I read another thread here that referred to them what I am wondering though is what was the earliest use of one of these? I have around May1942, does anyone have any better information and articles?
thanks.
The Panzerhandmine 3 was used in May 1942 for the first time in the Wolchow area in Russia, yes. Before that anti-tank action by infantry was mostly improvisation. A directive of 1940 advises the use of “Geballte Ladungen” against tanks’ sensitive parts when driving slowly or forced to halt due to an obstacle.
There are gobs of threads about A.T. weapons, both firearms, and other types of mines, and grenades. There are as well alot of extempore procedures for taking advantage of inadvertent situations where a tank is vulnerable. The first world war was the first time armor was utilized, and that is when the first weapons to stop them were used. The 13mm rifle used by the Germans was probably the first purpose built weapon for A.T. use.
I’m not even sure what to do with this thread since no such infantry anti-tank weapons are defined. And as TG correctly put, the Germans came up with anti-tank rifles in WWI.
They also called down artillery on tanks, which was probably the most effective anti-tank weapon they had…
the ameriacans used the bazooka and the germans used the panzerfuest and panzershizht
I have seen photos of German infantry in the First World War using flamethrowers against tanks as well.
The combatants of WW1 were unprepared for the appearance of the tank.(except of course the English) And unable to forsee this change in warfare, had no real purpose built anti-tank weapons. The Germans quickly fielded the 13mm rifle, and “K” ammunition for their machineguns, (armor piercing) which did a fine job . But till then , they had only what was already in the field. It didnt take the field Commanders(or troops) long to figure out that a field gun can become an A.T. gun, or that a flamethrower would certainly ruin the tanker’s whole day, you used what you had till something better comes along.
The people in the field came up with some very good extempory weapons, and procedures for dealing with tanks. Although the “Monroe effect” was known at this time, the shaped charge that evolved from it would be some decades yet in making an appearance on the battle field as the aforementioned Bazooka, Panzer Faust, and Panzerschreck as well as the many types of mines, grenades, and demo charges that would employ the technology.
If it’s the photo I’m thinking of, it’s almost certainly a German training photo trying to suggest ways of dealing with tanks. In practice I would suspect flamethrowers would be a very poor way of doing so - tanks were universally closely supported by infantry, leaving the survival chances of anyone trying to attack a tank with a flamethrower somewhere between very poor and nonexistent.