German Assault Guns and Tank Destroyers 1940 - 1945
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A selection of rare wartime photographs shows the variety of turretless armored fighting vehicles that were produced and developed – various models of the Sturmgeschütz III, the Sturmhaubitze, Jagdpanzer, Panzerjäger, Marder, Hetzer. Often a lack of tanks meant that these armoured vehicles were called on to fill the panzer's role, and they proved ideal during the Germans’ defensive battles on the Eastern Front as well as in Italy and Normandy – they were instrumental in delaying Germany's defeat.
This highly illustrated account provides is a fascinating introduction to one of the less well-known aspects of armored warfare during the Second World War.
Anthony Tucker-Jones
ANTHONY TUCKER-JONES spent nearly twenty years in the British Intelligence Community before establishing himself as a defence writer and military historian. He has written extensively on aspects of Second World War warfare, including Hitler’s Great Panzer Heist and Stalin’s Revenge: Operation Bagration.
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German Assault Guns and Tank Destroyers 1940 - 1945 - Anthony Tucker-Jones
Introduction:
An Independent Weapon
This photographic history visually chronicles the hugely successful range of German assault guns, tank destroyers and tank hunters which were developed during the Second World War. As the conflict progressed, the German Army had to find a use for its obsolete panzers and this gave rise to vehicles such as the turretless Sturmgeschütz, designed for an infantry support role. From 1943 Hitler’s assault guns and tank destroyers played a vital role in Nazi Germany’s increasingly defensive war.
One of the great advantages of the Sturmgeschütz was its low profile. General Hasso von Manteuffel, summing up Hitler’s Panzerwaffe (armoured force), said: ‘Fire-power, armour protection, speed and cross-country performance are the essentials, and the best type of tank is that which combines these conflicting requirements with most success. In my opinion the German Panzer V, the Panther, was the most satisfactory of all, and would have been close to ideal had it been possible to design it with a lower silhouette.’
Lacking turrets, the German assault guns, tank destroyers and tank hunters were primarily designed to support the infantry and panzergrenadier divisions, and were a very distinct fighting arm from the Panzerwaffe. Because the assault guns equipped the assault artillery batteries, they came under the direct command of the German Army’s artillery and not the Panzerwaffe, which resulted in a needless turf war.
As the conflict progressed, these armoured vehicles deployed with the independent StuG brigades, the assault gun detachments, Panzerjäger detachments and tank detachments of infantry and panzer divisions. Often a lack of tanks meant that they were called on to fill the panzers’ role. They proved ideal during the massive defensive battles fought on the Eastern Front, as well as in Italy and Normandy, and ultimately they were instrumental in delaying the defeat of Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
German self-propelled guns operated in a variety of roles but with the focus on serving as a platform for anti-tank guns or field artillery. It is important to clarify that German self-propelled guns consisted of both open-topped and enclosed fighting compartments installed on a vast variety of tank chassis. These were termed Panzerjäger (tank hunter) or Sturmgeschütz (assault gun), utilising light and medium tank chassis respectively. Confusingly, the latter were initially organised into battalions and then brigades were renamed Sturmartillerie (assault artillery). The Germans also used the term Jagdpanzer (hunting tank); these were essentially more heavily armoured versions of the Panzerjäger, using medium and heavy tank chassis. In Western parlance, both types were simply considered tank destroyers.
Although the primary role of the assault gun evolved from assault artillery to antitank weapon, these units came under the responsibility of the artillery. This meant that the StuG crews were gunners and not panzertruppen. The backbone of such units were the various model StuG III, StuG IV and StuH42 fully enclosed assault guns. In contrast, the Panzerjäger and Jagdpanzer, which were dedicated tank killers, were largely manned by the panzer arm.
Although the assault gun units occasionally served within the panzer and panzergrenadier divisions, they were usually controlled at either Corps or Army level and were allocated on a temporary basis to units that needed their firepower. In the second half of the war assault guns also served as dedicated units within the infantry, panzergrenadier and panzer divisions.
Equally confusingly for the uninitiated, while the bulk of the lighter Panzerjäger armoured vehicles were open-topped, they later included enclosed heavier hunting tanks such as the Jagdpanzer, Jagdpanther* and Jagdtiger.** Initially the hastily designed Panzerjäger were formed as a stopgap using a variety of German or captured Czech and French light tank chassis armed with Czech, French and Russian guns. The most noteworthy were a series of Czech-based vehicles known as the Marder, and the purpose-built heavy tank destroyers such as the Nashhorn, based on the Panzer Mk IV,*** and the Jagdpanther, utilising the Panther tank.
Panzerjäger were distributed liberally and from 1941 onwards were issued to the integral anti-tank battalions of the infantry, panzer and panzergrenadier divisions, as well as to the anti-tank companies of infantry and panzergrenadier regiments and to independent Army and Corps units. Although the field artillery regiments of the panzer and panzergrenadier divisions started the war with towed guns, during the period 1942–45 self-propelled artillery mountings, such as the Hummel and the Wespe, became available.
Unfortunately for General Heinz Guderian, in his role as overseer of Hitler’s Panzerwaffe, he soon fell victim to inter-service rivalry, which was to greatly and needlessly hamper vital tank production. His level of authority and direct access to
the Führer caused deep resentment within certain elements of the German High Command, who sought to avoid his authority. Guderian’s terms of reference, signed by Hitler on 28 February 1943, stated:
The Inspector-General of Armoured Troops is responsible to me for the future development of armoured troops along lines that will make that arm of Service into a decisive weapon for winning the war.
The Inspector-General of Armoured Troops is directly subordinate to myself. He has the command powers of an army commander and is the senior officer of armoured troops.
The term ‘armoured troops’ was all-encompassing and included tank troops, panzergrenadiers, motorised infantry, armoured reconnaissance troops, anti-tank troops and heavy assault units. Guderian had deliberately included the artillery’s assault guns because they were taking up such a high proportion of tank production. In Guderian’s view, the calibre of the guns on these vehicles and the towed antitank guns was insufficient. He wanted to provide the infantry divisions with assault guns, in place of the towed guns, and to provide the panzer divisions with assault guns only until tank production was sufficient to meet their requirements. In some quarters this was seen as heresy.
However, the word ‘heavy’ was inserted into his terms of reference regarding the assault guns, which meant Guderian only had authority over the latest heavy Jagdtiger and Jagdpanther, while the thousands of medium Sturmgeschütz remained beyond his jurisdiction. During his first conference with Hitler on 9 March 1943 he tried to rectify the situation, but the assembled staff refused to relinquish command of the assault guns and Hitler would not extend Guderian’s authority.
Guderian recalled, with some bitterness: ‘The results of this decision were farreaching: the assault artillery remained an independent weapon; the anti-tank battalions continued to be equipped with ineffective, tractor-drawn guns, and the infantry divisions remained without adequate anti-tank defence.’ It