Captured anti-tank artillery in the German Armed Forces … After the surrender of Belgium, the Netherlands and France in June 1940, the German army ended up with numerous trophies, among which there were thousands of guns suitable for fighting tanks. During the evacuation from the Dunkirk area, the British expeditionary forces abandoned almost all heavy equipment and weapons, which were also subsequently used by the Germans.
Belgian 47 mm anti-tank gun C.47 F. R. C. Mod.31
During heavy fighting in Belgium, which lasted from May 10 to May 28, 1940, the 47 mm Canon anti-char de 47mm Fonderie Royale de Canons Modèle 1931 (abbreviated as C.47 F. R. C. Mod. 31) anti-tank guns were actively used. The gun, developed in 1931 by specialists of the Belgian company Fonderie Royale des Canons (F. R. C.), was produced at an enterprise located in the suburbs of Liege. Deliveries of 47-mm guns to the anti-tank units of the Belgian army began in 1935. Each infantry regiment as part of an anti-tank company had 12 47 mm F. R. C. cannons. Mod.31. By the beginning of the German invasion in 1940, more than 750 copies had been produced.
The gun had a monoblock barrel with a semi-automatic bolt mounted on a massive riveted carriage with sliding frames. Protection of the crew from bullets and shrapnel was provided by a bent 4-mm steel shield. There were two main modifications of the gun - infantry and cavalry. They differed in minor details: the cavalry version was slightly lighter and had pneumatic tires. The infantry version had heavier, but also more durable wheels with solid rubber tires. For towing, horse-drawn carriages, Marmon-Herrington Mle 1938, GMC Mle 1937 cars and light tracked Vickers Utility tractor tractors were used. Also, in the amount of about 100 pieces, guns were released, intended for installation inside long-term firing points. They differed from the infantry and cavalry versions by the absence of a wheel drive and a thicker shield.
Anti-tank gun C.47 F. R. C. Mod.31 was compact enough to be easily camouflaged. A crew of five could roll it when changing positions. The mass of the gun in the firing position was 515 kg. Vertical firing angles: -3 ° to + 20 °. Horizontal - 40 °. Rate of fire: 12-15 rounds / min. An armor-piercing projectile weighing 1, 52 kg left the barrel with a length of 1579 at a speed of 720 m / s. At a distance of 300 m, when hit at a right angle, the projectile could penetrate 53 mm of armor. Thus, the 47-mm Belgian gun was capable of hitting all serial German tanks in 1940.
47-mm anti-tank guns were used to arm light self-propelled artillery units. The base for the first Belgian tank destroyer was the British Carden-Loyd Mark VI tankette.
A more perfect example was the self-propelled unit on the chassis of the Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Dragon Mk. IIB tracked tractor. Miesse of Busingen installed a 47 mm C.47 F. R. C. anti-tank gun on this chassis. Mod.31 in a rotating semi-tower. The tank destroyer was designated T.13-B I.
An anti-tank gun and a two-man crew were housed in a semi-tower, covered with bulletproof armor. At the same time, the gun looked back in the direction of the car. The horizontal firing sector was 120 °.
The T.13-B II and T.13-B III modifications had the usual "tank" layout, but the turret remained open at the rear. In total, the Belgian army received 200 self-propelled guns of modifications: T.13-B I, T.13-B II and T.13-B III. In the German armed forces, the Belgian self-propelled guns were used under the designations: Panzerjager and Panzerjager VA.802 (b).
The exact number of C.47 F. R. C. guns captured by the Germans. Mod.31 is not known, according to various estimates, there could be from 300 to 450 units. After the occupation of Belgium, 47-mm anti-tank guns were adopted in Germany under the designation 4.7 cm Pak 185 (b). However, soon most of the guns were transferred to Hungary, where they received the designation 36M. The Germans placed casemate 47-mm guns in the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall.
