Editor’s Note: Over several decades of research on small arms for his books, as well as for SMALL ARMS REVIEW and other magazines, Robert Bruce has captured many thousands of copy photos in libraries, archives, and private collections.

Some sources have included U.S. National Archives, Springfield Armory National Historical Site, U.S. Army Center for Military History, U.S. Navy Historical Center, USMC Museum, U.S. Army Ordnance Museum (at both Aberdeen and Ft. Lee), U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum, U.S. Army Infantry Museum, Library of Congress, and more.

What follows here is the first of an occasional series, this time providing a look at some representative images from his own files as well as some that are available to anyone from America’s National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Many of us who are fascinated by the evolution of man portable weaponry aren’t content to merely examine actual examples of historic firearms, ammunition, sighting devices and such. Accordingly, we become virtual time travelers, seeking contemporary documentation as well as photos, drawings and other imagery.

While enormous amounts of authoritative documentation are readily available for casual purposes in countless numbers of books from the last many decades, copyright restrictions must be strictly honored when formally publishing photos and quoting passages. (Details at copyright.gov)

Perhaps the very best source for copyright-free “public domain” info and imagery is NARA – the National Archives and Records Administration.

Decades ago, in a quest for imagery to accompany early efforts at providing feature articles to various magazines including Machine Gun News, predecessor to Small Arms Review, this author would venture into downtown Washington, D.C., where the ornate original building housing the National Archives was located. This arduous journey presented a number of challenges, not only in fighting the District’s notoriously complicated and congested traffic, but also finding rare parking places anywhere within walking distance.

Fortunately, later forays became much easier when much of NARA’s main holdings – notably including the Still Picture Branch – were relocated in 1994 to Archives II, a sprawling, sparkling new facility in nearby College Park, Maryland. Easily accessed from the Capitol Beltway with plenty of free parking right on site, it was a vast improvement in both accessibility and efficiency for researchers.    

America’s official repository of its government, military, and diplomatic activities since 1934, the collection has grown to include more than 30 billion items. Of greatest interest to those of us who research and write about military small arms is a wealth of information to be found among 44 million still pictures, astonishing numbers of motion pictures, 5 billion paper records, and much more.

Although a daunting task that will never be completed, work is ongoing to digitally scan these and post on the internet for anyone to freely access, view, download, and even publish.

The search for any and all begins at www.archives.gov where researchers are prompted to select specific areas of interest in “record groups including paper documents, microfilm, still pictures, motion pictures, and electronic media.” 

Since the focus of this featurette is on still photos, click “Research Our Records” and scroll down to bottom left to “Online Research by Format” for “Photographs and Graphic Works.” Choose “Still Picture Branch” in College Park, Maryland, review the introductory info and get off and running.  

COPYING PHOTOS ON OLD-FASHIONED FILM

These first several photos that follow are representative of a thousand or more copies the author had to make on 35mm black & white negative film and sometimes on color slides. Not only were there no digital scanners available in the cramped and poorly laid out downtown D.C. research room, but we also had to bring our own copy stands, lights, and even extension cords.

Noting the date and location in the last days of Hitler’s dying Third Reich, U.S. Ordnance and Military Intelligence units were encountering previously unknown weaponry. It’s understandable that Walther’s 1941 prototype Maschinenkarbiner MKb 42 (W) was a new discovery since only about 200 had been made for a competition that was lost to the Haenel entry. Haenel’s production model was fielded in vast numbers and best known today as the iconic Sturmgewehr (“storm rifle”).  

This is the first production model of the remarkable Fallschirmjager Gewehr (paratrooper rifle), initially fielded for Germany’s airborne infantry early in 1943. The 9.3-pound, selective fire machine rifle fired full powered 7.92 Mauser cartridges from a side mounted 20-round box magazine. Along with the improved Type 2, only about 7000 of these impressive but expensive weapons were made, soon overshadowed by the cheaply made and much more controllable Sturmgewehr assault rifle, firing 7.92 x 33 mm Kurz (short) cartridges.

This is the 90-degree Krummerlauf (curved barrel) device, clamped to the barrel of a Sturmgewehr. Originally intended to be mounted through the top of a tank turret and fired from inside to sweep away enemy infantry, it also came in a more practical and controllable 30-degree version with prism sight for hand-held use, literally “around the corner.” With his 1938 masterwork The Rifle in America, Philip Sharpe was already internationally famous as an authoritative writer on guns and ammunition, a distinction that continued to grow after the war. 

After Germany’s surrender, untold numbers of all types of small arms had to be secured and inventoried. In the foreground are dozens of Pistole 08 “Lugers,” a war souvenir highly coveted by American GIs.

At the end of the war, Europe was awash in explosives as used by all of the combatants, presenting Allied forces with the dangerous and daunting task of identifying and clearing munitions from not only minefields and battlegrounds, but also scattered around in innumerable cities, towns and villages.

SOME FROM THE ‘PICTURE PALACE’ AT COLLEGE PARK

Things got a lot easier for the staff archivists, as well as for those of us doing photo hunting, when the palatial College Park facility opened. Meticulously cataloged photos were now carefully arranged and stored nearby in seemingly endless rows of racks, readily accessible for the staffers to find and deliver carts of requested items. There, in a spacious, clean and well-lit setting, we found both professional grade photocopy stands with attached soft lights, along with a kiosk for scanning and digitizing. These next couple of examples are from both digital copy cameras and scanners.

Clever fellows of the British Army’s secretive SOE (Special Operations Executive) had packed these diabolically useful tools for parachute delivery in long, cylindrical CLE drop canisters containing stackable H Cell cans. Nighttime airdrops in secluded countryside locations were recovered by the Maquisards (guerrilla fighters) and Allied Jedburgh teams who would put the guns and explosives to deadly use against the hated German occupiers.  

Subsequent research shows this fellow to be a Hungarian soldier armed with what is most likely a Solothurn Golyózóró 31.M. Originally built by Solothurn of Switzerland as the MG 30, some 3000 were bought by Hungary, specially chambered for their 8x56mmR M30 cartridge. Fed by a side-mounted 25-round detachable box magazine, this efficiently handy light machine gun previewed some of the characteristics later utilized in the excellent German MG34, notably including a quick change, air cooled barrel.

SEARCH AND RETRIEVE IMAGES RIGHT FROM YOUR OWN COMPUTER

As described in the introduction, we armchair photo enthusiasts of today need only crank up our computers, access the internet and begin trolling America’s National Archives. We conclude here with a modest handful of examples, spanning various conflicts from the “War to End All Wars” to “Enduring Freedom.” All are available to download with the click of a mouse. Happy hunting!

With information not apparently known to Central News Service, the supplier of this image in September 1918 near the end of WWI, we know that the “NEW GERMAN GUN” is actually a 37mm Maxim-Nordenfeldt Quick Firing Gun. It was first fielded around 1890 and universally called the “Pom Pom” due to its distinctive sound when firing at 300 rounds per minute. Additional photo research tracks the original image to files in Germany’s Bundesarchiv where its modern caption for this enormous anti-aircraft gun reads (in translation): German soldiers with gas masks and M1916 steel helmets with 3.7 cm-Maschinen-Flak M 14.  

Scanned in high resolution right from its mounting card, this real battlefield photo shows these undaunted Marines with a Taisho 14 Type 3 heavy, air-cooled machine gun, originally a French Hotchkiss design modified by Kijiro Nambu. Note the prominent radiator style cooling fins and 30 rounds of 6.5 x 50mm Arisaka rifle cartridges on the feed strip.

Searching with the key words “machine gun,” we stumbled on this amusing photo of the “King of Rock ‘n Roll,” drafted into the U.S. Army, serving from 1958 to 1960 during what was known as the “Cold War.” Elvis insisted on being assigned to a regular combat unit and he proved to be a fine soldier, well-liked by his superiors and his fellow GIs. Looks like in the photo he’s probably adjusting the headspace for a blank-adapted Browning .30 cal. M1919A6 (heavy barrel) machine gun. Also note the back half of a 3.5 in. rocket launcher “Bazooka” tied to the pedestal mount. 

Although seemingly relaxing in the PBR’s forward gun tub, this young, flak-jacketed Sailor is no doubt ready to “light up” enemy attackers with devastating .50 caliber rounds pumped out at nine-per-second from his “Ma Deuce.” The formidable, combat classic Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2 Heavy Barrel, Flexible, has its origins at the end of WWI and is still serving with distinction to this very day with all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and many Allied nations. 

ENDURING FREEDON is the American Military’s official name for two decades of conflict for operations in Afghanistan against the Islamofascist Taliban from 2001 until the Biden administration’s withdrawal in 2021. Will the National Archives eventually catalog photos of the mountains of American military weapons, munitions, vehicles, aircraft, and other materiel abandoned to the enemy?

As explored in our two previous online offerings of selected World War motivational posters, we continue to emphasize the importance of obviously contrived “propaganda” to encourage both civilians and military forces to commit themselves and their efforts to victory.

From 1940 to 1945 major nations of the world were locked in a desperate fight to the death. Would America and its Allied nations – principally the United Kingdom and Soviet Union – preserve freedom? Or would the “Axis” forces of Germany, Italy and Japan impose slavery under their iron fisted rule?  

“Propaganda,” the art of persuasion, was skillfully employed by all powers in the conflict. We see this in selectively edited movie newsreels, tightly scripted radio broadcasts, censored newspaper features, and a proliferation of remarkably effective posters, the subject of this feature series.

While some today will probably find the graphics and messages in the posters seen here to be unsophisticated and even intolerably offensive, the intended audiences of the time – friend and foe – lived in dire circumstances. Arrogantly applying “modern standards of correctness” to what was necessary and undeniably effective eight decades ago in the 1940s needs to be suspended in order to understand the people and peril of the time.

