1.
Tractor unit
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A tractor unit is a characteristically heavy-duty towing engine that provides motive power for hauling a towed or trailered load. Tractor units typically have large displacement diesel engines for power, durability, and economy, several axles, the tractor-trailer combination distributes a load across multiple axles while being more maneuverable than an equivalently sized rigid truck. The most common trailer attachment system is a fifth wheel coupling, allowing rapid shift between trailers performing different functions, such as a bulk tipper and box trailer, trailers containing differing cargos can be rapidly swapped between tractors, eliminating downtime while a trailer is unloaded or loaded. Drawbar couplings are found, particularly in dedicated exceptionally heavy-duty ballast tractors. There have been three common cab configurations used in tractors, two are widely used. The conventional has an engine and hood over the front axle in front of the cab and this style is almost universal in North America. The cab over engine or cab forward has a flat nose cab with the sitting in front of the front axle. Widely used in the EU and Japan, this style has the advantages of good vision, maneuverability, in the North America this type of cab can be useful in straight trucks, but now has little advantage in tractors and is rarely used. A North American style cab over engine, now obsolete, had a flat nose cab located higher over the engine. This allowed a sleeper compartment in a tractor, and maximum wheelbase relative overall length. With the loosening of restrictions in 1982 this style had limited applications. In Australia both styles of cab over engine truck as well as conventionals are in common use, a tractor unit can have many axles depending on axle load legislation. The most common varieties are those of 4×2, 6×2 and 6×4 types, however, some manufacturers offer 6×6, 8×6, 8×8, 10×8, and 10×10 axle configurations. A 6×4 has three axles, normally an undriven front steer axle and the two axles driven. 6×4 units are common in long distance haulage in larger countries such as the United States. In Europe, the 4×2 and 6×2 variants are more commonplace, tractors with three axles or more can have more than one steering axle, which can also be driven. Most 6×2 units allow the rear axle to be raised when lightly loaded, or running without a trailer, to save tire wear, save toll road fees. The 8×8 units also have four axles, but with all of them driven, and 10×8 units have five axles with the rear four usually driven, all five axles of 10×10 units are driven
2.
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
3.
Vehicle armour
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Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fighting vehicles like tanks, aircraft and ships, civilian vehicles may also be armoured. These vehicles include cars used by reporters, officials and others in conflict zones or where violent crime is common, armoured cars are also routinely used by security firms to carry money or valuables to reduce the risk of highway robbery or the hijacking of the cargo. Armour may also be used in vehicles to protect from other than a deliberate attack. Some spacecraft are equipped with specialised armour to protect them against impacts from micrometeoroids or fragments of space junk, the design and purpose of the vehicle determines the amount of armour plating carried, as the plating is often very heavy and excessive amounts of armour restrict mobility. In order to decrease this problem, some new materials and material compositions are being researched which include buckypaper, rolled homogeneous armour is strong, hard, and tough. Steel with these characteristics is produced by processing cast steel billets of appropriate size, rolling and forging irons out the grain structure in the steel, removing imperfections which would reduce the strength of the steel. Aluminium is used when weight is a necessity. It is most commonly used on APCs and armoured cars, wrought iron was used on ironclad warships. Early European iron armour consisted of 10 to 13 cm of wrought iron backed by up to one meter of solid wood, titanium is roughly the weight of aluminium, but as strong as iron. So despite being rather expensive, it finds an application in areas where weight is a concern, such as personal armour, because of its high density, depleted uranium can also be used in tank armour, sandwiched between sheets of steel armour plate. Plastic metal was a type of vehicle armour originally developed for merchant ships by the British Admiralty in 1940, the original composition was described as 50% clean granite of half-inch size, 43% of limestone mineral, and 7% of bitumen. It was typically applied in a two inches thick and backed by half an inch of steel. Plastic armour could be applied by pouring it into a cavity formed by the backing plate. Bulletproof glass is a term for glass that is particularly resistant to being penetrated when struck by bullets. The industry generally refers to it as bullet-resistant glass or transparent armour, bullet-resistant glass is usually constructed using a strong but transparent material such as polycarbonate thermoplastic or by using layers of laminated glass. The desired result is a material with the appearance and light-transmitting behaviour of standard glass, the polycarbonate layer, usually consisting of products such as Armormax, Makroclear, Cyrolon, Lexan or Tuffak, is often sandwiched between layers of regular glass. The use of plastic in the laminate provides impact-resistance, such as physical assault with a hammer, the plastic provides little in the way of bullet-resistance
4.
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
5.
Continuous track
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Continuous track, also called tank tread or caterpillar track, is a system of vehicle propulsion in which a continuous band of treads or track plates is driven by two or more wheels. The prominent treads of the plates are both hard-wearing and damage resistant, especially in comparison to rubber tyres. The aggressive treads of the tracks provide good traction in soft surfaces but can damage paved surfaces, in modern times, continuous track propulsion systems can be traced back to a crude continuous track system designed in the 1770s by Richard Lovell Edgeworth. Polish mathematician and inventor Józef Maria Hoene-Wroński conceived of the idea in the 1830s, the British polymath Sir George Cayley patented a continuous track, which he called a universal railway. Although not a track in the form encountered today, a dreadnaught wheel or endless railway wheel was patented by the British Engineer James Boydell in 1846. In Boydells design, a series of feet are attached to the periphery of the wheel. A letter of recommendation was signed by Sir William Codrington, the General commanding the troops at Sebastapol, a number of manufacturers including Richard Bach, Richard Garrett & Sons, Charles Burrell & Sons and Clayton & Shuttleworth applied the Boydell patent under licence. The British military were interested in Boydells invention from an early date, one of the objectives was to transport Mallets Mortar, a giant 36 weapon which was under development but, by the end of the Crimean war, the mortar was not ready for service. In those tests, a Garrett engine was put through its paces on Plumstead Common, the Garrett engine featured in the Lord Mayors show in London, and in the following month that engine was shipped to Australia. Nicholas works in 1856, again, after the close of the Crimean war, between late 1856 and 1862 Burrell manufactured not less than a score of engines fitted with dreadnaught wheels. Steam tractors fitted with wheels had a number of shortcomings and. In August 1858, more than two years after the end of the Crimean War, John Fowler filed British Patent No.1948 on another form of Endless Railway, comprising only eight sections, the track sections are essentially longitudinal, as in Boydells initial design. Further to Fowlers patent of 1858, in 1877, a Russian, Fyodor Blinov and it lacked self-propulsion and was pulled by horses. Blinov received a patent for his wagon in 1878, from 1881 to 1888 he developed a steam-powered caterpillar-tractor. This self-propelled crawler was successfully tested and featured at an exhibition in 1896. Steam traction engines were used at the end of the 19th Century in the Boer Wars, but neither dreadnaught wheels nor continuous tracks were used, rather roll-out wooden plank roads were thrown under the wheels as required. A little-known American inventor, Henery T. Stith, developed a continuous track prototype which was, in forms, patented in 1873,1880. The last was for the application of the track to a prototype off-road bicycle built for his son, the 1900 prototype is retained by his surviving family
6.
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
7.
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
8.
Rasputitsa
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Rasputitsa is a season when travel on unpaved roads becomes difficult, owing to muddy conditions, either from autumnal rains or spring thaw. It also refers to the condition of the roads, during those seasons, the term is applied to muddy road conditions in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, which are caused by the poor drainage of underlying clay-laden soils found in the region. Roads are subject to limitations and closures during the period in certain districts of the Russian Federation. The phenomenon was a hindrance in the part of the 20th Century in the Soviet Union. Rasputitsa seasons of Russia are well known as a defensive advantage in wartime. Common nicknames in such context are General Mud or Marshal Mud, during the French invasion of Russia in 1812, Napoleon found the mud to be a great hindrance. During the Second World War, the month-long muddy period slowed down the German advance during the Battle of Moscow, cold-weather warfare Russian Winter Mud season
9.
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
10.
Allies of World War II
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The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
11.
M4 Tractor
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The M4 High-Speed Tractor was an artillery tractor used by the US Army from 1943. The M4 was based on the chassis and drive train of the obsolescent M3 Light Tank which introduced the trailing idler and this common practice of re-using old vehicles simplified design, allowed for easy production, and made maintenance in the field easier. One variant was designed to tow anti-aircraft guns and another for howitzers, the rear compartment carried the gun crew and other equipment and some later variants included a crane to assist with heavier projectiles. The M4 was manufactured by Allis-Chalmers of Milwaukee, starting in 1942 and was in U. S. military service until approximately 1960. Under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program, the M4 was supplied to Greece, The Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Yugoslavia, in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 the Pakistani Army used the M-4 Tractor to haul M115 Howitzers to the battlefield of Chamb and then to the Lahore front. M4, base model M4C, The C designation indicates spare ammunition racks configured in the crew compartment, M4A1, The A1 modification designates the wider suspension used for the duck bill tracks mirroring the E9 modification on Sherman tanks. These were used post war as a prime mover for the M23 ammunition trailer in M40 Gun Motor Carriage sections, after the war many types of these tractors were stripped of their military components and used for log skidders and power line construction. Many were used as carriers for rock drills, used in logging road construction in British Columbia, the first prototype was designed in the early 1960s by G. M. Philpott Ltd. of Vancouver, BC, and Scott-Douglas Industries and it was used by MacMillan, Bloedel, and Powell River Company at their Juskatla, BC logging operation. Many improvements were made and when Finning Tractor later bought G. M, philpott, the machine became the Finning Tank Drill. At least 500 were built, many of which are still in service, the original Finning Tank Drill was replaced by the M32F and M40F Tank Drills, which used larger Sherman tank carriers. At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands, at least two refurbished M4s were used by the fire brigade in the 1960s and 70s. One M4A1 at Fort Sill Museum one M4A1 at Maaldrift, The Netherlands, MILITAIRE ASSOCIATION TROYENNE One M4 in private museum collection in Gettysburg PA. TM 9-785 18-Ton High Speed Tractors M4, M4A1, M4C, M4A1C SNL G150 the Field Artillery Journal, September 1945 references the M4A1 as an ammunition hauller for M40 Gun sections
12.
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
13.
