Wehrmacht (German Soldiers): Part 18

Comrade and allies. A German soldier with a Bulgarian soldier

Italian reconnaissance vehicles AS42 Sahariana.

NOTES

In the 1930s the Italian Army in East and North Africa had used some high mobility vehicles armed with heavy machine guns, but the beginning of military operations in Libya against British forces in autumn of 1940 revealed the good performance of enemy wheeled weapon carriers, some of which were captured and utilized during the Italian counter attacks of 1941. The Italian Army captured a large number of British light trucks, some of which were later armed with Italian-made machine-guns and light guns. The Italians were so impressed with these that in 1942 several AS 37 Autocarro Sahariano (Sahara trucks) were modified for use as weapons carriers. These mainly unarmoured vehicles were used to support the armoured cars (available in insufficient quantity) for patrolling and scouting, especially against the British Long Range Desert Group.

Source: msvn

German special forces soldier in Africa.

Hungarian soldiers

Italian pilots on the Eastern Front.

Italians from the parachute division "Folgore".

THE FOLGORE DIVISION

The Folgore Parachute Brigade is the largest unit of paratroopers (paracadutisti) of the Italian Army; a second smaller unit is the 4th Alpini Regiment Monte Cervino . The name Folgore is Italian for lightning.

The Folgore (Thunderbolt) operates as Light Infantry, capable of both air-landing and parachute operations, and has a marginal mechanized role. It is part of the Projection Forces under the 1° Commando FOD.

In 1941, a Parachutist division was completed and was designated the 185th Airborne Division Folgore. It was trained by German officers for the planned assault on Malta in Operation Hercules. During course of the North African Campaign, it was engaged in ground combat operations.

During the Second battle of El Alamein the Folgore Division resisted the attack of the British 131st (Queen's) Infantry Brigade, the 44th Infantry Division, the 7th Armoured Division (Desert Rats) and the Free French Brigade . The remnants of the Folgore Division were withdrawn from El Alamein on 3 November 1942, without water and carrying their anti-tank guns by hand in pieces. The survivors were reorganized into the 185th Folgore Parachute Battalion. At 2:35 pm on November 6, after having exhausted all its ammunition, the remainder of the Division finally surrendered to the British forces. In honour of their bravery, the British commander allowed them to surrender without having to show a white flag or raise their hands.

Italian soldiers stand in rapt attention

Italian soldiers in action

Normandy beaches. June 1944. The song would soon be over

This SS car has met with an accident

Street fight in Smolensk. July 1941

Frightened glum Volkssturm men  in March 1945. The end was near.

A soldier from the unit "Great Germany" throws a grenade

He seems to be carrying a grenade launcher. German technology was advanced

A German patrol

German with a 7.92 self-loading rifle of Walter G-43 (W)

The Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 (G43, K43, Gew 43, Kar 43) is a 7.92x57mm Mauser caliber semi-automatic rifle developed by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was a modification of the G41(W) using an improved gas system similar to that of the Soviet Tokarev SVT40.

Germany's quest for a semi-automatic infantry rifle resulted in two designs - the G41(M) and G41(W), from Mauser and Walther arms respectively. The Mauser design proved unreliable in combat when introduced in 1941 and at least 12,755 were made. The Walther design fared better in combat but still suffered from reliability problems. In 1943 Walther introduced a new modified gas system with aspects of the G41(W) providing greatly improved performance. It was accepted and entered into service as the Gewehr 43, renamed Karabiner 43 in 1944, with production amounting to just over 400,000 with production only lasting from 1943 to 1945.

The Gewehr 43 was never mass produced and was never general issue, the official list of issued units was to be 1 in every platoon, and those were to be issued to a select specialist (designated marksman/engineer). Despite the Gewehr being a good improvement over the problematic Gewehr 41, and being a more effective combat rifle over slower bolt-action rifles, the Gewehr 43 was never as reliable or as robust and simple as the Allied rifles like the American M-1 rifle and Russian SVT-40 rifle, nor was the Gewehr 43 a common rifle to see in combat, for every 1 Gewehr 43 produced by the Germans, the Americans produced 50 M-1 rifles and the Soviets produced 20 SVT-40 rifles.

Though the Gewehr 43 was generally considered to be a good semi-automatic rifle, had good accuracy, and did fairly well in combat (better than the G41), it was more complicated to produce than Allied rifles, and was not as mechanically reliable as American and Russian semi-automatic rifles, the Germans were fighting against the tide of war, and the Gewehr rifles were produced much more crudely and primitively than the Allied weapon factories. Since it was never generally issued, or mass produced, the Gewehr 43 was never a big contender among Nations with general issue semi-automatic rifles like the U.S. and the USSR.

Defending the coast

The last desperate defence. The outer perimeter of forts Koenigsberg. 1945.

SS soldiers with machine gun ZB-53 (MG 37 (t)

The ZB-53 was a machine gun used by the Czechoslovak army designated TK vz. 37 ("TK" means "těžký kulomet", heavy machine gun. "vz" means "vzor", Model) and later used by German forces during World War II as the MG 37(t).

