The "potato masher" grenade from WW1 made a comeback in an improved version.

Interestingly the Germans never referred to it as a Luger but by it's proper name the P08 Parabellum.

The Panzerfaust was an effective, 1 man, shoulder fired anti-tank weapon.

               During the invasion of Russia the Germans captured thousands of Soviet 76.2mm field pieces. The Germans had the weapon bored out to accept a heavier charge and the weapon became an effective German anti-tank weapon. After the war the Russians used these weapons as the basis of many of their post-war designs. The weapon was referred to as the Infantrie Kanone 290(r) where the "r" indicated "Russian". The weapons was referred to as a 75mm by the Germans even though it was actually a 76.2mm. The Germans liked the weapon so much that they manufactured their own ammunition for the gun after stocks of captured Russian ammunition were used up.

German PAK or anti-tank gun design changed with the demands of war. The standard infantry anti-tank weapon was the PAK38 - a 50mm AT gun roughly equivalent to the British 6 pounder AT gun. It was used throughout the war by the Germans. The PAK40 was Rheinmettal's scaled-up version of the PAK38, and was a 75mm AT weapon produced in 1940.

 The Krupp PAK41 was the answer to the demand for even heavier weapons in the anti-tank role. It used a brilliant design of a tapered barrel that went from 75mm at the breech to 55mm at the muzzle. It's overwhelming performance allowed it to defeat any tank in the world. Unfortunately, the shortage of tungsten, needed for the special shot, shortened its life.

The German PAK44K prototypes were ready before the gun carriages were built so they were mounted on captured French 155mm GFP-T carriages. The increased recoil of the heavier gun prevented the combination from being particularly successful. The German SPzB41 used the Gerlich taper-bore principle. It was first used by the Germans on the Western Desert. When a captured specimen was tested the performance was so impressive that the British speeded up the development of their own squeeze principle. The PAK44K Krupp 128mm AT gun promised to be one of the finest anti-tank guns ever built following the principle the best way to deal with tanks is to hit them hard and at as long a range as possible. However, the war ended before it could be put into production.

Another design called PAW600 used a high-low pressure system, by which the 80mm projectile separated from the charge by a perforated plate. The pressure from the explosion was fed more slowly into the barrel so that the barrel need not be so heavy and the gun is more manageable. Its career was cut short by the end of the war. While the PAW designation marks this weapon as a recoilless rifle weapon its design was that of a standard artillery field piece.

The PAWs (Panzerabwehrwerfer) or recoilless anti-tank rifles, were unveiled in the invasion of Crete by the German Luftwaffe paratroops that needed a lightweight gun that could be carried in pieces and when needed, assembled for use. The first 75mm model was so successful that a 105mm model was put into production and used against the British on Crete.

The Germans also had an assortment of rail guns, huge artillery pieces mounted on railroad cars, and self-propelled mortars that crawled about on huge tracked carriages. One such mortar or "Mörser" was the 600mm "Karl" battery. It weighed 132 tons, was 35 feet long, and moved at 3 mph by a 580hp diesel engine. It had a ground crew of 109 men and it could fire a 4,850 pound mortar round that could penetrate 98 inches of concrete or 17¾" of armour. The rail guns were even larger yet, the 800mm Kanone "DORA" had a range of 29 miles, a crew of 250 men for assembly and firing and 4,120 men in all. It could fire one 10,500 pound shell that measured 25 feet long plus the length of the case at a rate of 2 rounds per hour. The 280mm KS(E) rail gun was 95 feet long, weighed 479,600 pounds and could fire a projectile 38 miles. It used a crew of 10 for firing.

The Germans also fielded a wide assortment of howitzers. The 105mm Leichte Feldhaubitze 18M L/28 or 105mm light field howitzer, fired at a rate of 6-8 rounds per minute up to a range of 13,377 yards and was manned by a crew of 6. The 105mm Leichte Feldhaubitze 43 L/28 had a range of 17,875 yards at a rate of 6 rounds per minute with a crew of 6.

One of the most widely used field pieces by the Germans was the six barrelled rocket launcher called the "Nebelwerfer". The weapon fired a heavy projectile from a light carriage. The tubes had to be fired one at a time taking 10 seconds to complete to keep the weapon from overturning. It wasn't very accurate, but could be reloaded in 90 seconds and was very manoeuvrable. It had a range of 7,330 yards with high explosive and 7,750 yards with smoke shells. The rockets weighed 75.3 pounds for HE and 78 pounds for smoke.

