1.
Eastern Front (World War II)
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The battles on the Eastern Front constituted the largest military confrontation in history. They were characterized by unprecedented ferocity, wholesale destruction, mass deportations, and immense loss of life due to combat, starvation, exposure, disease, and massacres. The Eastern Front, as the site of nearly all extermination camps, death marches, ghettos, of the estimated 70 million deaths attributed to World War II, over 30 million, many of them civilian, occurred on the Eastern Front. The Eastern Front was decisive in determining the outcome of the European portion of World War II and it resulted in the destruction of the Third Reich, the partition of Germany for nearly half a century and the rise of the Soviet Union as a military and industrial superpower. The two principal belligerent powers were Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, along with their respective allies. Though never engaged in action in the Eastern Front, the United Kingdom. The joint German–Finnish operations across the northernmost Finnish–Soviet border and in the Murmansk region are considered part of the Eastern Front, in addition, the Soviet–Finnish Continuation War may also be considered the northern flank of the Eastern Front. Despite their ideological antipathy, both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union shared a dislike for the outcome of World War I. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact signed in August 1939 was an agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. It contained a secret protocol aiming to return Central Europe to the pre–World War I status quo by dividing it between Germany and the Soviet Union, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would return to Soviet control, while Poland and Romania would be divided. I need the Ukraine so that they cant starve us out, the two powers invaded and partitioned Poland in 1939. The annexations were never recognized by most Western states, the annexed Romanian territory was divided between the Ukrainian and Moldavian Soviet republics. Adolf Hitler had argued in his autobiography Mein Kampf for the necessity of Lebensraum, acquiring new territory for Germans in Eastern Europe, Wehrmacht officers told their troops to target people who were described as Jewish Bolshevik subhumans, the Mongol hordes, the Asiatic flood and the red beast. The vast majority of German soldiers viewed the war in Nazi terms, Hitler referred to the war in unique terms, calling it a war of annihilation which was both an ideological and racial war. In addition, the Nazis also sought to wipe out the large Jewish population of Central, after Germanys initial success at the Battle of Kiev in 1941, Hitler saw the Soviet Union as militarily weak and ripe for immediate conquest. On 3 October 1941, he announced, We have only to kick in the door, thus, Germany expected another short Blitzkrieg and made no serious preparations for prolonged warfare. Throughout the 1930s the Soviet Union underwent massive industrialization and economic growth under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, Stalins central tenet, Socialism in one country, manifested itself as a series of nationwide centralized Five-Year Plans from 1929 onwards. It served as a testing ground for both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army to experiment with equipment and tactics that they would later employ on a wider scale in the Second World War
2.
Howitzer
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In the taxonomies of artillery pieces used by European armies in the 17th to 20th centuries, the howitzer stood between the gun and the mortar. Howitzers, like other artillery equipment, are organized in groups called batteries. The English word howitzer comes from the Czech word houfnice, from houf, crowd, haufen, sometimes in the compound Gewalthaufen, also designated a pike square formation in German. This is particularly true in the forces of the United States. Because of this practice, the howitzer is used in some armies as a generic term for any kind of artillery piece that is designed to attack targets using indirect fire. Thus, artillery pieces that bear resemblance to howitzers of earlier eras are now described as howitzers. Most other armies in the reserve the word howitzer for guns with barrel lengths 15 to 25 times their caliber. The British had a method of nomenclature. In the 18th century, they adopted projectile weight for guns replacing the old naming system of culverin, saker, mortars had been categorized by calibre in inches in the 17th century and this was inherited by howitzers. The modern howitzers were invented in Sweden towards the end of the 17th century, originally intended for use in siege warfare, they were particularly useful for delivering cast-iron shells filled with gunpowder or incendiary materials into the interior of fortifications. In the middle of the 18th century, a number of European armies began to introduce howitzers that were enough to accompany armies in the field. Though usually fired at the high angles of fire used by contemporary siege howitzers. Rather, as the guns of the day were usually restricted to inert projectiles. Many, for the sake of simplicity and rapidity of fire, the Abus gun was an early form of howitzer in the Ottoman Empire. In 1758 the Russian Empire introduced a type of howitzer, with a conical chamber, called a licorne. The most famous of these gun-howitzers was the Napoleon 12-pounder, a weapon of French design that saw service in the American Civil War. The longest-serving artillery piece of the 19th century was the mountain howitzer, in 1859, the armies of Europe began to rearm field batteries with rifled field guns. These new field pieces used cylindrical projectiles that, while smaller in caliber than the spherical shells of smoothbore field howitzers, moreover, their greater range let them create many of the same effects that previously required the sharply curved trajectories of smoothbore field howitzers
3.
Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
4.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
5.
Romania
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Romania is a sovereign state located in Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia and it has an area of 238,391 square kilometres and a temperate-continental climate. With over 19 million inhabitants, the country is the member state of the European Union. Its capital and largest city, Bucharest, is the sixth-largest city in the EU, the River Danube, Europes second-longest river, rises in Germany and flows in a general southeast direction for 2,857 km, coursing through ten countries before emptying into Romanias Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains, which cross Romania from the north to the southwest are marked by one of their tallest peaks, Moldoveanu, modern Romania was formed in 1859 through a personal union of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. The new state, officially named Romania since 1866, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877, at the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the sovereign Kingdom of Romania. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war, following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. After the 1989 Revolution, Romania began a transition back towards democracy and it has been a member of NATO since 2004, and part of the European Union since 2007. A strong majority of the population identify themselves as Eastern Orthodox Christians and are speakers of Romanian. The cultural history of Romania is often referred to when dealing with artists, musicians, inventors. For similar reasons, Romania has been the subject of notable tourist attractions, Romania derives from the Latin romanus, meaning citizen of Rome. The first known use of the appellation was attested in the 16th century by Italian humanists travelling in Transylvania, Moldavia, after the abolition of serfdom in 1746, the word rumân gradually fell out of use and the spelling stabilised to the form român. Tudor Vladimirescu, a leader of the early 19th century. The use of the name Romania to refer to the homeland of all Romanians—its modern-day meaning—was first documented in the early 19th century. The name has been officially in use since 11 December 1861, in English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975, Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government. The Neolithic-Age Cucuteni area in northeastern Romania was the region of the earliest European civilization. Evidence from this and other sites indicates that the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture extracted salt from salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage
6.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
7.
Gun barrel
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A gun barrel is a part of firearms and artillery pieces. The hollow interior of the barrel is called the bore, a gun barrel must be able to hold in the expanding gas produced by the propellants to ensure that optimum muzzle velocity is attained by the projectile as it is being pushed out by the expanding gas. Modern small arms barrels are made of known and tested to withstand the pressures involved. Artillery pieces are made by various techniques providing reliably sufficient strength, early firearms were muzzle-loading, with powder, and then shot loaded from the muzzle, capable of only a low rate of fire. During the 19th century effective mechanical locks were invented that sealed a breech-loading weapon against the escape of propellant gases, the early Chinese, the inventors of gunpowder, used bamboo, a naturally tubular stalk, as the first barrels in gunpowder projectile weapons. Early European guns were made of iron, usually with several strengthening bands of the metal wrapped around circular wrought iron rings. The Chinese were the first to master cast-iron cannon barrels, early cannon barrels were very thick for their caliber. Bore evacuator Bore snake Cannon Muzzle Polygonal rifling Rifling Slug barrel Smoothbore
8.
Caliber (artillery)
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In artillery, caliber or calibre is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length. Rifled barrels introduce ambiguity to measurement of caliber, a rifled bore consists of alternating grooves and lands. The distance across the bore from groove to groove is greater than the distance from land to land, the depth of rifling grooves increases in larger calibers. United States Navy guns typically used rifling depth between one-half and one percent of caliber, projectile bourrelet diameter specification was 0.015 inches less than land to land diameter with a minus manufacturing tolerance so average clearance was about 0.012 inches. Driving band diameter was groove to groove diameter plus 0.02 inches, the length of the barrel is often quoted in calibers. For example, US Naval Rifles 3 in or larger, the effective length of the barrel is divided by the barrel diameter to give a dimensionless quantity.81 As an example, the main guns of the Iowa-class battleships can be referred to as 16/50 caliber. They are 16 inches in diameter and the barrel is 800 inches long, the bore to barrel length ratio is called caliber in naval gunnery,81 but is called length in army artillery. Before World War II, the US Navy used 5/51 caliber as surface-to-surface guns, by the end of World War II, the dual purpose 5/38 caliber was standard naval armament against surface and air targets. All three had a diameter of 5 inches. At sea, a weapon had to perform, without fail, there was no ready replacement, nor one that could be readily supplied. Over time, the terms of pound and bore became confused and blurred, eventually, when the technology existed, the bore came to be the standard measure. For naval rifles, the change was to actual bore. They then began to measure the length of the weapon in calibers. These were a measure of the bore of the barrel versus the rifled bore of the barrel. In other words, a 12/45 is 12×45= the length of the bore of that gun in inches. This explains the differences in both penetration and long range performance of naval rifles over the years. In addition to the improvements in overall performance, the increase in barrel length also allowed, in some circumstances. For example, the American 14/45, as introduced in the New York-class battleships, later improvements to the design, lengthening the rifle itself and also altering the breech, allowed a 1400 lb. projectile and, overall, a greater barrel life
9.