YOUR ENEMY THE JAP. “The Jap is a fanatical fighter. His motto is ‘WIN OR DIE.’ There are 4,000,000 of them under arms with 2,000,000 more ready if needed. We have not yet met the main body of this huge, tough army.” Although undated, this official U.S. Navy poster was probably published sometime after 1943 when the tide of war had turned in Allied favor. “Island hopping” pressed on in the Pacific with vicious fighting to take a series of strategic, enemy held islands that would almost inevitably require invasion of the fanatically defended Japanese mainland.  Credit: U.S. National Archives via Wikimedia

No location, probably circa 1939-40. Posing for a formalized portrait with his long, bolt action 6.5mm Type 38 Arisaka rifle and Type 30 bayonet, this youthful Japanese infantryman doesn’t seem to fit the propaganda image of a bloodthirsty murderer of civilians and POWs. But appearances can be deceiving, and one official analysis of Japan’s widespread instances of horrific war crimes noted uncompromising indoctrination in the warrior code Bushido that all the Emperor’s forces received. “…when the Japanese murdered POWs by shooting, beheading, and drowning, these acts were excused since they involved the killing of men who had forfeited all rights to be treated with dignity or respect.” Credit: Australian War Memorial

So wie kampfen Arbeite Du fur den sieg! “As hard as we fight, you work for the victory!” Pausing momentarily in the midst of battle, this ruggedly handsome German soldier implores those in support units, on the home front, on farms, and in factories to support the fighting forces. With two distinctive “potato masher” stick grenades in his belt and one ready to throw, the message is clear that untold numbers of these and all other types of war materiel must be made and rushed to the front. Credit: Deutsche Kriegspropaganda via Wikimedia

Instruction – Stick Hand Grenade 24 with Combustion Igniter 24. This training aid display featuring a cutaway view of the classic German Stielhandgranate 24 was used to familiarize Allied soldiers with its inner workings and perhaps even prepare them to use captured examples when needed. Primarily an offensive weapon relying on concussion effects, it was also an effective antipersonnel grenade with addition of a serrated metal sleeve slipped over the can shaped head. Credit: Canadian War Museum, Ottawa via Wikimedia

E TU..COSA FAI? “And what did you do?” Standing boldly with a German infantry comrade on the battlefield, this determined Italian soldier challenges his countrymen. Readily identified as a member of an elite Bersaglieri formation by the distinctive black capercaillie feathers on his helmet, it is known that the 1^st Bersagliari Division “Italia” was attached to the German 14^th Army in Eastern Europe. Credit: Poland’s Museum of the Second World War via Wikimedia

Moschetto Modello 91/38 Cavalleria. The Italian M91/38 Cavalry Carbine is a compact, bolt action weapon firing 6.5 x 52mm Carcano cartridges from a six round internal magazine. Shorter and lighter than its rifle counterpart with a spike bayonet handily folded underneath its 17.5-inch barrel, it was issued to horse and bicycle cavalry units as well as the elite Bersaglieri units. Credit: SARCO, Inc. (which is currently offering some of these well used but serviceable carbines for a mere $155.)

ENGAGEZ-VOUS RENGAGEZ-VOUS L’INFANTERIE DE L’ARMEE NOUVELLE. “Enlist yourself, re-enlist in the infantry of the new army.” Advancing at a run with his Fusil Mitrailleur 1924/ M29, this stylized French infantryman appears ready to take on Allied armies – enemies of the Vichy government – a collaborationist regime of Nazi-occupied France. Credit: Argonnaute Parisnanterre via Wikimedia

France, ca. 1938. These French infantrymen standing watch outside their log bunker are prepared to repel the enemy with a little Mosqueton Mle 1916 on the left and a formidable Mle 1924/M29 automatic rifle. Feeding 25 rounds of powerful 7.5mm cartridges from a top mounted magazine, this 20-pound, air cooled machine rifle has dual triggers, firing semi auto from one and 550 rounds-per-minute full auto from the other. Credit: Musee de L’Armee via Wikimedia

This man is your FRIEND – Russian – He fights for FREEDOM. Well, since the poster was released in 1942, Stalin’s Red Army – previously joining Hitler’s Wehrmacht in the invasion of Poland – had by then switched to the Allied side. This image of a grinning Russian sniper is intended to offset understandable confusion among U.S. and Allied forces as to whether “Ivan” was a good guy or what. Credit: U.S. Office of War Information, National Archives via Wikimedia 

A Soviet sniper searches for a fascist target. Scanning his assigned sector through the four-power PE optical sight, this well-hidden Red Army sharpshooter will reach out hundreds of yards with precisely aimed 7.62 mm bullets from his specially selected, bolt action M1891/30 Mosin-Nagant rifle. Note, the rifle’s bolt handle is turned down so it clears the scope and mount. Credit: Tass via waralbum.ru 

This man is your FRIEND – Englishman – He fights for FREEDOM.  Not as tricky a task as that of portraying Russkis as buddies, America’s traditional British allies are readily recognized by their characteristically cheerful demeanor and “tin hat” helmets. This smiling “Tommy” shoulders a massive Boys antitank rifle. Credit: U.S. Office of War Information, National Archives via Wikimedia                      

The bolt action Mark 1 Boys Anti-tank rifle with a magazine holding five massive, hard-hitting .55 caliber (14mm) cartridges could penetrate almost an inch of steel armor head-on. Although weighing in at 35 pounds and fitted with a muzzle brake on its 36-inch-long barrel, recoil and muzzle blast were said to be punishing.  Credit: SA-Kuva Archive (Finland) via Wikimedia

Let’s Go …CANADA ! In this classically inspiring motivational and recruiting poster, a fair-haired Canadian lad with bayonet fixed on his British pattern SMLE rifle looks eager to join the fight against the Axis powers. Proudly billowing behind him is the British “Union Jack,” known in Canada as the Royal Union Flag, versions of which are incorporated in all of the United Kingdom’s Commonwealth Nations. Credit: Canadian Director of Public Information via Illinois State University and Wikimedia  

Hampshire, England, 1941. A gas masked British infantryman with bayonet tipped SMLE rifle advances through a smoke simulated “poison gas” fog in a training exercise. His bolt action, .303 caliber Number 1 Mark III Short Magazine Lee Enfield measures 49.5 inches overall and weighs in at 9.25 pounds not counting the menacing 17-inch-bladed Pattern 1907 bayonet. Credit: Imperial War Museum via Wikimedia

NEW ZEALAND. ALLY DOWN UNDER. Presenting idealized portraits of “Kiwi” soldiers armed with an Owen submachine gun and SMLE rifle, the simple message to American and other Allied soldiers is to know that these men are on your side. ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) were prominent both initially and throughout the war in the fight against Japanese forces in the Pacific. Credit: U.S. Office of War Information, National Archives via Wikimedia

New Guinea, April 1945. Cradling a 9mm Owen Machine Carbine, this ANZAC soldier, Private R.F. Gaudry of the 2/3 Infantry Battalion, is on guard against Japanese infiltrators. This handy and highly regarded submachine gun, instantly recognizable by its top mounted 33-round magazine and quick removable barrel with diagonal compensator cuts, was a home-grown development of Australian Evelyn Owen, a vast improvement over the British STEN. Credit: Australian War Memorial via Wikimedia

As explored previously in SAR’s March online offering of selected motivational posters from WWI, it’s important to understand that so-called “propaganda” is often both necessary and essential for persuading a reluctant populace to rise above their fears and enthusiastically join the common fight.

This was particularly true in the dark early days of the United States’ entry into World War II, immediately after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7^th, 1941.

The American people were understandably demoralized by horrific images of dead and horribly wounded sailors and many of our previously magnificent warships gutted and fiercely burning from multiple hits by enemy torpedoes and bombs. Coming as the latest in a string of victories, Japan’s war machine seemed invincible in its relentless assault in the Pacific.

Across the Atlantic, the Axis forces of Germany and Italy were rampaging across Europe, quickly overcoming British, French, Polish and Russian resistance.

America’s dangerously extreme pacifism after the Great War of 1914-18 had left our military woefully unprepared in manpower and weaponry. All odds seemed against stopping the enemy’s worldwide assault on freedom.

But motivated by righteous rage and spurred on by hard-edged speeches by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Americans rallied to the fight. Men rushed to recruiting offices for all branches of the armed forces and women on the home front poured into defense industry factories, “The Arsenal of Democracy.”

The U.S. Office of War Information went into high gear with multiple means of mass persuasion toward support of a unified war effort including radio broadcasts, movie newsreels, newspaper features, and posters, the subject of this feature.

A handful of weapons related posters are offered here as representative of countless examples that inspired Americans to enlist, to fight, to produce weapons and munitions, to buy War Bonds, and do just about anything else needed for victory.

WE’LL LICK ‘EM. JUST GIVE US THE METAL. A determined American soldier holding a battle-damaged Japanese flag and a formidable M1 rifle with long, menacing bayonet assures arms factory workers that their output will result in victory. Credit: U.S. National Archives via Wikimedia

March 1944, Bougainville, Solomon Islands. Supported by a massive Sherman Tank and advancing cautiously with fearsome 16-inch blade M1905 bayonets fixed on their .30-06 caliber semiauto Garand Rifles, this squad of GIs got the metal they needed to hunt down, spear or shoot fanatical Japanese infiltrators. Credit: U.S. Army Signal Corps, National Archives

DON’T BE A DOPE. HANDLE EQUIPMENT RIGHT! Newly enlisted and hastily trained soldiers couldn’t always be counted on to exercise the best judgement in using their weapons only as intended. Here, the comic character Joe Dope figures his M1903 Springfield Rifle is just the thing for prying a boulder outta the way before digging his foxhole. But when urgently needed to repel a Japanese attack the rifle’s bent barrel will cause the rifle to blow up in his face. Credit: U.S. National Archives via Wikimedia

July 1944, France. With his hard hitting, long ranging, bolt action .30-06 caliber M1903 Springfield Rifle slung handily over one shoulder, T5 Dexter Clayton helps Master Sergeant Nelson Ewing tighten up wire. For some reason, Clayton also has a little .30 cal. M1 Carbine slung muzzle down behind his back. Credit: U.S. Army Signal Corps, National Archives

BACK HIM UP WITH MORE G-E PRODUCTION. With clenched teeth, a tough Marine pumps lead into the enemy with this .45 ACP Reising Submachine Gun. The message to factory workers at G-E (General Electric) is don’t slack off on the assembly lines. Quality + Quantity = Victory. Credit: U.S. National Archives via Wikimedia

December 1943, Bougainville, Solomon Islands. Corporal Henry Bake, Jr., (left) and Private First Class George H. Kirk, Navajo Indian “Code Talkers” serving with a USMC signal unit, operate a portable radio set in a clearing they’ve hacked in the dense jungle close behind the front lines.