Kursk
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Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a point in the Soviet–German struggle during World War II. Archaeology indicates that the site of Kursk was settled in the 5th or 4th century BCE, the settlement was fortified and included Slavs at least as early as the 8th century CE. The first written record of Kursk is dated 1032 and it was mentioned as one of Severian towns by Prince Igor in The Tale of Igors Campaign, Saddle, brother, your swift steeds. The seat of a principality, Kursk was raided by the Polovtsians in the 12th and 13th centuries. The city was no later than 1283. It was ruled by Grand Duchy of Lithuania between 1360 and 1508, Kursk joined the centralized Russian state in 1508, becoming its southern border province. It was an important center of the trade with Ukraine and hosted an important fair. However, a century later the city re-emerged in a new place, in 1596 a new fortress was built, in 1616 it was garrisoned by over 1,300 soldiers. At the beginning of the 17th century Kursk was repeatedly attacked by Polish-Lithuania, the Crimean Tatars, and the Nogai horde, residents of Oryol and other southern Russian cities were resettled in Kursk. The city developed due to its advantageous position on the shortest route from Moscow to the Crimea. It was raided frequently by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Crimean Khanate until the late 17th century and was ruled by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1611 and 1618 and it was successively part of the Kiev Governorate, Belgorod Governorate, and Kursk Viceroyalty. Town status was granted to Kursk in 1779 and it became the administrative center of Kursk Governorate in 1797. After a fire in 1781 devastated Kursk, a new plan for the city was developed in which a market center would be at the heart of the city, in 1768 the Voskirsensko Ilinskaya Church was built. In 1778 both the Sergiev Cathedral Kazan Cathedral Baroque and Trinity Sergius Cathedral were completed, the city opened its first school for the nobility in 1783. A mens gymnasium was opened in 1808 and a seminary in 1817, a womens gymnasium was opened in 1870. At the beginning of the 20th century Kursk played a dominant role in the industry and in other industries as well, so, in the 1900s. Working conditions in the factories of Kursk were harsh and often resulted in strikes, Kursk workers participated in the general political strike during the 1905 Russian Revolution
14.
Steyr-Daimler-Puch
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Steyr-Daimler-Puch was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership, the company, initially known as Josef und Franz Werndl and Company was founded in 1864 as a rifle manufacturer. It grew rapidly during the First World War, by the end of which it employed 14,000 people, the company began producing bicycles in 1894, and Steyr automobiles after 1918. It was heavy and well-built, if a little cumbersome, soon, however, the small but luxurious 1.5 L six Type XII of the late twenties won international motor press acclaim. The company changed it name to Steyr-Werke AG in 1924, in 1934, Steyr merged with Austro-Daimler-Puch to form Steyr-Daimler-Puch. The request was approved and prisoners were brought by guarded train from the Mauthausen-Gusen camp complex at Gusen 30 km distant and this was approved and prisoners were used for facilities construction, and to supplant manufacturing labor. This practice heretofore was not common at other larger German companies, though others followed suit including Mercedes-Benz and MAN. The vehicle range was for use, including the Steyr RSO Raupenschlepper Ost with an air-cooled 3.5 L V8 engine designed by Ferdinand Porsche. War-time production there also included arms, assault rifles, machine guns. After the war, Steyr-Daimler-Puch built Diesel engined trucks and buses, small and heavy tractors, First, Steyr assembled the FIAT 1100E, then put their own engine in a Fiat 1400, renaming the car the Steyr 2000. From 1957 through to the early 1970s it produced the tiny Puch 500 under license from FIAT, the Haflinger was produced from 1959–1974, the Pinzgauer from 1971–2000, and the Puch G from 1979. The Austro-Daimler branch built heavy tractors and trucks for the imperial Austrian army, the main Steyr civil agricultural tractor production started in 1947. After the war Steyr-Daimler-Puch resumed manufacturing bicycles and mopeds, gradually establishing distributors in countries to manage their sales. Steyr also made bicycles for sale for other retailers, most notably Sears, in the mid 1970s Steyr-Daimler-Puch America was incorporated in Connecticut to manage importation and distribution of bicycles and mopeds. Puch Austro-Daimler bicycles remained in production at Graz in Austria until the motorcycle and bicycle fabrication portions of the company there were sold in the mid 1987 to Piaggio & C, because of their extreme durability and toughness Steyr products won many enthusiastic friends around the world. Other production lines were spun off or sold outright to form independent companies, including Puchs motorcycle division going to Piaggio. In 1990, the engine division was spun off into Steyr Motorentechnik GmbH. Steyr Landmaschinentechnik AG was sold to Case Corporation in 1996 and renamed Case Steyr Landmaschinentechnik, in 1998, the production of military vehicles was sold to an Austrian investor company, which named it Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug GmbH
15.
Russian Winter
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Russian Winter, General Winter, General Frost, or General Snow refers to the winter climate of Russia as a contributing factor to the military failures of several invasions of Russia. He notes that Napoleons army was already suffering significant attrition before winter, owing to lack of supplies, disease, desertions, likewise, Hitlers Wehrmacht had already suffered 734,000 in casualties and was running low on supplies in November of 1941, before the arrival of winter. In the Great Northern War, Charles XII of Sweden invaded Russia in 1707, the Russians retreated, adopting a scorched-earth policy. This winter was the most brutal of the 18th century, so severe that the seaport of Venice froze, Charles 35,000 troops were crippled, and by spring only 19,000 were left. The Battle of Poltava in late June 1709 sealed the end of the Swedish Empire, Napoleons Grande Armée of 610,000 men invaded Russia, heading towards Moscow, in the beginning of summer on 24 June 1812. The Russian army retreated before the French and again burnt their crops and villages, Napoleons army was ultimately reduced to 100,000. His army suffered further, even more losses on the retreat from Moscow. The French blamed the weather for their defeat, and as early as in 1835 Denis Davydov published a military-historical article, where he demonstrated that the French suffered casualties in battles during relatively mild weather and listed actual reasons. He used not only his own observations as arguments, but foreign opinions as well and this decrease was partly due to garrisoning supply centres, but disease, desertions, and casualties sustained in various minor actions caused thousands of losses. During World War II, the Wehrmacht lacked necessary supplies, such as winter uniforms, in fact his eastern army suffered more than 734,000 casualties during the first five months of the invasion before the winter started. On 27 November 1941, Eduard Wagner, the Quartermaster General of the German Army and we are about to be confronted with the dangers of deep winter. Also of note is the fact that the early winter of 1941 cut short the rasputitsa season, improving logistics in early November. Mobility and logistical support are often restricted by snow, requiring plowing or compacting it to accommodate wide-tracked vehicles or sleds, infantry movement in deep snow requires skis or snowshoes to avoid exhaustion. Sound carries well over crusted snow, diminishing the element of surprise, explosives are useful for excavating foxholes and larger shelters in frozen ground. Attacking field kitchens and encampments deprives the enemy of food and shelter, rapid removal of the wounded from the battlefield is essential to their survival in the cold. Materiel – Weapons and vehicles require special lubricants to operate at low temperatures, mines are unreliable in winter, owing to deep snow that may cushion the fuse or form an ice bridge over the detonator. Personnel – Proper winter clothing is required to maintain body heat, troop efficiency and survival requires either making use of available shelter or providing portable shelter. If he had been here ten days ago, he would not have much help to the Args
16.
Sd.Kfz. 7
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7 was a half-track military vehicle used by the German Wehrmacht Heer, Luftwaffe and Waffen-SS during the Second World War. 7 can be traced back to a 1934 Wehrmacht requirement for an eight-tonne half-track, various trial vehicles were built by Krauss-Maffei from 1934 to 1938. The production vehicle first appeared in 1938 and was intended to be used mainly as the tractor for the 8.8 cm FlaK gun, the vehicle was made by Krauss-Maffei in Munich, the Saurerwerke in Vienna and the Borgward works at Bremen. Because of its power, it often found use as a recovery vehicle. The vehicle could carry gun crews of up to 12 men in theatre-type seats, under the seats was storage room for various tools, and the whole vehicle was spacious enough to carry their kit. The rear of the vehicle housed an enclosed compartment for storage of ammunition, the tractor could tow loads up to 8,000 kg in weight. Most were fitted with a winch that could pull up to 3450 kg and it had a payload of 1800 kg. The windscreen was able to fold down and a roof could be erected. A number were constructed with a hard top, but this was less common in service. A later simplified type appeared with a timber frame truck-type layout, the ammunition being stored behind the drivers station, minor variations on the track and road wheel design and manufacture took place throughout the course of service, some being combined in the field as repairs took place. In 1943, the Maybach HL62 engine was replaced with Maybach HL64, the use of half-tracked prime movers for artillery was common in the German forces but not elsewhere. Compared to wheeled vehicles, half-tracks are more difficult to maintain, they often suffer track breakages, however, they have better off-road mobility compared to wheeled vehicles. The iconic Sd. Kfz.7 was used throughout the war,7 were seen during the 1940 Paris victory parade and the Sd. Kfz. 7 features in much German wartime propaganda footage, contributing to the myth of the mechanized Blitzkrieg, in fact, while produced in large numbers, there were never enough to fully equip the German forces. Typically like many types, the artillery elements of Panzer and mechanized infantry units received them. 7 saw extensive use in the North African Campaign where their tracks allowed them to drive through the desert sands far more effectively than trucks. Often columns carrying troops or POWs would include at least two tracks with one generally riding point in order to make a path through the sands that the trucks could follow. 7 also became the basis of a number of self-propelled anti-aircraft variants based on 20 mm and 37 mm flak types in use, 7/1 was armed with a 2 cm Flakvierling 38 quadruple anti-aircraft gun system
17.
Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim
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The Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim is a technology museum in Sinsheim, Germany. Opened in 1981, it is run by an association called Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim e. V. which also runs the Technik Museum Speyer. As of 2004, the museum had more than 3,000 exhibits, in addition to exhibitions, the museum also has a 22 m ×27 m IMAX 3D theatre. It receives more than 1 million visitors per year and is the largest privately owned museum in Europe, in 2003, Air France donated one of its retiring Concorde aircraft to the museum. With a Tupolev Tu-144 on display since 2001, it is the place where both supersonic passenger aircraft are shown. Both are fully accessible by the public, the museums alliance acquired a Russian shuttle Buran in 2004 which opened as a walk-in exhibition at the Technikmuseum Speyer on October 3,2008. Sinsheim Museum also has the largest permanent Formula One collection in Europe along with Ferraris, motorcycles, land speed record holders, the Sinsheim Auto und Technik Museum is open 365 days per year. The museum is reached by car and has a large car park. It also has a railway station as part of the local rail network
18.
