached to the pack is his well used M1908 mess kit (eßgeschirr). Next to the pack is a M1822 shovel, secured in a carrier attached to his belt (koppel) while a loop can be seen holding the handle, the other end of the loop fitted through the shoulder board of the bluse. This type of shovel was used by assault troops to rapidly dig-in on the attack as it was better at such a task than the smaller M1887 entrenching tool (kleiner spaten) typically carried by German infantrymen. Underneath the shovel carrier is his M1915 canteen (feldflasche) which is likely attached to his M1887 bread bag (brotbeutel). To the left of the shovel's handle (as one looks at the photograph) is the bayonet for his rifle, secured in a scabbard. To the left of the bayonet is the round metal canister for his gasmask (bereitschaftsbüchsen) within which was most likely a M1917 lederschutzenmaske (leather protective mask) if judging by the size of the canister. Wrapped around his lower legs are puttees (gamaschen or wickelbander), his feet in leather ankle boots (schnürschuhe) with hobnailed soles.

     For a weapon, he is equipped with a 7.92mm Karabiner 98AZ rifle. This can be told by the front sight and the turn-down bolt handle. The standard Gewehr 98 rifle as used by the vast majority of the German army was longer (4.1 feet) and used a straight bolt handle. The 98AZ, on the other hand, was shorter (3.6 feet) and the turn-down bolt handle lessened the chances of getting caught on the soldier's equipment. The 98AZ had a 5-round internal magazine, had a weight of 8 pounds, and used a tangent leaf rear sight adjustable up to 2,000 meters. The barrel featured a 4-groove, right-hand twist rifling. As a side note, after World War One, 98AZ rifles were re-designated as Model 98a rifles.

     Hefted on his shoulder, the soldier looks to be carrying a wooden crate for stick hand grenades (stielhandgranaten). Each crate could hold 25 grenades and given the year, the contents were either M1916 or M1917 grenades.

Primary Sources

Bull, Stephen Stormtrooper (London: Publishing News Ltd., 1999)

Drury, Ian German Stormtrooper 1914-1918 (London: Osprey, 1995)

Panzerkampfwagen I in Poland: The Cross Marks the Spot

      When Germany went to war with Poland on September 1, 1939, the armored vehicles of the Panzerwaffe wore a uniform dark gray (dunkelgrau) paint. In part, this was both an economic and a simplistic move as it cost less and was easier to apply than a more complex two- or three-color camouflage pattern. Interestingly, in bright sunlight, dunkelgrau turned a lighter shade of gray while in shadow, it was almost black. Another reason for the one-tone paint was the principle of Blitzkrieg (Lightening War). As tanks and armored cars would be on the move during the attack, there was no point to camouflage as motion nullifies the value of elaborate camouflage. When German tanks and other armor vehicles were at rest, they were often dispersed amongst natural cover (such as under trees) which had the same, if not superior, benefit of camouflage paint schemes.

     As for national markings, initially, German tanks had no such identification. But that changed when Germany prepared for the invasion of Poland. Starting in August 1939, simple white crosses were applied to tanks and armored cars. There was no standardized size for the crosses, or balkenkreuz, and so how large...or small...they were varied from vehicle to vehicle. There was, though, a standardization on where the crosses had to be applied. A cross was to be applied on the front, left side, right side, and rear of both the turret and the superstructure for a total of eight crosses on the vehicle. The use of the white crosses made what little value the dunkelgrau paint had as camouflage null and void but there was a far more serious problem the white crosses presented: they made excellent aiming points for Polish anti-tank gunners.

     This problem is graphically illustrated in this photograph of a knocked out Panzerkampfwagen I (PzKpfw I) light tank. Developed in 1932, the PzKpfw I entered service in 1934 and even by 1939, it remained in service in large numbers. Incapable of engaging other tanks due to its dual 7.92mm MG 13 machine-gun armament, it was still able to attack soft targets such as infantry and unarmored vehicles that lacked anti-tank support. If faced with anti-tank guns, the PzKpfw I crew knew the protection of their tank, between 7 to 13mm thick, was of little worth.

     The most common Polish towed anti-tank gun was the 37mm wz.36. Using a split-trail carriage and fitted with a vertical sliding-block breech, the wz.36 presented a low profile and a skilled crew was able to fire 12 rounds per minute. The gun had a 5mm thick shield to offer some protection to the gunners from small arms and shell splinters. When firing the standard armor-piercing round, the wz.36 could punch through 22mm of 45 degree sloped armor at 1,000 meters. This was more than ample to penetrate the PzKpfw I frontally. While Polish infantry platoons were equipped with the Model 35 7.92x107mm anti-tank rifle (Karabin Przeciwpancerny wzór 35), the rifle's ammunition wasn't meant to pierce armor plate but instead “pancake“ on the armor and cause spalling on the interior of the armor. Typically, the round could dislodge a 20mm sized shard of armor that, at high speed, would ricochet around the inside of the tank, causing injury/death to the crew and damaging equipment.