Note Kirk’s Reising M55 submachine gun with 20-round magazine and distinctive folding wire stock. Credit: U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. National Archives

YOUR IDEAS ARE ON THE ATTACK. KEEP ‘EM COMING! Ideas are weapons! Weapons win wars! Mail your ideas and suggestions to your local Ordnance District Office…. Looking right at you over the sights of his .45 ACP M1928A1 Thompson Submachine gun with 50-round drum magazine, this combat soldier wants good ideas that will increase the effectiveness of his weapons and ammunition. Credit: U.S. National Archives via Wikimedia

31 July 1940, Hartlepool, England. Not an American Gangster of the “Roaring Twenties,” it’s British Prime Minister Winston Churchill handling an American “Tommy Gun” while visiting his soldiers manning costal defense positions in anticipation of a German attack across the English Channel. Before the U.S. entered the war a year later, thousands of these iconic submachine guns were supplied to Britain under the Lend Lease Program. Credit: Imperial War Museum via Wikimedia

TIME TO GO! – & BEAT OUR QUOTA! A U.S. Paratrooper leaps out of a transport plane holding on tight to his little .30 caliber M1 Carbine. Factory workers at the Inland Division of General Motors, the largest producer of carbines, were encouraged to never miss a day in the desperate rush to turn out the many tens of thousands urgently needed by American GIs. Credit: U.S. National Archives via Wikimedia  

8 March 1945, Cologne, Germany. Combat infantrymen of Company G, 415^th Infantry, 104^th Infantry Division, take a well-deserved break during a lull in fighting. Second from left is Private First Class John Thresher of East Prairie, Missouri, who has taped a couple of 15-round magazines together for quickly reloading his light, handy, semiauto M1 Carbine in the heat of battle. U.S. Army Signal Corps, National Archives via Wikimedia

A GOOD SOLDIER STICKS TO HIS POST! And factory workers – “Soldiers of Production,” need to stick to the job at hand. Despite an apparent head wound and with artillery shells exploding nearby, this determined GI is no slacker, blasting the enemy with long bursts of bullets from his M1917A1 Browning Machine Gun. Credit: U.S. National Archives via Wikimedia

June 1942, Fort Knox Kentucky. Famed commercial photographer Alfred Palmer skillfully staged and captured this dramatic color image of a young GI with his pedestal mounted M1917A1, a 30-06 caliber, water cooled, belt fed machine gun, training to shoot down the enemy’s close attack aircraft. Credit: Office of War Information, National Archives via Wikimedia                                   

YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO MISS EITHER! With bursts from his powerful .50 caliber Browning Machine Gun, this aerial gunner has just sent a Japanese Zero fighter into a fiery death spiral and he’s eager to get another one. The message to all American adult civilians is not to miss regularly purchasing War Bonds to finance the astronomical costs of the war effort. Credit: Office of War Information, National Archives via Wikimedia

1943. Staff Sergeant Maynard Smith posing for a news release photo with a .50 caliber Browning Machine Gun in a bomber’s waist gunner window position. Smith was a ball turret gunner in the 423^rd Bomb Squadron, 306^th Bomb Group, 8^th Air Force, on the 1 May 1943 mission to bomb heavily defended German submarine pens at Saint-Nazaire, France. His heroism and gunnery skill against a swarm of enemy fighter planes on that fateful day led to him earning the Medal of Honor. Credit: Army Air Corps, U.S. Air Force via Wikimedia  

KEEP IT UP BROTHER. THIS WAR’S NOT WON BY A DAMN SIGHT! With an M1911A1 pistol at the ready, this brave GI in the heat of combat urges defense factory workers to work harder and not slow down just because it looks like the Allies are beginning to win the war. Credit: Office of War Information, National Archives via Wikimedia

December 1942, Achncarry, Scotland. Armed with a hard-hitting, highly reliable, semiauto, .45 ACP M1911A1 pistol, this mud splattered soldier of the U.S. Army’s 29^th Ranger Battalion is ready to move out during intense commando training under battle-hardened British Royal Marines. In live fire or the real thing, he would certainly have racked the slide to load a round and move the hammer into cocked position. Credit: U.S. Army Signal Corps, National Archives

Unfortunately, the word “propaganda” has come to be regarded as something bad; misleading at best and outright lies at worst. While this is true in too many cases, propaganda as originally intended is employed in various forms simply as a means of persuading its audience.

Between 1914 and 1918 – the period of “The Great War” (World War One, as we have come to call it) – poster art had achieved well-deserved prominence as an advertising and communications medium.

Usually big and bold, with colorful, eye-catching images and compelling words, posters were displayed almost anywhere a vertical surface was available on which to paste them.

So, posters were an obvious choice for mostly ethical propaganda as a means of encouraging a nation’s populace to support the war effort in all aspects. Messages included recruiting, training, honoring battle prowess, soliciting money, spurring greater war production, and certainly to negatively characterize the enemy.

As noted by O.W. Riegel, a propaganda analyst for the U.S. Office of War Information, “In the overall view, posters of the First World War were exhortations that sought to exploit people’s conscious or subconscious vulnerabilities to appeals to basic emotions of self-preservation, tribal patriotic pride, and traditional morality.”

What we’re offering here is a small selection from among thousands of these propaganda posters produced by combatant nations embroiled in the first war of a truly global scale.

And since our focus is, of course, on man portable weaponry, our choices are based on how some prominent examples of these weapons were skillfully and dramatically incorporated in the messaging.

MEN WANTED FOR THE ARMY. When this poster was created in 1914, the war in Europe had just started but America was officially neutral. Foreseeing what would soon become inevitable, the woefully undermanned U.S. Army stepped up recruiting. Here, a stalwart infantry corporal carrying an M1903 Springfield rifle leads his squad running toward their objective. The iconic felt campaign hats would be exchanged in 1917 for British style “tin hats” or French “Adrian” helmets in the trenches. Credit: Library of Congress via Wikimedia

May 18, 1918, Badonviller, France. These “Doughboys” of the American 42^nd Division are snipers, draped from head to toe in formless sack cloth camouflage and armed with M1903 Springfields, the Army’s standard infantry rifle. Highly accurate and very reliable, the 8.7-pound .30-06 caliber, bolt action rifle was sometimes fitted with an optical scope for target identification and longer-range sniping. Credit: US Army Signal Corps, National Archives

“AMMUNITION!” This American soldier has his hand outstretched in a plea for more ammo for his smoking hot French 8mm Hotchkiss Mle 1914 machine gun. Somewhat improbably slung over his shoulder, he has a .30-06 caliber M1903 Springfield Rifle with fixed bayonet. Civilians at home were urged to buy War Bonds to help finance the astronomical costs of war materiel. Credit: Library of Congress

May 10, 1918, France. U.S. 1^st Infantry Division soldiers on the firing range with a French Mle 1914 machine gun on the awkward Omnibus tripod. When serving alongside French forces, shortages of American weapons and ammunition, as well as logistical efficiency, dictated the need to equip American troops with these combat-proven, 8mm, strip fed, air cooled guns with distinctive “doughnut” cooling fins. Note their “tin hat” style Brodie helmets, a holstered .45 caliber M1911 pistol, and sheathed “bolo” knife. Credit: US Army Heritage and Education Center

FIRST IN FRANCE. Deployed to the European battlefields at Verdun in March 1918, American Marines were – along with elements of the U.S. Army’s 2^nd Division – the first U.S. troops to join the fight against Germany and its allies. The artist has portrayed this charging “Devil Dog’s” .30-06 caliber Lewis Gun on ungainly bipod with dead-on accuracy. While not specific in intent, multiple messages are conveyed in this poster including praise for courageous Marines, sparking admiration among civilians at home and inspiring young men to enlist in the Corps. Credit: Library of Congress

1917. No location noted but probably on the range at MCB Quantico, Virginia, the Marine Corps is conducting firing tests of the Lewis Machine Gun. Soon proving quite satisfactory, some 6,000 of these were quickly ordered from Savage Arms. These pan-fed, air cooled, .30-06 caliber Model 1917 guns armed Marines sent to France in 1917. Credit: Library of Congress

MINE MORE COAL. This poster serves dual duty in urging America’s coal miners to increase production because coal fuels war material factories and fires boilers in trains and in cargo ships transporting supplies to soldiers in France. Dramatically posed side by side with pickaxe and Browning Automatic Rifle at the ready, they both fulfill necessary and honorable duty in the war. Credit: Library of Congress

18 February 1918, France. US Army Lieutenant Val Browning, son of prolific firearms inventor John M. Browning, is conducting a demonstration of his father’s Model 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle. The 15½ pound weapon was fed by a detachable magazine holding twenty .30-06 cartridges. Although not arriving until very late in the war, these highly reliable and accurate machine rifles were a godsend to Doughboys previously armed with the crude but surprisingly useful French Chauchat. Credit: U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center

THEY SHALL NOT PASS! “Twice I have stood fast and conquered on the Marne,” saving Paris from German occupation. By 1918, French and Allied soldiers had been deadlocked in vicious, savage and increasingly futile trench warfare for four horrific years. With bayonet fixed on his Fusil Modéle 1886/93 “Lebel” rifle, this ragged, battle-ravaged Poilu stands defiantly amid the shell blasted desolation of “no mans land.” Credit: Author’s collection/Library of Congress

1912, France. Two years before the outbreak of war, these well dressed and fully equipped French Chasseurs pause briefly during training maneuvers. An impressively long Modéle 1886/93 rifle in the foreground is readily identified by its straight bolt handle and 30½ inch long barrel. Its tubular magazine holds eight rounds of 8mm Lebel smokeless powder cartridges. Credit: Bibliotheque Nationale De France via Wikimedia

AND YOU? Sign War Loans. Asking his fellow German citizens to give money to support the war, a somewhat forlorn German infantryman clutches a “potato masher” stick grenade, ready to assault enemy trenches. This not so subtle, guilt-inducing appeal to civilians of the Fatherland is seen in similar posters from all the other combatant nations. Credit: Philasearch.com via Wikimedia

STAHLHELM HELDEN (Steel Helmet Heroes). This propaganda postcard image is from a series depicting heroic German soldiers in WWI. Here, Stosstruppen (shock troops) assault French positions with a hail of Stielhandgranaten (stick grenades). Additional grenades are carried in pairs of sandbags draped over their shoulders. This is a late war scene, probably 1917 or 1918 when grenades of all types had become the primary weapons of trench warriors on both sides. Credit: Philasearch.com via Wikimedia

MILITARY WAR LOANS. The Imperial Russian Army was very poorly prepared when it entered the war against Germany in 1914. A rush to mobilization and necessary war production followed, including the need for large numbers of heavy machine guns. This 1916 poster shows a rather idealized and uncommonly clean gun crew in combat action, firing their Pulemyot Maxima PM1910 (Maxim’s machine gun Model 1910) and urges everyone to “aid our glorious troops, and all who can must subscribe to the 5½ percent war loan.” Credit: Baburina N.I. via Wikimedia    

Although this photo was taken a decade or so after the Revolution of 1917 that took Tsarist Russia out of WWI, it’s useful in depicting the similar composition of a typical Red Army heavy machine gun section. Under the watchful eyes of two pistol-packing officers and flanked by protective riflemen who double as ammunition carriers, the gunner and his assistant are prepared to engage the enemy with a torrent of powerful 7.62 mm bullets from their Pulemyot Maxima PM1910. This iconic water-cooled and belt-fed weapon, characterized by its steel shield and wheeled Sokolov mount, has a sustained fire capability of 600 rounds per minute. Credit: Ukrainian SSR via Wikimedia

The Battle Royale Comes Down to SIG & Glock, SIG Takes the Day!

“We are not talking about nuclear subs or going to the moon here. We are talking about a pistol.”
General Mark Milley, US Army Chief of Staff, complaining to the House Armed Services Committee in 2016 about the $17 million, two-year MHS competition process.

Soon after the billowing clouds of nitrocellulose fog from a full year of grueling formal tests and soldier evaluations cleared at the end of 2016, the Army announced selection of SIG SAUER’s modified P320 as its new Modular Handgun System. The best of a reported dozen rivals hoping to replace the worn out warhorse Beretta M9, this polymer-framed, striker-fired, innovatively modular pistol emerged seemingly victorious.

