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    World War 2 In Review Number 43
    World War 2 In Review Number 43
    World War 2 In Review Number 43
    Ebook553 pages2 hours

    World War 2 In Review Number 43

    By Merriam Press

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    About this ebook

    Merriam Press World War 2 In Review Series. The following articles on World War II are in this issue: (1) Anti-tank Guns Part 1: American and British (2) De Havilland Australia DHA-G2 Transport Glider (3) History of Tanks in Canada, 1939-1945 (4) “Hammy” Gray: Canadian Fighter Pilot, VC (5) Kiev 1941 (6) Battle for Saint-Lô (7) Pierre Le Gloan: Mystery Ace of World War II (8) 501st Schwere Panzerabteilung in North Africa (9) German Butterfly Bomb (10) German Siebel Fh 104 Light Transport/Liaison (11) The Rommel Myth (12) German Battleship Tirpitz (13) Loss of the German Battleship Tirpitz on 12 November 1944: Technical Report No. 225-45 (14) Howitzers Against Soviet Tanks. 433 B&W/color photos/illustrations.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateApr 15, 2018
    ISBN9781387745692
    World War 2 In Review Number 43

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      Book preview

      World War 2 In Review Number 43 - Merriam Press

      World War 2 In Review Number 43

      World War 2 In Review No. 43

      F:\Working Data\Merriam Press Logo CS.jpg

      Hoosick Falls, New York

      2018

      First eBook Edition

      Copyright © 2018 by Merriam Press

      Additional material copyright of named contributors.

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

      The views expressed are solely those of the author.

      ISBN 9781387745692

      This work was designed, produced, and published in the United States of America by the Merriam Press, 489 South Street, Hoosick Falls NY 12090.

      Notice

      The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

      Mission Statement

      This series presents articles and pictorials on topics covering many aspects of World War 2. In addition to new articles and pictorials on topics not previously covered, future volumes may include additional material on the subjects covered in this volume. The volumes in this series will comprise a single source for innumerable articles and tens of thousands of images of interest to anyone interested in the history and study of World War 2. While no doubt some of these images and other materials could be found online, countless hours could be spent searching thousands of web sites to find at least some of this material.

      The Images

      These photos are seventy-plus years old, were taken under less than ideal conditions, and some were taken by individuals who were neither professional photographers nor using professional equipment. Thus the quality of the original image may be less than perfect. While Merriam Press tries to obtain the best quality images possible, the quality of the images in this publication will no doubt vary greatly.

      This series of publications utilizes the editor’s collection of tens of thousands of photographs and other illustrative material acquired since 1968. Hundreds of sources over the years have been searched for material on every subject.

      Photographs Needed

      Merriam Press welcomes any contributions of photographs

      of this or any subject for future volumes in this series.

      How to Use This Publication

      To get the best viewing experience, the use of the Adobe Digital program is highly recommended. This free program is available from Adobe.

      This publication was designed to allow for larger images than most eReaders will accommodate. When the publication was created, the images were inserted in a fixed size (6.2 inches wide and up to 8 inches high), and cannot be resized in the program. The text, of course, can be enlarged and reduced as desired.

      Viewing on a computer or other device with a large enough screen will allow viewing of the photos and other illustrations in their entirety. Viewing this publication on most eReaders will result in the images not being shown in their entirety.

      To view the images properly, adjust the program’s viewing window’s right side edge accordingly. If the viewing window is too wide, images may overlap, and moving the right side edge will fix this.

      •

      Welcome to No. 43 of the World War 2 In Review Series

      The following articles are in this issue of World War 2 In Review:

      (1) Anti-tank Guns Part 1

      American Anti-tank Guns

      37mm Gun M3

      57mm Anti-tank Gun M1

      75mm Gun M1897

      75mm Gun M3

      76mm Gun T2 on Carriage T3

      3-inch Gun M5

      90mm Gun M1/M2/M3

      105mm Gun T8

      British Anti-tank Guns

      Ordnance QF 2-pounder

      Ordnance QF 6-pounder

      Ordnance QF 17-pounder

      (2) De Havilland Australia DHA-G2 Transport Glider

      (3) History of Tanks in Canada, 1939-1945

      (4) Hammy Gray: Canadian Fighter Pilot, VC

      (5) Kiev 1941

      (6) Battle for Saint-Lô

      (7) Pierre Le Gloan: Mystery Ace of World War II

      (8) 501st Schwere Panzerabteilung in North Africa

      (9) German Butterfly Bomb

      (10) German Siebel Fh 104 Light Transport/Liaison

      (11) The Rommel Myth

      (12) German Battleship Tirpitz

      (13) Loss of the German Battleship Tirpitz on 12 November 1944: Technical Report No. 225-45

      (14) Howitzers Against Soviet Tanks

      with 433 B&W and color photographs, maps and illustrations.

