Tanks in the German Army

The book The Last Battle by Cornelius Ryan makes mention of the 7 million foreign workers who were forcibly brought into Germany to work in the factories and businesses — many of them in military assembly lines.

After the launch of Operation Citadel, the new Panthers were plagued by technical problems, suffering from engine fires and mechanical breakdowns, many before reaching the battle, in which the division was heavily engaged.

German tank development can be traced back to 1911, when Austrian Oberleutenant Gunther Burstyn proposed a design for "motor vehicle gun" (Motorgeschütz) with a turret.

It weighed around 30 long tons (30 t), capable of crossing ditches up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) wide, have armaments including cannon at front and rear as well as several machine-guns, and reach a top speed of at least 12 kilometres per hour (7.5 mph).

After initial plans were shared with the Army in December 1917, the design was extended to be a universal chassis which could be used as a base for both a tank and unarmoured Überlandwagen ("Overland vehicle") cargo carriers.

Thirteen companies bid for the contract and in the middle of 1918 construction of a design by Captain Müller was assigned to the Oberschlesien Eisenwerk of Gleiwitz, which had partially completed two prototypes by October 1918.

The victors pushed for severe restrictions on the country's war-making capabilities and Germany took the brunt of the blame to the west and was forced into signing the Treaty in June 1919.

Paragraph Twenty-four of the treaty provided for a 100,000-mark fine and imprisonment of up to six months for anybody who "[manufactured] armoured vehicles, tanks or similar machines, which may be turned to military use".

[8] Despite the manpower and technical limitations imposed upon the German Army by the Treaty of Versailles, several Reichswehr officers established a clandestine General Staff to study World War I and develop future strategies and tactics.

Infantry still remained the heart and soul of any planned offensive, but the tank would become the spearhead of actions that could shatter enemy defenses through speed, force, and firepower.

[9] In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Germans closely co-operated with Russians in the development of armored vehicles, which were tested at Kama tank school, near Kazan in the USSR.

[11] In the late 1920s and early 1930s German tank theory was pioneered by two figures: General Oswald Lutz and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Guderian.

At any rate, the German industrial infrastructure - both the post-war limitations and the economical hit caused by the crash of 1929 - meant the development of light tanks to start with.

After the Fall of France, due to the poor cross-country performance, some older Panzer II tanks were taken out of service, and an improved and modified version replaced them armed with newer 20mm KwK 38 L/55 cannon.

German production was also unable to compete with the volume produced by the Allied nations-in 1943, for example, Germany manufactured 11 000 tanks, as compared to 29,497 for the US, 7,476 for Britain, and an estimated 20,000 for the Soviet Union.

One was unusable and scrapped, one used for shell testing by the French, and the third captured by the Australians when the Infantry moved forward and dragged it back to their lines, the Germans still being in a position in sight of the tank and firing at them.

The PzKpfw III was the first German tank capable of firing armour-piercing rounds, although the 37 mm (1.46 in) gun was considered underpowered but was used in the interests of standardisation with the infantry.

Development work continued until 1938 when the Ausf D went into limited production, a 19 long tons (19 t) machine it was powered by a 12-litre 320 hp (240 kW) engine, with a top speed of 25 mph (40 km/h) and fitted with 30 mm (1.18 in) armour all round.

In an early example of a proxy war, both sides quickly received support from other countries, most notably the Soviet Union and Germany, who wanted to test their tactics and equipment.

[35] Fifty Soviet T-26 tanks arrived on 15 October;[36] Germany immediately responded by sending forty-one Panzer I's to Spain a few days later - 38 Ausf A and three Panzerbefehlswagen command vehicles.

[42] In an attempt to gain crucial time for Madrid's defence, Soviet tanks were deployed south of the city under the command of Colonel Krivoshein before the end of October.

[36] At this time, several T-26 tanks under the command of Captain Paul Arman were thrown into a Republican counterattack directed towards the town of Torrejon de Velasco in an attempt to cut off the Nationalist advance north.

On 8 August 1937 Major General García Pallasar received a note from Generalísimo Francisco Franco which expressed the need for a Panzer I (or negrillo, as their Spanish crews called them) with a 20 mm (0.787 in) gun.

The Breda modification was not particularly liked by German crews, as the unprotected gap in the turret, designed to allow the tank's commander to aim, was found to be a dangerous weak point.

[66] The two main advantages German armor enjoyed were radios allowing them to coordinate faster than their British or French counterparts[67] and superior tactical doctrine.

[69] By the end of the month, a large portion of the Red Army found itself trapped in the Minsk pocket,[70] and by 21 September Kiev had fallen, thereby allowing the Germans to concentrate on their ultimate objective, Moscow.

The Panzerkampfwagen II tanks were also used in North Africa, by the German Afrika Korps, with some success as the nature of the battlefield was more mobile and shortages of equipment forced Rommel to use them lacking updated replacements.

In the early battles of Second World War, German forces had gained notoriety for the rapid and successful invasions of Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, and the Soviet Union, in 1939–41.

[52] As the blitzkrieg began to stall on the Eastern Front, and a mobile war pushed back and forth across North Africa, Germany was quickly forced into an arms race in armour and antitank weapons.

503 played a crucial role during Operation Panzerfaust, supporting Otto Skorzeny's troops in taking the Hungarian capital of Budapest, which ensured that the country remained with the Axis until the end of the war.