Formal Announcement

“The US Army awarded the Modular Handgun System (MHS) contract on January 19, 2017 to Sig Sauer, Inc. The caliber of the weapon is 9mm, and the XM17 MHS handgun is a variant of the Sig Sauer model P320. It is ‘Coyote Brown’ in color and has interchangeable hand grips and is ambidextrous allowing the user to tailor the ergonomics to best fit their hands and optimize their performance. The contract allows the Army and other services to procure Sig Sauer’s proposed XM1152 Full Metal Jacket, XM1153 Special Purpose ammunition and training rounds; their proposed full size and compact variants of the MHS; and ancillary components. The contract ceiling is $580M which is sufficient to procure Army requirements, other service requirements, and potential Foreign Military Sales requirements.”—US Army MHS Contract Award announcement

Predictably, this sent hordes of heavily armed pistol partisans rushing to man the bulletin boards for Glock and SIG, firing off fusillades supporting or condemning the Army’s decision. While a lively debate, this had about zero chance of swaying the Army’s decision.

But what quickly emerged from Glock’s USA headquarters did. Although fresh from winning the almost equally prestigious $85 million FBI pistol contract, Glock’s executives were understandably unhappy with what they considered unfairly losing this multi-million dollar opportunity; perhaps diminishing the prestige and some of the multi-national military, law enforcement and civilian market sales the firm has long been enjoying.

Protest March

Alleging a veritable catalog of errors and slights in the highly formalized administrative and evaluation process, Glock’s detailed protest wisely zeroed in on supporting real combat soldiers. “By not completing the testing on both proposals [by SIG and Glock] on a competitive basis, the Army never determined which pistol would better meet the warfighter’s needs,” said Josh Dorsey, VP of GLOCK, Inc.

But bureaucrats and lawyers at the General Accountability Office backed the Army. “Overall, despite the evaluation errors uncovered in the course of this protest, we have no basis to conclude that Glock would have a substantial chance at an award,” wrote Susan A. Poling, General Counsel. “Even when the errors are considered together, we find no prejudice to Glock. The protest is denied in part and dismissed in part.” (Search “GAO Glock decision” for a fascinating look at the whole 17 pages of classic government legalese.)

Over and Out

Based on results of an IOT&E (Initial Operational Test and Evaluation) that had been proceeding separately from the legal fight, the Army followed-up with a public relations announcement that delivered a virtual coup de grace to Glock’s effort.

Army News Service release, 20 Jul 17: Soldiers have many reasons to be excited about the new Sig Sauer modular handguns, which the Army will begin fielding in November, said Lt. Col. Steven Power, product manager of Soldier Weapons.

Testing of the modular handgun system, or MHS, this spring by Soldiers at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, resulted in overwhelmingly positive feedback, Power said, and 100-percent concurrence that the XM17 was an upgrade over the M9.

In this case, all of the Soldiers who tested the handgun said the MHS was more comfortable to shoot, and they had better confidence with it, Power said.

Cynics may be excused for observing that most soldiers would rate most any shiny new pistol an improvement over the 30-year-old M9; its reputation sullied by the Army’s lowest bidder magazines.

Assuming SIG’s M17 makes it safely through “Production Verification” (can SIG make ‘em well enough and fast enough at the same time), that seems to be it for “Big Army,” on track to deliver the first 2,000 in November to Screaming Eagles of the legendary 101st Airborne Division. This is to be followed by some 193,000 more, Army-wide over the next several years.

With a generous $580 million ceiling on the 10-year contract award, there’s plenty of room for others to climb on the bandwagon.
Indeed, in presentations at NDIA’s 2017 Armaments Conference, representatives of all major branches of the US Armed Forces signaled they were going to replace, at some point, their current handgun inventories with new SIGs; some sooner than others. USAF wants 130,000, Navy 61,000, and a certain group of traditionally amphibious warriors might eventually buy 35,000 but has more important things to do right now with their badly wounded weapons budget.

Snake Eaters

Meanwhile, US Special Operations Command seems perfectly happy with all its various Glocks. The Army part of this–Green Berets, Rangers and Night Stalkers–has announced plans to field nearly 12,000 new Glock 19s with red-dot sights and tactical lights in its Family of Low-Visibility and Concealable Pistols for covert carry.

But not to worry, all the other SPECOPS components say they’ll likely begin integrating SIG M17 and M18 pistols a couple of years down the road. Assuming, of course, their very justifiably opinionated “users” concur with this phase-in. (Who’s gonna be make macho MARSOC operators surrender their high speed M1911 .45s or steely-eyed SEALS toss their Glock G9s overboard?)

Sighting in on SIG

So, the US Armed Forces Modular Handgun System is SIG’s M17 and M18, both in 9x19mm NATO caliber. Perpetuating this relatively puny cartridge is a bitter pill to many advocates of the venerable .45ACP cartridge, but made more palatable by the prospect of pumping out Winchester’s wickedly effective XM1153 “Special Purpose” hollow points. If the Pentagon’s notoriously liberal lawyers will allow …. (Calling Colonel Hays Parks to come out of retirement and rescue real warfighters once again).

Now, as painstakingly discovered from research in a number of authoritative sources and seen in the accompanying studio photos that SIG kindly provided, we offer some RKI observations.

Meaningful differences between the already quite nicely modular civilian 320 family–the NRA’s 2016 Handgun of the Year–and the military M17/M18 include an ambidextrous thumb safety, loaded chamber indicator, orange tritium in its metal sights, a cover plate atop the slide for later installation of a red-dot sight, dust shield in the trigger opening, anti-corrosion coating for the fire control module (SIG calls it a “frame assembly”) and an RFID chip. That’s pretty much it.

Some lesser points are overall “Coyote Brown” finish and two annoying “pin spanner” screws the Army reportedly insisted on to keep GIs from taking it apart more than allowed. (Hint: Small needle nose plier points do the trick).

If you’re curious as to why the Army wants its MHS in two sizes, the smaller M18 is slated to replace all those M11s (SIG P228) that some special type units have for concealed carry.

It’s a testament to the original 320’s excellent design and performance characteristics that this is all that was needed to meet solicitation specs and to excel in the ensuing torture tests. While the Army seemingly considers the test regimen to be Top Secret, it undoubtedly included dropping, drowning, sanding, salting, beating, baking, freezing, marathon firing and worse.

Building Blocks

“Modularity” was baked-in the borderline-absurd 350-page original solicitation. SIG has it; Glock not so much.

While the Glock entry boasts interchangeable backstraps for different sized hands, SIG includes three different sizes of grip frame modules that come with each pistol. All that’s needed to swap ‘em out (once the damnable pin spanner is defeated) is to remove the serial-numbered fire control module and install it in the desired grip module. A task about as challenging as opening an MRE.
Because their grip modules are the same Compact version, the standard SIG M17 becomes the stubbier M18 just by swapping the regular slide and barrel for the shorter ones. Need a red dot sight? A Leupold Delta Point Pro just happens to fit perfectly in that hole on top of the slide (and it may emerge the winner in a separate contracting effort). Tac light and laser? The Army’s got plenty already, and any other that grabs tight on the grip module’s Picatinny Rail is good to go.

Non-lethal force-on-force training? There’s UTM’s kit with marker rounds. Need to use a suppressor? Install a threaded barrel on either model and screw on the can. 9mm not doin’ the job even with JHP? Power up with a caliber conversion kit (not now approved by the Army but certainly available if needed).

Consolation Prize

While we weren’t able to test an XM17 for evaluation, they did send us the closest cousin; a nice little P320RX Compact, complete with blazing hot Foxtrot 1 tactical light. This allowed us and several other lucky shooters the opportunity for plenty of live fire drills under various conditions. In all, we went through about 800 rounds of various 9mm ball and JHP types including steel case, aluminum case, subsonic and even some interesting “cold tracer” loads. No problems were encountered.

P320RX COMPACT TECH SPECS

Caliber: 9 x 19mm NATO (Luger)
Action: Striker-fired, semi-automatic, recoil-operated, tipping barrel locking
Feed: Standard 15-rd. detachable steel magazine, higher-capacity available
Trigger: Double-action only, 6.5lbs. pull
Barrel: 3.9in. 6 grooves, right twist
Overall length: 7.2in
Height: 6.1in
Weight: 25.8oz
Sights: SIGLITE Tritium front and rear, co-witness with Romeo 1 holographic red dot
Materials: Polymer grip frame, stainless steel slide and trigger frame module, carbon steel barrel
Finish: Matte Black Nitron
Notes: Modular design with choice of interchangeable size grip frames, slides, barrels, caliber conversion
MSRP: $1,040 SIG SAUER, Inc., Exeter, New Hampshire, USA www.sigsauer.com

We Report, You Decide

Much has been made of the assertion that the paltry per-unit cost of pistols in SIG’s XM17 bid is approximately $207. Certainly a bargain-basement price, but will it be the best value in the long run?

Glock doesn’t think so, as evident in a press release at the time: “In fact, Sig Sauer was awarded the MHS contract prematurely based on price.”

While SIG’s M17 is roaring down the track to be US Armed Forces Standard, Glock fans have plenty of reasons for pride and optimism. As previously mentioned, they’re the handguns of choice for USSOCOM, the FBI and plenty of other LE entities, as well as mucho military worldwide.

And we may even see Glock winning the contract to arm all components of the sprawling US Department of Homeland Security. Game on!

Parting Shot

With the tantalizing likelihood of ODCMP selling US military surplus M1911 .45s, will Uncle Sam eventually hold a clearance sale for all those hundreds of thousands of now-obsolescent Beretta M9 pistols? Oh, and SIG M11s too?

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to SIG for the loaner 320RX, all those great things seen in the studio photo setups and for providing essential pictures including the M17 and M18 MHS. sigsauer.com Also, to TTAC USA for building a perfect custom carry and competition holster for the RX with light. ttacusa.com And thanks to Blue Ridge Arsenal for Southern hospitality and generous range time. blueridgearsenal.com

A Veteran’s Report on the SIG P320RX

Talking with Range Safety Officer Colin Bruguiere

23-year-old Colin Bruguiere, our primary pistol tester for this feature, works part-time as a Range Safety Officer at Blue Ridge Arsenal’s Ashland, Virginia, location while attending a local university.

He’s a Marine Corps veteran of a combat deployment in 2013 in Afghanistan’s hotly contested Helmand Province as an MOS 0311 Infantryman in Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment; he spent most of the time as an M27 Squad Auto Rifleman with the “door kickers and trigger pullers” of the Heliborne Interdiction Force, a rapid reaction asset for a variety of critical tasks.
Following our extensive live fire test and photo session on BRA’s excellent indoor ranges, we sat down with Bruguiere to get his impressions from his first time shooting the SIG P320RX Compact.

SAR: Along with the Corps’ M9s, what handguns have you had experience with?

Colin Bruguiere: Primarily SIG’s because we sell a lot of different ones here. I’ve been carrying this 9mm 320 full size now for several months. The Beretta PX4 series, 1911 style .45s like Springfield, various Rugers, Smith M&Ps. Anything we’ve got or when somebody says, “you wanna shoot this?” I used to carry a Glock 43; nice and small. I chose the SIG over a Glock or an M&P–and I’ve seen this for other people–because out of the box it shoots like I want it to. I feel like I could go out and shoot a competition with this stock 320 and do pretty well.

SAR: How about the Army’s new M17?