     Clearly, the PzKpfw I was struck by an anti-tank gun, most likely fired from a wz.36, that punched through the superstructure's frontal plate. Fortunately for the driver, the round went to the right of his position. The commander may or may not have been so lucky depending on the type of armor-piercing round utilized. The commander's seat was situated in the center of the turret and fitted to the turret ring so that the commander moved as the turret moved. This also allowed him to operate the twin MG 13 weapons which were fed from 25-round box magazines. The unit the tank belonged to isn't known but either 4. Panzer-Division or 5. Panzer-Division are likely candidates.

     Within a few days of the invasion of Poland, German tank and armored vehicle crews were already  obscuring the white crosses so as to both camouflage them as well as deny an easy aim point for enemy gunners. In some cases, yellow was used to overpaint the white but the more common means was to use mud, grease, or gray paint. Usually, the front crosses were totally covered while the crosses on the sides and rear had their interiors coated so only a white outline remained.

     Not surprisingly, following the Poland campaign, the Wehrmacht undertook a revision of the national identification for their tanks and armored vehicles so as not to make them so obvious.

Primary Sources:

Hogg, Ian V. and Weeks, John Military Small Arms of the 20th. Century (Northfield: DBI Books, 1985)

Zaloga, Steven J. Blitzkrieg: Armour Camouflage and Markings, 1939-1940 (London: Arms and Armour Press, 1991)

General Klaus Naumann: The Most Highly Decorated Bundeswehr Soldier

     Born on May 25, 1939 in Munich, Germany, Klaus Dieter Naumann would eventually become one of the most highly decorated German soldiers in the post-World War Two Bundeswehr. Naumann's Bundeswehr career began in 1958 when he enlisted and was posted to Feldartilleriebataillon 41 (Field Artillery Battalion 41). Naumann soon entered Heeresoffizierschule III (Army Officer School) located in München and then further trained at the Artillerieschule (Artillery School) in Idar-Oberstein. Upon completion of these schools, Naumann graduated as an artillery officer.

     Between 1970 and 1972, Naumann attended the thirteenth class of the Generalstabslehrgang (General Staff Course) taught at the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr (Command Academy of the Bundeswehr) in Hamburg. Excelling in the course work, Naumann was recognized by being awarded the General-Heusinger-Preis (General Heusinger Prize). Instituted on August 4, 1967, this is the highest honor that can be bestowed to a student upon completion of either General Staff or Admiralty Staff training. After graduation, Naumann held numerous positions within the Bundeswehr, including: Panzerartilleriebataillon 51, Panzerartilleriebataillon 135 (as Battery Chief), Panzerbrigade 15 (operations officer), and Panzerartilleriebataillons 55 (commander).

     In 1981, Naumann was promoted to Oberst (Colonel) and he soon became the head of the Department of Military Policy, Nuclear Strategy and Arms Control (Dezernatsleiter für Militärpolitik, Nuklearstrategie und Rüstungskontrolle), a staff position of the German Military Representative in the NATO Military Committee (Deutschen Militärischen Vertreters im Militärausschuss). In 1983, Naumann graduated from the Royal College of Defense Studies (London, England) and from 1984 to 1986, he commanded Panzergrenadierbrigade 30.

     On October 1, 1991, Naumann was appointed in the role he is most remembered for, that of Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr (Inspector General of the German Armed Forces). This came with a promotion to General and at the time, Naumann was the youngest officer to be appointed to the position. During his term, Naumann initiated a reorganization of the Bundeswehr which commenced in July 1994. By December of that year, he was nominated to become the next Chairman of the NATO Militärausschuss. Naumann's nomination was accepted and in February 14, 1996, his tenure as Inspector General ended and his career as chairman began. Naumann held the chairmanship until 1999 when he retired after nearly 41 years of military service.