The true German trump card was the feared and respected 88mm FLAK. Its high velocity gun made it an anti-tank threat which could defeat almost any tank armour in the world. Its accuracy also made it a deadly anti-aircraft weapon. The same weapon could serve in both modes without any modifications to the carriage or mount. The 88mm FLAK was 25 feet long overall, had a rate of fire of 8 rounds per minute, a crew of 6, and had a maximum effective altitude of 14,680 meters and a horizontal range of 10,600 meters. A development of the 88mm FLAK weapon was the 105mm FLAK and was mostly used as an AA weapon against Allied aircraft. I had a crew 5 and a rate of fire of 3 rounds per minute. Its maximum ceiling was 12,800 meters.

A somewhat smaller weapon was the Flakvierling or quad-mounted 20mm AA weapon that was on a lightweight towed carriage. Other versions were mounted on tank chassis, one version was called the Wirbelwind or whirlwind and was enclosed by an open top turret and mounted on a Pzkw IV chassis. Another Flakvierling termed the Ostwind was mounted on a tank chassis also, but had huge armour plates that dropped down to reveal the gun. Others were mounted on the half-tracked Sdkfz 250/251s widely used by the German forces. Larger weapons were also mounted on these half tracks like the single mount 37mm Flak 43 which had a rate of fire of 150 rounds per minute versus the 700/800 rounds per minute of the quad mounted weapons. Another 88mm AA weapon was created by the marriage of the Porsche designed Pzkw VI "Tiger" chassis that failed in the competition against the winning Henschel design for the production contract and the 88mm FlaK. This combination was called the "Cricket" or "Grille".

German armoured vehicles like the Sud Kampffahrzeug or SdKfz were common place. The German variant of the US Whiting M3 half-track was the SdKfz 250 and 251. the difference being the overall size of the vehicle in the two models. These served as infantry carriers in the forward areas for the Panzergrenadier to ride in so they could keep up with fast moving armour. The Germans also developed a half-track lorry or cargo truck called the Maultier or Mule which was built mainly by Opel and based on the Opel Blitz 3 ton military truck, except the rear wheels were replaced by a pair of tracks.

With the rising calibre and size of field artillery and anti-tank guns the weight of the weapons increased as well. A tracked prime mover was designed and produced as the SdKfz 7. This vehicle was a huge 8 ton tracked truck. The tracks would run nearly the length of the vehicle and top a few feet short of the front wheels, It had three large bench style seats and a large cargo area behind the last row of seats. It was used to pull the larger artillery and AT weapons like the FlaK 88. It was manned by two men and could carry 9 more men as well as all the stores and the towed weapon.

German reconnaissance vehicles were armoured as well and the SdKfz 222 was a small light recon vehicle with 4 wheels and 20mm gun in a top turret. The SdKfz 231 Puma was a heavy recon vehicle. It had 8 wheels and all-wheel steering. There were driver positions in the front and the rear of the vehicle in case an escape was necessary and turning around wasn't possible. Its main weapon was a 20mm gun in a top mounted turret. The SdKfw 231 was a wheeled version of the SdKfz 251 chassis. The 231 model had three axles with 10 tires and the 232 model was a 4 wheel version.

The Germans also used motorcycles extensively for liaison and reconnaissance purposes. BMW, NSU, DKW, and Zundapp produced motorcycles for the German Army. The BMW R/75 746cc 26hp motorcycle is perhaps the best known type, however. All tank divisions had motorcycle infantry units. Two or three motorcycle companies and a HQ company formed a motorcycle battalion. An average infantry division on the Eastern Front in the early stage of the war used 452 motorcycles including those with a sidecar, made up as follows: 17 (HQ co.), 45 (recon unit), 32 (signal battalion), 141 (infantry regiment), 40 (artillery regiment), 45 (anti-tank gun battalion), 44 (engineer battalion), and 88 (supply unit). The average infantry division in 1943 to 1944 came to use an increasing number of Kubelwagens and Kettenkrads which had excellent durability and various uses in place of motorcycles. Thus, the number of motorcycles was reduced to 168. The German Army originally grouped motorcycles into 3 classes: small class under 350cc, middle class 350cc-500cc, and large class over 500cc. Most early models of German military motorcycles proved unreliable after the invasion of Russia and only the BMW R/75 was rugged enough to do the job. It's reliability was such that after the war the Russian Army used faithful copies of the BMW R/75 called the K-M72 (possibly M72-K or just M72).

Mercedes, Opel, and Bussing-NAG were the prime suppliers of 3 ton trucks used by the armed forces as infantry carriers and cargo/supply purposes, and Volkswagen supplied the German forces with their version of a small utility vehicle like the American Jeep. The German vehicle drew heavily on the commercial vehicle that was introduced to the public in 1933 as the People's Car or Volkswagen. 

The military version of this vehicle was called Kubelwagen, a comment on its appearance because the vehicle reminded the Germans of a tub with wheels (Kubel meaning tub, bucket, or pail). The vehicle was a simplified Volkswagen Beetle with square lines and a rear engine drive. It had the common canvas top of most military vehicles and could carry 4 passengers. Another version was designed and called the Schwimmwagen which stood for amphibious car, since it was designed to float across rivers. It's appearance differed slightly with more rounded lines and a propeller mounted in the rear behind the engine that the driver could engage once in the water.