Museum of Military History, Vienna
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The Museum of Military History – Military History Institute in Vienna is the leading museum of the Austrian Armed Forces. Although the museum is owned by the Federal Government, it is not affiliated to the Federal museums but is organised as an agency reporting directly to the Ministry of Defence. The museum building is the centrepiece of Viennas Arsenal, a military complex previously consisting of a total of 72 buildings erected in the wake of the 1848/49 revolution. It was Danish architect Theophil Hansen who designed what was referred to as the weapons museum. The museum was completed on 8 May 1856, just six years after the beginning of construction, making it the oldest museum building – planned and executed as such – in Austria. At the time of its construction, the Arsenal was located outside the ring of fortifications, in 1850, however. Along the south-west side of the Arsenal ran the Vienna-Raab railway, for which the main Vienna station, just as many other historicist buildings borrowed models from historic architecture, Theophil Hansen chose the Venetian Arsenal, built after 1104, as his prototype. He borrowed Byzantine style elements, adding some Gothic elements in the process, what really stands out is the characteristic brickwork structure. The richly adorned attic section is borne by a magnificent lombard band reminiscent of Florentine palazzi, allegoric representations of military virtues made of sandstone are featured on and in front of the facade, created by Hans Gasser, one of the most influential sculptors of his time. All statutes are made of Carrara marble and stand equally tall at exactly 186 centimetres, half of the costs were borne by Emperor Franz Joseph himself, and the rest was financed by private sponsors who were often descendants of the respective field commanders depicted. The chronological period covered by these statues ranges from the Margrave Leopold I of Babenberg to the Habsburg Archduke Charles, the staircase too, was lavishly decorated. Carl Rahl was assigned with the decoration of the Staircase. The centre of the ceiling features frescos with allegorical depictions of power and unity, fame and honour. The staircase is crowned by a marble sculpture group titled Austria. Indisputably, the most representative section of the museum is the Ruhmeshalle located in the first floor. A particular highlight of the Ruhmeshalle are the frescos by Karl von Blaas, the four large wall arches show the victories of the Imperial Army, the battle of Nördlingen 1634, the war council at the battle of St. Although the museum building itself was completed in 1856, work on its interior lasted until 1872. The collection was completed with pieces from the former court arms collection of the Imperial armoury, the Imperial private collection in the Laxenburg Palace, and the Imperial treasury in Vienna
19.
Light truck
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Light truck or light-duty truck is a US classification for trucks or truck-based vehicles with a payload capacity of less than 4,000 pounds. Similar sized goods vehicles in the European Union are known as commercial vehicles. ”Light trucks includes vans, pickups. The United States government uses light truck as a class in regulating fuel economy through the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard. The class includes vans, minivans, sport utility vehicles, light trucks have lower fuel economy standards than cars, under the premise that these vehicles are used for utilitarian purposes rather than personal transportation. Since light trucks sold in the US are increasingly being used for personal use, US production of light trucks are protected by the Chicken Tax, a 25% tariff on imported light trucks. California Air Resources Board Commercial vehicle Emission standard Regulatory Announcement on EPA changing definitions of the light and heavy-duty trucks
20.
Magirus
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Magirus GmbH is a truck manufacturer based in Ulm, Germany, founded by Conrad Dietrich Magirus. The company began manufacturing fire-fighting vehicles in 1866, in the late 1910s, it started the production of trucks and buses. These vehicles developed a reputation for high engineering standards, able to operate under the most arduous conditions, the company also invented the turntable ladder, as Magirus Leiter, which quickly became an essential item of fire brigade equipment worldwide. The parent company was Klöckner Humboldt Deutz AG, maker of the well-known Deutz engines, so the commonly used was Magirus Deutz. The logo of Magirus Deutz was a stylised M with a sharp, in 1975, Magirus became part of Iveco which continued producing some Magirus trucks for a short while under the name Iveco Magirus before abandoning it completely in most countries. KHDs collaboration with Fiat ended abruptly and less than harmoniously in 1979, however, Iveco trucks were sold under the Magirus brand in Germany and other European and Middle Eastern markets until the end of the 1980s. Today, the Magirus brand is used for the companys firefighting equipment section. Most trucks from Magirus were also known as Magirus-Deutz because their air-cooled engine came from the factory of Deutz AG and these engines are still being sold for agricultural and marine use. Iveco Magirus is one of the manufacturers of fire fighting equipment. With its Magirus brand turntable ladder, Iveco Magirus is the global market leader by sales. Though seldom seen today, the Magirus company produced almost all of the early, movable ladders used in the construction of large, the multi-extension, wooden ladders were mounted on massively constructed, wooden carriage frames with a fifth-wheel style, forward axle assembly. Although it appeared to be designed for horses, the ladders could be moved by two men. The carriage was equipped with four, hand screw type outriggers that would resist the ladder from tipping, the ladder did not swivel on the carriage. It was elevated and extended only towards the front of the carriage, in the working position, the ladder had to be elevated to about an 80 degree angle in order to allow full extension to 85 feet. They can be seen, commonly, in photographs of airships under construction in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1974 the firm was awarded a contract for delivery in 1975-1976 of about 9,500 dumper and this order was the largest in the companys history. These models were export only options KHD products on the market of Germany were not supplied. By January 1,1975 for the first batch of Magirus for BAM building was ready to be sent to the Soviet Union, many of these trucks are working now
21.
Deutz AG
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Deutz AG is an engine manufacturer, based in Cologne, Germany. The company was founded in 1864 as N. A, Otto & Cie by Nikolaus Otto, inventor of the four-stroke internal combustion engine. In the early years, Otto and his partner Eugen Langen, were interested in production of stationary engines. In the middle of the 1870s, technical director Gottlieb Daimler and he resigned, taking Wilhelm Maybach with him. Deutz also produced agricultural machines such as combine harvesters and tractors, as well as commercial vehicles such as trucks, famous people who worked for Deutz include Eugen Langen, Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, Prosper LOrange, Rudolf Diesel, Robert Bosch and Ettore Bugatti. During World War II, the company was ordered to produce artillery, commercial vehicles powered by Deutz engines were popular from 1960 to 1980, sold under the brand name Magirus Deutz. Deutzs head office is in the Porz district of Cologne and as of 2004 was manufacturing liquid, the larger engines in the Deutz range were manufactured in Mannheim, at a production facility that once belonged to Süddeutsche Bremsen-AG as MWM-Diesel. Deutz also have facilities in other countries including Spain and a joint venture production facility in China. After Deutz took over, the plant specialised in marine engines and this facility now produces engines for marine and power generation which can run on either fuel oils or fuel gases. In 1995 Deutz sold its agricultural machinery division – Deutz-Fahr – to the Italian company SAME, forming SAME Deutz-Fahr. Deutz engines are available in the power range 4 to 500 kW, with air, oil or water cooling and with life expectancy of 20,000 and 30,000 running hours TBO on rebuilt, parts and service are available worldwide. In the United States and Canada, a network of distributors was established a few years ago, providing parts, deutz-powered air-cooled machines are well-suited for many applications since they cannot freeze or boil-over during normal operation. These can provide the power as other engine designs, but in a smaller package. Deutz also makes engines with a tandem oil cooler/radiator configuration, these also do not require antifreeze or coolant agents, Deutz also has line of economical liquid-cooled engines. In 2007, the Deutz Power Systems division was sold to 3i and they are focusing on manufacturing engines only for the customer, without competing for the entire piece of finished machinery. On October 1,2008, the former Deutz Power Systems division received a new, old, the company traces its roots to Karl Benz, who set up the foundations of the company in 1871. After splitting the business off from Benz AG, it became Motoren-Werke Mannheim AG. Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG took over in 1985, later becoming Deutz AG, after spinning off Deutz Power Systems, the company has made a full circle back to MWM
22.
Pintle
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A pintle is a pin or bolt, usually inserted into a gudgeon, which is used as part of a pivot or hinge. Other applications include pintle and lunette ring for towing, and pintle pins securing casters in furniture, in electrical cubicle manufacture, a pintle hinge is a hinge with fixed and moving parts. The hinge has a pin pintle and and can be external and internal. The most common type consists of 3 parts, one part on the body of the cubicle, one part on the door and the third part is the pintle. In transportation, a hitch is a type of tow hitch that uses a tow ring configuration to secure to a hook or a ball combination for the purpose of towing an unpowered vehicle. As a weapon mount a pintle-mount is used with guns as the mounting hardware that mates the machine gun to a vehicle or tripod. Essentially the pintle is a bracket with a bottom and a cradle for the gun on top. In furniture, a pintle is usually fitted to a caster, in rocketry, a pintle injector uses a single-feed fuel injector rather than the hundreds of smaller holes used in a typical rocket engine. This simplifies the engine, reducing cost and improving reliability, while surrendering some performance, grumman used the pintle-based Rocketdyne RS-18 for the Ascent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module. TRW used this same injector for the Descent Propulsion System on Apollos Lunar Module, notable modern uses are in the Merlin engines developed by SpaceX. Pintle is also a term used in the design of aircraft landing gears. It describes the attachment point between the landing gear structure and the aircraft structure, the pintle is the bolt around which the landing gear rotates when it is extended/retracted into/out of the aircraft. The pintle is a stressed component during landing manoeuvres and is often made from exotic metal alloys
23.
Euphemism
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A euphemism /ˈjufəˌmɪzəm/ is a generally innocuous word or expression used in place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, Euphemisms are used to refer to taboo topics in a polite way, or to mask profanity. There are three antonyms of euphemism, dysphemism, cacophemism, and loaded language, Dysphemism can be either offensive or merely ironic, cacophemism is deliberately offensive. Loaded language evokes a response beyond the meaning of the words. Euphemism comes from the Greek word εὐφημία, meaning the use of words of good omen, etymologically, the eupheme is the opposite of the blaspheme evil-speaking. The term euphemism itself was used as a euphemism by the ancient Greeks, Euphemism use ranges from a polite concern for propriety, to attempting to escape responsibility for war crimes. For instance one reason for the scarcity of written evidence documenting the exterminations at Auschwitz is directives for the extermination process obscured in bureaucratic euphemisms. Columnist David Brooks called the euphemisms for torture at Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, phonetic euphemism is used to replace profanities, giving them the intensity of a mere interjection. Shortening or clipping the term Mispronunciations, such as Frak, Frig What the fudge, What the truck, Oh my gosh, Frickin, Darn, Oh, shoot, Be-yotch, sometimes, the word word is added after it. Also, the letter can be phonetically respelled, for example, using a less harsh term with similar meaning. For instance, screwed up is a euphemism for fucked up, hook-up, we hooked up, there is some disagreement over whether certain terms are or are not euphemisms. For example, sometimes the phrase visually impaired is labeled as a politically correct euphemism for blind, Euphemisms may be formed in a number of ways. Periphrasis, or circumlocution, is one of the most common, to speak around a given word, over time, circumlocutions become recognized as established euphemisms for particular words or ideas. To alter the pronunciation or spelling of a word to form a euphemism is known as taboo deformation. In American English, words that are unacceptable on television such as fuck, may be represented by such as freak. Some examples of rhyming slang may serve the purpose, to call a person a berk sounds less offensive than to call a person a cunt, though berk is short for Berkeley Hunt. Bureaucracies frequently spawn euphemisms of a more deliberate nature, doublespeak expressions, for example, in the past the US military called contamination by radioactive isotopes sunshine units. Such was part of the superficially innocuous formulation Endlösung der Judenfrage, a euphemism may often devolve into a taboo word itself, through the linguistic process known as pejoration or semantic change described by W. V. O
24.
