Paul Thomas - Hitlers Light Panzers At War

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
47 Church Street,
Barnsley,
South Yorkshire,
S70 2AS

Copyright Paul Thomas, 2015

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978 1 78346 325 1
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 47385 477 2
PRC ISBN: 978 1 47385 482 6

The right of Paul Thomas to be identified as the Author of this Work
has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Printed and bound in England by CPI (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of
Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime,
Pen & Sword Military, Wharncliffe Local History, Pen & Sword Select,
Pen & Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England

E-mail:
Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Contents

Introduction

Hitlers Light Panzers at War is an illustrated record of the German light tank from its beginnings in the 1930s, to the key battles it fought in Poland, France, North Africa, Russia and north western Europe. The book analyses the development of the light Panzer, which ranged from the Panzers I and II to the Czech-built Panzers 35 and 38(t). It describes how the Germans carefully utilized the development of these light machines for war, and depicts how these tanks were adapted and up-gunned to face the ever-increasing enemy threat.

Using over 200 rare and unpublished photographs together with detailed captions and accompanying text, Hitlers Light Panzers at War provides a unique insight into the many variants that saw action on the battlefield. It provides a vivid account of Panzer development and deployment from the early Blitzkrieg campaigns, to the final demise of the Nazi war machine.

Chapter I

Development and Training

During the early 1930s the German Army, which was still limited following the Treaty of Versailles, instructed a number of German firms to fund and design a light and medium tank that would be versatile, strong and reliable on the battlefield. It was also proposed that the light tank would have to be available in large numbers and be financially viable, to be produced quickly and afford good all-round fire power, both in an offensive and a defensive role.

It was agreed that a new light tank was to be designed under a 5-ton weight limit that was capable of serving the new Panzerwaffe with a small good all-round tank that could also be used to train Panzer crews. Five German firms submitted their prototype proposals, and from this Krupp were selected to finally produce a light tank. Within months plans were drawn up and funds were made available for a light and a medium tank.

In 1933, Krupp finally delivered their first prototype light panzer known as the the La.S or Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper agricultural towing vehicle. The Versailles Treaty was the reason for this misleading name. This new tank had a Daimler-Benz superstructure and turret. The testing of the vehicle quickly proceeded and throughout 1934 it was put through a number of stringent tests in the training grounds. The German Army assigned the designation of the tank as a Krupp-Tractor. By April 1936 it was officially designated Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.A (Sd.Kfz. 101).

The Fhrer, Adolf Hitler, came to the training grounds to see for himself the new Pz.Kpfw.I, or Panzer I, and immediately told his staff that he envisaged a fast-moving army of tanks that would spread fire and devastation such as the world had never before seen. He made it known that the tank would be the prime machine that would use battlefield tactics, moving with rapid speed, to achieve its objectives quickly and effectively.

The Panzer I Ausf.A variant featured a crew of two, a driver and a commander, the latter also used as the gunner. The driver sat in the forward hull of the cramped vehicle on the left, whilst the commander occupied the turret to the right. The tank was armed with 2 x 7.92mm machine guns, both of which were capable of firing 650 rounds per minute, could be fired simultaneously or individually, and could only be traversed by the commander by hand.

Entry and exit for the commander was through the small turret roof, whilst the driver could exit or enter the vehicle by a hinged rectangular door alongside the left of the superstructure.

The tank had minimal armoured protection and featured five road wheels to a track side and each wheel was encased in rubber. Three rollers were fitted to the underside of the upper track run. Operating weight was listed at 5.9 tons and power came from a single Krupp M 305 air-cooled, four-cylinder petrol engine delivering up to 60 horsepower. The Ausf.A could manage a top on-road speed of 23mph, with an operational range of 85 miles cross country, or 125 miles on road.

The new prototype was regarded as a success, in spite of the fact that the tank had limited battlefield capability. In order to speed the process of manufacture of the new Panzer I Ausf.A other German firms, such as Henschel, Daimler-Benz and MAN, were brought in to support Krupps production. Henschel received a first batch order to produce 150.

While manufacture of the Ausf.A continued in earnest, in August 1935 a more powerful engined and slightly longer Panzer I was developed. The Ausf.B variant still had a crew of two, but this time it was powered by a single Maybach NL 38 TR six-cylinder, liquid-cooled gasoline engine developing 100 horsepower. By the end of 1937, 399 were delivered, but production of this model ceased in June of that year.

The Panzer I was a promising introduction to what the Germans could achieve in German tank design. In 1936 the tank was used in large scale manoeuvres comprising infantry and Luftwaffe formations. It was in this year, too, that Hitler committed a volunteer army of troops, aircraft and Panzers to aid the Spanish Civil War (1936 1939). This was the ideal proving ground for future operations utilizing troop concentration, armoured vehicles and Luftwaffe support.

Another light tank that was prominent in its development in the 1930s was the Czechoslovak tank manufacturer KD, which had been looking for a replacement for the LT-35 tank they were jointly producing with their koda Works.

On 1 July 1938, Czechoslovakia ordered 150 of the TNHPS model. However, by the time of the German occupation, none had entered service. After the German takeover, the Germans ordered the continued production of the model, as it was considered an excellent tank, especially compared to the Panzer I and Panzer II tanks that were the Panzerwaffes main tanks. The special vehicle designation for the tank in Germany was the Sd. Kfz. 140. However, it quickly reverted to the Pz.Kpfw 38(t). This riveted armoured, rear-engine tank had a two-man turret, which was centrally located, and housed the tanks main armament, a 3.7mm Skoda A7 gun with 90 rounds stored on board. It was equipped with a 7.92mm machine gun to the right of the main ordnance. This turret machine gun was in a separate ball mount rather than a fixed coaxial mount. The driver was situated in the front right of the hull, with the bow machine-gunner seated to the left, manning the 7.92mm machine gun. The bow gunner also doubled as the radio operator. The radio was mounted on the left of the bow gunner.