The Germans used an assortment of mines. One is referred to as a "pot mine". An acid would ignite the primer when the vial it was in was crushed and the primer would explode the main charge. This was an anti-personnel mine. Another mine was the "S-Mine" or "schrapnell-mine". It was buried with a couple of trigger wires sticking out of the ground, and when tripped, it would launch into the air and explode showering the area with high velocity steel balls. The S-Mine was used as an anti-personnel mine also.

Tellermine T.Mi.35

The standard anti-tank mine in use was called the "Tellermine" and contained one pound of TNT. It was a large flattened circular plate shaped mine with a carrying handle on one side. It had a pull igniter for special use, or more commonly, the centrally mounted detonator charge was screwed into the base charge. It took 350 pounds to set off this mine and it could rip the tracks off any tank.

The German "Holzmine" or "wooden mine" was an attempt to defeat the Allied metal detecting mine detectors. It was wooden box with ten pounds of TNT inside with a detonator that took 250 pounds of pressure to ignite. This mine was also an anti-tank mine.

Another mine was the Riegel Mine 43. It was a long narrow rectangle filled with 8.8 pounds of Amatol explosive. It had several means of detonation - by applying 880 pounds of pressure to the centre, or 440 pounds to the ends, or by one of the three igniters wired together (one on top, two on the side) as a booby trap, or the sheer wires near the ends that freed the igniters inside when the proper amount of pressure was applied to the ends.

One of the most ingenious mines used was the German Army "Goliath" remote controlled mine. It was a small tracked vehicle controlled via wire by a driver and steered to its objective. It was driven by a small electric or petrol motors and carried 166 pounds of TNT.

The contributor says "I collect these things as a way of being in touch with my father.  His division, the 83rd Inf. Div., was credited along with another division as being closest to Berlin at the cessation of hostilities of the US divisions in the European Theatre of Operations. Please put in a good word for the veterans of the USA.  My uncle visited Australia prior to going to Guadalcanal with the US First Marine Division in 1942." John Petrie
Images are thumbnails. Click to enlarge. If image auto reduces Click the Icon.
Images 11/12 Kar98k Kriegsmodell 1945 late version with the most production shortcuts Kar98k 1941 G24(t) 1942 made in Czechoslovakia G33/40 1941 made in Czechoslovakia for mountain troops/Para's G29/40 1940 made in Austria of Polish parts (this is a late one that is nearly all kar98k) G98/40 1942 made in Hungary VK98    1945 last ditch rifle for old men and boys; made from turned down MG34 barrel VG1   1945 as above

Images 13/14 G41(M) 1942 Mauser test semi-auto rifle G41(W) 1942 Walther test semi-auto rifle (1.5 power optics) G41 1943 production semi-auto rifle G43 1943 camp made semi-auto with Russian gas system G43 1944 standard semi-auto rifle (4 power optics) K43 1944 (4 power optics) K43 1945 K43 1945 (4 power optics)

Images 15/16 SS double claw sniper rifle (4 power optics) Objective mount sniper rifle (4 power optics) Single Claw sniper rifle (6 power optics) Zf41 rifle (1.5 power optics) Swept-back reproduction rifle (4 power optics)  only thirty known in the US Short Side-rail rifle (4 power optics) Short Side-rail rifle (4 power optics) Long Side-rail rifle (4 power optics) High Turret rifle (4 power optics)

Image 17 MP40 1942 MP43/1  1943the first standard production assault rifle MP43 1944 MP44 1944 StG44 1945 Image 18 MG 34 with tripod and MGZ34 optics (3 power optics) and aiming circle

The Germans' discovery of the potency of their heavy flak (anti-aircraft) guns in an anti-tank role was one of their most startling contributions to the armoured warfare of the Second World War.  The '88' was a weapon both feared and respected by the Allied forces in the Western Desert; no tank could stand up to it; and the '88' came to be regarded as the ultimate German wonder weapon of the desert war, with almost mythical powers.  It is seen here in it's mobile version (above top), in its normal anti-aircraft position (left) and as it was laid for anti-tank use (above lower). Rommel eked out his over-stretched resources in eastern Cyrenaica by digging-in '88s' to hold his front-line positions at Sollum and Halfaya; and these guns reaped a rich harvest when Churchill's precious 'Tiger Cubs' were rushed from the training-grounds of Britain to the desert battlefield.

Details Caliber: 88 mm.  Overall length: 25 feet  Rate of fire: 15-20 rounds per min.  Crew numbers: 6.  Max effective altitude 14,680 meters.  Max effective horizontal range: 10,600 meters