      Watch for future issues of this series with more articles on the history of World War II.

      Anti-tank Guns Part 1

      This is the first in a series on the anti-tank guns of World War 2. See World War 2 In Review Number 44 for Belgian, Czech and French anti-tank guns; Number 45 for German anti-tank guns; Number 46 for Italian, Japanese and Romanian anti-tank guns; Number 47 for Russian and Swedish anti-tank guns.

      Anti-tank guns are a form of artillery designed to destroy armored fighting vehicles, normally from static defensive positions. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance of tanks during World War I. To destroy hostile tanks, artillerymen often used field guns depressed to fire directly at their targets. However, this practice expended too much valuable ammunition and was of increasingly limited effectiveness as tank armor became thicker. The first dedicated anti-tank artillery began appearing in the 1920s and by World War II was a common appearance in many European armies. In order to penetrate armor they fired specialized ammunition from longer barrels to achieve a higher muzzle velocity than field guns. Most anti-tank guns were developed in the 1930s as improvements in tanks were noted, and nearly every major arms manufacturer produced one type or another.

      Anti-tank guns deployed during World War II were manned by specialist infantrymen rather than artillery crews, and issued to light infantry units accordingly. The anti-tank guns of the 1930s were of small caliber; nearly all major armies possessing them used 37mm ammunition, except for the British Army, which had developed the 40mm Ordnance QF 2-pounder. As World War II progressed, the appearance of heavier tanks rendered these weapons obsolete and anti-tank guns likewise began firing larger and more effective armor-piercing shot. The development of the compact hollow charge projectile permanently altered anti-tank warfare, since this type of ammunition did not depend on a high muzzle velocity and could be fired from low-recoil, man-portable light weapons such as the Panzerfaust and the American series of recoilless rifles.

      Although a number of large caliber guns were developed during the war that were capable of knocking out the most heavily armored tanks, they proved expensive and difficult to conceal. The latter generation of low-recoil anti-tank weapons, which allowed projectiles the size of an artillery shell to be fired from a man’s shoulder, was considered a far more viable option for arming infantrymen. Recoilless rifles replaced most conventional anti-tank guns in the postwar period; nevertheless, development of new anti-tank guns exhibiting similar low-recoil performances continued until the late 1950s in France, Belgium, and the Soviet Union. A few Soviet designs saw combat well into the 1980s. The People’s Republic of China was still producing large caliber anti-tank guns as late as 1988.

      The first specialized anti-tank weaponry consisted of anti-tank rifles. These emerged from the mixed results of deploying field artillery against tanks during World War I, and the need to produce a more economical weapon to destroy them. Most anti-tank rifles were over 1.3m in length, however, and difficult for infantrymen to operate in the confines of their trenches. They could penetrate a tank’s armor at long range, but without explosive firepower, often failed to cause catastrophic damage, kill or even seriously injure the crew, or disable the tank. A number of infantry support guns designed to defeat hard targets such as fortified machine gun emplacements were used as makeshift anti-tank weapons, including the French Canon d’Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP; however, the first true anti-tank gun did not appear until 1928. This was the 3.7cm PaK 36. Weighing some 160 kg, the PaK 36 could inflict a catastrophic kill on a tank rather than merely penetrating its armor plate. Towed guns similar to the PaK 36 were the only anti-tank weapon issued to European armies during the 1930s, and a number of influential designs proliferated, such as the Böhler gun. By the late 1930s, anti-tank guns had been manufactured by companies in Germany, Austria, France, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark and Sweden. A few countries such as the Soviet Union also manufactured foreign designs under license.

      At the outbreak of World War II, most armies were fielding light anti-tank guns firing 3.7cm (37mm) ammunition. The guns were usually mounted on two-wheeled carriages so they could be towed into position, then withdrawn and repositioned rapidly. Since they weighed only a few hundred pounds on average, they could also be manhandled into position. All fired high-explosive and solid armor-piercing shot effective at relatively medium range, and an increasing number were manufactured with protective gun shields in addition to a split rail mounting. They were able to destroy tanks fielded by both sides during the first two years of the war, but soon proved impotent against the heavier tank armor which debuted in 1940. Introducing improved ammunition and increasing muzzle velocity initially helped compensate for their mediocre performance, but it was clear that small caliber anti-tank guns would soon be overtaken by yet more heavily armored tanks. Medium caliber guns in the 40mm to 50mm range began to appear, some of which simply utilized re-bored 37mm barrels. Although they too were soon approaching obsolescence, most remained in use with infantry units until the end of the war. Anti-tank guns remained ineffective against sloped armor, as demonstrated by an incident in 1941 when a single Soviet T-34 tank was impacted over thirty times by a battalion-sized contingent of German 37mm and 50mm anti-tank guns. The tank survived intact and was driven back to its own lines a few hours later. This helped earn the PaK 36 the moniker of Panzeranklopfgerät (tank door knocker) because its crew simply revealed their presence and wasted their shells without damaging the T-34’s armor. Anti-tank gunners began aiming at tank tracks, or vulnerable margins on the turret ring and gun mantlet, rather than testing their lighter cannon against bow and turret armor. These difficulties resulted in new types of ammunition being issued, namely high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) and armor-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) projectiles.