British 40-mm anti-tank gun Ordnance QF 2-pounde
After the hasty evacuation of British troops from France, about 500 Ordnance QF 2-pounde 40mm anti-tank guns remained on the beaches in the vicinity of Dunkirk. A small number of two-pounders were also captured in North Africa. According to the British classification, the gun was a quick-firing gun (hence the letters QF in the name - Quick Firing). "Two-pounder" conceptually differed from guns of a similar purpose, created in other countries. Anti-tank guns were usually lightweight, since they had to accompany the advancing infantry and be able to quickly change position by the crew, and the 40-mm British gun was intended for firing from a fixed defensive position. When transferred to a combat position, the wheel drive was separated, and the gun rested on a low base in the form of a tripod. Thanks to this, circular fire was provided, and the gun could fire at moving armored vehicles in any direction. Strong adhesion to the ground of the cruciform base increased the accuracy of shooting, since the "two-pounder" did not "walk" after each shot, keeping its aiming. Taking into account the fact that there was a special seat for the gunner, this design was more typical for anti-aircraft guns.
The crew was protected by a high armor shield, on the back wall of which a box with shells was attached. At the same time, the gun was quite heavy, its mass in the combat position was 814 kg. Rate of fire - up to 20 shots / min.
The 40-mm Ordnance QF 2-pounde anti-tank gun from 1937 was produced by order of the Belgian army, and in 1938 it was adopted in the UK. It took some time when finalizing the first samples to fully comply with army standards. In 1939, a version of the Mk IX carriage was finally approved for the gun. Initially, the "two-pounder" was not much superior in armor penetration to the German 37-mm Pak 35/36 anti-tank gun. 40 mm. An armor-piercing blunt-headed projectile weighing 1, 22 kg, accelerating in a barrel with a length of 2080 mm to 790 m / s, at a distance of 457 meters along the normal pierced 43 mm armor. To increase efficiency, an armor-piercing projectile with a mass of 1, 08 with an enhanced powder charge was introduced into the ammunition, which, at an initial speed of 850 m / s, at the same range provided 50 mm armor penetration. Taking into account the fact that tanks with anti-cannon armor appeared in Germany, special Littlejohn adapters were developed for 40-mm anti-tank guns, worn on the barrel. This made it possible to shoot high-speed sub-caliber projectiles with a special "skirt". The Mk I armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile weighed 0.45 kg and, leaving the barrel at a speed of 1280 m / s, at a distance of 91 m at a meeting angle of 60 ° could penetrate 80 mm armor. Also, the troops were supplied with sub-caliber Mk II shells weighing 0.57 with an initial speed of 1143 m / s. With the help of such ammunition, it was possible to overcome the frontal armor of the German medium tank Pz. KpfW. IV Ausf. H or the side of the heavy Pz. Kpfw. VI Ausf. H1, but only at a suicidal close range. Interestingly, until 1942, the Ordnance QF 2-pounde ammunition did not contain fragmentation shells, which limited the ability to fire at manpower, light field fortifications and unarmored vehicles. The Mk II T fragmentation-tracer projectile weighing 1.34 kg, containing 71 g of TNT, was introduced in the second half of the war, when 40-mm guns had already lost their relevance.
In the German armed forces, captured British guns received the designation Pak 192 (e), and those captured in Belgium - 4, 0 cm Pak 154 (b). Anti-tank 40-mm guns were used to a limited extent by the German African corps. Due to low mobility, most of the guns were placed in the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall. But, the Germans could use a certain number of 40-mm guns at the final stage of the war against Soviet tanks. However, after 1942, the "two-pounders" no longer met modern requirements, and the lack of ammunition and spare parts severely limited their use.
French anti-tank guns, caliber 25-47 mm
In the early 1930s, all serially built tanks had bulletproof armor. In addition, based on the experience of the First World War, French generals did not highly assess the ability of tanks to overcome deeply echeloned defenses, reinforced with special anti-tank obstacles. To combat relatively slow-moving vehicles covered with armor no more than 25 mm thick, a compact weapon with a low silhouette and low weight was required. Which could be easily camouflaged and rolled by the forces of the calculation on the battlefield pitted with craters. At the same time, for mass production, the weapon had to be as simple and inexpensive as possible.
In 1933, Hotchkiss et Cie presented a 25 mm anti-tank gun for testing. In the design of this gun, the developments on the gun were used, intended for arming light tanks, which were put “under the rug” in connection with the end of the First World War. By imposing the barrel of a failed tank gun on a two-wheeled carriage with sliding frames and a small shield, it was possible to quickly obtain a very decent anti-tank artillery gun for its time. It was accepted into service under the designation Canon 25 mm S. A. Mle 1934 (25 mm semi-automatic cannon, model 1934). In 1934, the "Hotchkiss" company received an order for the production of the first batch of 200 such guns.