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
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The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Created in 1938, the OKW had nominal oversight over the Heer, the Kriegsmarine, rivalry with the armed services branch commands, mainly with the Oberkommando des Heeres, prevented the OKW from becoming a unified German General Staff in an effective chain of command. However, it did coordinate operations between the three services, during the war, the OKW, subordinate to Adolf Hitler as Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht, acquired more and more operational powers. By 1942, OKW had responsibility for all theaters except for the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union, Hitler manipulated the bipolar system to keep ultimate decisions in his own hands. Hitler took the chance to get rid of his critics within the armed forces, the Reich War Ministry was dissolved and replaced with the OKW led by devoted General Wilhelm Keitel in the rank of a Reich Minister, with Alfred Jodl as Chief of the Operations Staff. Nevertheless, all Supreme Commanders of the service branches, like OKH Chief General Walther von Brauchitsch, had direct access to Hitler and were able to circumvent Keitels command. By June 1938, the OKW comprised four departments, Wehrmacht-Führungsamt – operational orders, Chief, Major General Hasso von Wedel,1 September 1939 –8 May 1945 Heeresstab – army staff. Chief, General Walther Buhle,15 February 1942 –8 May 1945 Inspekteur der Wehrmachtnachrichtenverbände – Chief of Staff, Chief, Major General Hans Oster,1 September 1939 – January 1944 Abteilung Ausland – foreign. Hitler promoted Keitel to Chief of the OKW, i. e, Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. As head of the WFA, Keitel appointed Max von Viebahn although after two months he was removed from command, and this post was not refilled until the promotion of Alfred Jodl, to replace Jodl at Abteilung Landesverteidigungsführungsamt, Walther Warlimont was appointed. In December 1941 further changes took place with Abteilung Landesverteidigungsführungsamt being merged into the Wehrmacht-Führungsamt and these changes were largely cosmetic however as key staff remained in post and continued to fulfill the same duties. The OKW directed the operations of the German Armed Forces during World War II, the OKW was almost always represented at daily situation conferences by Jodl, Keitel, and the officer serving as Hitlers adjutant. During these conferences situation reports prepared by the head of WFA/L would be delivered to Hitler, following these discussions, Hitler would issue further operational orders. These orders were then relayed back to WFA/L by Jodl along with the minutes of the meeting and these would then be converted into orders for issuance to the appropriate commanders. Officially, the OKW served as the general staff for the Third Reich, coordinating the efforts of the Army, Navy. In practice, the OKW acted as Hitlers personal military staff, translating his ideas into military orders, however, as the war progressed the OKW found itself exercising increasing amounts of direct command authority over military units, particularly in the West. This created a situation such that by 1942 the OKW held the de facto command of Western forces while the Army High Command exercised de facto command of the Eastern Front. It was not until 28 April 1945 that Hitler placed OKH under OKW, since most German operations during World War II were Army controlled, the OKH demanded control over German military forces
25.
Tank destroyer
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The tank destroyer on the other hand is specifically designed to take on enemy armour. Many are based on a tank chassis, while others are wheeled. Since World War II, gun-armed tank destroyers have fallen out of favor as armies have favored multirole main battle tanks, however, lightly armored anti-tank guided missile carriers are commonly used for supplementary long-range anti-tank work. Dedicated anti-tank vehicles made their first major appearance in the Second World War as combatants developed effective armored vehicles, some were little more than stopgap solutions, mounting an anti-tank gun on a tracked vehicle to give mobility, while others were more sophisticated designs. Except for most American designs, tank destroyers were all turretless and had fixed or casemate superstructures, the turretless design allowed accommodation of a more powerful gun, typically a dedicated anti-tank gun that had a longer barrel than could be mounted in a turreted tank on the same chassis. The lack of an increased the vehicles internal volume, allowing for increased ammunition stowage. Eliminating the turret allowed the vehicle to carry thicker armor than would otherwise be the case, sometimes there was no armored roof to keep the overall weight down to the limit that the chassis could bear. Variants of the Polish TKS and TK-3 tankettes up-armed with 20 mm gun were operationally deployed in the invasion of Poland and they were used as an anti-tank component of the reconnaissance units. Due to the defeat of France, few French vehicles were built. The Laffly W15 TCC was an attempt to build a light tank destroyer by mounting a 47 mm SA37 anti-tank gun onto a lightly armored Laffly W15T artillery tractor. Other French tank destroyers were being developed, including the SOMUA SAu-40, ARL V39, for instance,202 obsolete Panzer I light tanks were modified by removing the turret and were rebuilt as the Panzerjäger I self-propelled 4.7 cm PaK. Similarly, Panzer II tanks were used on the eastern front, captured Soviet 76.2 mm anti-tank guns were mounted on modified Panzer II chassis, producing the Marder II self-propelled anti-tank gun. The most common mounting was a German 75 mm anti-tank gun on the Czech Panzer 38 chassis to produce the Marder III, the Panzer 38 chassis was also used to make the Jagdpanzer 38 casemate style tank destroyer. The Panzerjäger series continued up to the 88 mm equipped Nashorn, German tank destroyers based on the Panzer III and later German tanks were unique in that they had more armor than their tank counterparts. One of the more successful German tank destroyers was actually designed as an artillery gun. Based on the Panzer III tank chassis, the Sturmgeschütz III was originally fitted with a low-velocity gun, later, after encountering Soviet tanks, it was refitted with a comparatively short-barreled high-velocity anti-tank gun, usually with a muzzle brake, enabling it to function as a tank destroyer. The Sturmgeschütz III from its 1938 origin used a new superstructure with an integrated design similar to the later Jagdpanzer to completely enclose the crew. It was employed in support and offensive armored operations as well as in the defensive anti-tank role
26.
Panzergrenadier
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Panzergrenadier is a German term for motorised or mechanized infantry – that is, infantry transported in combat vehicles specialized for such tasks – as introduced during World War II. It is used in the armies of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, however, in the German Army, Panzergrenadier is also the lowest rank of enlisted men in the Panzergrenadiertruppe, comparable to NATO OR-1. The term Panzergrenadier was not adopted until 1942, Infantry in panzer divisions from 1937 onwards were known as Schützen Regiments, they wore the same rose pink piping on their uniforms as the tank crews. Soldiers in special Motorized Infantry units wore the white piping of the Infantry. Their Waffenfarbe was also changed from white or rose pink to a meadow-green shade previously worn by motorcycle troops. Some units did not change over their designations and/or waffenfarbe accoutrements until 1943, the term Panzergrenadier had been introduced in 1942, and was applied equally to the infantry component of Panzer divisions as well as the new divisions known as Panzergrenadier Divisions. Divisions evolved via upgrades from ordinary infantry divisions, first to Motorized Infantry divisions, Divisions, retaining their numerical designation within the series for infantry divisions throughout the process. This included the 3rd, 10th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 25th, others, such as the Großdeutschland Division, were built up over the course of the war by repeatedly augmenting the size of an elite regiment or battalion. The Waffen-SS also created several PzGren, Divisions by the same methods, or by creating new divisions from scratch later in the war. Divisions in both the Heer and Waffen-SS were upgraded to Panzer divisions as the war progressed, all these support elements would also be mechanized in a PzGren. Division, though most of the artillery, anti-tank, and anti-aircraft elements were equipped with weapons towed by trucks rather than the relatively rare armored and self-propelled models. Divisions were often equipped with assault guns rather than tanks. A few elite units, on the hand, might have the tanks plus a battalion of heavy assault guns for their anti-tank element. Of 226 panzergrenadier battalions in the whole of the German Army, Luftwaffe and Waffen SS in September 1943, only 26 were equipped with armoured half tracks, the rest were equipped with trucks. The vast majority of Schützen/Panzergrenadier soldiers were mounted in trucks, additionally, vehicles in the early war period suffered from poor off-road performance. In 1944 a couple of Panzer Divisions based in France had more than the one battalion mounted in SdKfz 251 troop carriers. Panzer Lehrs infantry and engineers were entirely mounted in SdKfz 251 troop carriers, Panzer Division were half-equipped with armoured halftracks. In the German army, Panzergrenadiere act as mechanized infantry and escort of armored vehicles, some essential training courses, especially for urban warfare and fighting in forested terrain, are held at the Infanterieschule at Hammelburg
27.
8.8 cm Pak 43
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The Pak 43 was a German 88 mm anti-tank gun developed by Krupp in competition with the Rheinmetall 8.8 cm Flak 41 anti-aircraft gun and used during World War II. The improved 8.8 cm gun was fitted with a vertical breech mechanism that greatly reduced recoil. It could also be fired electrically while on its wheels and it had a very flat trajectory out to 914 m, making it easier for the gunner to hit targets at longer ranges as fewer corrections in elevation were needed. The guns maximum firing range exceeded 15 kilometers, KwK43 and Pak 43s were initially manufactured with monobloc barrels. However, the extremely high muzzle velocity and operating pressures caused accelerated barrel wear. This did not affect performance but made replacing a worn out barrel much faster and easier than before, the higher operating pressures of the new gun in turn required a new armour-piercing shell to be designed. The wider driving bands resulted in a weight to 10.4 kilograms for the PzGr. 39/43. However, up until the transition to the new PzGr. 39/43 round was complete, the older PzGr. 39-1 was used for the KwK & Pak 43. Over this, the expected barrel wear combined with the driving bands could lead to a loss of pressure. 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 main version of the Pak 43 was based on a highly effective cruciform mount, which offered a full 360 degree traverse, however the manufacture of this version was initially slow and costly. To simplify production some were mounted on the two-wheel split-trail carriage from the 10 cm le K41 field gun, resulting in a version known as Pak 43/41. The 43/41 proved heavy and awkward to handle in the mud and snow of the Eastern Front and gunners referred to 43/41 as the barn door, a reference to the size and weight of the gun. Nevertheless, the improvised Pak 43/41 proved an effective substitute for the Pak 43 until sufficient of the more complex cruciform mounts could be manufactured to replace it in service. The Pak 43 was also mounted in German armored vehicles, there were 578 88mm Pak in German army service on 1 October 1944 and 829 on 1 January 1945. 39/43 and HE shells were generally available, 40/43 were in severely short supply. Weapons of the Third Reich, An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery, new York, Doubleday,1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3 Haupt, W. Panzerabwehrgeschütze 1935–1945. Hogg, Ian V. German Artillery of World War Two, mechanicsville, PA, Stackpole Books,1997 ISBN 1-85367-480-X Wolfgang Fleischer
28.