It was an belt-fed, air-cooled weapon that served both the infantry support and vehicle weapons roles. The British adopted a version of the ZB-53 as the Besa machine gun for their armoured forces.

Allies. German and Hungarian soldiers




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Wehrmacht: Part 17

37-mm anti-aircraft gun FLAK-18

THE FLAK ANTI-AIRCRAFT CANNONS

The original 37 mm gun was developed by Rheinmetall in 1935 as the 3.7 cm Flugzeugabwehrkanone 18. It was essentially an enlarged version of the 2 cm FlaK 30 firing a 37 mm shell from an L/89 barrel. Like the Flak 30, it used a mechanical bolt for automatic fire, but nevertheless featured a fairly good rate of fire, about 160 rounds per minute. The complete gun, including the wheeled mount, weighed 1,757 kilograms (3,870 lb).

The Flak 18 was produced only in small numbers, and production had already ended in 1936 in favor of well known 2 cm Flakvierling 38, a four-barrel development of the Flak 30. Development continued, however, resulting in a lighter two-wheel mount produced as the 3.7 cm Flak 36 that cut the complete weight to 1,544 kilograms (3,400 lb). A new sighting system introduced the next year produced the 3.7 cm Flak 37 that was otherwise similar. It appears existing weapons were brought up to the Flak 37 standard, while new production started in 1942 and produced 1178 before production ended in 1944. The Flak 37 was known as 37 ITK 37 in Finland.

The Flak 43 Anti-aircraft gun

THE FLAK 43

As Allied air power grew dramatically during the mid-period of the war, the 20 mm quad-mount proved to have too little power and the 37 mm was turned to as its replacement. Not content with the existing versions, Rheinmetall-Borsig and Krupp were asked to produce a new version that was less expensive.

Krupp initially won the contract, but at the last moment the Krupp design developed weaknesses and Rheinmetall-Borsig got the award. This immediately resulted in the factional wrangling in the Nazi party that often beset German wartime industrial production, so by the time Rheinmetall-Borsig was actually able to go ahead well over a year had passed. The design partially able to made up for the delay, however, as it was produced with stampings, welding and simple components in the same way as submachine guns. The production time for a gun was cut by a factor of four.

The new 3.7 Flak 43 was a dramatic improvement over the older models. A new gas-operated breech improved the firing rate to 250 RPM, while at the same time dropping in weight to 1247 kg. It was also produced in a twin-gun mount, the 3.7 cm Flakzwilling 43, although this version was considered somewhat unwieldy and top-heavy.

The Flak 37 could be found in some numbers mounted to the ubiquitous Sd.Kfz. 7 or (later) the sWS. The newer Flak 43 was almost always used in a mobile mounting. Most famous of these were the converted Panzer IV's, first the "interim" Möbelwagen, and later the Ostwind, which was considered particularly deadly.

Compared to its closest Allied counterpart, the 40 mm Bofors, the Flak 43 had over double the firing rate, could set up in much smaller spaces, and was considerably lighter when considering the gun and mount together. Although the weapon was complete in 1942, production did not start until 1944. About 928 single and 185 double versions were produced by end of the war.

VIDEO: FLAK 43

German soldiers load the ammo for Flak 43

Flak 18 anti-aircraft gun

Josef Sepp Dietrich

WHO WAS JOSEF SEPP DIETRICH?

Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (28 May 1892 – 21 April 1966) was a German SS General. He was one of Nazi Germany's most decorated soldiers and commanded formations up to Army level during World War II. Prior to 1929 he was Adolf Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard but received rapid promotion after his participation in the murder of Hitler's political opponents during the Night of the Long Knives. After the war, he was imprisoned by the United States for war crimes and later by Germany for murder.


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Sepp within his men

Stug 3

Summer 1941, USSR

USSR 1942

The harsh Russian winter

Waiting to get kitted up

Ukraine 1941

This SS man strums a guitar

German sailors listen to the radio. Summer 1942

This boy has got a lot of medals


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WEHRMACHT: German Soldiers: Rare Images: Part 14

German anti-aircraft gun Flak 37

Notes
The 88 mm gun (eighty-eight) was a German anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun from World War II. They were widely used by Germany throughout the war. It was one of the most recognizable German weapons of the war. Developments of the original models led to a wide variety of guns.

The name applies to a series of anti-aircraft guns officially called the 8,8 cm FlaK 18, 36 or 37. FlaK is a German contraction of Flugzeugabwehr-Kanone or Flugabwehr-Kanone (hence the capital K) meaning anti-aircraft gun, the original purpose of the eighty-eight. In informal German use, the guns were universally known as the Acht-acht (8-8), a contraction of Acht-komma-acht Zentimeter (German: "8,8 cm" - comma being used as the decimal separator in German).

With a PzB-39 in Northern France, June 21, 1942. The Panzerbüchse 39 (PzB 39) was a German anti-tank rifle used in World War II. Panzerbüchse means "tank rifle"; the component term "Büchse" is the term for a hunting or sporting rifle (compared to the word "Gewehr" for a rifle in general).