The mass of the 25 mm gun in the firing position was 475 kg, and for this caliber the Canon 25 mm S. A. The Mle 1934 proved to be quite heavy. The weight of the 25 mm French gun was almost the same as that of the 37 mm German anti-tank gun Pak 35/36. The vertical guidance angles ranged from −5 ° to + 21 °, horizontal - 60 °. In the firing position, the gun was hung out with the help of stands and an additional emphasis. A well-trained crew of 6 people could fire up to 20 aimed shots per minute.
For firing, only armor-piercing tracer and armor-piercing shells were used. The mass of the armor-piercing tracer projectile was 320 g, the armor-piercing one - 317 g. With a barrel length of 1800 mm, the initial velocity was 910-915 m / s. According to the advertising data of the "Hotchkiss" company, at a distance of 400 m at a meeting angle of 60 °, the projectile could penetrate 40 mm thick armor. In reality, the capabilities of the weapon were much more modest. During tests in the USSR, the real armor penetration at the same angle of encounter was: 36 mm at a distance of 100 m, 32 mm at 300 m, 29 mm at 500 m. penetration was relatively modest, which did not guarantee the destruction of the tank.
For transporting anti-tank guns Canon 25 mm S. A. Mle 1934, the Renault UE and Lorraine 37/38 light track tractors were used. However, the 25-mm cannon turned out to be too "delicate", due to the risk of destruction of trailers and breakdown of targeting mechanisms, the speed over rough terrain was no more than 15 km / h, and on the highway - 30 km / h. For the same reason, the transportation of the guns transferred to the British Expeditionary Force was carried out in the back of a car.
The variant, designated Canon 25 mm S. A. Mle 1934 modifie 1939, received a more durable carriage, which made it possible to remove restrictions on towing speed. The army ordered 1200 of these guns, but only a few were supplied to the troops before the surrender of France.
In 1937, a new modification was adopted - Canon 25 mm S. A.-L Mle 1937 (the letter "L" stood for leger - "light"). This gun, developed by the l'Atelier de Puteaux arsenal, weighed only 310 kg in combat position. Outwardly, it was distinguished by a modified shape of the shield and the flash suppressor. The shutter and trigger were also refined, which increased the rate of fire.
According to archival data, up to May 1, 1940, army representatives received 4225 Canon 25 mm S. A. cannons. Mle 1934 and 1285 - Canon 25 mm S. A.-L Mle 1937. By the beginning of World War II, each French infantry division had 52 25-mm guns: 12 in each of the three infantry regiments (including 2 in each battalion and 6 in the regimental anti-tank company), 12 in the divisional anti-tank company, 4 - in the reconnaissance group.
Approximately 2,500 25 mm guns were captured by the German army in a condition fit for further use. In the Wehrmacht, they received the designation Pak 112 (f) and Pak 113 (f). The guns were mainly installed in the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall and the Channel Islands. Some of them were transferred to Finland, Romania and Italy.
German armored personnel carriers Sd. Kfz.250 and captured French armored vehicles Panhard 178, which had the German designation Pz. Spah.204 (f), were armed with 25-mm cannons.
Captured 25-mm guns were also used to create self-propelled artillery mounts on the chassis of the lightly armored tracked tractors Renault UE and Universal Carrier, a significant number of which were captured in France and Belgium.
Armored vehicles and light self-propelled guns with 25-mm cannons fought in North Africa and in the initial period of hostilities on the territory of the USSR. They were successfully used against armored vehicles and light tanks, but they themselves were very vulnerable to small-caliber armor-piercing shells and large-caliber armor-piercing bullets, and therefore suffered heavy losses. For this reason, after 1942, 25-mm guns were not used in parts of the first line.
The 47 mm Canon antichar de 47 mm modèle 1937 gun, designed by l'Atelier de Puteaux, posed a much greater danger to tanks with anti-cannon armor. The gun had a monoblock barrel with a semi-automatic shutter, mounted on a carriage with sliding beds, an anti-splinter shield and metal sprung wheels with rubber tires.