Auto Union
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Auto Union AG, Chemnitz, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. It is the predecessor of Audi as it is known today. As well as acting as a firm for its four constituent brands. The companys distinctive logo, of four interlocking rings to represent the four members of the Auto Union. Horch – founded 1904 by August Horch in Zwickau and it built cars starting from straight-two engines to luxury models with V8- and V12 engines. Audi – because of disputes with the CFO, August Horch in 1909 left his namesake enterprise and founded Audi across town, building inline-four-, six-, in 1928 Audi became a subsidiary of Zschopauer Motorenwerke. In the same year, Rasmussen bought the remains of the US automobile manufacturer Rickenbacker, including the equipment for eight-. These engines were used in Audi Zwickau, Audi Imperator and Audi Dresden models, at the same time, six-cylinder and four-cylinder models were manufactured. Although all four continued to sell cars under their own names and brands. Auto Union chairman, Klaus, Baron von Oertzen, wanted a project to announce the new brand. Ferdinand Porsche, who had work for him before. This highly annoyed Mercedes, who had developed their Mercedes-Benz W25. It resulted in a heated exchange both on and off the track between the two companies until World War II. Having garnered state funds, Auto Union bought Porsches Hochleistungsfahrzeugbau GmbH and hence the P-Wagen Project for 75,000 RM, the Auto Union racing cars types A to D were built as Grand Prix racing cars from 1934 to 1939. They resembled the earlier Benz Tropfenwagen, also built in part by Rumpler engineers, The only Grand Prix racers to wear Auto Unions four-ringed logo, they were particularly dominant in 1936. From 1935 to 1937, Auto Union cars car won 25 races, driven by Ernst von Delius, Bernd Rosemeyer, Hans Stuck Sr. and Achille Varzi. Much has been written about the handling characteristics of this car. The cars used supercharged engines, eventually producing almost 550 hp
29.
Chemnitz
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Chemnitz, known from 1953 to 1990 as Karl-Marx-Stadt, is the third-largest city in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county, located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is part of the Central German Metropolitan Region. The citys economy is based on the sector and manufacturing industry. Chemnitz University of Technology has around 10,000 students, Chemnitz is named after the river Chemnitz, a small tributary of the Zwickau Mulde. The word Chemnitz is from the Sorbian language, and means stony, the word is composed of the Slavic word kamen meaning stone and the feminine suffix -ica. It is known in Czech as Saská Kamenice and in Polish as Kamienica Saska, there are many other towns named Kamenica or Kamenice in areas with past or present Slavic settlement. An early Slavic tribes settlement was located at Kamienica, and the first documented use of the name Chemnitz was the 1143 site of a Benedictine monastery around which a settlement grew, circa 1170 Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor granted it the rights of an imperial city. In 1307, the town became subordinate to the Margraviate of Meissen, in medieval times, Chemnitz became a centre of textile production and trade. More than one third of the worked in textile production. By the early 19th century Chemnitz had become an industrial centre, in 1913, Chemnitz had a population of 320,000 and, like Leipzig and Dresden, was larger at that time than today. After losing inhabitants due to the first World War Chemnitz grew rapidly again, before the world economic crises, it was supposed that the city would keep on growing and would become a Millionenstadt by incorporating also fast growing smaller towns and municipalities around it. During World War II, Chemnitz contained factories that produced military hardware, 2/3–5 March, USAAF bombers attacked the marshalling yards. 5 March,760 RAF bombers attacked, the headquarters of the auto manufacturer Auto Union were also based in Chemnitz since 1932 and its buildings were also badly damaged. At the end of the war, the companys executives fled and relocated the company in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, the World War II bombings left most of the city in ruins, and post-war, the East German reconstruction included large low rise housing. Some tourist sites were reconstructed during the East German era and after German reunification and it was occupied by Soviet troops on 8 May 1945. After dissolution of the states in the GDR in 1952, Chemnitz became seat of a district, on 10 May 1953, the city was renamed by decision of the East German government to Karl-Marx-Stadt after Karl Marx. GDR Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl said, The people who live here, do not look back and they look with love and devotion to the founder of the socialist doctrine, the greatest son of the German people, to Karl Marx. I hereby fulfill about the governments decision, I carry out the solemn act of renaming the city and declare, From now on, this city bears the proud name and mandatory Karl-Marx-Stadt
30.
Wanderer (company)
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Wanderer was a German manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles, vans and other machinery. Winklhofer & Jaenicke was established in 1896 in Chemnitz and it built motorcycles from 1902 and automobiles from 1903. The Wanderer brand was chosen in 1911 for overseas exports and was adopted for domestic sales. The first two- or three-seater models used four-cylinder 1145 cc and 1220 cc engines, the 1220 cc model lasted until 1925. The first six-cylinder model appeared in 1928, motorcycle production continued in Chemnitz alone. During the Great Depression, in 1929, the owner, Dresdner Bank, sold the motorcycle business to František Janeček. The car division with its Siegmar factory became part of Auto Union together with Horch, Audi, in this quartet, Horch was positioned as the luxury brand, DKW built cheap two-stroke cars, Audi and Wanderer competed in different segments of mid-priced, technologically advanced small cars. Wanderers of Nazi period acquired a trademark radiator design, shaped as a heraldic shield, the next model W17 7/35 PS was propelled by a new 1692 cc OHV four-cylinder engine developed by Ferdinand Porsche. In 1933 the new Audi Front was equipped with the Wanderer W22 engine, the top model from 1936 to 1939 was W50, propelled by a 2257 cc six-cylinder engine. From 1937 on there were also sporting fours and another model of 2632 cc. Wanderer cars were always admired for their quality and sporting character. During World War II all civilian production was replaced in 1941 with licence-built military vehicles, a subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp, KZ Siegmar-Schonau, was operated during the war to provide slave labour for the Wanderer vehicle plants. From 1943 on the Auto Union Siegmar plant produced Maybach HL230 V12 engines, the Wanderer Siegmar plant of Auto Union were destroyed in early 1945, closing this chapter in the history of automobiles. List of automobile manufacturers List of German cars Auto Union Dates in the history of Wanderer - Audi USA AUTO UNION Sales Brochures 1939
31.
Bandvagn 206
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Bandvagn 206 is a tracked articulated, all-terrain carrier developed by Hägglunds for the Swedish Army. It consists of two units, with all four tracks powered and it can carry up to 17 people, and the trailer unit can be adapted for different applications. Development of the Bv 206 all-terrain articulated tracked carrier began in 1974, three batches of trial vehicles were delivered between 1976 and 1978 and the first production examples were delivered to the Swedish Defense Administration in 1980. Like its predecessor, the Volvo Bv 202, the Bv 206 is designed to carry troops and equipment through snow, the low ground pressure enables the Bv 206 to cope with a wide range of difficult conditions. It is also fully amphibious, with a speed in water of up to 4.7 km/h, over 11,000 have been produced and they are used in more than 37 countries worldwide. The total load capacity is 2,250 kg and a trailer of up to 2,500 kg gross weight can also be towed behind the second compartment, the Bv 206 is referred to as a Small Unit Support Vehicle pronounced susvee in United States service. U. S. military variants include the model, a tactical operations center variant, an ambulance variant. Additional users include the American and Australian Antarctic research organizations and British, Icelandic and Canadian search and they are also used for search and rescue services in the Austrian alpine region. As well, the Bv 206 was used in combat by the Canadian Forces during Operation Anaconda, the Singapore Armed Forces also uses the Bv 206 and recently transferred several of them to the Singapore Civil Defense Force to be used as a firefighting platform. The Bv206A is a version, which is capable of carrying stretchers in the rear compartment. The BV206F is a fire appliance variant, the RaBv 2061 is a Swedish Army communications/command version, fitted with radio equipment and workplaces for staff members. The PvBv 2062 is a Swedish Army anti-tank vehicle, an open top version of the Bv 206 armed with a 90 mm Pvpj 1110 recoilless anti-tank gun. The PvBv 2063 is another Swedish Army anti-tank vehicle, similar to PvBv 2062, the Bv206S is an armoured personnel carrier variant of the Bv 206, which provides protection from small arms fire for the occupants. It is in service with the forces of France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Greece and Singapore. Using a Steyr M1-Monoblock engine, the vehicle can carry the driver and 12 combat equipped troops — four in the front compartment and eight in the rear. The Bv 206S can be underslung and air lifted by Boeing CH-47 Chinook and Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters or carried in the C130 Hercules airplane, the UK is looking to replace its Bv206Ds by 2020. It was originally designed for the British Royal Marines Commandos and named All Terrain Vehicle - ATV VIKING and it is in service with the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group and the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps while the French Army have recently ordered 130 Bvs10s. Numerous other variants exist including mortar launcher, cargo carrier, fuel carrier, radar, command post, the units can easily be customized to meet the specific needs of a customer
32.
M29 Weasel
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The M29 Weasel was a World War II tracked vehicle, built by Studebaker, designed for operation in snow. The idea for the Weasel came from the work of British inventor Geoffrey Pyke in support of his proposals to attack Axis forces, in active service in Europe, Weasels were used to supply frontline troops over difficult ground when wheeled vehicles were immobilised. The first 2,103 vehicles had 15 in tracks, a version had 20 in tracks. The M29 was amphibious, but with a low freeboard. M29C could not operate in other than inland waterway conditions, so its use in surf or rough water was limited but was used in the Pacific theatre. The Weasels were planned to be used for a ground rescue, a pair of Swiss Flugwaffe-flown Fieseler Storch STOL aircraft were able to effect the rescue solely by air, before the Weasels were needed. The Weasel idea was introduced in 1942, when the First Special Services Force needed transportation into Norway to knock out strategic power plants, the vehicle needed to move quickly and easily through the winter snows of Norway. It needed to be air transportable and be able to withstand the effects of being dropped by parachute and would also be able to carry arms, explosives, the Norwegian mission was cancelled and therefore the Weasel was never used for its original intention. However, as it was amphibious and could cross terrain too soft for most other vehicles it was used widely in both Italy on the Western Front. It went ashore on Normandy, it was with the U. S. Army during the breakthrough at St. Lo. the Battle of the Bulge and in the mud of the Roer and the Rhine. M29 was a Cargo Carrier but was used as a command center, radio, ambulance. US soldiers soon realized the Weasel could be used as an ambulance, another use was for crossing minefields as its ground pressure was often too low to set off anti-tank mines. After the war many surplus M29s were sold to allied countries, some M29C and M29 survived to serve in Korea, supplementing 1/4 ton 4x4 cargo vehicles in rough conditions. They served in Arctic and cold weather operations until retired in 1958, large numbers of retired Weasels were sold off in the 1950s to civilians and municipal organizations. For example 25 Weasels were loaned for VIII Olympic Winter Games in 1960. in November 1944, USMC distributed M29s to the 3d, 4th and they proved invaluable with its first appearance in combat on Iwo Jima. It also saw use on Okinawa, the USMC used only the non-amphibious version, but it was capable of hauling a half-ton load through sand and mud. Besides this they pulled trailers and artillery pieces over the terrain that vehicles could not negotiate. During 1st Vietnam war 1er Régiment Etrangers de Cavalerie) was in charge of fighting Viet Minh guerrillas in the Mekong Delta area
33.
Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper
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The Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper, or sWS, was a German World War II half-track vehicle used in various roles between 1943 and 1945. The unarmored models were used as vehicles and as tractors to haul artillery. Armored versions mounted anti-aircraft guns or a 10 barrel rocket launcher, less than a thousand were built before the end of the war, but production continued after the war of an improved model in the Tatra plant in Czechoslovakia. On 7 May 1942 Hitler ordered development of a simple, low-speed, half-track, Büssing-NAG was selected to develop a new 5 t tractor to replace the earlier 5 tonne Sd. Kfz. 11 half-tracks, as well as the various lesser-known vehicles of the same class, production started in December 1943 at Büssing-NAG. 10, the suspension system consisted of five double roadwheels per side, overlapping and interleaved in the Schachtellaufwerk layout. One idler wheel, mounted at the end of each track unit, was used to control track tension. Tatra also joined in production, but together both factories produced only 825 vehicles in total, Tatra continued production of an improved vehicle after the war as the T809. In addition to the cargo role, the vehicle was adapted as a mount both for the medium 3.7 cm FlaK43 anti-aircraft gun and the quadruple 20mm flak gun. These mounts were placed at the center of the area with a large gun shield. The sides of the cargo compartment folded down to give the more room to serve the weapons. Ammunition was carried at the rear of the cargo area, the Panzerwerfer mount had armor 10 millimetres thick. Chamberlain, Peter, and Hilary L. Doyle, ISBN 1-85409-214-6 Spielberger, Walter J. Halftracked Vehicles of the German Army 1909-1945, Atlgen, PA, Schiffer,2008 ISBN 978-0-7643-2942-5 sWS on wwiivehicles. com all known sWS info
34.
SdKfz 4
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The SdKfz 4 Gleisketten-Lastkraftwagen, was a 4. 5-tonne military truck of Maultier half-track family developed during World War II by Germany. Its manufacturer designation was Mercedes-Benz L4500R, the SdKfz 4 was developed after the 1941 invasion of the USSR to deal with the ice and mud, which bogged down the wheels-only road-bound commercial vehicles that were used to supply German forces. It was modified Standard Mercedes-Benz L4500S with Horstmann suspension instead of back axle, another manufacturer of 4. 5-t truck, Büssing, planned a similar conversion of its Büssing-NAG L4500S, but did not proceed. A total of 22,500 Maultier halftracks were produced by 1944, in 1943 Opel was ordered to build armored vehicles outfitted with 15 cm Panzerwerfer 42 rocket launchers. These vehicles were designated SdKfz 4/1, with around 300 produced, given the extra weight of the Panzerwerfer, the top speed was only 24 mph. The vast majority of Maultiers operated using British-pattern Carden-Loyd running gear, with the exception of the Type L4500R, the 6-cylinder engines were mated to a transmission with 5 forward /1 reverse gears and could attain a maximum forward speed of 40 km/h. Each halftrack was equipped with the FuG Spr G f radio, aside from the SdKfz 4/1, the SdKfz 4 was armed only with a light 7.92 mm MG34 or MG42 machine gun with a traverse of 270° and elevation limits of -12° to +80°
35.
Universal Carrier
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The vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War. Universal Carriers were usually used for transporting personnel and equipment, mostly support weapons, with some 113,000 built by 1960 in the United Kingdom and abroad, it is the most produced armoured fighting vehicle in history. The origins of the Universal Carrier family can be traced back generally to the Carden Loyd tankettes family, which was developed in the 1920s, and specifically the Mk VI tankette. In 1934, Vickers-Armstrongs produced, as a venture, a light tracked vehicle that could be used either to carry a machine gun or to tow a light field gun. The VA. D50 had a box at the front for driver. The War Office considered it as a replacement for their Dragon artillery tractors. One was built as the Carrier, Machine-Gun Experimental carrying a machine gun, a small number of this design as Carrier, Machine-Gun No 1 Mark 1 were built and entered service in 1936. Some were converted into pilot models for the Machine gun Carrier, Cavalry Carrier, the carrier put the driver and commander at the front sitting side-by-side, the driver to the right. The Ford Flathead V8 engine that powered it was placed in the centre of the vehicle with the drive at the rear. The suspension and running gear were based on that used on the Vickers light tank series using Horstmann springs, directional control was through a steering wheel. Small turns moved the front road wheel assembly warping the track so the vehicle drifted to that side, further movement of the wheel braked the appropriate track to give a turn. The hull in front of the commanders position jutted forward to give room for the Bren gun to fire through a simple slit, to either side of the engine were two areas in which passengers could ride or stores could be carried. Initially, there were several types of Carrier that varied slightly in design according to their purpose, Medium Machine Gun Carrier, Bren Gun Carrier, Scout Carrier and Cavalry Carrier. However, production of a model came to be preferred and the Universal design appeared in 1940. It differed from the models in that the rear section of the body had a rectangular shape. Production of Carriers began in 1934 and ended in 1960, with the introduction of the Universal, production in the UK was undertaken by Aveling-Barford, Ford, Sentinel, Thornycroft, and Wolseley Motors. By 1945 production amounted to approximately 57,000 of all models, the Universal Carriers, in different variants, were also produced in allied countries. Ford Motor Company of Canada manufactured about 29,000 vehicles known as the Ford C01UC Universal Carrier, smaller numbers of them were also produced in Australia, where hulls were made in several places in Victoria and by South Australian Railways workshops in Adelaide, South Australia
36.
C2P
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C2P was a Polish artillery tractor. Designed in the 1930s, it was the tractor of Polish anti-aircraft artillery during the 1939 Nazi. There are only two surviving vehicles, both in private hands in Poland, the origins of the design can be traced to the Carden Loyd tankette of the 1920s. In 1929 Poland bought 10 or 11 Mark VI tankettes with a licence for their production, in October 1931 Polish General Staff expressed interest in a small, highly mobile artillery tractor intended for 75 mm field guns in Polish service at the time. In 1932 Janusz Łapuszewski and A. Schmidt of the BBTBP institute designed a small, for heavier guns it was to be eventually replaced in Polish service with the PZInż343 wheeled tractor, but only a couple of these were completed before the war. Initially designated C2T, the design looked promising and the year the first prototype was constructed by the PZInż works. The prototype was completed on 1 July 1933 and included some modifications to the Carden Loyd suspension designed for the TKS tankette, the prototype was a promising vehicle. The design, to some extent similar to French Renault UE tractors, was both more advanced, more reliable and faster than its French counterpart. Earlier C4P tractors were significantly slower, towing the guns at 12 km/h, however, it was discovered that the rear of the vehicle was overloaded and that the vehicles manoeuvrability was far from satisfactory. To counter the first problem, the rear wheels were enlarged, equipped with leaf springs and lowered to the ground. The problem with steering the tractor under heavy load was eventually solved by adding two steering clutches to both sides of the suspension system, the latter modification in 1938 was included also in the development of the TKS tankette. However, by then the production of TKS was stopped. After the second round of trials the prototype was equipped with a simple windshield. On 20 January 1936 the prototype left the PZInż factory for the round of road tests. The vehicle spent the best part of February travelling across Poland with a 75 mm gun attached, in June and July the tests were resumed, this time with a 1,480 kg fuel trailer, and again in September, towing the new Bofors 40 mm gun. Altogether the prototype covered over 4,000 km without a serious malfunction, on 15 February 1937 the trials ended and the C2P was proposed for serial production. Serial production was started in 1937 at the F-1 factory of the PZInż holding at Czechowice near Warsaw, the C2P replaced TKS on the production lines, which meant that the production could start quickly, as both vehicles shared many components. Until September 1939 no less than 196 were delivered to the Polish Army, by 1940 additional 191 were to be completed
37.
Renault UE Chenillette
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The Renault UE Chenillette was a light tracked armoured carrier and prime mover produced by France between 1932 and 1940. In 1930 the French Infantry decided to develop an armoured vehicle able to tow and supply small cannon. In 1931 the Renault company was given the contract for production of its Renault UE, in 1937, from a number of competitors, the Renault UE2 was chosen as an improved type for large-scale production. Of both types combined over five thousand were built, including licence production in Romania, and they were part of the equipment of all French infantry divisions. Since 1922 it had been the policy of the French Infantry to mechanise as many units as possible, in the spring of 1930 several possibilities were considered, among them a standard 3.5 ton truck and the existing Citroën-Kégresse half-tracks. On 24 July 1930 the Commission de Vincennes rejected the truck and half-tracks as being too heavy, on 7 October it was decided to develop such a vehicle under the name of Type N. Orders for prototypes were in December 1930 made with three companies, Renault, Citroën and Brandt, the orders were for armoured tractors and matching tracked trailers and for a heavier trailer to carry again the tractor, to be pulled by a truck while the smaller trailer trailed behind. In the summer of 1931 the prototypes were ready for trials, Citroën had received orders for six tractor prototypes, three fully tracked vehicles and three of the half-track type. Only the nose of the vehicle was armoured and it was presented to the Commission de Vincennes on 24 July 1931 and tested till 29 July. The commission noted that the system failed and that there was no possibility to decouple the trailer from inside the drivers cabin. On 31 July the other two half-tracks were delivered together with the first two trailers, the matériel was rejected as being too vulnerable. On 10 and 17 December 1930 Brandt had obtained an order for six sets, tractor, trailer. To honour its commitments to Vickers, it let the trailers, to conform to the idea of production in France, Brandt delegated the task to build a new tractor type to the Latil company, as it had too little experience itself. Only a small drivers and engine section on the front was armoured on top, on 17 July the commission considered the type ready for troop trials. The first prototype to be ready was that of Renault, that also had received orders for six sets and it was tested between 15 and 23 April 1930. Certain defects were found and remedied, after which the prototype was tested from 3 June. A second prototype, fitted with a track, was tested between 28 April and 12 May. This other track type was shown to be too weak, the project had as factory designation Renault UE, a chronological letter code without further meaning, the smaller trailer was the Renault UK
38.