      Towards the end of World War II, armor plating became still thicker, with tanks such as the Tiger II being fitted with armor over 100mm in thickness, as compared to the 15mm more typical in 1939. This prompted the development of a third generation of anti-tank guns, large caliber pieces in the 57mm to 100mm range. The British Army adopted the Ordnance QF 6-pounder and Ordnance QF 17-pounder, which were then considered great advances in firepower, and the Wehrmacht fielded the even larger 7.5cm PaK 41 and 8.8cm PaK 43. The early 37mm anti-tank guns were easily concealed and moved; these large caliber weapons required equally large vehicles to tow them into place and were difficult to conceal, dig in, withdraw, or reposition. By 1945 large anti-tank guns had become almost impractical in their role, and their size and weight was considered a liability. They were also expensive to produce. Many were issued, at least initially, on the divisional level but gradually made their way to individual infantry battalions.

      Meanwhile, the effect of very compact hollow charge warheads was being noted and a number of countries began producing man-portable anti-tank weapons utilizing this ammunition. The development of man-portable, shoulder-fired anti-tank rocket launchers began in 1941; most could be reloaded, but a few such as the German Panzerfaust were fired from disposable tubes. Unlike anti-tank guns, their light weight made them easily portable by individual infantrymen on the battlefield, and they offered similar degrees of firepower whilst being quicker and cheaper to produce.

      Towed anti-tank guns disappeared from most Western countries such as the United States after World War II, to be replaced by shoulder-fired rocket launchers, recoilless rifles, and eventually, guided anti-tank missiles.

      At the end of the war, German engineers had proposed a new large caliber anti-tank gun which used less propellant than a rocket or recoilless weapon, yet fired similar compact hollow charge shells. German forces subsequently fielded the 8cm PAW 600, which was an extremely lightweight, low pressure weapon still able to fire the same ammunition types as higher velocity anti-tank guns. In the 1950s, this idea was revived by a Belgian firm, Mecar, which subsequently improved on the concept and developed a low pressure, smoothbore 90mm anti-tank gun. Because of its low recoil forces and light construction, the gun was particularly useful for being mounted on armored cars or small gun carriages. Its design inspired the lightly rifled French DEFA D921 anti-tank gun, which fired fin-stabilized shells and was available on a towed carriage or as a vehicle mount. It was later mated to the AML-90 and EBR series of French armored cars. The Soviet Union also adopted a similar design at around the same time, the 100mm T-12 anti-tank gun, which was smoothbore and fired fin-stabilized shells. Switzerland developed a postwar 90mm anti-tank gun of its own, the PaK 50/57, firing shells with an even lower velocity than the Mecar or DEFA guns. All these weapons could only use HEAT shells for armor-piercing purposes, save for the T-12, which utilized APDS rounds. France did introduce an APFSDS shell for the DEFA D921 at some point in the 1980s. The last country known to have produced a dedicated anti-tank gun was the People’s Republic of China, in 1988. The Chinese gun was known as the Norinco Type 86 and was probably manufactured as a replacement for the ageing Soviet-sourced T-12.

      Anti-tank guns continued to be used in a number of conflicts around the world, such as the Six Day War and the South African Border War. Soviet anti-tank guns in particular were exported to at least eighteen other countries after being retired from service and have continued to see action.

      Although still being drawn by horses or towed by trucks, towed anti-tank guns were initially much lighter and more portable than field guns, making them well-suited to infantry maneuvers. However, as their size and caliber increased, the guns likewise became increasingly heavy and cumbersome, restricting their role to static defense. In consequence, both sides during World War II were compelled to make anti-tank guns self-propelled, which greatly increased their mobility.

      The first self-propelled anti-tank guns were merely belated attempts to make use of obsolete tanks, such as the Panzerjäger I, which was a 4.7cm PaK (t) mated to a Panzerkampfwagen I chassis. The trend continued with older tanks, which were available in large numbers for conversions to self-propelled guns when they were replaced by heavier and better-armed tanks. Although just a makeshift solution, these initial experiments proved so successful they spawned an entire class of new vehicles: dedicated tank destroyers.