For an anti-tank gun of this caliber, the weight in the combat position was very significant - 1050 kg. The transport of the gun and the front end with the charging boxes was carried out by a team of four horses. Means of mechanized traction were light semi-tracked tractors Citroen-Kégresse P17 and all-wheel drive trucks Laffly W15. Approximately 60 guns were used to arm the Laffly W15 TCC tank destroyers, which were Laffly W15 trucks sheathed with anti-fragmentation armor.
An anti-tank 47 mm cannon was installed in the aft section and could fire backwards in the direction of the vehicle. It is clear that such a self-propelled unit had a chance of success only when operating from an ambush, in pre-prepared positions. The self-propelled Laffly W15 TCC units were organizationally reduced to separate anti-tank batteries, each of which had 5 vehicles.
The ammunition load of the 47-mm cannon included unitary shots with an Mle 1936 armor-piercing projectile weighing 1, 725 kg. With a barrel length of 2444 mm, the projectile accelerated to 855 m / s, and at a distance of 500 m at a meeting angle of 60 ° it could penetrate 48 mm of armor. At a distance of 1000 m, the armor penetration was 39 mm. Given that the gun could fire 15-20 rounds per minute, in 1940 it posed a danger to all German tanks that participated in the French campaign. Although for Canon antichar de 47 mm modèle 1937 there was a fragmentation projectile Mle 1932 weighing 1, 410 kg, in the army 47-mm fragmentation projectiles, as a rule, were absent, which did not allow effective fire on enemy manpower.
In 1940, a carriage was developed for the 47-mm SA Mle 1937 anti-tank gun, providing circular rotation. The design resembled the scheme of the post-war Soviet D-30 howitzer and was much ahead of its time. Such a carriage, although it gave some advantages, was unnecessarily overcomplicated for a mass anti-tank gun, which became the main obstacle in the mass production of the SA Mle 1937.
The 47 mm Canon antichar de 47 mm modèle 1937 anti-tank guns were used in the anti-tank companies that were attached to the motorized and infantry regiments.
Until May 1, 1940, 1268 guns were fired, of which 823 were captured by the German army, and were used under the designation 4, 7 cm Pak 181 (f). Some of the guns were installed by the Germans on the chassis of captured French light tracked Lorraine 37 tractors.
Approximately three hundred 47-mm guns in 1941 entered service with tank destroyer divisions of a number of infantry divisions operating on the Soviet-German front. Taking into account the fact that standard French-made armor-piercing shells could hit a T-34 tank in the forehead only at a distance of about 100 m, and penetration of the frontal armor of heavy KVs was not ensured, at the end of 1941, shots with German subcaliber shells were introduced into the ammunition load. At a distance of 100 m, an APCR projectile normally penetrated 100 mm of armor, at 500 m - 80 mm. The production of 47-mm high-speed projectiles with increased armor penetration ended in early 1942 due to a shortage of tungsten.
In the second half of 1942, most of the surviving Pak 181 (f) were withdrawn from the first line. Having lost their relevance, 47-mm guns were left in secondary sectors of the front and sent to the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall.
75 mm anti-tank gun 7, 5 cm Pak 97/38, created using the swinging part of the French divisional Canon de 75 mle 1897 cannon
In France and Poland, the Wehrmacht captured several thousand 75-mm Canon de 75 mle 1897 divisional guns and more than 7.5 million rounds for them. The French cannon Canon de 75 Modèle 1897 (Mle. 1897) was born in 1897 and became the first ever mass-produced rapid-fire cannon equipped with recoil devices. During the First World War, it formed the basis of the French field artillery, retaining its position in the interwar period. In addition to the basic version, the German trophies were a number of Mle. Guns, which were distinguished by a modernized carriage and metal wheels with pneumatic tires.
Initially, the Germans used them in their original form, giving the Polish gun the name 7, 5 cm F. K.97 (p), and the French gun - 7, 5 cm F. K.231 (f). These guns were sent to the "second line" divisions, as well as to the coastal defenses of Norway and France. It was difficult to use these outdated weapons to combat tanks, even if there was an armor-piercing projectile in the ammunition load due to the small guidance angle (6 °) allowed by a single-bar carriage. The lack of suspension made it possible to tow at a speed of no more than 12 km / h, even on a good highway. In addition, the German military was not satisfied with a weapon adapted only for horse traction.