German combat vehicles of World War II
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The German Wehrmacht used an extensive variety of combat vehicles during the Second World War. This article is a summary of those vehicles, the VK.31 Leichttraktor was an experimental German light fighting tank developed in the 1920s under secret conditions. Only four were produced and they were used in the late 1930s, Also known as, Panzer I, or Sonderkraftfahrzeug 101 The Panzer I was not intended as a combat vehicle, but more to familiarise industry and the army with tanks. By the time production had ended in 1937, a total of 1867 Panzer I hulls had been produced, of which 1493 were fitted with turrets, and it was armed with a 20 mm cannon which had some capability against other armoured vehicles. Before the war started,1,223 had been built, Variants, PzKpfw II Flamm, Flamingo flamethrower tank Marder II75 mm Pak 40 gun on Panzer II chassis Marder II captured Russian 76.2 mm gun on Panzer II Ausf. D/E chassis Wespe 105 mm light field howitzer on Panzer II chassis Also known as PzKpfw 35 In March 1939 Germany occupied Bohemia and Moravia, the LT-35 tank was renamed to Panzer 35 with t standing for tschechisch, the German word for Czech. Also known as, PzKpfw 38, Panzer 38, Sd, Kfz.140 In March 1939 Germany invaded the rest of Czech territory and took over the Czech arms manufacturing industries. The Czech LT-38 tank, then in production, was produced for German use as the Panzer 38, by the start of the war,78 Panzer 38 tanks had been produced. Germany continued producing the Panzer 38 during the war, by early 1942, it was clearly obsolete. Kfz.141 The Panzer III was designed as a medium tank, during the war, the Pz III was upgunned to a 50 mm L/42 gun, then to an even higher velocity 50 mm L/60 gun, in order to improve its anti-tank performance. The Panzer III was the first tank to have a 3-man turret, stuG III with 105 mm light field howitzer Also known as, PzKpfw IV, Panzer IV, Sd. Kfz.161 The Panzer IV was designed alongside the Panzer III, the Panzer IV was a slightly larger and heavier tank, and with its large calibre low velocity gun, it was designed to support the Panzer III when it met heavy resistance from infantry support. Originally armed with a low-velocity 75 mm L/24 gun, in 1942 this was upgraded to a 75 mm L/43 gun, and 1943 to a 75 mm L/48 gun. Variants, Panzer IV A-F1 = Panzer IV with 75 mm L/24 gun Panzer IV F2-J = Panzer IV with 75 mm L/43 or L/48 gun Sturmgeschütz IV = Assault Gun,37 mm Flak 43 L/89 on Panzer IV chassis Wirbelwind = Anti Aircraft. Quadruple 20 mm Flak 38 L/112.5 guns on Panzer IV chassis,37 mm Flak 43 L/89 on Panzer IV chassis, with armoured turret Also known as, PzKpfw V, Panzer V, Panther, Sd. Kfz.171 The Panther was a tank of the German Army in World War II. Until 1944 it was designated as the PzKpfw V Panther, two proposals made by Daimler-Benz and by MAN Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg. Both early named VK30.02 Variants, Panther Ausf, D = first production version, armed with 75 mm KwK42 L/70 gun Panther Ausf
39.
Panzer
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Panzer /ˈpænzər/ is a German word that means armour. It is also used by the Germans as an abbreviation meaning armoured fighting vehicle or tank, the full German word for armoured combat vehicle is Panzerkampfwagen. The word Panzer is occasionally used in English and some languages as a loanword in the contexts of German military. It is mostly used in the names of military formations. The dated but official German term is Panzerkampfwagen, ‘tank’ or literally ‘armoured combat vehicle’, the first German tank, the A7V of 1918, was referred to as Sturmpanzerwagen. The German word Panzer refers to any kind of armour, as in Plattenpanzer, ‘plate armour’, Kettenpanzer, ‘mail’, or generally gepanzert, the word also refers to an animals protective shell or thick hide, as in Schildkrötenpanzer, ‘turtle shell. Steel electrical conduit is called Stahlpanzerrohr, literally steel armour pipe, bulletproof glass is called Panzerglas, literally armoured glass. It derives through the French word pancier, ‘breastplate’, from Latin pantex, ‘belly, paunch’, German tanks in World War II Panzerschreck Panzerschiff
40.
Panzer I
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The Panzer I was a light tank produced in Germany in the 1930s. The name is short for the German Panzerkampfwagen I, abbreviated PzKpfw I, the tanks official German ordnance inventory designation was SdKfz 101. Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production began in 1934, experiences with the Panzer I during the Spanish Civil War helped shape the German Panzerwaffes invasion of Poland in 1939 and France in 1940. By 1941, the Panzer I chassis design was used as the basis of tank destroyers, there were attempts to upgrade the Panzer I throughout its service history, including by foreign nations, to extend the designs lifespan. It continued to serve in the Spanish Armed Forces until 1954, the Panzer Is performance in combat was limited by its thin armour and light armament of two machine guns. As a design intended for training, the Panzer I was not as capable as other light tanks of the era, although weak in combat, it formed a large part of Germanys tank forces and was used in all major campaigns between September 1939 and December 1941. Later in that war the turrets of the then obsolete PzKpfw Is and PzKpfw IIs were repurposed as gun turrets on specially built defensive bunkers, the post-World War I Treaty of Versailles of 1919 prohibited the design, manufacture and deployment of tanks within the Reichswehr. There was also minor military cooperation with Sweden, including the extraction of data that proved invaluable to early German tank design. As early as 1926 the German companies Krupp, Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz were contracted to develop prototype tanks armed with a large and these were designed under the cover name Großtraktor to veil the true purpose of the vehicle. By 1930 a light tank armed with rapid-fire machineguns was to be developed under the cover name Leichttraktor, the six produced Großtraktor were later put into service for a brief period with the 1 Panzer Division, the Leichttraktor remained in testing until 1935. A In the late 1920s and early 1930s, German tank theory was pioneered by two figures, General Oswald Lutz and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Guderian, Guderian became the more influential of the two and his ideas were widely publicized. Like his contemporary, Sir Percy Hobart, Guderian initially envisioned an armored corps composed of types of tanks. This included an infantry tank, armed with a small-caliber cannon. The infantry tank, according to Guderian, was to be armored to defend against enemy anti-tank guns. He also envisioned a fast breakthrough tank, similar to the British cruiser tank, lastly, Germany needed a heavy tank, armed with a 150-millimeter cannon to defeat enemy fortifications, and even stronger armor. Such a tank required a weight of 70 to 100 tonnes and was impractical given the manufacturing capabilities of the day. Soon after rising to power in Germany, Adolf Hitler approved the creation of Germanys first panzer divisions, simplifying his earlier proposal, Guderian suggested the design of a main combat vehicle, which would be developed into the Panzer III, and a breakthrough tank, the Panzer IV. No existing design appealed to Guderian, as a stopgap, the German Army ordered a preliminary vehicle to train German tank crews
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Panzer II
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The Panzer II is the common name used for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen II, the Panzer II was the most numerous tank in the German Panzer divisions beginning with the invasion of France. It was used in both North Africa against the Western Allies and on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union, the Panzer II was supplanted by the Panzer III and IV by 1940/1941. By the end of 1942, it had largely removed from front line service and it was used for training. The turrets of the then-obsolete PzKpfw Is and PzKpfw IIs were reused as gun turrets on specially built defensive bunkers, in 1934, delays in the design and production of the Panzer III and Panzer IV medium tanks were becoming apparent. Designs for a tank were solicited from Krupp, MAN, Henschel. The final design was based on the Panzer I, but larger, production began in 1935, but it took another eighteen months for the first combat-ready tank to be delivered. The Panzer II was designed before the experience of the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39 showed that shell-proof armor was required for tanks to survive on a modern battlefield, prior to that, armor was designed to stop machine gun fire and high-explosive shell fragments. The Panzer II A, B, and C had 14 mm of slightly sloped homogenous steel armor on the sides, front, many IIC were later given increased armor in the front of the vehicle. Starting with the D model, the front armor was increased to 30 mm, the Model F had 35 mm front armor and 20 mm side armor. This amount of armor could be penetrated by towed antitank weapons, such as the Soviet 45mm and French canon de 25, most tank versions of the Panzer II were armed with a 2 cm KwK30 L/55 autocannon. Some later versions used the similar 2 cm KwK38 L/55 and this autocannon was based on the 2 cm FlaK30 anti-aircraft gun, and was capable of firing at a rate of 600 rounds per minute from 10-round magazines. A total of 180 shells were carried, the Panzer II also had a 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 machine gun mounted coaxially with the main gun. The 2 cm autocannon proved to be ineffective against many Allied tanks, and experiments were conducted with a view to replacing it with a 37 mm cannon, but nothing came of this. Prototypes were built with a 50 mm tank gun, but by then the Panzer II had outlived its usefulness as a tank regardless of armament, all production versions of the Panzer II were fitted with a 140 PS, gasoline-fuelled six-cylinder Maybach HL62 TRM engine and ZF transmissions. Models A, B, and C had a top speed of 40 km/h, all versions had a range of 200 km. The Panzer II had a crew of three men, the driver sat in the forward left hull with the gearbox on the right. The commander sat in a seat in the turret, and was responsible for aiming and firing the cannon and co-axial machine gun and he had a radio on the left and several 20mm ammunition storage bins
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Panzer III
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The Panzerkampfwagen III, commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was Sd. Kfz, the Panzer III effectively became obsolete in this role and was supplanted by the Panzer IV. From 1942, the last version of Panzer III mounted the 7.5 cm KwK37 L/24, production of the Panzer III ended in 1943. However, the Panzer IIIs capable chassis provided hulls for the Sturmgeschütz III assault gun until the end of the war, the first task was direct combat against other tanks and other armoured vehicles, requiring the tank to fire armour piercing shells. On January 11,1934, following specifications laid down by Heinz Guderian, the Army Weapons Department drew up plans for a tank with a maximum weight of 24,000 kg. Such supportive tanks designed to operate with friendly infantry against the enemy generally were heavier, the direct infantry-support role was to be provided by the turret-less Sturmgeschütz assault gun, which mounted a short-barrelled gun on a Panzer III chassis. Daimler-Benz, Krupp, MAN, and Rheinmetall all produced prototypes, testing of these took place in 1936 and 1937, leading to the Daimler-Benz design being chosen for production. The first model of the Panzer III, the Ausführung A. came off the line in May 1937, ten. Between 1937 and 1940, attempts were made to standardize parts between Krupps Panzer IV and Daimler-Benzs Panzer III, much of the early development work on the Panzer III was a quest for a suitable suspension. Several varieties of leaf-spring suspensions were tried on Ausf, D, usually using eight relatively small-diameter road wheels before the torsion-bar suspension of the Ausf. E was standardized, using the six wheel design that became standard. The Panzer III, along with the Soviet KV heavy tank, was one of the tanks to use this suspension design first seen on the Stridsvagn L-60 a few years earlier. A distinct feature of the Panzer III, influenced by British Vickers tanks, was the three-man turret and this meant that the commander was not distracted with another role in the tank and could fully concentrate on maintaining awareness of the situation and directing the tank. Most tanks of the time did not have this capability, providing the Panzer III with a combat advantage versus such tanks, for example, the French Somua S-35s turret was manned only by the commander, and the Soviet T-34 originally had a two-man turret crew. The Panzer III, as opposed to the Panzer IV, had no turret basket, the Panzer III was intended as the primary battle tank of the German forces. However, when it met the KV-1 and T-34 tanks it proved to be inferior in both armour and gun power. As a result, production of self-propelled guns, as well as the up-gunning of the Panzer IV was initiated, in 1942, the final version of the Panzer III, the Ausf. N was equipped with rounds of HEAT ammunition that could penetrate 70 to 100 millimetres of armour depending on the rounds variant, the Japanese government bought two Panzer IIIs from their German allies during the war