      Tank destroyers offered some advantages over towed anti-tank guns, since a static gun emplacement sacrificed concealment and surprise after firing the first shot; however, the same gun mounted on a tracked or wheeled chassis could open fire and throw a tank formation into substantial disarray before quickly withdrawing to repeat the same tactic elsewhere. The introduction of tank destroyers also put an end to the traditional tactic of suppressing anti-tank gun batteries with heavy artillery bombardments, as their crews were now well-protected under armor. They were not without their own series of disadvantages, however, namely presenting a much larger target than a towed gun, the added responsibilities of vehicle maintenance and logistical support, and the limited spaces in which the crew had to operate and stow all their available ammunition.

      By the end of the war, dedicated tank destroyers had been superseded by tanks which were just as effective at destroying other tanks, and there was little incentive to continue their separate development. Nevertheless, much like towed anti-tank guns they were widely exported and were still in service with several armies in the late twentieth century.

      Recommended Reading

      Gander, Terry; Chamberlain, Peter (1974). World War II Fact Files: Anti-tank Weapons. New York: Arco Publishing Company, Incorporated.

      Rottman, Gordon (2005). World War II Infantry Anti-Tank Tactics. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

      Ogorkiewicz, Richard. Technology of tanks, Volume 1 (1991 ed.). Macdonald and Jane’s Publishers Ltd.

      Ganz, A. Harding (2016). Ghost Division: The 11th Gespenster Panzer Division and the German Armored Force in World War II. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books.

      Zaloga, Stephen (2005). U.S. Anti-tank Artillery 1941–45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.

      Bruce Quarry & Mike Spick. An Illustrated Guide to Tank Busters (1987 ed.). Prentice Hall Press. pp. 120–125. ISBN 978-0134511542.

      Battistelli, Pier Paolo. Rommel’s Afrika Korps: Tobruk to El Alamein (2006 ed.). Osprey Publishing.

      Buckley, John. British Armour in the Normandy Campaign 1944 (2004 ed.). Routledge Books.

      American Anti-tank Guns

      F:\Working Data\WW2 In Review\WR Published\WR - 043 - Anti-tank Guns - WORKING\Images\image007_1.jpg

      Anti-tank guns being demonstrated in 1942: the 37mm M3A1 and the 3-inch M5.

      37mm Gun M3

      F:\Working Data\WW2 In Review\WR Published\WR - 043 - Anti-tank Guns - WORKING\Images\image010.jpg

      The 37mm Gun M3 was the first dedicated anti-tank gun fielded by United States forces in numbers. Introduced in 1940, it became the standard anti-tank gun of the U.S. infantry with its size enabling it to be pulled by a jeep. However, the continuing improvement of German tanks quickly rendered the 37mm ineffective and, by 1943, it was being gradually replaced in the European and Mediterranean theaters by the more powerful British-developed 57mm Gun M1. In the Pacific, where the Japanese tank threat was less significant, the M3 remained in service until the end of the war.

      Like many other light anti-tank guns, the M3 was widely used in the infantry support role and as an anti-personnel weapon, firing high-explosive and canister rounds.

      The M5 and M6 tank mounted variants were used in several models of armored vehicles most notably in the Stuart Light Tank M3/M5, the Lee Medium Tank M3, and Greyhound Light Armored Car M8. In addition, the M3 in its original version was mated to a number of other self-propelled carriages.

      The inability of the 37mm round to penetrate the armor of mid-war tanks severely restricted the offensive capabilities of units armed with them.

      In the mid-1930s, the United States Army had yet to field a dedicated anti-tank artillery piece; anti-tank companies of infantry regiments were armed with .50 in (12.7mm) machine guns. Although some consideration had been given to replacing the machine guns with a more powerful anti-tank gun, the situation began to change only after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Combat experience from Spain suggested that a light anti-tank gun, such as the German 37mm PaK 35/36, was capable of neutralizing the growing threat posed by tanks.

      In January 1937, the Ordnance Committee recommended development of such a weapon; two PaK 36 guns were acquired for study. As the projected main user of the weapon, the Infantry Branch was chosen to oversee the work. They wanted a lightweight gun that could be moved around by the crew, so any ideas of using a larger caliber than that of the German gun were discarded. The 37mm was a popular caliber of anti-tank guns in the 1930s; other anti-tank guns of the same caliber included Swedish Bofors gun, Czechoslovakian vz. 34 and vz. 37, Japanese Type 94 and Type 1.

      Development and testing continued until late 1938. Several variants of gun and carriage were proposed until on 15 December a combination of the T10 gun and T5 carriage was officially adopted as the 37mm Gun M3 and Carriage M4. Although the weapon followed the concept of the PaK 36 and was often referred to as a copy of it, the M3 differed significantly from the German design and used different ammunition.

      The gun was manufactured by

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