Inspection of personal belongings at the school for Hitler Youth. These schools produced some of the most motivated fighters in the German army

Relaxing. Russia. 1942

Hitler Youth again. Gathering before leaving for summer camp

Training

Shooting practice for the Hitler Youth

France 1943

Italian marine. 1944

Enjoying food in Norway. 1942

Marder 2

WHAT WAS MARDER 2?

The Marder II was a German tank destroyer of World War II based on the Panzer II chassis. The various Marder IIs fought on all fronts of the war, mainly at the Eastern Front.

The Marder IIs were used by the Panzerjäger Abteilungen of the Panzer divisions of both the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS, as well as several Luftwaffe units.

The Marder's weaknesses were mainly related to survivability. The combination of a high silhouette and open-top fighting compartment made them vulnerable to indirect artillery fire, shrapnel, and grenades. The armor was also quite thin, making them vulnerable to enemy tanks or infantry.

The Marders were not assault vehicles or tank substitutes; the open top meant that operations in urban areas or other close-combat situations were very risky. They were best employed in defensive or overwatch roles. Despite their weaknesses they were much more effective than the towed antitank guns they replaced.

Tiger from the Division "Das Reich". . USSR. April 1943.

Peeling potatoes in Poland 1939

Russia. Autumn 1943. The dreaded Rains!

Russia. Autumn 1943

German mine-sweep "Räumer-S": length 15 meters, 4 meters in height weight 130 tons. One of the strangest German vehicles discovered after the war was a huge four wheeled device built by Krupp. This vehicle was the Krupp Räumer S. The only finished Krupp Räumer-S minesweeper was captured in Hillersleben in 1945 by the Americans

The Panzerjäger Tiger (P) Elefant (German "elephant"; model number Sd.Kfz. 184) was a "Schwerer Panzerjäger" (heavy tank destroyer) of the German Wehrmacht in World War II. They were originally built under the name Ferdinand, after their designer, Ferdinand Porsche.

All but two of the 91 available Ferdinands were put to use in the Battle of Kursk, the first combat the Ferdinand saw. Although they destroyed many Russian tanks, they performed quite poorly in other respects. Within the first four days nearly half of the vehicles were out of service, mostly due to technical problems and mine damage to tracks and suspensions. Actual combat losses to direct Soviet action were very low as the Ferdinand's very thick armor protected it from almost all Soviet antitank weaponry. However, at this point in its development the Ferdinand lacked a machine gun or any secondary armament, making it vulnerable to attack by infantry. Most total losses of the Ferdinand occurred during the Soviet counter-offensive after the Kursk offensive, many damaged Ferdinands had to be abandoned as they were too heavy to tow and others were lost to mechanical breakdown during the retreat. The surviving vehicles saw further limited action on the Dniepr front during late 1943.

At this point they were recalled and modified at the works in Austria and received the name Elefant. While the modifications improved the vehicles, some problems could never be fully fixed. In 1944 the Elefants served on the Italian front but were rendered rather ineffective, as their weight of nearly 70 tons did not allow them to use most Italian roads and bridges. Due to a permanent lack of spare parts most of the units were not destroyed in battle, but abandoned and blown up by their own crews. One company of Ferdinands saw action during the Soviets' January 1945 Vistula-Oder Offensive in Poland, and the very last surviving vehicles were in combat at Zossen during the Battle of Berlin.

Strictly in terms of kills per loss, the Ferdinand/Elefant might well have been the most successful tank destroyer employed during the war, reaching an average ratio of approximately 10:1. During the Battle of Kursk, the sPzJagAbt 653 claims to have knocked out 320 enemy tanks, for the price of 13 Ferdinands.This impressive average ratio was due to its extreme firepower-protection ratio, which gave it an enormous advantage when used in head-on combat or a static defensive role. However, poor mobility and mechanical unreliability greatly diminished its offensive capability.

Only two of these vehicles survived the war. One Ferdinand was captured by Soviet forces at Kursk, and is now at the huge Kubinka Tank Museum outside Moscow. An Elefant was captured at Anzio by the Americans, and is now part of the United States Army Ordnance Museum's collection near Aberdeen, Maryland. The example at Aberdeen was restored to display condition in 2007-2008.

SS-Obersturmbannführers Max Wünschen, who was commander of the 12 SS-Panzer Regiment during the fighting in Normady. During his command of the regiment destroyed 250 enemy tanks.

A German soldier with the G43, STG44 and Panzerfaust

A German soldier with a MP44

WHAT WAS MP 44?

The StG 44 (Sturmgewehr 44 or "assault rifle model 1944") was an assault rifle developed in Nazi Germany during World War II and was the first of its kind to see major deployment, considered by many historians to be the first modern assault rifle.It is also known under the designations MP 43 and MP 44 (Maschinenpistole 43, Maschinenpistole 44 respectively), which denotes earlier development versions of the same weapon.

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