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Panzer IV
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The Panzerkampfwagen IV, commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd. Kfz, the Panzer IV was the most widely manufactured German tank of the Second World War, with some 8,500 built. The Panzer IV saw service in all combat theaters involving Germany and was the only German tank to remain in production throughout the war. Upgrades and design modifications, intended to counter new threats, extended its service life, the Panzer IV was the most widely exported tank in German service, with around 300 sold to Finland, Romania, Spain and Bulgaria. After the war, Syria procured Panzer IVs from France and Czechoslovakia, the Panzer IV was the brainchild of the German general and innovative armored warfare theorist Heinz Guderian. In concept, it was intended to be a tank for use against enemy anti-tank guns and fortifications. Ideally, each battalion in a panzer division was to have three medium companies of Panzer IIIs and one heavy company of Panzer IVs. On 11 January 1934, the German army wrote the specifications for a medium tractor, development was carried out under the name Begleitwagen, or BW, to disguise its actual purpose, given that Germany was still theoretically bound by the Treaty of Versailles ban on tanks. MAN, Krupp, and Rheinmetall-Borsig each developed prototypes, with Krupps being selected for further development, the chassis had originally been designed with a six-wheeled Schachtellaufwerk interleaved-roadwheel suspension, but the German Army amended this to a torsion bar system. Permitting greater vertical deflection of the roadwheels, this was intended to improve performance, in the turret, the tank commander sat beneath his roof hatch, while the gunner was situated to the left of the gun breech and the loader to the right. The turret was offset 66.5 mm to the left of the center line. Due to the layout, the right side of the tank contained the bulk of its stowage volume. Accepted into service as the Versuchskraftfahrzeug 622, production began in 1936 at Fried, Krupp Grusonwerk AG factory at Magdeburg. The first mass-produced version of the Panzer IV was the Ausführung A and it was powered by Maybachs HL 108TR, producing 250 PS, and used the SGR75 transmission with five forward gears and one reverse, achieving a maximum road speed of 31 kilometres per hour. As main armament, the vehicle mounted the short-barreled, howitzer-like 75 mm Kampfwagenkanone 37 L/24 tank gun, against armored targets, firing the Panzergranate at 430 metres per second the KwK37 could penetrate 43 millimetres, inclined at 30 degrees, at ranges of up to 700 metres. A7.92 mm MG34 machine gun was mounted coaxially with the weapon in the turret. The main weapon and coaxial machine gun were sighted with a Turmzielfernrohr 5b optic while the machine gun was sighted with a Kugelzielfernrohr 2 optic. A was protected by 14.5 mm of armor on the front plate of the chassis
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Panther tank
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The Panther was a German medium tank deployed during World War II on the Eastern and Western Fronts in Europe from mid-1943 to its end in 1945. It had the ordnance inventory designation of Sd. Kfz, until 27 February 1944, it was designated as the Panzerkampfwagen V Panther when Hitler ordered that the Roman numeral V be deleted. Contemporary English language reports sometimes refer to it as the Mark V, the Panther was intended to counter the Soviet T-34 and to replace the Panzer III and Panzer IV. Nevertheless, it served alongside the Panzer IV and the heavier Tiger I until the end of the war and it is considered one of the best tanks of World War II for its excellent firepower and protection. The trade-off was weaker side armour, which made it vulnerable to flanking fire, the Panther proved to be effective in open country and long range engagements, but did not provide enough high explosive firepower against infantry. The Panther was far cheaper to produce than the Tiger I, key elements of the Panther design, such as its armour, transmission, and final drive, were simplifications made to improve production rates and address raw material shortages. The overall design remained somewhat over-engineered, the Panther was rushed into combat at the Battle of Kursk despite numerous unresolved technical problems, leading to high losses due to mechanical failure. The Panther was born out of a project started in 1938 to replace the Panzer III, the initial requirements of the VK20 series called for a fully tracked vehicle weighing 20 tonnes and design proposals by Krupp, Daimler Benz and MAN ensued. The T-34 outclassed the existing models of the Panzer III and IV, at the insistence of General Heinz Guderian, a special tank commission was created to assess the T-34.2 mm gun, which had good armour penetration and fired an effective high explosive round. The DB design resembled the T-34 in its hull and turret and was also to be powered by a diesel engine and it was also driven from the rear drive sprocket with the turret situated forward. The incorporation of a diesel engine promised increased operational range, reduced flammability, Hitler himself considered a diesel engine imperative for the new tank. DBs proposal used an external leaf spring suspension, in contrast to the MAN proposal of twin torsion bars, wa Pruef 6s opinion was that the leaf spring suspension was a disadvantage and that using torsion bars would allow greater internal hull width. It also opposed the rear drive because of the potential for track fouling, Daimler Benz still preferred the leaf springs over a torsion bar suspension as it resulted in a silhouette about 200 mm shorter and rendered complex shock absorbers unnecessary. The MAN design embodied more a conventional configuration, with the transmission and drive sprocket in the front and it had a petrol engine and eight torsion-bar suspension axles per side. Because of the torsion bar suspension and the shaft running under the turret basket. These multiple large, rubber-rimmed steel wheels distributed ground pressure more evenly across the track, the two designs were reviewed from January to March 1942. Reichminister Todt, and later, his replacement Albert Speer, both recommended the DB design to Hitler because of its advantages over the initial MAN design, on 5 March 1942, Albert Speer reported that Hitler considered the Daimler-Benz design to be superior to MANs design. A review by a commission appointed by Hitler in May 1942 selected the MAN design
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Tiger I
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The Tiger I listen was a German heavy tank of World War II deployed from 1942 in Africa and Europe usually in independent heavy tank battalions. Its final designation was Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf, the Tiger I gave the Wehrmacht its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted the 8.8 cm KwK36 gun. 1,347 were built between August 1942 and August 1944, after August 1944, production of the Tiger I was phased out in favour of the Tiger II. While the Tiger I has been called a design for its time, it was over-engineered, using expensive materials. The Tiger was prone to types of track failures and breakdowns. It was expensive to maintain, but generally mechanically reliable and this was a problem on the Eastern Front in the muddy rasputitsa season and during extreme periods of cold. The tank was given its nickname Tiger by Ferdinand Porsche, the initial designation was Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung H where H denoted Henschel as the designer/manufacturer. It was classified with ordnance inventory designation SdKfz 182, the tank was later re-designated as PzKpfw VI Ausf. E in March 1943, with ordnance inventory designation SdKfz 181, today, only a handful of Tigers survive in museums and exhibitions worldwide. The Bovington Tank Museums Tiger 131 is currently the only one restored to running order, Henschel & Sohn began development of a large tank design in January 1937 when the Waffenamt requested Henschel to develop a Durchbruchwagen in the 30–33 tonne range. Only one prototype hull was built and it was never fitted with a turret. The Durchbruchwagen Is general shape and suspension resembled the Panzer III while the turret resembled the early Panzer IV C turret with the short-barrelled 7.5 cm L/24 cannon.5 cm L/24 gun, overall weight would have been 36 tonnes. Only one hull was built and no turret was fitted, further development of the Durchbruchwagen was dropped in 1938 in favour of the larger and better-armoured VK30.01 and VK36.01 designs. Both the Durchbruchwagen I and II prototype hulls were used as test vehicles until 1941, the VK30.01 medium tank and the VK36.01 heavy tank designs pioneered the Schachtellaufwerk, the overlapping and interleaved main road wheels for tank use. This concept was common on German half-tracks such as the SdKfz 7. The VK30.01 was intended to mount a low-velocity 7.5 cm L/24 infantry support gun, overall weight was to be 33 tonnes. The armour was designed to be 50 mm on frontal surfaces and 30 mm on the side surfaces, four prototype hulls were completed for testing. Two of these were modified to build the Sturer Emil self-propelled anti-tank gun
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Tiger II
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Tiger II is the common name of a German heavy tank of the Second World War. The final official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf, B, often shortened to Tiger B. The ordnance inventory designation was Sd. Kfz and it is also known under the informal name Königstiger, often translated literally as Royal Tiger, or somewhat incorrectly as King Tiger by Allied soldiers, especially by American forces. The Tiger II was the successor to the Tiger I, combining the latters thick armour with the armour sloping used on the Panther medium tank, the tank weighed almost 70 tonnes, and was protected by 100 to 185 mm of armour to the front. It was armed with the long barrelled 8.8 cm KwK43 L/71 anti-tank cannon, the chassis was also the basis for the Jagdtiger turretless tank destroyer. The Tiger II was issued to tank battalions of the Army. Development of a tank design had been initiated in 1937. Another design contract followed in 1939, and was given to Porsche, both prototype series used the same turret design from Krupp, the main differences were in the hull, transmission, suspension and automotive features. The Henschel version used a hull design with sloped armour resembling the layout of the Panther tank. The Porsche hull designs included a turret and a mid-mounted engine. The suspension was the same as on the Elefant tank destroyer and this had six road wheels per side mounted in paired bogies sprung with short longitudinal torsion bars that were integral to the wheel pair, this saved internal space and facilitated repairs. This method of propulsion had been attempted before on the Tiger and in some US designs, the Porsche suspension were later used on a few of the later Jagdtiger tank destroyers. Another proposal was to use hydraulic drives, dr. Porsches unorthodox designs gathered little favour. Henschel won the contract, and all Tiger IIs were produced by the firm. Two turret designs were used in production vehicles, the initial design is often misleadingly called the Porsche turret due to the belief that it was designed by Porsche for their prototype, in fact it was the initial Krupp design for both prototypes. This turret had a front and steeply sloped sides, with a difficult-to-manufacture curved bulge on the turrets left side to accommodate the commanders cupola. Fifty early turrets were mounted to Henschels hull and used in action, the turrets were designed to mount the 8.8 cm KwK43 L/71 gun. Combined with the Turmzielfernrohr 9d monocular sight by Leitz, which all but a few early Tiger IIs used, it was a very accurate and deadly weapon
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