Cool story. Let’s hope this gets preserved.
Most underrated WW2 infantry weapon
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What infantry weapon do think believe doesn’t get the respect deserved?
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Tokarev SVT-40 gets my vote. Before the German invasion the Red Army had plans to equip a third of its infantry with this rifle. A million and half were produced.
I came across several picture in my youth of German Army and SS troops seen carrying these fine rifles.
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Sure, the Tokarev looks nice, but is it underrated ? I don’t think so. Now, the matchstick, that is underrated. Russia had 1400 Destruction battalions that were armed with nothing but matchsticks, and their job was to scorch the earth before the Huns came.
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Sure, the Tokarev looks nice, but is it underrated ? I don’t think so. Now, the matchstick, that is underrated. Russia had 1400 Destruction battalions that were armed with nothing but matchsticks, and their job was to scorch the earth before the Huns came.
love the answer
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They’re not glamorous and they don’t exactly qualify as weapons, but it’s been said that a soldier’s best friend on the battlefield isn’t his rifle, it’s his shovel (“entrenching tool” in military parlance). A simple foxhole can be a life-saver when bullets, bomb splinters and shell fragments start flying around an infantryman.
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Evending all.
That’s what came to mind with me, Marc. Wasn’t sure whether or not to suggest it. You are braver, evidentally! -
so you say a shovel is more underrated than a matchstick ? Can you burn down cities with a shovel ?
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so you say a shovel is more underrated than a matchstick ? Can you burn down cities with a shovel ?
No shovel puts the fire out. :)
Yes fire is more destructive but my first thought was shovel as well.
Underrated IDK, at least you could light a smoke with a match:) -
My vote goes to the Panzerfaust handheld anti-tank weapon.
In the Battle of Normandy, only 6% of British tank losses were from Panzerfaust fire, despite the close-range combat in the Bocage landscape. . . . In urban combat in the late war in eastern Germany about 70% of tanks destroyed were hit by Panzerfauste or Panzerschrecks.
During the battle of Normandy, only the Panzerfaust 30 (30 meter range) was available. In September of '44, Germany began producing the Panzerfaust 60 (the most common version). Later versions included the Panzerfaust 100, the Panzerfaust 150, and even the Panzerfaust 250. (Though the latter two were not produced in quantity.) As a standard of comparison, the Bazooka could penetrate 76 mm of armor. The Panzerfaust 60 could penetrate 200 mm of armor, and the Panzerfaust 100 could penetrate 220 mm of armor. In a letter dated from 1944, General Patton advised against using the Bazooka at a range of above 30 yards (about 30 meters). That’s the same range as the earliest Panzerfaust (Panzerfaust 30).
The US 82nd Airborne Division captured some Panzerfauste in the Sicilian campaign, and later during the fighting in Normandy. Finding them [Panzerfauste 30s] more effective than their own Bazookas, they held onto them and used them during the later stages of the French campaign and even dropped with them into the Netherlands during the Market-Garden campaign. They captured an ammunition dump of Panzerfauste near Nijmegen, and used them through the Ardennes Offensive to the end of the war.[12]
The Bazooka and Panzerfaust 60 each weighed 13 pounds (6 kg). Both were relatively simple, easy-to-manufacture weapons. Most versions of the Panzerfaust had a disposable tube. But the Panzerfaust 150 (deployed in limited numbers near the end of the war) had a tube good for about 10 shots. Its projectiles had double the velocity of the Panzerfaust 60’s; resulting in significantly improved armor penetration (and from a much longer range). Note that even the Panzerfaust 60 already had double the range and nearly triple the armor penetration of a Bazooka. Manufacture of the Panzerfaust 150 began in March of 1945; too late to affect the outcome of the war. However, as Germany changed from the Panzerfaust 30 (Normandy invasion) to the Panzerfaust 60, and later to the Panzerfaust 100, the percentage of Germany’s tank kills scored by Panzerfausts steadily increased.
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My vote goes to the Panzerfaust handheld anti-tank weapon.
In the Battle of Normandy, only 6% of British tank losses were from Panzerfaust fire, despite the close-range combat in the Bocage landscape. . . . In urban combat in the late war in eastern Germany about 70% of tanks destroyed were hit by Panzerfauste or Panzerschrecks.
During the battle of Normandy, only the Panzerfaust 30 (30 meter range) was available. In September of '44, Germany began producing the Panzerfaust 60 (the most common version). Later versions included the Panzerfaust 100, the Panzerfaust 150, and even the Panzerfaust 250. (Though the latter two were not produced in quantity.) As a standard of comparison, the Bazooka could penetrate 76 mm of armor. The Panzerfaust 60 could penetrate 200 mm of armor, and the Panzerfaust 100 could penetrate 220 mm of armor. In a letter dated from 1944, General Patton advised against using the Bazooka at a range of above 30 yards (about 30 meters). That’s the same range as the earliest Panzerfaust (Panzerfaust 30).
The US 82nd Airborne Division captured some Panzerfauste in the Sicilian campaign, and later during the fighting in Normandy. Finding them [Panzerfauste 30s] more effective than their own Bazookas, they held onto them and used them during the later stages of the French campaign and even dropped with them into the Netherlands during the Market-Garden campaign. They captured an ammunition dump of Panzerfauste near Nijmegen, and used them through the Ardennes Offensive to the end of the war.[12]
The Bazooka and Panzerfaust 60 each weighed 13 pounds (6 kg). Both were relatively simple, easy-to-manufacture weapons. Most versions of the Panzerfaust had a disposable tube. But the Panzerfaust 150 (deployed in limited numbers near the end of the war) had a tube good for about 10 shots. Its projectiles had double the velocity of the Panzerfaust 60’s; resulting in significantly improved armor penetration (and from a much longer range). Note that even the Panzerfaust 60 already had double the range and nearly triple the armor penetration of a Bazooka. Manufacture of the Panzerfaust 150 began in March of 1945; too late to affect the outcome of the war. However, as Germany changed from the Panzerfaust 30 (Normandy invasion) to the Panzerfaust 60, and later to the Panzerfaust 100, the percentage of Germany’s tank kills scored by Panzerfausts steadily increased.
Great post Kurt.
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Not really a weapon but a crucial life saver would have been a mirror or a small Perescope.
Try to look arround a corner in urban fights!
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