CB: (Studying photos of the pistol) The thing that gives me pause about the M17 is the thumb safety. Because, like with the M9, you have to train and train to draw and take that thumb safety off as soon as it clears the holster. What’s the point of having it? I like the SIG’s double-action-only trigger. Also, the three grip sizes to fit a wider range of hands.

SAR: Overall fit and finish of the 320RX Compact we shot?

CB: Well made, looks good, shoots well, fits in the hand (medium grip installed) pretty solid. Polymer frame can still take a beating. Looking at the removable stainless steel trigger group (SIG calls it the frame assembly), they haven’t over-engineered the thing but come damn close (laughs).

SAR: How did the Compact size test pistol handle in shooting?

CB: Because it’s a relatively lightweight pistol, there’s a tendency to have to force it back in place when kicking off a triple tap, even with the full size; the best balanced because of the longer barrel and slide. But in the rapid fire drills for the test and photos, I didn’t feel like it was going everywhere. Maybe the weight of the tactical light up front helped.

SAR: How about the sights? Not only the red dot Romeo 1, but also the backup iron sights.

CB: I like the SIGLITE Tritium night sights already installed as standard on the RX version. Bright in low light. Because they’re taller, they co-witness with the red dot. And there’s probably a clear path when SIG’s new low-profile suppressor is in place.

SAR: How about iron sight shooters getting used to that red dot. Do you have to retrain your brain?

CB: I think it’s a one-magazine training exercise. You shoot a couple rounds and see “OK that’s where I’m hitting with the red dot.” You pick up on it pretty quickly. One of the things about the red dot I was really impressed with was when we were shooting through all that fog machine smoke, the red dot came through. I like the Romeo’s wide field of view, variable brightness and size of the red dot. It’s sturdy enough to hit with the web of your hand for fast cocking. Or in a one-handed scenario maybe you can push it against your gear or your boot to cock it.

SAR: Any likes or dislikes in the loading and make-ready sequence?

CB: Over the M9, the SIG’s mag release protrudes a little more, making it easier to quickly hit. Even with cold fingers or bulky gloves. You can switch it to the other side if you’re a lefty. And if a gritty magazine doesn’t want to drop, those cuts at the base of the grip are nice for pulling it out.

SAR: Stripping, cleaning, reassembly?

CB: I’d say the SIG, the Glock and the M9 are all pretty close in ease of stripping down. Simple, no issues. No hard to get to places inside to clean.

SAR: Suggestions for making it better?

CB: I haven’t had any issues slapping in a new mag, but maybe beveling inside the opening to the mag well? I think the Army version has a loaded chamber indicator. Other than that, they’ve pretty much covered the bases.

SAR: When it came down to the wire there were two M17 MHS contenders: SIG and Glock. Do you think the Army made the right choice?

CB: Absolutely, I think they made a fantastic choice.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Special thanks to the fine folks at Blue Ridge Arsenal for shutting down an entire shooting bay in their state-of-the-art facility for several hours to accommodate our live-fire test and photo session. blueridgearsenal.com

The Aussies have their own way of doing things and Army Private Evelyn Ernest Owen’s clever improvement over the cheap and crude but mostly serviceable STEN submachine gun is definitely a case in point.

In order to encourage SAR’s readers to do further research, what’s presented here is a selection of archive photos depicting a few highlights of the simple, reliable and effective Owen Machine Carbine’s distinguished service with Australian forces from 1942 into the 1960s.

The Owen was developed and manufactured in Australia and is distributed throughout Southeast Asia. It is unusual in that it has a quick-detachable barrel. The Owen can be found with several different types of buttstocks. This submachine gun is recognized by its top-mounted magazine, prominent barrel lock, and compensator on the muzzle.

Department of the Army Pamphlet 381-10, Weapons And Equipment Recognizing Guide, Southeast Asia, March 1969

18 May 42. A dapper Evelyn Owen (right), the 27-year-old inventor of the Owen Gun, discusses its features with D. West, a sight setter and gun tester at the Lysaght factory where Owen’s invention is being mass produced.

Internal workings of the first production model of Owen’s innovative subgun are revealed in this instructional chart.

18 May 1942. “The various parts of an Owen Gun fit together by simple bayonet catches. Since the guns are precision made, a damaged part may be replaced in a few seconds.”

18 May 42. New South Wales, Australia. With her practiced eye intent on detecting even small flaws, this inspector makes sure a newly manufactured Owen Gun is worthy of rough combat service.

26 April 1945. New Guinea. Private R.F. Gaudry, 2/3 Infantry Battalion, in a forward pit at Kalimboa Village. By then, more than two years after introduction, the Owen has proven to be tough, reliable and effective under the harshest battle conditions.

25 January 1945, Bougainville Island. The Owen’s mechanical and operational simplicity made it well suited for primitive native troops who joined the fight against Japanese invaders. Sergeant R.J. Trott, Armorer of “A” Company, 1^st New Guinea Infantry Battalion, inspecting the barrel assembly of Private Koro’s Owen Gun.

6 May 1944, Queensland. Taking note of the inevitable when soldiers would tape mags together for fast reloading in combat action, Private L.N. Shoemark of the 2/2ND Infantry Battalion demonstrates the new improved double magazine for the Owen Gun. It was tested by the unit and adopted after being modified by Captain Andrew Watson, “C” Company Commander.

10 September 1945, Tarakan Island, Borneo. Major A. J. Anderson, General Services Equipment Field Section, 9^th Division, demonstrating and Owen Gun fitted with a new type of silencer which is to be issued to 2/23RD Infantry Battalion.

14 May 1953. Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) Private Eddie Wright of Albert Park, Victoria, uses a pull-through to clean the detached barrel of his Owen gun.

November 1966-11. Captain Brian Ledan, 5 Battalion the Royal Australian Regiment (5RAR), pointing to a dent in his Owen sub machine gun made by an enemy bullet during action in Operation Ingham. The sturdy subgun is likely to have sustained the hit without failing.

July 1967 Queensland. “Stand to!” 8 Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment Corporal Les Lindsay is alert with his Lithgow-made F1 sub-machine carbine. About 1500 troops are intensively training before they depart for service in Malaysia later this year. Sporting the now-familiar top mounted magazine, the F1 is a “new and improved” version of the venerable Owen and British Sterling.

11-9-1943, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The US Ordnance Department found the unusual Australian Owen to be of more than passing interest. Note in the technical photo of the left side of the gun that the selector tab of the semi and full auto sub is rotated down in the full auto position. Credit: US Army Ordnance Training Support Facility

One of the most comprehensive and well-researched magazine features on the WWII German Panzerfaust (“tank fist)” was written by Leszek Erenfeicht, titled, “Panzerfaust! A Fist to Knock out Tanks” in the June 2013 issue of Small Arms Review.

While a very good selection of photos accompanied his feature, we believe our readers will appreciate seeing even more of the historical images that show this remarkable weapon in combat action.

With the generous assistance of Erenfeicht himself and a deep dive into his own and other photo collections, Robert Bruce provides a remarkable selection of images that bring this almost 80-year-old tank buster to life through the mists of history.

“Men Against Tanks,” a dramatized but deadly serious German wartime training film found on YouTube (search: “Männer gegen Panzer”), compelled this author’s examination of the first of two extraordinary infantry anti-tank weapons used by the Third Reich.

Departing from the usual chronology, we introduce the Panzerfaust (Pzf) at the end of the War when its unique characteristics proved indispensable.

March 10, 1945, Berlin, Germany. As Hitler scraped the bottom of the manpower barrel to mount a “fight to the last ditch” defense of the Fatherland’s capital city, this trio of stoic oldsters shoulder late-model Pzf 100 anti-tank weapons. In a declared “Defense Area” where barricades are erected and positions and anti-tank trenches are being dug, they are standing by during the construction of a road block at a railway underpass. Drafted into the Volkssturm (People’s Storm), their civilian attire is inadequately made into some semblance of uniform by merely adding armbands reading, “DEUTSCHER VOLKSSTURM WEHRMACHT” (German People’s Storm Armed Forces). After receiving no more than a crash course in operating the Pzf, they will take defensive positions awaiting almost certain death. BUNDESARCHIVE VIA WARALBUM.RU

“Männer gegen Panzer” is a 1943 German film, produced by Lehrfilm, which was used as a training film by the Wehrmacht. Its purpose was to show German soldiers the different types of infantry anti-tank warfare. The film consists of three parts. The first shows a staged combined Soviet tank and infantry attack against entrenched German infantry. The attack is preceded by artillery and air strikes. The tanks, several T-34 models and a KV-1, are dealt with and destroyed by different means of improvised and dedicated anti-tank weaponry.
Right and wrong approaches to destroy a tank single-handedly are displayed. At the end of the attack, Wilhelm Niggemeyer, a holder of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and four tank destruction badges, is shown in action destroying the KV-1 with a mine.
The second part of the film shows how rear-service troops must be prepared for anti-tank warfare, as they too can encounter enemy tanks. The third part pres-ents the Grosse Gewehrpanzergranate, Kampfpistole 42LP, Raketenwerfer 43 Püp-pchen, Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck, their use and their effect against tanks.

April 1945, Berlin. Having spearheaded the Soviet assault on Berlin, a long column of formidable Stalin IS-2 tanks has paused on a rubble-strewn street in the decimated capital city. Mounting a 122mm high-velocity main gun, this 46-ton monster was the most heavily armored tank in the world at the time, protected by 120mm/4.7 inches of sharply sloped frontal armor. But thinner armor on the flanks, rear and engine deck could be punched right through by a well-placed Pan-zerfaust hit. U.S. ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY

February 1945. Understandably dirty and weary soldiers of a combat group in retreat while fighting off Soviet tank and infantry formations on Germany’s eastern border front. Noting the tubular firing mechanisms atop the main launch tube, they are all carrying the first-generation Pzf 30 Groß (large), still being issued at this late time of the War. Despite having shorter effective range—30m—than Pzf 60 and 100 models that followed, all of their high-explosive, shaped-charge warheads had essentially the same 200mm / 8-inch maximum armor penetration when hitting straight on. BUNDESARCHIV VIA WARALBUM.RU

November 12, 1944, Berlin, Germany. Following the ceremonial swearing-in of volunteers of the Berliner Volkssturm, these militia troops march past Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Dr. Josef Goebbels. Noting their squared-off trig-ger mechanisms, the Panzerfäuste (plural) are Pzf 60 type. That’s an MG 34 machine gun in the foreground.

BUNDERSARCHIV VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

June 1944, Targu Mures, Romania. A Pan-zerknacker (tank cracker) of the Panzer-Fusilier Regiment Grossdeutchland watches with relief as a Soviet T-34 tank goes up in flames. This excellent medium tank, first encountered in 1940 and produced in astonishing numbers, forced urgent development and fielding of the Pzf. Caption information indicates there is another soldier of the two-man team in the original photo whose Pzf must have hit the tank. German soldiers fought valiantly but could not stop the Red Army’s advance into the Fatherland.

The dramatic cover illustration with rhyming text for a merkblatt (instructional leaflet) on the Pzf assure new Panzerknackers (tank crackers) that—loosely translated—“The heaviest tank goes on fire when you take the Panzerfaust (armor fist) to hand!” Because the panzerfiend (enemy tanker) can’t see well through small vision slots, the knif-fliger hund (tricky dog) wins.