Muzzle brake
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A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to the muzzle of a firearm or cannon that redirects propellant gases to counter recoil and unwanted rising of the barrel during rapid fire. They have been used in forms for rifles and pistols to help control recoil. They are used on pistols for practical pistol competitions, and are usually called compensators in this context, the interchangeable terms muzzle rise, muzzle flip, or muzzle climb refer to the tendency of a handheld firearms front end to rise after firing. Firearms with less height from the line to the barrel centerline tend to experience less muzzle rise. The muzzle rises primarily because, for most firearms, the centerline of the barrel is above the center of contact between the shooter and the grip and stock. The reactive forces from the bullet and propellant gases exiting the muzzle act directly down the centerline of the barrel. If that line of force is above the center of the points, this creates a moment or torque rotational force that makes the firearm rotate. The M1946 Sieg automatic rifle had a muzzle brake that made the rifle climb downward. Muzzle brakes are simple in concept, such as the one employed on the 90 mm M3 gun used on the M47 Patton tank and this consists of a small length of tubing mounted at right angles to the end of the barrel. Brakes most often utilize slots, vents, holes, baffles, the strategy of a muzzle brake is to redirect and control the burst of combustion gases that follows the departure of a projectile. All muzzle brake designs share a basic principle, they partially divert combustion gases at a sideways angle. The momentum of the diverted gases thus does not add to the recoil, the angle toward which the gases are directed will fundamentally affect how the brake behaves. If gases are directed upward, they exert a downward force. Construction of a brake or compensator can be as simple as a diagonal cut at the muzzle end of the barrel to direct some of the escaping gas upward. On the AKM assault rifle, the brake also angles slightly to the right to counteract the movement of the rifle under recoil. Another simple method is porting, where holes or slots are machined into the barrel near the muzzle to allow the gas to escape, more advanced designs use baffles and expansion chambers to slow escaping gases. This is the principle behind a linear compensator. Ports are often added to the chambers, producing the long
10.
Shell (projectile)
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A shell is a payload-carrying projectile that, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot. Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used, originally, it was called a bombshell, but shell has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Words cognate with grenade are still used for an artillery or mortar projectile in some European languages, shells are usually large-calibre projectiles fired by artillery, combat vehicles, and warships. Shells usually have the shape of a cylinder topped by a nose for good aerodynamic performance, possibly with a tapering base. Solid cannonballs did not need a fuse, but hollow munitions filled with something such as gunpowder to fragment the ball, needed a fuse, percussion fuses with a spherical projectile presented a challenge because there was no way of ensuring that the impact mechanism hit the target. Therefore, shells needed a fuse that was ignited before or during firing. The earliest record of shells being used in combat was by the Republic of Venice at Jadra in 1376, shells with fuses were used at the 1421 siege of St Boniface in Corsica. These were two hollowed hemispheres of stone or bronze held together by an iron hoop, as described in their book, these hollow, gunpowder-packed shells were made of cast iron. At least since the 16th Century grenades made of ceramics or glass were in use in Central Europe, a hoard of several hundred ceramic greandes were discovered during building works in front of a bastion of the Bavarian City of Ingolstadt, Germany dated to the 17th Century. Lots of the grenades obtained their orignal blackpowder loads and igniters, most probably the grenades were intentionally dumped the moat of the bastion before the year 1723. Early powder burning fuses had to be loaded fuse down to be ignited by firing or a portfire put down the barrel to light the fuse, other shells were wrapped in bitumen cloth, which would ignite during the firing and in turn ignite a powder fuse. Nevertheless, shells came into use in the 16th Century. By the 18th Century, it was known that the fuse towards the muzzle could be lit by the flash through the windage between the shell and the barrel, the use of exploding shells from field artillery became relatively commonplace from early in the 19th century. Until the mid 19th century, shells remained as simple exploding spheres that used gunpowder and they were usually made of cast iron, but bronze, lead, brass and even glass shell casings were experimented with. The word bomb encompassed them at the time, as heard in the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner, typically, the thickness of the metal body was about a sixth of their diameter and they were about two thirds the weight of solid shot of the same calibre. To ensure that shells were loaded with their fuses towards the muzzle, in 1819, a committee of British artillery officers recognised that they were essential stores and in 1830 Britain standardised sabot thickness as a half inch. The sabot was also intended to reduce jamming during loading, despite the use of exploding shell, the use of smoothbore cannons, firing spherical projectiles of shot, remained the dominant artillery method until the 1850s. By the late 18th century, artillery could use canister shot to defend itself from infantry or cavalry attack and this involved loading a tin or canvas container filled with small iron or lead balls instead of the usual cannonball
11.
Glossary of British ordnance terms
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This article explains terms used for the British Armed Forces ordnance and also ammunition. The terms may have different meanings in the military of other countries. Between decks, applies to a gun mounting in which part of the rotating mass is below the deck. This allows for a profile of turret, meaning that turrets need not be superfiring The term BL, in its general sense, stood for breech loading. The shell was loaded via the breech followed by the propellant charge, sealing the chamber to prevent escape of the propellant gases. The term BL was first used to refer to the Armstrong breechloaders, following the discontinuation of Armstrong breechloaders and the period of British rifled muzzle-loaders, British breechloaders were re-introduced in 1880. Early British Elswick breechloaders in the 1880s used a steel cup obturation method and this was quickly superseded in guns designed by the Royal Gun Factory by the French de Bange method, the basic principle of which is still in use today. In British service this became a Crossley pad with an interrupted thread screw block e. g. a Welin screw, the shell was loaded via the breech, followed by the propellant charge in a cloth bag. A single-use vent sealing tube, a type of primer not dissimilar in appearance to a rifle round, was inserted into the breech for firing the gun. For instance, Britain before World War I had both QF and BL6 inch guns and this presented difficulties for BL guns at high angles. A special cartridge was developed for BL9.2 inch guns on H. A. mountings, using multiple small fabric bags also allows the gunners to use a reduced charge if need be. The term BLC stood for BL converted and referred to a breech and breech mechanism modified from an early long-screw three- or four-motion to modern short-screw single-motion, an example is the conversion of the BL15 pounder to BLC15 pounder. Calibre radius head, the radius of a circle with the curve of the nose on its circumference. The longer and more pointed the nose, the higher the C. R. H. Typical C. R. H. for British shells leading up to World War I was two, e. g. the curve of the nose of a two C. R. H. Six-inch shell was equivalent to the curve of a circle with a radius of 12 inches, shells of four C. R. H. were soon developed in World War I, identified by an A following the shell mark number, B for six and so on. For modern streamlined shells post-World War I, two numbers were necessary to more correctly denote a shells C. R. H, for instance, the World War I6 inch 26 cwt howitzer shell was two C. R. H. The World War II Mk 2D shell was correctly described as 5/10 C. R. H, in this use it is synonymous with round
12.
Caliber
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In guns, particularly firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel, or the diameter of the projectile it fires, in hundredths or sometimes thousandths of an inch. For example, a 45 caliber firearm has a diameter of.45 of an inch. Barrel diameters can also be expressed using metric dimensions, as in 9mm pistol, when the barrel diameter is given in inches, the abbreviation cal can be used. Good performance requires a bullet to closely match the diameter of a barrel to ensure a good seal. While modern cartridges and cartridge firearms are referred to by the cartridge name. Firearm calibers outside the range of 17 to 50 exist, but are rarely encountered. Larger calibers, such as.577.585.600.700, the.950 JDJ is the only known cartridge beyond 79 caliber used in a rifle. Referring to artillery, caliber is used to describe the length as multiples of the bore diameter. A 5-inch 50 calibre gun has a diameter of 5 in. The main guns of the USS Missouri are 1650 caliber, makers of early cartridge arms had to invent methods of naming the cartridges, since no established convention existed then. One of the early established cartridge arms was the Spencer repeating rifle, later various derivatives were created using the same basic cartridge, but with smaller-diameter bullets, these were named by the cartridge diameter at the base and mouth. The original No.56 became the. 56-56, and the smaller versions. 56-52. 56-50, the. 56-52, the most common of the new calibers, used a 50-cal bullet. Optionally, the weight in grains was designated, e. g. 45-70-405. Variations on these methods persist today, with new cartridges such as the.204 Ruger, metric diameters for small arms refer to cartridge dimensions and are expressed with an × between the bore diameter and the length of the cartridge case, for example,7. 62×51 NATO. This indicates that the diameter is 7. 62mm, loaded in a case 51mm long. Similarly, the 6. 5×55 Swedish cartridge has a diameter of 6.5 mm. An exception to rule is the proprietary cartridge used by U. S. maker Lazzeroni. The following table lists commonly used calibers where both metric and imperial are used as equivalents
13.