However, the German designers found a way out: the swinging part of the 75-mm French gun Mle. 1897 was superimposed on the carriage of the German 50-mm anti-tank gun 5, 0 cm Pak 38 with sliding tubular frames and wheel travel, providing the possibility of towing with a mechanized traction. To reduce recoil, the barrel was equipped with a muzzle brake. Franco-German "hybrid" was adopted under the designation 7, 5 cm Pak 97/38.
The mass of the gun in the firing position was 1190 kg, which was quite acceptable for this caliber. Vertical guidance angles from -8 ° to + 25 °, in the horizontal plane - 60 °. 7, 5 cm Pak 97/38 retained its piston breechblock, which provided a quite satisfactory rate of fire of 10-12 rds / min. The ammunition included unitary shots of German, French and Polish production. German ammunition is represented by three types of cumulative rounds, French with the standard high-explosive fragmentation projectile Mle1897, armor-piercing shells were of Polish and French production.
An armor-piercing projectile weighing 6, 8 kg left a barrel with a length of 2721 mm with an initial speed of 570 m / s, and at a distance of 100 m at a meeting angle of 60 ° it could penetrate 61 mm of armor. Due to insufficient armor penetration into the 7, 5 cm Pak 97/38 ammunition, they introduced HEAT shells 7, 5 cm Gr. 38/97 Hl / A (f), 7, 5 cm Gr. 38/97 Hl / B (f) and cumulative tracer 7, 5 cm Gr. 97/38 Hl / C (f). Their initial speed was 450-470 m / s, their effective firing range was up to 1800 m. According to German data, cumulative projectiles normally penetrated up to 90 mm of armor, at an angle of 60 ° - up to 75 mm. The armor penetration of cumulative shells made it possible to fight medium tanks, and when firing at the side with heavy ones. Much more often than for firing at armored targets, the 75-mm "hybrid" gun was used against manpower and light field fortifications. In 1942-1944, about 2.8 million were produced.shots with high-explosive fragmentation grenades and about 2, 6 million - with cumulative shells.
The relatively small mass of the 75-mm gun 7, 5 cm Pak 97/38 and the presence of an additional wheel under the beds made it possible to roll it by the crew.
The positive qualities of the French-German gun include the possibility of using a significant number of captured high-explosive fragmentation shots, which were both used in their original form and converted into cumulative ones. The relatively low weight of the 7.5 cm Pak 97/38, comparable to the 5.0 cm Pak 38, provided good tactical mobility, and the low silhouette made it difficult to detect. At the same time, the low muzzle velocity of the 7, 5cm Pak 97/38 projectiles made it possible to use, first of all, cumulative projectiles, which by that time were insufficiently structurally and technologically developed, to combat tanks. They had insufficient direct firing range, increased dispersion during firing and not always reliable operation of fuses.
For transportation of 7, 5 cm Pak 97/38 horse teams, wheeled trucks, as well as captured light tracked tractors Vickers Utility Tractor B, Renault UE and Komsomolets were used.
Production of the 7, 5 cm Pak 97/38 lasted from February 1942 to July 1943. In total, the industry produced 3,712 cannons, with the last 160 guns using the carriage of the 75 mm 7, 5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun. These guns were indexed 7, 5 cm Pak 97/40. This system weighed one and a half centners more, but the ballistic characteristics did not change.
At the end of 1943, the Germans in the field installed 10 guns 7, 5 cm Pak 97/38 on the chassis of a captured Soviet T-26 tank. Tank destroyer was named 7, 5 cm Pak 97/38 (f) auf Pz.740 (r).
In addition to the Eastern Front, small numbers of 75 mm guns fought in Libya and Tunisia. They also found application in the fortified positions of the Atlantic Wall. In addition to the Wehrmacht 7, 5cm Pak 97/38 were delivered to Romania and Finland.
Although the 7, 5cm Pak 97/38 were relatively few in relation to the number of 50mm 5, 0cm Pak 38 and 75mm 75mm Pak 40 anti-tank guns supplied to the troops, until the second half of 1942 they had a significant impact on the course battles. Having received such guns, infantry divisions could fight heavy and medium tanks, which previously had to involve 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. Most of the 7, 5cm Pak 97/38 on the Eastern Front were lost in early 1943. Already in the middle of 1944, 75-mm "hybrid" guns practically disappeared in the anti-tank battalions of the first line. In March 1945, a little more than 100 copies remained in service, suitable for practical use.
