This book forms part of the series entitled ‘Hitler’s War Machine.’ The aim is to provide the reader with a varied range of materials drawn from original writings covering the strategic, operational and tactical aspects of the weapons and battles of Hitler’s war. The concept behind the series is to provide the well-read and knowledgeable reader with an interesting compilation of related primary sources combined with the best of what is in the public domain to build a picture of a particular aspect of that titanic struggle.
I am pleased to report that the series has been well received and it is a pleasure to be able to bring original primary sources to the attention of an interested readership. I particularly enjoy discovering new primary sources, and I am pleased to be able to present them unadorned and unvarnished to a sophisticated audience. The primary sources such as ‘Die Wehrmacht’ and ‘Signal’, speak for themselves and the readership I strive to serve is the increasingly well informed community of reader/historians which needs no editorial lead and can draw its own conclusions. I am well aware that our community is constantly striving to discover new nuggets of information, and I trust that with this volume I have managed to stimulate fresh enthusiasm and that at least some of these facts and articles will be new to you and will provoke readers to research further down these lines of investigation, and perhaps cause established views to be challenged once more. I am aware at all times in compiling these materials that our relentless pursuit of more and better historical information is at the core our common passion. I trust that this selection will contribute to that search and will help all of us to better comprehend and understand the bewildering events of the last century.
The Panzer IV from the business end. The practice of adding the names of sweet-hearts to the vehicle was widespread in this unit.
In order to produce an interesting compilation giving a flavour of events at the tactical and operational level I have returned once more to the US Intelligence series of pamphlets, which contain an intriguing series of contemporary articles on weapons and tactics. I find this series of pamphlets particularly fascinating as they are written in the present tense and, as such, provide us with a sense of what was happening at the face of battle as events unfolded.
The Panzer IV was originally designed as an infantry support tank with a unique tactical role. The Panzer IV was not designed to take part in tank vs tank combat. Although the Panzer IV initially had relatively thin armour, it carried a powerful 75mm gun and could match any other tank at that time. The prototype of the Panzer IV was given the code name Bataillonfuhrerwagen. The Panzer IV was ordered by Hitler from Krupp, MAN and Rheinmetall Borsig to weigh in at 18 tonnes with a top speed of 35 km/hr. The Krupp design - the VK 200 1 (K) - was eventually selected to enter into full-scale production in 1935. Along with the Panther, it was to become the main combat tank of the Third Reich.
The PzKpfw IV was perceived as the ‘workhorse’ of all the Panzer divisions and more were produced than any other variant in the 1933-1945 period. The Ausf. A was built as a pre-production vehicle and only 35 were produced. The modifications from this gave rise to the Ausf. B which emerged in 1938 with an increased frontal armour thickness and a six-speed gearbox, which enhanced its cross-country performance. That same year Krupp-Gruson produced the Ausf. C and 134 of this model were in production until 1939.
Panzer IV tanks of the SS-Division 'Hitlerjugend' on parade February 1944.
The Ausf. D/E saw an upgrading of its armour thickness and improved vision blocks for the driver. The Ausf. E was the first of the Panzer IV fitted with turret mounted stowage bins. The Ausf. F(1), produced between 1941-1942 was the last Panzer IV to be based on the short version chassis. 25 of the F Is were converted into Ausf F2s (it had the British nickname of “Mark IV Special” because, with its high velocity 75mm main armament it was far superior to any other tank at the time). It was followed by the modified version of the Ausf. G in May 1942.
The Ausf. H, introduced in April 1943, was exclusively armed with a newer version of the 75mm KwK 40 L/48 gun and was fitted with steel/wire armour skirts. Over 3,770 of the P/zKpfw IV Ausf H were made and saw action.
As late as 1945 the last model, the Ausf J, was an effective weapon in the hands of an experienced crew. A selected number of the Ausf H and J were also converted into command tanks or observation tanks towards the end of the war period.
The Panzer IV was the only German tank to stay in production throughout the war. It was the real workhorse of the German army and was deployed on every front. Due to its efficient armament, robust armour and outstanding reliability, it was preferred by crews over the Panther, Tiger and King Tiger. The Panzer IV was the most widely exported tank in German service, with around 300 sold to partners such as Finland, Romania, Spain and Bulgaria. After the war, the French and Spanish sold dozens of Panzer IVs to Syria, where they saw combat in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Thank you for buying this volume in the series we hope it will spur you on to try the others.
Bob Carruthers
Edinburgh 2012
A Panzer IV Ausf. E showing signs of multiple hits to the turret, including the gun barrel.