Breech-loading weapon
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A breech-loading gun is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel. Modern mass production firearms are breech-loading, early firearms, on the other hand, were almost entirely muzzle-loading. In field artillery, breech loading allows the crew to reload the gun without exposing themselves to fire or repositioning the piece. The main challenge for developers of breech-loading firearms was sealing the breech and this was eventually solved for smaller firearms by the development of the self-contained metallic cartridge. For firearms too large to use cartridges, the problem was solved by the development of the interrupted screw, breech-loading swivel guns were invented in the 14th century. The breech-loading swivel gun had a rate of fire, and was especially effective in anti-personnel roles. Breech-loading firearms are known from the 16th century, Henry VIII possessed one, which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. More breech-loading firearms were made in the early 18th century, one such gun known to have belonged to Philip V of Spain, and was manufactured circa 1715, probably in Madrid. It came with a ready-to load reusable cartridge, patrick Ferguson, a British Army officer, developed in 1772 the Ferguson rifle, a breech-loading flintlock firearm. Later on into the century there were attempts in Europe at an effective breech-loader. There were concentrated attempts at improved cartridges and methods of ignition, the cartridge was loaded through the breech and fired with a needle. The needle-activated central-fire breech-loading gun would become a feature of firearms thereafter. The corresponding firearm was also developed by Pauly, Pauly made an improved version, which was protected by a patent on 29 September 1812. In 1846 another Paris Frenchman, Benjamin Houllier, patented the first fully metallic cartridge containing powder in a metallic shell, Houllier commercialised his weapons in association with the gunsmiths Blanchard or Charles Robert. In English-speaking countries the Flobert cartridge corresponds to the.22 BB, the first centrefire cartridge was introduced in 1855 by Pottet, with both Berdan and Boxer priming. The Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr or Dreyse needle gun, was a single-shot breech-loading rifle using a rotating bolt to seal the breech and it was so called because of its. 5-inch needle-like firing pin, which passed through a paper cartridge case to impact a percussion cap at the bullet base. It began development in the 1830s under von Dreyse and eventually a version of it was adopted by Prussia in the late 1840s. The paper cartridge and the gun had numerous deficiencies, specifically, however, the rifle was used to great success in the Prussian army in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866
14.
Rifled breech loader
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The spin imparted by the guns rifling gives projectiles directional stability and increased range. Loading from the rear of the gun leaves the crew exposed to enemy fire, allows smaller gun emplacements or turrets. This was both a safety issue and one of gun performance - all the propellant gas was needed to accelerate the projectile along the barrel. The second problem was speed of operation - how to close the breech before firing, two solutions were developed more or less in parallel, the screw breech block and sliding wedge or sliding block. Hence, unlike with a rifle cartridge, the breech mechanism itself somehow needed to provide obturation. Hence if the block circumference was divided into two sets of threads and gaps, the only needed to be rotated ¼ turn to lock it instead of several turns. The tradeoff was that only ½ the blocks circumference was threaded, until the 19th century, only muzzle-loaders were used. In 1837 Martin von Wahrendorff patented a design for a breech-loader with a cylindrical breech plug secured by a horizontal wedge, independently, Giovanni Cavalli first proposed a breech-loader gun in 1832 to the Sardinian Army, and first tested such a gun in 1845. Advances in metallurgy in the industrial era allowed for the construction of rifled breech-loading guns that could fire at a greater muzzle velocity. Production started in 1855 at the Elswick Ordnance Company and the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, a degree of obturation was achieved via a cup on the face of the block being forced into a recessed ring on the chamber face. Whatever obturation that was achieved relied on manual labour rather than the power of the guns firing, however, the British Army and Navy preferred to revert to muzzle-loaders until larger high-powered breech-loaders with secure obturation systems that were relatively simple to operate were developed. In the meantime the French persevered with trying to develop breechloaders which combined faster loading than muzzle-loaders, high power, safety, the Lahitolle 95 mm cannon of 1875 with an interrupted screw breech met the first three requirements to a great extent and partially solved the obturation problem. Finally the de Bange system introduced in 1877 solved the problem with an asbestos pad impregnated with grease which expanded and sealed the breech on firing. The de Bange system formed the system for all subsequent screw breeches to the present day. Britain adopted the de Bange breech when it returned to breechloaders in the early 1880s after some experiments with the inferior Armstrong cup obturation system. Loading required the 3 operations in reverse and this was hence termed a three motion block and was slow to operate. While working as a designer for Thorsten Nordenfelt in London. This allowed the block to be unscrewed and swung out in two motions - the two motion interrupted screw breech, bofors continued to use this in medium artillery into the 20th century
15.
Recoil
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Recoil is the backward movement of a gun when it is discharged. To apply this counter-recoiling force, modern mounted guns may employ recoil buffering comprising springs and hydraulic recoil mechanisms, early cannons used systems of ropes along with rolling or sliding friction to provide forces to slow the recoiling cannon to a stop. Recoil buffering allows the maximum counter-recoil force to be lowered so that strength limitations of the gun mount are not exceeded, however, the same pressures acting on the base of the projectile are acting on the rear face of the gun chamber, accelerating the gun rearward during firing. This results in the required counter-recoiling force being proportionally lower, modern cannons also employ muzzle brakes very effectively to redirect some of the propellant gasses rearward after projectile exit. This provides a force to the barrel, allowing the buffering system. The same physics affecting recoil in mounted guns and cannons applies to hand-held guns, hands, arms and shoulders have considerable strength and elasticity for this purpose, up to certain practical limits. For this reason, establishing recoil safety standards for small arms remains challenging, a change in momentum of a mass requires a force, according to Newtons first law, known as the law of inertia, inertia simply being another term for mass. That force, applied to a mass, creates an acceleration, according to Newtons second law, the law of momentum -- changing the velocity of the mass changes its momentum. It is important to understand at this point that velocity is not simply speed, velocity is the speed of a mass in a particular direction. In a very technical sense, speed is a scalar, a magnitude, in summation, the total momentum of the system equals zero, surprisingly just as it did before the trigger was pulled. There are two conservation laws at work when a gun is fired, conservation of momentum and conservation of energy, recoil is explained by the law of conservation of momentum, and so it is easier to discuss it separately from energy. The nature of the process is determined by the force of the expanding gases in the barrel upon the gun. It is also determined by the force applied to the gun. The recoil force only acts during the time that the ejecta are still in the barrel of the gun, except for the case of zero-recoil, the counter-recoil force is smaller than the recoil force but lasts for a longer time. Since the recoil force and the force are not matched. In the zero-recoil case, the two forces are matched and the gun will not move when fired. In most cases, a gun is very close to a free-recoil condition, an example of near zero-recoil would be a gun securely clamped to a massive or well-anchored table, or supported from behind by a massive wall. For example, placing the butt of a large caliber gun directly against a wall, the recoil of a firearm, whether large or small, is a result of the law of conservation of momentum
16.
Gun carriage
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A gun carriage is a frame and mount that supports the gun barrel of an artillery piece, allowing it to be manoeuvred and fired. The earliest guns were laid directly onto the ground, with earth being piled up under the end of the barrel to increase the elevation. As the size of guns increased, they began to be attached to wooden frames or beds that were held down by stakes. These began to be replaced by wheeled carriages in the early 16th century, from the 16th to the mid-19th century, the main form of artillery remained the smoothbore cannon. By this time, the trunnion had been developed, with the result that the barrel could be held in two recesses in the carriage and secured with an iron band. This simplified elevation, which was achieved by raising or lowering the breech of the gun by means of a wedge called a quoin or later by a steel screw. During this time, the design of gun carriages evolved only slowly, the trunnions of the gun barrel sat on the top of the cheeks, the rearward part of each cheek was stepped so that the breech could be lifted by iron levers called handspikes. Traversing the gun was achieved by levering the rear of the carriage sideways with handspikes and these were designed to allow guns to be deployed on the battlefield and were provided with a pair of large wheels similar to those used on carts or wagons. The cheeks of field carriages were much narrower than those on the naval carriage, when the gun needed to be moved any distance, the trail could be lifted onto a second separate axle called a limber, which could then be towed by a team of horses or oxen. Limbers had been invented in France in about 1550, in recent times, most heavy guns in military service, that were not themselves mounted into a vehicles, have been mounted either with a field carriage or a split trail carriage. The field carriage is simpler - having two legs extend backwards, joining at a tail, being a hardpoint to hook on to a prime mover or set of horses, the split trail carriage, however, is more complicated, but offers distinct advantages. It consists of two legs, able to be spread independently to the sides, or brought together to allow towing or movement, in both cases, the tail of the carriage often serves to balance the gun, and protect it from rolling to any large extent. The split trail, however, allows the gun not only to be fired near the horizontal, as the field carriage does and this is less important for heavier artillery, as the guns already involve a long time to prepare a firing position. While this still limits the ability to track, it allows the guns to fire in any direction with minimal preparation. Furthermore, it part of each of the benefits of the field carriage, being weight, space. The practice has its origins in war and appears in the century in the Queens regulations of the British Army. In the United Kingdom, the visual distinction usually referred to is that in a state funeral and this distinguishing feature is not invariable, however, as shown by the use of naval ratings rather than horses at the ceremonial funeral for Lord Mountbatten in 1979
17.
