Examination of the 3.7 cm PanzerAbwehrKanone (3.7 cm PAK36)

The PAK 36 was the standard German Anti-tank gun at the outbreak of the war.
It was developed by Rheinmetall in 1933, first issued in 1936.
Some were sent to Spain for field testing in the Civil war (1936-39).
It was also sold in small quantity to Soviet Russia, until 1940.



With newer tanks being produced, the PAK 36 was being outdated.
Over 20000 guns had been issued by the middle of 1941, so to find a way to utilise them, was essential.
As this picture shows, the PAK 36`s life was extended, by providing it with a hollow charge projectile.
This was the 3.7cm Stielgranate 41 (a.k.a 3.7cm Aufsteck Geschoss).
The perfomance of this unit was quite formidable for its day.
It could penetrate 180mm of plate at any range.
Its absolute maximum range was about 800m.




It was extensively copied by other nations, for its sound design.
Its penetrative perfomance was a little dissapointing, but with its easy mobility it more than compensated for any defect the gun might have had.

Some Specifications:

In Service: 1939-45
Designed: 1933
Manufacturer: Rheinmetall
Number Built: 20.000+
Weight: 432kg
Length: 1.66m
Width: 1.65m
Height: 1.17m
Caliber: 3.7cm
Rate Of Fire: 13Rpm
Effective Range: 300m

Examination of the 2.8 cm schwere Panzerbüchse 41 (sPzB 41)

sPzB 41 combined good anti-armor performance at short range and high rate of fire with small, lightweight (for anti-tank gun), dismantleable construction. However, it also had several shortcomings, such as:

The barrel was hard to manufacture,
and had short service life (about 500 shots).

Very weak fragmentation shell.

Use of tungsten for armor-piercing shells.

Short effective range.

Relatively weak behind-armour effect.

An lightweight version of the sPzB 41 in use in France 1942.

Another captured by the Brittish, Sicily 1943.




sPzB 41 was used by some motorized, divisions and by some Jäger (light infantry), Gebirgsjäger (mountain) and Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) units.
Some guns were supplied to anti-tank and combat engineer units.
The weapon was employed on the Soviet Front from the beginning of the hostilities, until the end of the war and also saw combat in the North African Campaign and on the Western Front in 1944–1945.

Short-range shot from sPzB 41 could penetrate most of the WWII armour; lucky shot could damage heavy tanks such as KV-1 and IS-2 (at least in one instance a projectile even penetrated the lower front plate of the latter).

There were two shell models for sPzB 41: the armor-piercing 2.8 cm Pzgr.41 and the fragmentation 2.8 cm .

Specifications:

Type: Anti-Tank gun
In Service: 1941-45
Designed: 1940
Manufacturer: Mauser-Werke AG
Produced: 1940-43
Number Built: 2797
Weight: 229 kg
Length: 2.69 m
Width: 965 mm
Height: 838 mm
Crew: 3
Caliber: 2.8 cm /2.0 cm
Rate of fire: 30 rnds/min
Effective Range: 500 m

Trip to a V-1 Lauch site

V-1 being rolled out to the ramp.

Trip to a V-1 Lauching site just south of Cherbourg, France.

The V-1 Flying bomb (Vergeltungswaffe) was developed at Peenemünde Airfield by the German Luftwaffe, during the war.

The first launched at London the 13 of June 1944.

Almost 2000 was fired in total.

Numbers of killed approx. 23.000 in total.

Specifications:

Manufactured by: The Gerhard Fieseler Werke

In Service: 1944-45

Length: 8.32 m

Weight: 2.150 kg

Height: 1.42 m

Width: 5.37 m

Warhead: Amatol-39

Warhead Weight: 850kg

Range: 250 km

Speed: 640 km/h

Air Ceiling: between 600 to 900 m

Guidance System: Gyrocompass based autopilot

View of the V-1 Flying Bomb at the Grand Bunker Museum at Juno Beach.

View of the V-1 Flying Bomb V-1 Launch Site with view of the main building and guards bunker.

View of the V-1 Ramp (pointing towards England)





Front view of one of the Guards Bunker

Close up of the Main V-1 building, this is where the V-1 was prepared for launch, adjusted etc.

View of the Ramp from the side.

Insight On A Tank That Never Was (Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster)

The Landkreuzer P. 1500 Super-heavy tank was designed in late 1942 by Krupp, it was presented to Hitler, who approved the tank for production.
Nevetheless it was cancelled in 1944, by Minister for Armaments Albert Speer.
The massive tank would have had more negative sides than positive.
Some specifications of the tank was:

Weight: 1.5 Kilotonnes (1500 tonnes)
Lenght: 42 m
Width: 18 m
Height: 7 m
Crew: 100+
Speed: 15 km/h
Armor: 250mm
Primary Gun: 1x800mm (Same as the k5 Dora/Gustav Railway gun)
Secondary armament: 2x 15cm sFH 18/1 L/30 Howitzer
and multiple 15mm MG15 Machineguns
With a 2.200 hp engine.

This tank would obviously meet problems at the battlefield, possibly destroying roads where it drove, problems with crossing bridges, not to forget the problems of moving the tank across bigger areas, the danger of allied aircrafts would also make it a major target.

An 800mm Shell (also used for the massive Siege gun "Schwerer Gustav") it would have been used for the Landkreuzer P. 1500 Monster, was it ever build.

The Landkreuzer P.1500 Monster, next to the Panzer VIII Maus (The biggest and Heaviest tank built in World War II)

Trip to the German Naval Batteries at Longues-sur-Mére, France

The battery were part of the atlantic wall defence,

it consisted of 4 155mm guns, with a range of approximately 22 kilometers.

They could fire 6 rounds per minute.

On D-day they took part in the battles of Normandy, firing on allied ships on Omaha and Gold Beach.

Before D-Day, the allies had dropped over 600 tons bombs in attempt to destroy the battery at Longues-sur-Mére, without succes.

at 3.pm on D-day only one of the 4 guns were still intact, but already 3 hours later, the battery was destroyed.

This is the only remaining battery of the atlantic wall.

1 of the 4 naval guns, this one badly damaged in the fighting of D-day 6th June 1944.

Naval gun #2 at a glance.

Inside look at the operating of the naval gun.

The full view of the gun.

On-view of the Bunker.