Panzers At War 1939 - 1942 (Hitler's War Machine) by Bob Carruthers

Author:Bob Carruthers [Carruthers, Bob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Coda Books Ltd.
Published: 2011-07-16T21:00:00+00:00

This unusual photograph demonstrates the lengths to which the German propaganda service were prepared to go to achieve results. The lens of a camera has replaced the machine-gun of this Panzer III.

Some Hotchkiss tanks were also used in armoured trains operating in the Balkans. As late as 1944 some were also used as training vehicles with their turrets and hatches removed. It was also a common practice to equip units refitting and resting in France with captured tanks for the duration of their time in the field. (The 6th Panzer Division’s Panzer Regiment II was equipped in this way). As of 31 May 1943 there were 355 captured tanks in German service. According to original German captured tank inventories, as of July 1943, they were distributed as follows: 15 as part of Army Group Centre, 96 in the Balkans, 149 in the West, 68 in Norway and 33 in Lapland. Panzer Abteilung 206, which operated in the Cherbourg peninsula in June of 1944, used sixteen H-38s. A number of H-38s also saw service with the 100th Panzer Ersatz und Ausbildung Abteilung (Reserve Tank Battalion), which was supporting the 96th Infantry Division in the St. Lo-Caretan area in June 1944. As of 30th December 1944, there were still 29 (H-38s) Hotchkiss tanks in German service and even a few in 1945. At least one unarmed H-39 tank was captured and pressed into service by the insurgents during the Prague uprising in May 1945.

The Char de Cavalerie Somua S/35Char 1935 S three man medium tank armed with 47mm SA 35 L/34 gun and 7.5mm Reibel machine gun was the best French tank as of May of 1940 and around five hundred were in service with the French Army. It was the first vehicle in the world with all-cast hull and turret. This feature, however, made it unsuitable for conversion. Some Somuas were pressed into service during the campaign by the by 3rd SS (Motorised) Division, ‘Totenkopf’. Altogether, during the course of campaign, the Germans captured two hundred and ninety-seven Somua S-35s, designated as Panzerkampfwagen 35S 739(f), and employed them mainly as commander’s tanks along with some machine-gun armed command tanks with rear mounted frame antennas and additional radio equipment. The Germans modified S-35s to their standards by replacing original cupola top with split hatch covers and the addition or replacement of radio equipment. The first unit to be equipped with Somua tanks, which saw combat in Finland in the summer of 1941, was Panzer Abteilung 211. In 1941 Germans handed over some thirty-two S-35s to Italy, two to Hungary in 1943 and six to Bulgaria in 1944.

As of 20th May 1942 there were five Somua S-35 tanks with Panzer Abteilung 212 stationed on Crete.

In November 1941 some sixty Somuas had their turrets removed and were used as artillery tractors, along with ammunition carriers, on the Eastern Front. The turrets were used in fortifications on the Atlantic Wall.

Panzerkampfwagen 35S 739(f) tanks were issued to captured tank Panzer Regiments of various Panzer Divisions and saw service in France, Norway, the Balkans, Finland and Russia.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.