Gun laying
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Gun laying is the process of aiming an artillery piece, such as a gun, howitzer or mortar on land, or at sea, against surface or air targets. It may be laying for direct fire, where the gun is aimed similarly to a rifle, or indirect fire, the term includes automated aiming using, for example, radar-derived target data and computer-controlled guns. Gun laying means moving the axis of the bore of the barrel in two planes, horizontal and vertical. A gun is traversed – rotated in a horizontal plane – to align it with the target, Gun laying is a set of actions to align the axis of a gun barrel so that it points in the required direction. This alignment is in the horizontal and vertical planes, Gun laying may be for direct fire, where the layer sees the target, or indirect fire, where the target may not be visible from the gun. Gun laying has sometimes called training the gun. Laying in the vertical plane uses data derived from trials or empirical experience, for any given gun and projectile types, it reflects the distance to the target and the size of the propellant charge. It also incorporates any differences in height between gun and target, with indirect fire, it may allow for other variables as well. With indirect fire the horizontal angle is relative to something, typically the guns aiming point, depending on the gun mount, there is usually a choice of two trajectories. The dividing angle between the trajectories is about 45 degrees, it varies due to gun dependent factors. Below 45 degrees the trajectory is called low angle, above is high angle, the differences are that low angle fire has a shorter time of flight, a lower vertex and flatter angle of descent. All guns have carriages or mountings that support the barrel assembly, early guns could only be traversed by moving their entire carriage or mounting, and this lasted with heavy artillery into World War II. Mountings could be fitted into traversing turrets on ships, coast defences or tanks, from circa 1900 field artillery carriages provided traverse without moving the wheels and trail. The carriage, or mounting, also enabled the barrel to be set at the elevation angle. With some gun mounts it is possible to depress the gun, some guns require a near-horizontal elevation for loading. An essential capability for any elevation mechanism is to prevent the weight of the barrel forcing its heavier end downward and this is greatly helped by having trunnions at the centre of gravity, although a counterbalance mechanism can be used. It also means the elevation gear has to be enough to resist considerable downward pressure. However, mortars, where the forces were transferred directly into the ground
18.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
19.
10.5 cm leFH 18
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The 10.5 cm leFH18 was a German light howitzer used in World War II and the standard artillery piece of the Wehrmacht, adopted for service in 1935 and used by all divisions and artillery battalions. A major advance on its predecessor the 10, the leFH18 was further developed as the leFH 18M and leFH 18/40. Beginning in 1942, self-propelled versions were created by fitting the howitzer on a Panzer II and it was also used to equip German allies and neutral countries in Europe prior to and during the war. During the 1920s, the Reichswehr carried out analyses that indicated the 105mm projectile was more effective than a 75mm equivalent, on 1 June 1927, the Army Ordnance Office issued Secret Command Matter No. 59/27, calling for the development of a new field howitzer. The project was assigned Priority Level II, most important work, rheinmetall-Borsig of Düsseldorf drew up the blueprints and made the initial calculations in 1928. Design work was complete in 1930, with production commencing in the early 1930s, at the outbreak of World War II, the Wehrmacht had 4,862 leFH18 howitzers. Deliveries from September 1939–February 1945 totaled 6,933 leFH18 on wheeled carriages, in 1943, the howitzer cost on average 16,400 RM,6 months and 3,200 man hours to make. The leFH18 improved in most areas on its predecessor, the 10.5 cm leFH16, a completely new three-point split trail gun carriage provided more stability and increased the traverse to 56 degrees. The sighting mechanism made it easier to fire at moving targets, the new gun carriage resulted in a major weight increase to over two tons. A barrel brake containing a water jacket and an equalizer in the upper carriage also checked the recoil. The protective shield was a reinforced, tapered shield with flattened sides that could be folded down, the barrel was good for 10,000 to 12,000 shots. The howitzer could fire 28 different shell types, the main high explosive shell was nearly a kilogram lighter and contained a heavier explosive charge. The leFH proved an adaptable design, with a total of 28 different variants manufactured, the pre-production wooden-spoke wheels were replaced beginning in 1936 with more durable light-metal cast wheel discs and removable tires that made the howitzer easier to tow. The motorized version was fitted with wider solid-rubber tires, a combination of wooden wheels and rubber tires was a frequent occurrence. Towards the end of the war, even older wooden wheels from the leFH16 were used, the howitzer was designed from the start to be transported either by horse or motor vehicle. The heavy weight made horse-drawn transport difficult, especially in the mud, the motorized version was attached directly without a limber to either a SdKfz 6 or Sd. Kfz. 11 prime mover and could achieve a march speed of 40 km/h
20.
10.5 cm leFH 18M
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The 10.5 cm leFH 18M was a German light howitzer used in the Second World War. The gun, less the carriage and shield, was used as the armament of the SdKfz 124 Wespe self-propelled artillery vehicle. The 10.5 cm leFH 18M superseded the 10.5 cm leFH18 as the standard German divisional field howitzer used during the Second World War. It was designed and developed by Rheinmetall after the war broke out in an effort to get more range from the basic leFH18 design, a muzzle brake was fitted and the recoil system adjusted to allow the use of a more powerful charge and new long-range shell. Generally it did not equip independent artillery battalions until after the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943,53 were also exported to Finland, where they were known as 105 H33. The 10.5 cm leFH 18M was also in service with the Syrian Army, the type has seen occasional service with rebel groups during the Syrian Civil War, in July 2013 and May 2015. Many were converted from the 10.5 cm leFH18, the former were only suitable for horse traction. Initially, it was fitted with a muzzle brake of relatively low efficiency. This was later improved by welding two protruding ears to the rear of the port, however this style of muzzle brake proved troublesome with the early designs of fin-stabilized and discarding-sabot shells and a new cage-type muzzle brake was designed and fitted. This fit in the cartridge case, but protruded about 50 millimetres past its mouth. Ballistically, the 10.5 cm leFH 18M and the leFH 18/40 are identical. 10.5 cm leFH16, a howitzer used by Germany in World War I and World War II10.5 cm leFH18, previous version of the leFH 18/M10.5 cm leFH 18/40. Deutsche Artillerie 1934-1945, Eine Dokumentation in Text, Skizzen und Bildern, Ausrüstung, Gliederung, Ausbildung, Führung, limburg/Lahn, Germany, C. A. Starke,1974 Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, new York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. Mechanicsville, PA, Stackpole Books,1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X
21.
Division (military)
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A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. Infantry divisions during the World Wars ranged between 10,000 and 30,000 in nominal strength, in most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. In the West, the first general to think of organising an army into smaller units was Maurice de Saxe, Marshal General of France. He died at the age of 54, without having implemented his idea, victor-François de Broglie put the ideas into practice. He conducted successful practical experiments of the system in the Seven Years War. The first war in which the system was used systematically was the French Revolutionary War. It made the more flexible and easy to manoeuvre. Under Napoleon, the divisions were grouped together into corps, because of their increasing size, napoleons military success spread the divisional and corps system all over Europe, by the end of the Napoleonic Wars, all armies in Europe had adopted it. In modern times, most military forces have standardized their divisional structures, the peak use of the division as the primary combat unit occurred during World War II, when the belligerents deployed over a thousand divisions. With technological advances since then, the power of each division has increased. Divisions are often formed to organize units of a particular type together with support units to allow independent operations. In more recent times, divisions have mainly been organized as combined arms units with subordinate units representing various combat arms, in this case, the division often retains the name of a more specialized division, and may still be tasked with a primary role suited to that specialization. For the most part, large cavalry units did not remain after World War II, in general, two new types of cavalry were developed, air cavalry or airmobile, relying on helicopter mobility, and armored cavalry, based on an autonomous armored formation. The former was pioneered by the 11th Air Assault Division, formed on 1 February 1963 at Fort Benning, on 29 June 1965 the division was renamed as the 1st Cavalry Division, before its departure for the Vietnam War. After the end of the Vietnam War, the 1st Cavalry Division was reorganised and re-equipped with tanks, the development of the tank during World War I prompted some nations to experiment with forming them into division-size units. Many did this the way as they did cavalry divisions, by merely replacing cavalry with AFVs. This proved unwieldy in combat, as the units had many tanks, instead, a more balanced approach was taken by adjusting the number of tank, infantry, artillery, and support units. A panzer division was a division of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS of Germany during World War II
22.