April 1945, Berlin, Germany. Following declaration of Berlin as a “defense zone,” new soldiers of the Volkssturm are being taught to use the Panzerfaust. Look closely to see that the launch tube appears to be a standard Pzf 60 with its squared-off sight and firing mechanism, but the warhead is wood; a necessarily prudent measure when dealing with inexperienced recruits.

The cover of the small instructional leaflet (D 560/3) for the new Pzf 60, entering service in 1944, shows a Teutonic knight’s armored fist (pan-zer-faust) smashing a Soviet T-34 tank. “The Panzerfaust is your anti-tank gun! You can use it to shoot down any tank up to 80 meters. Read this leaflet correctly then nothing can happen to you when it matters.” With essentially the same warhead as the Pzf 30 Groß, it is readily identified from its predecessors by a squared-off trigger/sighting mechanism with significant improvements in safety, simplicity and reliability. A more powerful black powder propelling charge (treibladung) of 4.9 ounces doubles its effective range to 60m with 80m maximum.

This is a late-War pictorial instruction sheet for the Pzf 60, produced in the largest numbers right up to the end of the War: Remove the warhead (kopf), insert the smaller booster charge first and then the primer, couple the warhead to the launch tube, remove the safety pin, lift up the sight (visier), push the safety’s crossbolt forward, and the weapon is ready to fire. Estimating the range to your target, use the correct sighting window for a stationary target and lead for a moving target. Holding the weapon in one of these positions, press down on the trigger (abzug) to fire. Beware the fire jet (feuerstrahl)—“nobody within 10 meters behind the launcher!”

While the Panzerfaust’s daytime firing signature has considerable smoke but little flash, at night it’s a different story. This photo print had no information on when and where, but it’s likely part of U.S. Ordnance Corps testing.

1945, Berlin, Germany. Wincing a bit from the black powder propellant blast and smoke, a Volkssturm militiaman launches a Pzf 60 warhead from the underarm position in a live-fire training demonstration. Note how the onlookers are carefully grouped to the weapon’s left side to avoid the severe back blast while the brave photographer is front right. Interestingly, this still photo comes from a newsreel sequence showing the whole firing sequence. We’ve found no reference to how loud the firing detonation is, but the other trainees seem unbothered. That said, detonating 4.9 ounces of tightly packed propellant inside a 50mm diameter steel tube can’t be inconsequential. There’s no sign of any eye protection that would seem to be prudent but is apparently unnecessary.

1945, Germany. All available Panzerfaust models were in use in these final days, so this aspiring Volkssturm Panzerknacker is apparently getting instruction in the finer points of the arming and aiming procedures for a rough and well-worn—almost certainly safely inert—Pzf 30 Groß (“gross” is “large” versus the diminutive “Gretchen” version). Both models are identified by
a distinctive tubular firing mechanism, spot-welded above the large main tube (rohr). The triggering mechanism inside is a bit complicated but quite cleverly contrived, described by some as akin to that of a retractable ballpoint pen. The sight latch pin dangles from its retaining chain after being pulled out, allowing the sight bar to be swing up into place for aiming, clearing a path for the striker bar inside the firing tube. That rod sticking out of the back of the firing tube is then pushed forward, compressing a spring coiled around the striker. When that’s done and the red knob at top rear of the rod is rotated to the left, the red trigger button pops up (hidden under the firer’s thumb), and the weapon is armed and ready. Pushing the trigger down releases the striker to fire the primer, detonating the black powder propelling charge inside the main tube.

1944, Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany. Hauptmann (Captain) Peter Kiesgen instructing straw-camouflaged Hitlerjugend in proper employment of the Pzf 60. But wait, if that youngster’s right leg isn’t moved away from the backblast, there won’t be much left of his boot and everything in it. In addition to the Iron Cross, this Panzerknacker superhero’s uniform sleeve carries multiple awards of the coveted Tank Destruction badge. Bestowed to exceptionally brave soldiers using hand-held weapons at close range to destroy enemy tanks, Kiesgan is all the more exceptional for having survived even one such encounter.

April 1945, Berlin, Germany. In more of a posed propaganda photo than practical, tactical training, this well-decorated German Army officer is said to be overseeing Volkssturm defensive positions in Berlin’s Marzahn district. If the bespectacled oldster were to fire his Pzf 60 as seen, the fiery back-blast deflected from the back of the trench would be a disaster to him and his kamerad. Note the old bolt-action rifles; most anything that could shoot was pulled out of storage.

1944, Berlin, Germany. A non-commissioned officer of the Panzer-grenadier Division Großdeutschland conducts a lesson with a teenager from the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) with a wooden model of the first production, small warhead Pzf 30 Gretchen. Its distinctive hourglass-shaped sight cutout is for this model’s optimal 30m range. Noting the soldier’s Iron Cross medal, he is probably a Panzerknacker hero, bringing great authority to the task of inspiring and training a young boy who will need to grow up fast.

November 1944, Germany. A Luftwaffe (Air Force) officer, another Iron Cross recipient, demonstrates the proper underarm firing position for sighting and firing a Pzf 30 for a group of German teens who have been conscripted into the Volkssturm. Because at this late stage in the War the German Air Force had been devastated, most of its officers and men were assigned to ground defense roles.

POLISH NATIONAL ARCHIVES

October–November 1944, Berlin, Germany. Clearly illus-trating the vast age difference in Volkssturm draftees, this dapper oldster and his youthful companion are said to be get-ting “training in weapons skills in Berlin.” With a Panzerfaust at the ready between them, the serious teen is armed with what is probably a standard German Army 7.92mm K98k rifle. His apparently bemused senior partner in the trench has what’s identified as a 9mm Erma EMP 35 submachine gun. This com-bination is well-suited to strike at long and close angles against what they’ll soon face from Red Army infantry and armor.

BUNDESARCHIV VIA WARALBUM.RU

March–April 1945, Berlin, Germany. Preparing for the defense of Berlin, a Obergefreiter (Chief Corporal) of a panzer (tank) unit teaches a Hitlerjugend how to shoot a Panzerfaust. Owing to nearly identical external features including the same size warhead, the weapon could be a Pzf 60 or 100, differing mainly in effective range. The squared-off sheet metal firing mechanism of both weapons is simpler and safer than earlier models. In its down position, the sight locks the safety/arming slide on SAFE, while raising the sight clears the way for thumbing the slide forward into FIRE position, and the prominent abzug (triggering lever bar) tips upward. Quite prudently for this staged training photo session, the Panzerfaust is seen in SAFE mode—sticking out at the sight base is one side of the safety slide’s round rod crossbolt that must be thumbed forward, allowing the abzug to rock upward, arming the leaf spring striker for firing. Pulling the slide back immediately restores it to SAFE.

March–April 1945, Berlin, Germany. In this companion photo, the aspiring Hitlerjugend Panzerknacker must be seriously contemplating what his fate will be as the Soviet horde closes in. With an enemy tank in sight, he will use the correct sight window on his Panzerfaust depending on range to target—top for longer to send the warhead in a high arc, bottom for closer. In the center is the large rectangular aperture for optimal range (60m or 100m depending on Pzf model). Those V notches at the bottom are to align with a small front sight stud at the 12 o’clock position on the warhead’s rim. It can be pulled rearward to re-safety the weapon.

March 20, 1945, Berlin, Germany. Seen in the garden of the Reich Chancellery in one of the most famous photos and newsreel segments from World War II, Adolph Hitler, der Führer (the Leader) himself, has emerged briefly from his elaborate bunker to con-gratulate 12-year-old Hitlerjugend Alfred Czech, awarded the Iron Cross for heroism in battle action against Soviet forces. Standing to Czech’s right is 16-year-old Wilhelm “Willi” Hubner, also an Iron Cross recipient. Panzerfaust weapons in combat figured prominently in the reasons for these boys being honored. Miraculously, both survived the War, and the incredibly brutal Soviet retribution and occupation that followed.

March 1945, 1st Ukranian Front, Germany. Guard Senior Sergeant Ilya Amelin from the Red Army’s 15th Guards Rifle Division with a captured German Panzerfaust grenade launcher. While the one he’s holding has the safety forward and is ready to fire, being so close to the ground at this downward angle of the rear of the tube would be spectacularly bad from backblast. Amelin was decorated for heroism after using one of these weapons to destroy a German self-propelled gun. Having no equivalent weapon, Soviet soldiers were quick and eager to use every Panzerfaust they could get against their hated enemy. American and British soldiers became enthusiastic panzerknackers too.

April 7, 1945, Germany. A British soldier from the 11th Armoured Division guards two youthful German prisoners and a haul of Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons secured to the front forks of their military-issued TF38 bicycles, commonly used for mobility of tank hunting squads. The Brit-ish soldier is armed with a British 9mm Mk III Sten submachine gun and has slung a captured German 7.62x33mm Sturmgewehr (assault rifle) from his right shoulder. The boys are lucky to have been taken by the British; Soviet tankers were far more likely to shoot on sight.

March 28, 1945, Neupotz, Germany. The Army caption states, “Panzerfaust 100 on a remote launching platform.” Note the simple expedient of positioning an ordinary door hinge so that a tank running into its attached tripwire would pull the lever down on the triggering bar. According to the WWII U.S. Army’s TM 5-223C, all types were being encountered, rigged as “ambush” anti-tank mines. While the one seen here is secured to a wooden cradle, they were equally effective when attached to a handy tree or other suitable mounting place.

March 14, 1945, Germany. Lieutenant John Reller, 9th U.S. Army in another widely pub-lished photo from WWII that can be mined for all sorts of interesting information about the Pzf 60. First off, the kopf (head containing the shaped charge warhead) has been uncoupled and removed as required for inserting the primer and booster charges in its stem. Handy step-by-step arming and firing instructions are provided on a paper sheet glued to the head with a drawing showing a proper over shoulder aiming and shooting position. Moving to the left we see the sheet metal cup protruding from the rohr (launch tube) that is the front end of the tailboom assembly inside. It has a coupling notch that locks the warhead in exact position on insertion so that its small front sight stud (seen in line with the base of the vorsicht arrow drawing on the warhead) is at 12 o’clock for sighting. A rectangular sheet metal tab, riveted to the warhead, is snapped in place to a stud on the front cup to further secure the whole warhead and tail-fin assembly. The latch pin securing the top of the sight to the tube at the base of the cup has been pulled and the sight lifted into upright position. This frees the safety slide at its base so it can be thumbed forward immediately before firing. With the safety forward into the fire position, the abzug (trigger bar) rocks upward, providing a generous surface for even a thick, winter-mitted hand to press it down to fire. Stenciled red paint markings on the rohr (tube) read right side up to warn the firer: Starker Feuerstrahl (Strong Jet of Fire!) Vorsicht! (Caution!) Smaller lettering on the other side warned that the launch tube is loaded even when the head is removed.