     The photograph of Naumann was taken sometime in 1993 or 1994. He is wearing the light gray semi-dress uniform jacket, blue button down shirt, and a black tie. As an officer, the upper collar has gold piping along the edge. Given his was an artillery officer, Naumann wore the crossed cannon badge on the red beret and his shoulder-boards had deep red piping. It should be noted, however, that the waffenfarb (corps color) for general ranks and above was the same deep red as artillery. Speaking of shoulder-boards, although not very visible, each shoulder-board had four rank pips and a laurel plus an inner piping, all in a gold color. On his collar are the General rank tabs which were red with gold bullion thread. Interestingly, the Bundeswehr version differed very little from the original World War Two rank tab. On his left sleeve, of which only the braided gold border can be seen, is the tri-color (black/red/yellow) patch upon which a black eagle within a yellow shield is superimposed. Not visible is the crest of the Führungsstab der Streitkräfte (Fü S; Command Staff of the Armed Forces) on the pocket hanger which is fitted through the button of the upper right pocket.

     As for decorations seen in this photograph (which are only a portion of what he was ultimately decorated with), on the upper row of ribbons, starting nearest his lapel: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1. Klasse (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1st. Class), Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr (Honor Cross of the Bundeswehr), and the Deutsches Sportabzeichen (German Sports Badge). The next row consists of: Rettungsschwimmabzeichen (Lifeguard Badge), Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur (Commander's Cross of the Legion of Honor [French award]), Meritorious Service Medal [U.S. award], and the Grand Cruz, Orden del Mérito Militar con Distintivo Blanco (Grand Cross of Military Merit with White Decoration [Spanish award]). The single award on the third row is the Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE; [British award]).

Primary Source:

Klaus Naumann (General). (2021, August 23). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 9, 2022, from https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaus_Naumann_(General)

The 84mm Carl Gustav M2: Swedish Anti-Tank Weapon Success

      In 1946, Hugo Abramson and Harald Jentzen of the Kungliga Arméförvaltningens Tygavdelning (Royal Swedish Arms Administration) developed the Carl Gustaf M1 recoilless rifle to replace the existing Pansarvärnsgevär m/42 20mm recoilless rifle that had entered service in 1942. The M1 was far larger at 84mm and rather than use fins to stabilize the rounds, the barrel was rifled to impart spin on the round for stabilization. Taken into Swedish military service in 1948, the M1 (designated the 8,4 cm Granatgevär m/48 in Swedish service) enjoyed a longer, more accurate range thanks to more propellant in the ammunition. The only drawback was a low flight speed of the round that limited the effective range against moving targets. Despite this, the M1 enjoyed export sales to a number of countries.

     In 1964, the M1 was improved by making the design both lighter and shorter. Designated the Carl Gustaf M2, it rapidly replaced the M1 in Swedish service. It is the M2 that is being utilized in this photograph of two German Bundeswehr gebirgsjäger (mountain troops) training with the weapon sometime in the late 1960s or very early 1970s. Germany was one of the customers of the M2 (under the designation Leuchtbüchse 84mm), purchasing a large number of them to supplement the Panzerfaust 44mm DM2 “Lanze” anti-tank weapon that had entered service in 1963.

     The M2 is 3.8 feet long and has a empty weight of 31.3 pounds. It does have a protective carry case for transportation but this adds a further 33.7 pounds to the carry weight. The rifled tube ends in a rear-mounted, up-rotating venturi, seen behind the firer's head. While the M2 could be operated by a single soldier, the M2 is more often served by a two man crew. The loader is making ready the M2's High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) round which is characterized by the stand-off probe on the front. However, in this case, the ammunition appears to be a inert training round given the wear of the paint on the warhead (from being reused over and over) and that the cartridge case appears to be missing. The firer is provided with a monopod which can be seen just in front of the firer's chin. This monopod can be moved to the front of the tube if desired. For sighting, the M2 uses a simple open sight or, as seen here, a X2 telescopic sight with a 17 degree field of vision. The scope sight does allow for the firer to compensate for environmental temperature which can effect the round. The M2 can be fired from the shoulder, fitted to a vehicle mount, or fired from the prone position which is what we see in the photograph. Once the loader inserts a round into the tube, he must then close and lock the venturi. If the venturi is not locked, the M2 cannot fire. The firer disengages the safety catch and has a two-pressure trigger to fire the round. The mechanical firing mechanism consists of a hand-cocked, percussion-operated detonator. Typically, the loader carries a total of four rounds.

     The standard HEAT round (FFV551) has an effective range of 400 meters (1,312 feet) against moving targets and 500 meters (1,640 feet) against stationary targets. The HEAT round is capable of penetrating up to 400mm of armor plate. The M2 can also fire high-explosive (FFV441) and smoke (FFV469) rounds out to 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) in addition to a illumination round (FFV545) out to 2,000 meters (6,561 feet). The average muzzle velocity is 1,148 feet per second. A well trained crew can fire six rounds every minute.