Battle of Stalingrad
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Marked by fierce close quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians by air raids, it is often regarded as one of the single largest and bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. German forces never regained the initiative in the East and withdrew a vast military force from the West to replace their losses, the German offensive to capture Stalingrad began in August 1942, using the German 6th Army and elements of the 4th Panzer Army. The attack was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble, the fighting degenerated into house-to-house fighting, and both sides poured reinforcements into the city. By mid-November 1942, the Germans had pushed the Soviet defenders back at great cost into narrow zones along the west bank of the Volga River. On 19 November 1942, the Red Army launched Operation Uranus, the Axis forces on the flanks were overrun and the 6th Army was cut off and surrounded in the Stalingrad area. Adolf Hitler ordered that the stay in Stalingrad and make no attempt to break out, instead, attempts were made to supply the army by air. Heavy fighting continued for two months. By the beginning of February 1943, the Axis forces in Stalingrad had exhausted their ammunition, the remaining units of the 6th Army surrendered. The battle lasted five months, one week, and three days, elsewhere, the war had been progressing well, the U-boat offensive in the Atlantic had been very successful and Rommel had just captured Tobruk. In the east, they had stabilized their front in a running from Leningrad in the north to Rostov in the south. There were a number of salients, but these were not particularly threatening, neither Army Group North nor Army Group South had been particularly hard pressed over the winter. Stalin was expecting the main thrust of the German summer attacks to be directed against Moscow again, with the initial operations being very successful, the Germans decided that their summer campaign in 1942 would be directed at the southern parts of the Soviet Union. The initial objectives in the region around Stalingrad were the destruction of the capacity of the city. The river was a key route from the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea to central Russia and its capture would disrupt commercial river traffic. The Germans cut the pipeline from the oilfields when they captured Rostov on 23 July, the capture of Stalingrad would make the delivery of Lend Lease supplies via the Persian Corridor much more difficult. On 23 July 1942, Hitler personally rewrote the operational objectives for the 1942 campaign, both sides began to attach propaganda value to the city based on it bearing the name of the leader of the Soviet Union. The expansion of objectives was a significant factor in Germanys failure at Stalingrad, caused by German overconfidence, the Soviets realized that they were under tremendous constraints of time and resources and ordered that anyone strong enough to hold a rifle be sent to fight. If I do not get the oil of Maikop and Grozny then I must finish this war, Army Group South was selected for a sprint forward through the southern Russian steppes into the Caucasus to capture the vital Soviet oil fields there
23.
Wehrmacht
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The Wehrmacht was the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1946. It consisted of the Heer, the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe, after the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler’s most overt and audacious moves was to establish the Wehrmacht, a modern armed forces fully capable of offensive use. In December 1941, Hitler designated himself as commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht, the Wehrmacht formed the heart of Germany’s politico-military power. In the early part of World War II, Hitlers generals employed the Wehrmacht through innovative combined arms tactics to devastating effect in what was called a Blitzkrieg, the Wehrmachts new military structure, unique combat techniques, newly developed weapons, and unprecedented speed and brutality crushed their opponents. Closely cooperating with the SS, the German armed forces committed war crimes and atrocities. By the time the war ended in Europe in May 1945, only a few of the Wehrmacht’s upper leadership were tried for war crimes, despite evidence suggesting that more were involved in illegal actions. The German term Wehrmacht generically describes any nations armed forces, for example, the Frankfurt Constitution of 1848 designated all German military forces as the German Wehrmacht, consisting of the Seemacht and the Landmacht. In 1919, the term Wehrmacht also appears in Article 47 of the Weimar Constitution, establishing that, from 1919, Germanys national defense force was known as the Reichswehr, a name that was dropped in favor of Wehrmacht on 21 May 1935. In January 1919, after World War I ended with the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918, in March 1919, the national assembly passed a law founding a 420, 000-strong preliminary army, the Vorläufige Reichswehr. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were announced in May, the army was limited to one hundred thousand men with an additional fifteen thousand in the navy. The fleet was to consist of at most six battleships, six cruisers, submarines, tanks and heavy artillery were forbidden and the air-force was dissolved. A new post-war military, the Reichswehr, was established on 23 March 1921, General conscription was abolished under another mandate of the Versailles treaty. The Reichswehr was limited to 115,000 men, and thus the armed forces, under the leadership of Hans von Seeckt, though Seeckt retired in 1926, the army that went to war in 1939 was largely his creation. Germany was forbidden to have an air-force by the Versailles treaty, nonetheless and these officers saw the role of an air-force as winning air-superiority, tactical and strategic bombing and providing ground support. That the Luftwaffe did not develop a strategic bombing force in the 1930s was not due to a lack of interest, but because of economic limitations. The leadership of the Navy led by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, officers who believed in submarine warfare led by Admiral Karl Dönitz were in a minority before 1939. By 1922, Germany had begun covertly circumventing the conditions of the Versailles Treaty, a secret collaboration with the Soviet Union began after the treaty of Rapallo. Major-General Otto Hasse traveled to Moscow in 1923 to further negotiate the terms, Germany helped the Soviet Union with industrialization and Soviet officers were to be trained in Germany
24.
7.5 cm Pak 40
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The 7.5 cm Pak 40 was a German 75 millimetre anti-tank gun developed in 1939-1941 by Rheinmetall and used during the Second World War. The Pak 40 formed the backbone of German anti-tank guns for the part of World War II, mostly in towed form. Approximately 20,000 Pak 40s were produced, the KwK40 armed many of the German mid-war tank and destroyer designs, replacing the Pak 40 in the later role. Depending on the source, the Pak 40 may be referred to as the 7. 5/L46, there were two versions of the KwK40, which would be referred to as the 7. 5/L43 or 7. 5/L48. Development of the Pak 40 began after reports of new Soviet tank designs began to reach Berlin in 1939, the 5 cm Pak 38 was still in testing at this point, but it appeared it would not be powerful enough to deal with these newer designs. Contracts were placed with Krupp and Rheinmetall to develop what was essentially a 7.5 cm version of the Pak 38, however, while the Pak 38 made extensive use of light alloys to reduce overall gun weight, these were now earmarked for Luftwaffe. As a result, the Pak 40 used steel throughout its construction and was heavier than the 5 cm model. To simplify production, the Pak 38s curved gun shield was replaced by one using three flat plates, the first pre-production guns were delivered in November 1941. In April 1942, the Wehrmacht had 44 guns in service, by 1943, the Pak 40 was the standard German anti-tank gun until the end of the war, and was supplied by Germany to its allies. Some captured guns were used by the Red Army, after the war, the Pak 40 remained in service in several European armies, including Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Norway, Hungary and Romania. About 20,000 Pak 40s were produced, and about 3,500 more were used to arm tank destroyers, the unit manufacturing cost amounted to 2,200 man-hours at 12,000 RM. The weapon was effective against almost every Allied tank until the end of the war, the Pak 40 was much heavier than the Pak 38, its decreased mobility meant that it was difficult or even impossible to move without an artillery tractor on boggy ground. The Pak 40 was first used in the USSR where it was needed to combat the newest Soviet tanks, in addition, there was an APCR shot for the Pak 40, a munition which - reliant on supplies of tungsten - eventually became very scarce. According to the German Panzertruppen News Journal,5,000 APCR rounds were expected in Dec.1942 as replenishment for the Winter offensive. The main differences amongst the rounds fired by 75 mm German guns were in the length, the Pak 40 used a percussion primer, while the vehicle mounted 75 mm guns used electrical primers. Other than minor differences with the driving bands, all German 75 mm guns used the same 75mm projectiles. The longer cartridge case of the Pak 40 allowed a larger charge to be used, the muzzle velocity was about 790 m/s as opposed to 740 m/s for the KwK40 L/43 and 750 m/s for the L/48. For unknown reasons, some 75 mm APCBC cartridges appear to have produced with a charge that gave a muzzle velocity of about 770 m/s
25.
Torsion bar suspension
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A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is a general term for any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight bearing spring. Vertical motion of the causes the bar to twist around its axis and is resisted by the bars torsion resistance. The effective spring rate of the bar is determined by its length, cross section, shape, material, manufacturers change the torsion bar or key to adjust the ride height, usually to compensate for heavier or lighter engines. Over-rotating the torsion bars can cause the suspension to hit the bump-stop prematurely. Aftermarket forged-metal torsion key kits use relocked adjuster keys to prevent over-rotation, the main advantages of a torsion bar suspension are durability, easy adjustability of ride height, and small profile along the width of the vehicle. It takes up less of the interior volume than coil springs. Torsion bars reached the height of their popularity on mass-production road cars in the middle of the 20th century at the time that unitary construction was being adopted. Using MacPherson struts to achieve independent front suspension with coil springs meant providing strong turrets in the structure of the car. A disadvantage is that torsion bars, unlike coil springs, usually provide a progressive spring rate. In most torsion bar systems, ride height may be changed by simply adjusting bolts that connect the torsion bars to the steering knuckles, in most cars with this type of suspension, swapping torsion bars for a different spring rate is usually an easy task. Some vehicles use torsion bars to provide automatic levelling, using a motor to pre-stress the bars to provide resistance to load and, in some cases. Height adjustable suspension has been used to implement a wheel-change mode where the vehicle is raised on three wheels so that the wheel is lifted off the ground without the aid of a jack. Before World War II, the front wheel drive Citroen Traction Avant had independent front torsion bar suspension, the flexibility of the axle beam provided wheel location features like a twist beam axle. The Czechoslovakian Tatra cars designed by Professor Hans Ledwinka in the mid-1930s used all round independent torsion bar suspension, also in the 1930s, prototypes of the first Volkswagen Beetle incorporated torsion bars—especially its transverse mounting style. The system first saw use in the Swedish Stridsvagn L-60 tank of 1934. It was used extensively in European cars Renault, Citroën and Volkswagen, the Packard used torsion bars at both front and rear, and interconnected the front and rear systems to improve ride quality. Morris Minor and Oxford from the late 1940s onwards used a front torsion bar system very similar to the Citroen, the single torsion bar was mounted through the frame sides behind the rear axle and then attached by arms and links to the front side of the spring U-bolt plates. Axle Flex was discontinued for the 1936 model year, the designer of these cars, Alec Issigonis was inspired by the Traction Avants suspension although the Morris cars were rear-wheel drive and used conventional leaf springs for their rear axles
26.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
27.