May 1945, Berlin, Germany. At the bitter end of Hitler’s Thousand-Year Reich, this Soviet T-34/85 (85mm main gun) medium tank with crewmen and protective infantrymen aboard is seen at the capitol city’s famous Brandenburg Gate. Most notable for the purpose of this feature is the addition of apparently improvised wire screens—perhaps even some bed spring frames—hoping for protection against the dreaded Panzer-faust. In ideal circumstances, these standoff screens would provide enough resistance to detonate the hollow charge warhead before it could hit the tank’s armor; an idea that has been brought forward right up to today.

March 1945, Germany. Ever more desperate measures
in the last days of the War inspired the valiant but quite impractical attempt at adapt-ing the Panzerfaust as arma-ment for a tank-killing aircraft. Here we see an example of Germany’s anti-armor combat plane, one of just a handful of Büker Bü 181 trainers fitted with two Pzf 100s on each wing. Aimed by a crude wire sight for the pilot and fired by thin steel cables leading into the cockpit, it was not only sadly inaccurate, but it was found the top ones would set the plane’s plywood and fabric wings on fire.

March 16, 1945, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany. U.S. 2nd Infantry Division Combat Engineers examine a forward-area Panzerfaust supply dump, abandoned by hastily retreating German forces. Production figures for all Pzf types indicate that more than 8 million were manufactured between 1943 and 1945. Despite Allied bombing raids on the three primary factories, coupled with strafing and rocket attacks on supply trains, a substantial number of these made it into the hands of Germany’s soldiers. Additionally, Germany supplied its allies with considerable numbers; mainly Finland, Hungary and Italy.

December 1945, Southern Netherlands. In a photograph accompanying a report on the dangers to children at play from mines and ammunition left behind at the end of WWII, this youngster has found what appears to be a Pzf 60 dud, complete with its 1.6 pounds of Cyclonite/Pentolite high-explosive, shaped-charge filling! This is what the complete projectile looks like when fired, with its sturdy wooden tailboom and thin sheet metal fins covered in soot from the black powder propelling charge. Failure to detonate is not uncommon for a number of reasons including a faulty impact fuze or even a battle-stressed firer forgetting or improperly inserting the booster and primer.

Panzerfaust Epilogue
German improvements and experimentation continued right up to the very end, beginning with 150m and 250m range versions. These were also intended to be reloadable with some special purpose warheads including fragmentation, caseless, incendiary and chemical. Everything stopped when Germany formally surrendered on May 4, 1945.
U.S. Army Ordnance Corps considered further development but ultimately abandoned the effort in favor of its existing 3.5-inch “Super Bazooka.” Post-War Ger-many adopted the reloadable Panzerfaust 44mm DM2 Ausführung 1 Lanze (lance), reportedly a further develop-ment of the Pzf 250.
While it is commonly asserted that the Soviet RPG-2 was based on the German experimentation, experts dis-count the idea, citing development work starting years earlier. But without a doubt, the WWII German Panzerfaust inspired a host of similar man-portable tank killers that followed.
References

Book
Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck by Gordon L. Rottman, 2014, Osprey Publishing.
YouTube Videos
“Männer gegen Panzer,” youtube.com/watch?v=3L0LffV2obA “Panzerfaust—Close Combat Training,” youtube.com/watch?v=puguQI1hIUA

Next Time
In the next installment of Männer gegen Panzer, we’ll provide an extensive photo feature on the Panzerschreck (tank terror), Germany’s powerful answer to America’s “bazooka.”

Prelude to the Panzerfaust

This final installment of the author’s research series into WWII German anti-tank weaponry is again inspired by “Men Against Tanks,” a dramatized but deadly serious German wartime training film found on YouTube (search: männer gegen panzer). Going back in time to the outbreak of War, we now turn our attention to an examination of some marginally effective, anti-tank weapons and the desperate rush for arms to counter a new generation of armored fighting vehicles that began entering the arena.

Renault R35 Tank

May–June 1940, France. An apparently pleased German soldier stands next to a “French Renault R35 tank, knocked out in a field. Lying next to the vehicle is a member of the crew who was killed” (Bundesarchiv via Waralbum.ru). With a stubby, low-velocity 37mm main gun, clad in just 43mm / 1 5/8 inches of armor at its strongest points and crawling along at no more than 12 mph, theChar leger Modele 1935 Rwas easy prey for even the little 37mm PAK 35/36 in regular service with German assault units. This was soon to change as heavier, faster tanks began entering the fray.

From Technical and Tactical Trends, No. 21, March 25, 1943

Military Intelligence Service, War Department

Since the original basic designs upon which the equipment of the present German army was produced, there has been no pause in the intensity of development which followed. As the German army gained experience, newer and more efficient designs of equipment were produced, and existing types were modified as circumstances required.

Granatbuchse 39
July 20, 1944, Saint-Mathieu-de-Treviers, France. “894th Ordnance Company Tec 3 Raymond Suen with a 7.92mm German anti-tank rifle Gr. B. 39” (Signal Corps/National Archives). When it became obvious that the original Pz. B. 39 anti-tank rifle needed more capability, it was reworked as a grenade launcher, firing high-explosive, fragmenting, anti-personnel rounds as well as small and large anti-tank grenades. The launcher threaded to the barrel is the Schiessbecher, which is also used on the Mauser Kar 98k rifle, firing the same grenades.

Lackadaisically Light Tanks

With some notable but relatively rare examples, most tanks in service with European armies in the 1930s were slow and thinly armored. Thus, practicalities of planning and equipping for War among potential adversaries dictated anti-tank weapons that were just “good enough” to take them out should the need arise.

Arise it did on the first day of September 1940, when Adolph Hitler’s Wehrmacht (armed forces) stormed across the border with Poland, a country quickly doomed from a pincer movement as Joseph Stalin’s Red Army rolled in from the East. This immediately drew France into the fight because of treaty obligations, and Britain soon followed for the same reason. Then, the Hitler–Stalin marriage of cynical convenience got an instantly nasty divorce on June 22, 1941, with “Operation Barbarossa.” Triumphant German Panzers (tanks) roared toward Moscow, and the Soviets collapsed into rapid retreat mode.

“So far, so good,” for German infantrymen as the saying goes, because the various types of anti-tank guns supporting them were brutally efficient, but not so good when no PAK—Panzer Abwehr Kanone(anti-tank cannon)—was present. What was the German Panzerjäger(tank hunter) to do?

Riding into Russia

“German infantry on the Sd.Kfz 251 Ausf. A[n] armored personnel carrier, on the road to the USSR. On the hood sits a soldier with 7.92mm Pz. B. 39 anti-tank rifle” (Bundesarchiv via Netherlands National Archive). Noting the slide-on mounting fixture just below the rear sight, the rifle’s distinctive sidesaddle 10-round cartridge hold-ers have been temporarily removed; probably for convenience in transport. Its prominent circular, side-vented muzzle brake helps tame the special cartridge’s heavy recoil.

Heavier Hitters
Although not properly classified as infantry weapons, some larger, highly effective tank-killing tools were almost always nearby, working in close coordination with frontline units. Standard-issue models were quickly augmented by others captured from Polish, French, British and Russian forces.

20cm Pz. B. 41

British units up against the German Afrika Korps in 1941 felt the fury of this diabolical 28/20mm, tapered bore anti-tank gun modeled on the “Gerlich principle” with a sizzling muzzle velocity of 4,550 fps, penetrating 2.6 inches of armor at 400 yards.

20mm Solothurn s/8-1100

February 24, 1943, Kasserine Pass, Tunisia. A captured Ger-man Solothurn 20mm anti-tank rifle. “This gun, an improved version of the Solothurn 1933 model manufactured in Switzer-land by Waffenfabrik Bern, is a magazine-fed, recoil-operated, semiautomatic shoulder weapon which can be fired from a bipod or a low-lying, pneumat-ic-wheeled carriage” (Ordnance Technical Intelligence Bulletin). Defeating 30mm / 1 1/8 inches of armor flat-on at 500 yards, it easily slaughtered American half-tracks, scout cars and other light-skinned, armored fighting vehicles in this infamous encounter with German forces.

2cm FlaK 30
October 8, 1944, Aachen, Germany. “American GIs with a captured Ger-man 20mm” (Signal Corps/National Archives). Firing both high-explosive and armor-piercing shells, it was a deadly weapon against propeller-driven aircraft and many armored vehicles, reportedly piercing 25mm / 1 inch of steel at 400 yards.

37mm PAK 35/36

“German 37mm PAK 35/36 anti-tank gun with crew, camouflaged and set for direct fire at the edge of a forest on the Eastern Front” (Bundesarchiv via Waralbum.ru). Combat weight just 700 pounds and served by a five-man crew, the little A-T cannon was relatively easy to move around and quickly put into action. Initially, Germany’s main close-support, anti-tank gun, its limited range and armor penetra-tion (49mm / 1.9 inches at 400 yards) soon proved inadequate, leading to the 3.7cm Stielgranate 41, a hollow-charge finned bomb.

8.8cm Raketenwerfer 43 (Püppchen)
August 7, 1944, Cherbourg, France. “Ordnance men with captured German anti-tank rocket gun.” It’s important to note that the electrically actuated, drum-finned rockets they’re holding are actually for the 8.8cm Panzerschreck. Whimsically nicknamed, “Püppchen” (little dolly) in official German nomenclature: “This weapon is a closed-breech rocket launcher which fires a rocket projectile. From this weapon, as limited by the sight, a maximum effective range of 765 yards is obtained” (Ordnance Techni-cal Intelligence Bulletin). An odd little paratrooper weapon, it was vastly outclassed by the very powerful ultra-light 75mm and light 105mm recoilless guns.

Schiessbecher
June 21, 1944, France. “German soldier with camouflaged helmet lying in a grassy improvised fighting position, holding a rifle with a rifle grenade launcher” (Bundesarchiv). The little 30mm “shooting cup” grenade launcher could be easily clamped to the muzzle of standard rifles, allowing the infantryman to fire a variety of munitions including anti-personnel, anti-materiel and anti-armor types. It appears the one in his launcher cup is the puny Gewehr-Sprenggranate, an anti-personnel type, weighing 9 ounces with just 1.1 ounce of explosive filler.

Panzerwurfmine (Lang)
August 6, 1944, Normandy, France. “At a captured German ammunition depot, Staff Sergeant Howard Tournier simulates throwing a Pan-zerwurfmine.” The canvas fins on this bizarre, hollow-charge, anti-tank grenade have been unfolded for apparently dramatic effect in the photo. “This is a recent type anti-tank grenade. It is of hollow-charge design and is thrown by hand at tanks from a distance of 20 to 30 yards. The explosive warhead contains 18 ½ ounces of 50/50 R.D.X./T.N.T. cast around a hollow-charge liner made of pressed steel. Weight 3 pounds, length 21 inches” (Ordnance Technical Intelligence Bulletin).

Gewehr-Panzergranate

“The head, a seamless steel tube fitted with a light ballistic cap, contains a hol-low-charge cone and an explosive filler of T.N.T. Weight 8.8 ounces, filler weight 1.75 ounces, range 50 yards” (Ordnance Techni-cal Intelligence Bulletin).