     The rounds consist of the warhead and a cartridge case, the case closed by a plastic disc. When fired, the propellant's detonation creates gas pressure in the cartridge case that starts the warhead out of the tube. The pressure then ruptures the plastic disc which vents the gas out the venturi. The mass and velocity of the exiting round, combined with the rearward ejected mass and velocity of the escaping gas cancels out the recoil forces on the M2. Of course, this makes being behind the M2 highly dangerous out to 30 meters (98 feet) and even out to 75 meters (246 feet), the shock wave caused by the back blast can result in injury to the unwary or unprepared.

     The M2 was later updated to the M2-550 which incorporated the FFV555 telescopic sight which includes a drum-operated coincidence range finder. The sight also includes a selector switch that automatically adjusts the aiming to account for the different rounds the M2-550 can fire. Once the range and round selection is set, light pulses within the sight assist the firer with the correct lead on the target to score a successful hit. The HEAT round for the M2-550 was also improved by fitting it with fins for in-flight stabilization, a rocket motor to boost range, and a Teflon slip-ring to reduce the spin effect of the tube rifling on the round thereby improving the performance of the HEAT warhead. This boosted the effective range of the round out to a maximum of 700 meters (2,296 feet).

     The German Bundeswehr replaced the M2 with the Panzerfaust 3 recoilless anti-tank weapon in 1987 but still maintains a small stock of the M2 for the sole purpose of battlefield illumination. However, the M2 (along with the improved M3 and M4 models) still see front-line use with some 44 countries, a true validation of the success of the Swedish built weapon.

Primary Sources:

Bishop, Chris and Drury, Ian The Encyclopedia of World Military Weapons (New York: Crescent Books, 1988)

Hogg, Ian V. Infantry Support Weapons (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 1995)

Owen, J.I.H. Brassey's Infantry Weapons of the World (New York: Bonanza Books, 1975)

The Walther Pistole 1: Stalwart of the Bundeswehr

      A Bundeswehr soldier, laying in the prone firing position on the pistol range, takes aim with a Walther P1 pistol. The P1 was, until 1975, the exact same as the World War Two constructed Pistole '38, or P38 which was accepted into Wehrmacht service in 1939. 

     The P38 replaced the much older and more expensive Luger P08 and featured a locked-breech, short recoil action. The P38 was both a double-action and a single-action pistol. This meant that the user could chamber a round and using the pistol's safety lever, the user could lower the hammer without discharging the weapon. The benefit was that a ready round was loaded and upon pulling the trigger to fire, the hammer was brought back then released to fire the round (double-action). After firing the first round, the pistol reverted to single-action as each subsequent firing ejected the round, cocked the hammer, and chambered a new round. The P38 was chambered for the 9x19mm Parabellum round with the magazine holding eight bullets. The barrel was 5 inches long with six right-handed grooves. The overall length of the P38 was 8.4 inches long with a unloaded weight of 2.1 pounds. The P38 had a muzzle velocity of 1,150 feet per second and with the rear notch/front blade post sights, the effective range was 50 meters. The P38 was in production from 1939 to 1945 with over one million examples constructed between three manufacturers: Walther, Mauser, and Spreewerk.

     Following World War Two, the German Bundeswehr (formed in 1955) desired to have the P38 as its main pistol sidearm. Walther, eager to provide the German military with the weapon, spent almost two years retooling their production line to build it (and other firearms). Walther basically had to start from scratch, using wartime built P38 pistols as examples, reconstructing the design plans for the pistol, and also recreating the needed machine tools. Deliveries commenced to the Bundeswehr starting in June 1957. At this time, the weapon was still designated as the P38 but only differed from the wartime production models by using aluminum frames and plastic grips. In 1963, the designation was changed to Pistole 1, or P1. The only real change came in 1975 when the frame was reinforced with a hex bolt and the slide was enlarged to improve strength. This bigger slide has been nicknamed the “dicker rutsche”, or “fat slide”.

     The P1 remained in service with the Bundeswehr until 2004 when the last of the P1 pistols was replaced with the Universelle Selbstladepistole 8 (Universal Self-Loading Pistol 8; USP8). Although phased out, both P38 and P1 pistols continue to see service around the world with military, police, or private contractors, the last major combat seeing P1 pistols in use during the Iraqi Civil War from 2014 to 2017.

Primary Source:

Hogg, Ian V., Weeks, John Military Small Arms of the 20th. Century (Northbrook: DBI Books, 1991)