2 cm KwK 30
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The 2 cm KwK30 L/55 was a German 2 cm cannon used primarily as the main armament of the German SdKfz.121 Panzerkampfwagen II light tank. It was used during the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War and it was produced by Mauser and Rheinmetall-Borsig from 1935. Direct ground-attack was not considered a priority for the Luftwaffe, however, an improved version, the 2 cm KwK38 L/55, was used on the SdKfz.121 Panzerkampfwagen II. It was also used on the Sd. Kfz. 251/17 Schützenpanzerwagen anti-aircraft vehicle, late war, it was issued as a platoon commanders vehicle to replace the Sd. Kfz. 251/10 Schützenpanzerwagen. The 2 cm KwK30 used the 20 x 138B cartridge, average penetration performance established against rolled homogenous steel armor plate laid back at 30° from the vertical
28.
5 cm KwK 39
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The 5 cm KwK39 L/60 was a German 5 cm calibre gun used during the Second World War, primarily as the main armament of later models of the German Panzerkampfwagen III tank from 1941 onwards. It was produced when the well-armoured T-34 and KV-1 tanks were encountered in ever increasing numbers on the Eastern Front and it was later superseded by the 7.5 cm KwK40 L/43. It was also mounted on the SdKfz 234/2 Puma armoured car and it was developed as a variant of the 5 cm Pak 38 towed anti-tank gun. On the Panzer III, it replaced the 5 cm KwK38, which had an L/42 calibre length, however, even the 5 cm KwK39 gun with a longer barrel, higher muzzle velocity and more penetration was not sufficient against newer Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks. Therefore, as went on, the Panzer III was no longer effective as a medium tank that could engage in fights with enemy tanks. So, a new role for the Panzer III tank was found. On the Panzer III, the 5 cm KwK39 was phased out in favor of the shorter but larger calibre 7.5 cm KwK37 L/24 low velocity guns that could fire more effective HE and HEAT rounds. HE howitzer type rounds with explosive forces and shrapnel were very effective against infantry, machine gun nests, however, early HEAT rounds were somewhat unreliable. They were useful against hardened fortifications and had a good, though limited, thus, they were used against enemy tanks mostly in an emergency. With these changes, the Panzer III with the 7.5 cm KwK became a support tank late in its career, while the new. F2 to fight the KV and T-34 tanks, average penetration performance established against rolled homogenous steel armour plate laid back at 30° from the vertical. PzGr Weight of projectile,2.06 kg Muzzle velocity,835 m/s PzGr,39 Weight of projectile,2.06 kg Muzzle velocity,835 m/s PzGr. 40 Weight of projectile,0.9 kg Muzzle velocity,1,180 m/s PzGr. 40/1 Weight of projectile,1.06 kg Muzzle velocity,1,130 m/s 5 cm Sprgr. Patr.38 Weight of projectile,1.82 kg Muzzle velocity,550 m/s Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf, several earlier models were re-equipped with this gun. 234/2 Schwerer Panzerspähwagen Puma Bordkanone-series BK5 heavy-caliber autocannon 5 cm KwK38 British Ordnance QF 2-pounder Soviet 45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 United States 37 mm Gun M3
29.
7.5 cm KwK 37
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It was designed as a close-infantry support artillery gun firing a high-explosive shell, but was also effective against the early war tanks it faced during the period. Starting from March 1942, new variants of the Panzer IV, when older Panzer IVs were upgunned, their former KwK37 guns were reused to arm later Panzer III tanks and other infantry support vehicles. In 1943 depleted stocks and continued demand from producing Panzer III Ausf, N required restarting production of a slightly revised version under the designation 7.5 cm K51 L/24. KwK37 used shell 75×243 mm. R K. Gr. rot. Pz, a, C, D, E, and F1 StuG III Ausf
30.
7.5 cm KwK 40
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The design of the KwK40 was adapted from the similar towed anti-tank gun, the 7.5 cm Pak 40. It replaced the short-barrel 7.5 cm KwK37 L/24 close-support gun and it came in two versions, with L/43 and L/48 barrel lengths, the former used during 1942 and early 1943, and the latter after that point. Along with the Pak 40, the KwK 40/StuK40 was the most numerous anti-tank gun of the German army, when mounted on a casemate-armored assault gun-designated vehicle instead of a turreted tank, the weapon was called Sturmkanone 40. Both the KwK40 and StuK40 were developed from the towed 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun, the length of the ammunition used was shortened to allow for easier storage of said ammunition in velicles the KwK40 and StuK40 would be mounted on. The KwK40 L/43 was mounted on the Panzer IV from April 1942 until June 1943, All 225 vehicles of the Panzer IV F2 mounted the L/43 with a ball shaped muzzle brake. About a 1,000 out of the 1,687 vehicles of the Panzer IV Ausf, G mounted the L/43 with a double baffle muzzle brake. The StuG III with the L/43 gun was designated as Ausf, F. of which only 120 were equipped with the L/43. All StuG III production runs through Ausf, f/8 to G mounted the longer L/48. The 780 original Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyers mounted the Pak 39 variant of the L/48 gun, the L/48 was 334 mm longer and slightly more powerful than the L/43. L/48 became the gun from June 1942 until the end of World War II. The gun was fitted with a firing mechanism and the breech operated semi-automatically. Following number of vehicles mounted L/48 version from June 1942-April 1945 Approximately 6,000 vehicles of Ausf, G, H, J out of 8,800 Panzer IV7,720 vehicles of StuG III Ausf. G +246 of Ausf. F +250 vehicles of StuG III Ausf. F/8 All 1,139 vehicles of StuG IV780 Jagdpanzer IV As with the 7.5 cm Pak 40, five types of muzzle brakes were used, gradually increasing the area of exposure to the blast. The front flange and rear disk type was used from March 1944, KwK40 used shell 75×495 mm. R Pzgr. R. P. G1 Primer, electric, model C/22 or C/22 St. Pzgr, R. P.7,7 Primer, electric, model C/22 or C/22 St. Gr. P. -AO Primer, electric, model C/22 or C/22 St. Gr,38 HL/C KwK407.5 cm Sprgr. Patr.34 KwK40 L/48 Muzzle velocity,550 m/s Projectile, Sprgr. 34 Projectile weight,5.75 kg Explosive filler,0.66 kg of amatol Fuze, a. Z.23 umg. nose fuze Round weight,8.71 kg Cartridge case height,495 mm Propelling charge,0.755 kg of Gu
31.
7.5 cm KwK 42
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The 7.5 cm KwK42 L/70 was a 7.5 cm calibre German tank gun developed and built by Rheinmetall-Borsig AG in Unterlüß during the Second World War. The gun was used to equip the SdKfz.171 Panzerkampfwagen V Panther medium tank, when mounted on a tank destroyer it was designated as the 7.5 cm Pak 42 anti-tank gun. The increased muzzle velocity and operating pressure of the new gun required a new armour piercing projectile to be designed, 39/42 was the result, and apart from the addition of wider driving bands it was otherwise identical to the older 7.5 cm PzGr. The wider driving bands added an extra weight, from 6.8 kg for the old PzGr.39. The gun was fired electrically, the primer was initiated using an electric current rather than a firing pin, once the round was loaded the breech closed automatically and the weapon was ready to be fired again. Three different types of ammunition were used, APCBC-HE, APCR, Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two
32.
8.8 cm KwK 36
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The 8.8 cm KwK36 L/56 was an 88 mm electrically fired tank gun used by the German Heer during World War II. This was the armament of the PzKpfw VI Tiger I tank. It was developed and built by Krupp and it shared the same caliber as the 8.8 cm FlaK36 anti-aircraft and anti-tank gun, but the KwK36 was not derived from it. There are multiple similarities between the pair, but the two must be considered merely parallel designs, the KwK36 could fire the same ammunition as the FlaK18 or 36, differing only in primer, percussion for the FlaK, electric for the KwK36. Also the ballistics were identical and both guns had a 56 caliber barrel, the KwK36 was built to practically the same design as the 7.5 cm and 5.0 cm guns already used in German tanks, but with the structure scaled up considerably. The breech ring was square in section and 320 millimetres on a side, the L56 in the designation is a traditional measurement for artillery pieces. L refers to the length of the interior of a gun tube in proportion to the size of its bore, the inside diameter of a gun tube is considered one caliber. The designation L56 means the barrel is 56 calibers long, or 56 times 88 mm =4,928 mm, thus, it is not an absolute unit of measurement, it is a proportionate one, and thus is rarely used while considering overall dimensions. Rather, it is used to denote how much velocity a gun will generate for its bore size, the longer the tube is in relation to its bore, the higher the muzzle velocity it can generate. A longer gun barrel allows the gas from the shells charge to act on the projectile longer than a short barrel, imparting it more velocity. For the Tiger IIs 8.8 cm KwK43 L/71,71 times 88 mm is 6248 mm, shorter tubes are most useful for indirect fire, such as howitzers or infantry support. For anti-armour purposes using traditional solid shot, a long to very-long tube is needed, the KwK36 was very accurate, high-powered and its high muzzle velocity produced a very flat trajectory. This allowed its gunners a higher margin of error in estimating range, in British firing trials during the war, a British gunner scored five successive hits from 1,200 yards at a 16 by 18 inches target. Another five rounds were fired at targets moving at 15 miles per hour, although smoke obscured the gunners observation, the sighting system resulted in excellent firing accuracy for the 8.8 cm KwK36 gun on the Tiger I. The guns performance was dependent on distance to target and type of ammunition loaded. For kinetic penetration, the speed of the projectile upon impact is crucial, due to errors in estimating the range and many other factors, the probability of a first shot hit under battlefield conditions was much lower than at the firing range. Observing the tracer from the first round in battle, the average, Type, Armour-piercing, capped, ballistic cap projectile with explosive filler and tracer. Projectile weight,10.20 kg Muzzle velocity,773 m/s Explosive filler,0.059 kg Type, Armour-piercing, projectile weight,7.30 kg Muzzle velocity,930 m/s Type, high explosive anti-tank round with a shaped charge
33.
8.8 cm KwK 43
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The 8.8 cm KwK43 L/71 was an 88 mm 71 calibre tank gun designed by Krupp and used by the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. It was mounted as the armament on the Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B Tiger II and the 8.8 cm PaK43, at 6.24 m, the length of the KwK 43s barrel was over 1.3 metres longer than of that of the 8.8 cm KwK36 L/56 used for the Tiger I. All guns of the PaK/KwK43 series could use the same ammunition interchangeably, the KwK43 and PaK43 were initially manufactured with monobloc barrels meaning the barrel was made from one piece. However, due to the extremely high muzzle velocity and operating pressures when fired. As a result, the change was made to manufacture the PaK/KwK43 with a two-piece barrel instead of a monobloc barrel and this had minimal to no effect on the performance of the gun, but made replacing a worn-out barrel much faster and easier than before. In addition, the increased operating pressures of the new gun in turn required a new armour-piercing shell to be designed. The wider driving bands of the PzGr. 39/43 increased the weight of the shell to 10.4 kilograms as a result. Over that set amount, it was feared that the expected barrel wear combined with the driving bands of the PzGr. 39-1 could lead to a loss of pressure in the gun. The new PzGr. 39/43 could be fired without loss of pressure until the barrel was worn out, PzGr. 39-1 FES & Al all up weight,10.2 kg PzGr. 39/43 FES & Al all up weight,10. The first column shows the accuracy obtained during controlled test firing to determine the pattern of dispersion, the figures in the second column include the variation expected during practice firing due to differences between guns, ammunition and gunners. These accuracy tables do not reflect the probability of hitting a target under battlefield conditions. Due to errors in estimating the range and many other factors, however, the average, calm gunner, after sensing the tracer from the first round, could achieve the accuracy shown in the second column. The Nashorn was the first vehicle to carry the KwK/PaK43 series of guns. The series included, PaK43, PaK 43/41, PaK 43/1, and PaK 43/2, all with monobloc barrels, PaK 43/3 and 43/4 with two-piece barrels, british Ordnance QF17 pounder Soviet 100 mm D-10T United States 90 mm T15E1/T15E2 Bibliography
34.
2.8 cm sPzB 41
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2.8 cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 or Panzerbüchse 41 was a German anti-tank weapon working on the squeeze bore principle. Officially classified as a heavy rifle, it would be better described. Although the sPzB41 was classified as a heavy anti-tank rifle, like the latter, it had a recoil mechanism, carriage and shield. The only significant feature the weapon had in common with anti-tank rifles was a lack of elevation, the design was based on a tapering barrel, with the caliber reducing from 28 mm at the chamber end to only 20 mm at the muzzle. The barrel construction resulted in a high muzzle velocity - up to 1,400 m/s. The bore was fitted with a muzzle brake, the horizontal sliding breech block was quarter-automatic, it closed automatically once a shell was loaded. The gun was equipped with a sight for distances up to 500m. The recoil system consisted of a recoil buffer and spring-driven recuperator. The carriage was of the split type, with suspension. Wheels with rubber tires could be removed, making the gun significantly lower and therefore easier to conceal, the guns construction allowed toolless dismantling to five pieces, the heaviest of which weighed 62 kg. The cone-bore principle was first patented in 1903 by a German designer, in the 1920s and 1930s, another German engineer, Gerlich, conducted experiments with coned-bore barrels that resulted in an experimental 7 mm anti-tank rifle with a muzzle velocity of 1,800 m/s. Based on these works, Mauser-Werke AG developed a 28/20 mm anti-tank weapon initially designated Gerät 231 or MK.8202 in 1939–1940, in June–July 1940, an experimental batch of 94 pieces was given to the army for trials. They resulted in modifications and in 1941 mass production of what became 2.8 cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 started. The last gun was built in 1943, the reason for the discontinuance was the lack of tungsten for projectiles. The sPzB41 was used by some motorized divisions and by some Jäger, Gebirgsjäger and Fallschirmjäger units, some guns were supplied to anti-tank and sapper units. The weapon was employed on the Eastern Front from the beginning of hostilities, until the end of the war and also saw combat in the North African Campaign,2.8 cm sPzB41 leFl 41, a variant developed for paratrooper units. It used a carriage without suspension, the wheels were replaced by small rollers. The resulting weapon weighed only 139 kg, the carriage supported a 360° field of fire, elevation ranged from -15° to 25°
35.
3.7 cm Pak 36
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The Pak 36 was a 3.7 cm calibre German anti-tank gun used during the Second World War. It was the main weapon of Wehrmacht infantry units until mid-1941. It was followed in this role by the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun, design of a horse-drawn,3.7 cm anti-tank gun by Rheinmetall commenced in 1924 and the first guns were issued in 1928. Re-designated the 3.7 cm Pak 35/36, it began to replace the 3.7 cm Pak L/45 in 1934 and it formed the basis for many other nations anti-tank guns during the first years of World War II. The KwK36 L/45 was the gun, but used as the main armament on several tanks. The Soviets used the Pak 36 carriage design for their 45 mm M1937 AT gun. In June 1941, Soviet tank forces consisted of 10,661 T-26,2,987 T-37/T-38/T-40/T-50s,59 T-35,442 T-28,7,659 BT,957 T-34, and 530 KVs for a combined total of approximately 23,295 tanks. By late 1941, the introduction of the T-34 on the Eastern Front made the Pak 36 obsolete. However, despite its continued impotence against the T-34, it remained the standard weapon for many units until 1942. The advantages of the Pak 36 were its, relative ease of handling and mobility, good quality optics/aiming devices, ease of concealment due to its small size, the Pak 36 began to be replaced by the new 5 cm Pak 38 in mid-1941. As it was replaced, many were removed from their carriages. The guns were passed off to the forces of Germanys allies fighting on the Eastern Front, such as the 3rd. The Pak 36 also served with the armies of Italy, Finland, Hungary, although the Pak 36 quickly became ineffectual in the European and Russian theatres, in China the gun was still viable as an effective anti-tank gun. It could destroy the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go and Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, for example, during the Battle of Taierzhuang, Chinese Pak 36s destroyed a good number of Japanese tanks. Pzgr Projectile weight,0.685 kg Muzzle velocity,745 m/s Pzgr 40 This was a type of ammunition, being lighter and with a higher muzzle velocity. Projectile weight,0.368 kg Muzzle velocity,1,020 m/s Penetration figures given for Pzgr 40 and an armoured plate 30 degrees from the horizontal. In 1943, the introduction of the Stielgranate 41 shaped charge meant that the Pak 36 could now penetrate most armour, the Pak 36s, together with the new shaped charges, were issued to Fallschirmjäger units and other lightly equipped troops. The guns low weight meant that it could be moved by hand
36.
4.2 cm Pak 41
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The 4.2 cm Pak 41 was a light anti-tank gun issued to German airborne units in World War II. This gun was similar to the 3.7 cm Pak 36, using a modified version of the latters carriage, but used the squeeze bore principle to boost its velocity. The bore had a diameter of 42 mm at the chamber, production was terminated in May 1942 after the delivery of 136 guns. By November 1944,41 remained in service, projectile weight, AP0.336 kg 2.8 cm sPzB417.5 cm Pak 41 Littlejohn adaptor Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, new York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. Mechanicsville, PA, Stackpole Books,1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X
37.
47 mm APX anti-tank gun
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The 47 mm APX anti-tank gun was a French anti-tank gun that saw service in the first years of the Second World War. In the 1930s the French artillery sought a replacement for the derivatives of the 75 mm mle 1897 field gun it used in the anti-tank role. The chosen weapon was a design of the state-owned arsenal Atelier de Puteaux and it was a very efficient weapon, especially given the thin armour of the German tanks of the time. Unfortunately for France, the 47mm SA37 was still a weapon at the time of the Battle of France. Examples captured by the German forces were used under the designation 4.7 cm Pak 181. 47mm SA39 TAZ - a variant on a tripod, capable of 360° traverse, France 1940 larmement terrestre, ETAI,1998, ISBN 2-7268-8380-X
38.
5 cm Pak 38
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The 5 cm Pak 38 was a German anti-tank gun of 50 mm calibre. It was developed in 1938 by Rheinmetall-Borsig AG as a successor to the 37 mm Pak 36, and was in turn followed by the 75 mm Pak 40. After the Spanish Civil War, the German authorities started to think that a new gun would be needed. They asked Rheinmetall-Borsig to produce a new and more capable AT-gun and they first designed the Pak 37 in 1935, but the German authorities didnt approve it because of its low capabilities. Rheinmetall-Borsig were forced to create a new gun under the designation Pak 38, the Pak 38 was first used by the German forces during the Second World War in April 1941. When the Germans faced Soviet tanks in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, the gun was also equipped with Panzergranate 40 APCR shots with a hard tungsten core, in an attempt to penetrate the armor of the heavier KV-1 tank. Although it was replaced by powerful weapons, it remained a potent and useful weapon. The Pak 38 carriage was used for the 7.5 cm Pak 97/38. Romania imported 110 Pak 38s in March 1943, the guns remained in service with the Romanian Armed Forces until 1954, when the 57 mm anti-tank gun M1943 replaced them. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. Intelligence report on Pak 38 at Lonesentry. com Armor penetration table at Panzerworld
39.
7.5 cm Pak 97/38
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The Pak 97/38 was a German anti-tank gun used by the Wehrmacht in World War II. The gun was a combination of the barrel from the French Canon de 75 modèle 1897 fitted with a Swiss Solothurn muzzle brake, during the invasion of Poland and invasion of France the Wehrmacht captured thousands of 75 mm Model 1897 guns, built by the French arms manufacturer Schneider. These guns were adopted by the Germans as the FK97, soon after the German invasion of the USSR in 1941, Wehrmacht units encountered new Soviet tanks, the medium T-34 and the heavy KV. The thick sloped armor of these gave them invulnerability against German towed 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank guns. The situation led to requests for more powerful weapons that would be able to destroy them at normal combat ranges, since Germany already had a suitable design, the 7.5 cm Pak 40, this weapon entered production and the first pieces were delivered in November 1941. However, until enough of these were manufactured, some expedient solution was required and it was tempting to adopt the readily available French gun to the anti-tank role. In the original configuration, those guns were ill-suited for fighting tanks because of their low muzzle velocity, limited traverse. It was decided to solve the traverse and mobility problems by mounting the 75 mm barrel on the split trail carriage of the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun. To soften the recoil, the barrel was fitted with a muzzle brake. The gun was intended to use HEAT shells as the armor penetration of this type of ammunition does not depend on velocity. Interestingly, another user of the French gun, the US Army, created and briefly adopted a similar suitable design. 2,854 pieces were delivered in 1942,858 more followed in 1943, in addition,160 guns mounted on the 7.5 cm Pak 40 carriage were built in 1943. The manufacturing cost of one piece was 9,000 reichsmarks, production was stopped because more powerful anti-tank guns were in service in adequate numbers. The Pak 97/38 reached the battlefield in the summer of 1942, despite moderate effectiveness and a violent recoil, it remained in service until the end of the war. The scale of use can be illustrated by the used,37,800 HEAT shells in 1942 and 371,600 in 1943. On 1 March 1945 the Wehrmacht possessed 145 Pak 97/38 and FK231 guns, ten barrels with shields were experimentally mounted on the Soviet T-26 light tank chassis, resulting in vehicles designated the 7.5 сm Pak 97/38 auf Pz.740. These self-propelled guns served with the 3rd Company of the 563rd Anti-Tank Battalion before being replaced by the Marder III on 1 March 1944, the gun was also employed by the Finnish Army during the Continuation War. The Finns purchased 75 mm field guns from France in 1940,46 pieces were converted in March–June 1943
40.
7.5 cm Pak 41
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It is similar to, but distinct from, the Waffe 0725, which, while also based on the Gerlich principle, had a different barrel calibre. Designed and built by Krupp AG to compete with the Rheinmetall 7.5 cm Pak 40, in addition to its squeeze bore design and the use of a tungsten core flanged shell, the Pak 41 incorporated several novel features.6 inches was parallel-sided again but remained unrifled. Another novel feature was the attachment of the trail legs. The gun cradle was set inside a ball mount attached to the gun shield. The cradle itself was cylindrical, covering the whole of the half of the barrel. The reinforced breech is of the vertical type, with a semi-automatic action. Compared to the PaK38 and the PaK40, the appearance was long, low, the gun is sighted up to 1,500 meters, the sight has four scales for use according to the actual muzzle velocity of the gun. The barrel life is estimated as 500 to 600 rounds. When first introduced, the 7.5 cm Pak 41s performance would seem to indicate that it might supplant the Pak 40 as the standard issue anti-tank gun for the Wehrmacht. However, the emergent shells velocity tended to drop dramatically over long range and accuracy and this factor, along with a growing shortage of tungsten, which was needed for the guns special ammunition, would ensure that only 150 Pak 41s would ever be produced. A small number were known to have mounted on halftracks. An armour-piercing, composite, non-rigid projectile with a tungsten core. Weight of projectile,2.6 kg Muzzle velocity,1230 m/s An armour-piercing, weight of projectile,2.5 kg Muzzle velocity,1230 m/s Littlejohn adaptor 4.2 cm Pak 41 Notes Sources Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, new York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two. Mechanicsville, PA, Stackpole Books,1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X http, //www. lonesentry. com/articles/ttt/75mm-tapered-bore-antitank-pak-41. html
41.
7.62 cm Pak 36(r)
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The 7.62 cm FK36 and Pak 36 were German anti-tank guns used by the Wehrmacht in World War II. The first guns were conversions of the Soviet 76-mm divisional gun M1936, later in the war, the Soviet USV and ZiS-376 mm divisional guns were also converted. The FK36 and Pak 36 both had a carriage, with a transverse leaf spring axle suspension, and steel wheels. The guns were equipped with a vertical breech block, the recoil mechanism consisted of a hydraulic recoil buffer. There was no limber, therefore the gun could not be towed by a horse team, soon after the German invasion of the USSR in 1941, Wehrmacht units encountered new Soviet tanks, the medium T-34 and the heavy KV. The thick sloped armor of these gave them a good degree of protection against German anti-tank weapons. The situation eventually led to requests for more guns that would be able to destroy the aforementioned tanks from long range. Germany already had a design, the 7.5 cm Pak 40, entering production in late 1941. Until enough of these could be manufactured, expedient solutions were required, in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the Germans captured a large number of Soviet 76-mm divisional guns model 1936. Developed with anti-tank abilities in mind, this Soviet gun had powerful ballistics, using considerable thrift, German engineers were able to quickly modify the F-22, which by that time had been adopted in original form as the FK296 by the Wehrmacht. In late 1941, German engineers developed a modernization program, the initial modifications that brought the guns to FK36 standard included, removing the top section of the shield and using the armour off-cuts to superimpose over the lower section of the shield. These were held in place using the standard Pak38 shield pintles, re-orienting the traverse gear box and handwheel shaft linkages so as to mount the traverse handwheel on the left side of the gun next to the sight. As the new transverse rod linkage went through a gap in the recoil cradles elevation arc, replacing the Russian sight with a Pak 38 style anti-tank sighting block that could mount the standard ZF3x8 sighting telescope or an emergency fold out iron sight. Like the Pak 40 and Pak 97/38, the mount had provision for attaching an indirect sighting device - the Aushilfsrichtmittel 38. The first of these converted F-22s retained the original Russian ammunition and were still designated FK296 on the range drum. These early anti-tank conversions are discernible as they have not been fitted with a muzzle brake and these intermediate guns had various designations, but appear mainly to have been referred to as FK36, despite their dedicated anti-tank role seeming to warrant the designation Pak rather than FK. The conversion work was performed by HANOMAG, with sight blocks made by Kerner & Co in 1942, the first guns were delivered in February 1942. By the end of 1942, the Germans had converted 358 pieces, additionally,894 barrels were prepared for use in self-propelled guns
Nazi Germany
Finland
Romania