Geballte Ladung
March 31, 1945, Fritzlar, Germany. “9th Armored Division infantry found numerous examples of these Geballte Ladung (bundled charge or concentrated charge).” “The Stielhandgranate 24 contained 165 grams of explosives, more than enough for a hand grenade, but for the infantry, the need for more blast effect sometimes forced them to go for other solutions. The German manuals described how the soldiers themselves could make a convenient concentrated charge from seven heads of the Stielhandgranate 24. This somewhat heavy 7-pound ‘hand grenade’ contained 1,155 grams of explosives and could be used for demolition, anti-tank or anti-pillbox work” (Bergflak’s Lounge, bergflak.com).

“PAK” ‘Em In

While sheer numbers of medium and heavy Allied tanks too often overran German infantry units, they counted on help from some larger caliber PAK (Panzer Abwehr Kanone) guns that could still do the job. The dozen standard German PAKs were immediately joined by others acquired in combat, ranging from 50mm up to others of monstrous proportion.

7.5cm PAK 40
“75mm PAK 40 on a hill in Italy.” Far more common and nearly as effective as the fearsome and legend-ary 8.8cm FlaK “Eighty-Eight” dual-purpose, high-velocity gun, “The PAK 40, an anti-tank and antiper-sonnel weapon. … Muzzle velocity 2,525 fps, penetra-tion 154mm / 6 1/8 inches with tungsten core ammuni-tion. Effective range 1,800 meters in direct fire. Rate of fire 14 rpm” (Ordnance Technical Intelligence Bul-letin).

Kampfpistole
Infantry Anti-Armor Weapons
German infantrymen undoubtedly appre-ciated help from all those bigger tank busters, but far too often they were on their own while facing armored threats. The most common remedy was the rifle grenade of various types, their launchers and specialized ammunition liberally dis-tributed from squad level on up. There was also the Kampfpistole, firing anti-tank grenades from a modified flare gun.

Desperation

Moving now into the tragic realm of abject desperation combined with incredible courage, we encounter several anti-tank weapons that are often as dangerous to the users as to their intended targets. Taking the term close combat to the extreme, “Molotov cocktails” and other contrivances required soldiers with utmost daring and steely nerves to perform as designed. It is no wonder that most Tank Destruction Badges were award posthumously.

Hafthohlladung 3kg
Spring 1944. Ready to jump from a protective trench and rush to the attack, this undoubtedly brave German Panzerknacker (tank cracker) will attempt to fix this 8-pound, hollow-charge, anti-tank mine—held in place by three strong magnets—to the steel armor of an enemy tank. “The German magnetic, hollow-charge, anti-tank mine, designed for use by tank-hunting squads, consists of a main filling of 1 pound, 15 ½ ounces of T.N.T. in a pressed metal container of conical shape. Its standard (B.Z.E.) friction igniter has a 4.5-second delay” (Ordnance Technical Intelligence Bulletin).

Tellermine 42
Nearly invisible when emplaced and with devastating blast effect from a bursting charge of 12 pounds of cast TNT, the four Teller-mine (plate mine) types in the series were the scourge of Allied tankers. Most often, combat engineers buried them along likely avenues of approach, but tactical doctrine also called for infantry tank hunter teams to attach long drag wires to pull the mines into the path of oncoming tanks.

German “Tank Hunting” Tactics
From Tactical and Technical Trends No. 29, July 15, 1943
Military Intelligence Service, War Department

The equipment for close-in tank hunting consists of the following: incendiary bottles and Tellermines, TNT, automatic weapons (our own or captured), submachine guns, Very pistols, hand grenades, smoke bottles and camouflage material, as well as hatchets, crowbars, etc., to use as clubs for the bending of machine-gun barrels projecting from the tank. Of this equipment the useful and available weapons for blinding, stopping and destroying the tank should always be carried along.

Panzerfaust 60

March 14, 1945, Germany. “Lieutenant John Reller, 9th U.S. Army, examines a Panzerfaust 60, a single-shot, throwaway, recoilless, anti-tank rocket weapon with a warhead containing 1.6 pounds of Cyclonite/Pentolite high-explosive shaped charge filling” (U.S. Army Signal Corps/National Archives). Developed specifically to give individual German soldiers the ability to take out enemy armor at a somewhat safe distance, more than 8 million were manufactured between 1943 and 1945.

Epilogue

Because Allied assaults only grew larger, stronger and more ferocious as the War progressed, all of these des-perate anti-tank weapons remained in service right up to the fall of Berlin and the bitter end of Hitler’s “Thousand Year Reich” on May 7, 1945. But beginning in 1943, German infantrymen were fortunate to receive newly developed Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck weapons that gave at least some hope of defeating tanks at a survivable distance. In-depth examinations of these remarkable developments are chronicled by the author in Parts 1 and 2 (Small Arms Review, Vol. 25, No. 1 and No. 2).

References

Books
The author acknowledges and appreciates permission received to research the U.S. Army Ordnance Museum’s col-lection of photos and original U.S. WWII War Department, Military Intelligence publications. Excellent reprints with many entries from these are readily available with a bit of searching.
Illustrated Arsenal of the Third Reich, Donald B. McLean, Normount Technical Publications, 1975.
TM-E 30-451: Handbook On German Military Forces (1943), Military Intelligence Division, War Dept., U.S. Government Printing Office, 2020.
Video
“Männer Gegen Panzer,”
youtube.com/watch?v=3L0LffV2obA.
March 2021

By Robert Bruce –

This second installment of Robert Bruce’s research into WWII German anti-tank weaponry is again inspired by “Men Against Tanks,”a dramatized but deadly serious German wartime training film found on YouTube (search: “manner gegen panzer”). It compelled this examination of the Panzerschreck—literally “tank fright”—another extraordinary infantry anti-tank weapon used by the Third Reich.

This photo essay is intended to be a springboard to the encyclopediccontent that’s free to all at Bergflak’s Lounge (bergflak.com). The site’s creator is a Norwegian Army Captain with a decades-long near obsession for the Panzerschreck and other WWII German weapons and equipment.

He has amassed an astonishing array of primary source information, follow-up research and scores of photos. Small Arms Review hasn’t found anything in research of English language resources that can even come close.

As such, readers are urged to start with the extensive photo captions found here and then explore even more deeply by diving into Bergflak’s Lounge.

Death of a General Sherman

October 1944, Holland/Belgium border. German Fallschirmjäger (paratroop-ers) move past a derelict M4A3 Sherman, an iconic American medium tank meeting doom while in service with the Canadian Army’s 21st CAR. To the point of this feature, arms carried by the Panzer Zerstörer Truppe (tank destroyer troop) include (from left) a Panzerfaust (Pzf) 60 or 100, two MP40 submachine guns and a Raketenpanzerbüchse 54 (RPzB54). According to German specifications, the highly efficient shaped charge warheads of both of these formidable anti-tank weapons are capable of punching through more than 6 inches of armor plate, easily exploiting numerous vulnerabilities of the Sherman’s armor.

Rampaging Russian Tanks The slow and lightly armored tanks that entered service with the world’s armies in the period following “The War to End All Wars” could be neutralized rather easily with anti-tank rifles and light artillery pieces. This situation changed rapidly when Germany ignited another worldwide conflagration in September 1939 by invading Poland, steamrolling France and driving deeply into Russia. Adolph Hitler’s Blitzkrieg (Lightning War) began shorting out when confronted by a surprise tidal wave of Josef Stalin’s new T-34 tanks, which were faster and more heavily armored. While the Germans had some larger caliber PAK (Panzer Abwehr Kanone) guns that could still do the job, sheer numbers of these Russian tanks and their relative invulnerability too often decimated German infantry units.
As seen in the first installment of “Männer Gegen Panzer” (SAR Vol. 25, No. 1), this resulted in a crash program that produced the ingenious Panzerfaust in 1943, giving individual frontline soldiers the ability to knock out enemy tanks without closing to the knife-fighting range.
While hitting a 30-ton Russian monster from 30m away was a good first start, more distance from disaster was sorely needed. Ironically, the immediate solution was provided by Stalin’s minions themselves, carelessly allowing capture of some American-supplied, first-production M1 “bazookas” on the battlefield in late 1942. Other sources say the first capture took place in Tunisia in the spring of 1943, directly from the Americans themselves. Either way, these clever little launching pipes and crates of their zippy, armor zapping 2.36-inch/60mm diameter rockets were immediately flown to Berlin for close examination by Heereswaffenampt (Army Weapons Office).
In somewhat typical Teutonic manner, an “improved” Bazooka adaptation was fielded in record time, mostly because its 3.5-inch (88mm) hollow charge rocket was easily converted from existing ammo for the Raketenwerfer 43 Püppchen. Its very sturdy launch tube was just a thick steel pipe, but characteristically over-engineered at twice the weight of the American weapon while featuring a magneto ignition system that eliminated the need for the Bazooka’s problematic flashlight batteries.
Prototypes of the new Raketenpanzerbüchse 54 (RPzB54) “rocket armor rifle” were rushed to the Eastern Front in October 1943. Trial by fire in Russia’s brutal arctic winter and soon afterward in North Africa’s harsh desert conditions revealed flaws and problems that were being continually addressed right up to the bitter end in the spring of 1945.
Panzer Zerstörer Truppe—tank destroyer teams—armed with both Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck launchers now had serviceable weapons that could be fired from a somewhat safe distance with reasonable chance of a crippling or killing first-round hit.

Two “Bazookas”
April 1945, Germany. 9th U.S. Army Private First Class Harvey Clark compares the German and American rocket launchers. In his left hand is a light and handy U.S. 2.36-inch/60mm M1A1 (no foregrip) Bazooka, in regular use by GIs at this late date. Since this one is badly shot up in obvious combat action, could it have been in use on the enemy side? The other is a nice, very late production 3.5-inch/88mm Raketenpan-zerbüchse 54/1, its up-to-date modifications readily identified by the launch tube, shortened 34cm/13.4 inches at the rear section, more supports for the breech guard ring, the electrical connector box relocated to the 12 o’clock position and more elaborate rear and front MKIV sights. Note as well the standard sling, blast shield and rectangular muzzle safety guard. Interestingly, the late War addition of a small add-on shield to protect the firer’s hands may be present on this one. Looking at the firing mechanism, the cocking handle is fully rearward, held in position by the safety tab.

“Whattaya Think Dicken?”
January 1945, Schoppen, Belgium. “U.S. Army Sergeant Lionel Pender and Private Jerome Dicken take a look at a captured German bazooka and its rocket.” The standard production RPzB54 looks to be much worse for wear with scraped-up winter whitewash, muzzle safety guard knocked completely around and no sign of the essential blast shield. Because we can’t see markings on the 88mm Raketen Pan-zer Büchse Granat 4322 (R PzB Gr. 4322) rocket, it’s unclear which one of the three primary HE types it is—their propellant fill necessarily formulated to seasonal use in ambient temperature ranges.

Panzerschreck Photo Shoot

January 1944, Italy. This photo starts off a series of images we found of what is almost certainly a U.S. Army Ord-nance Technical Intelligence field team documenting one of the first freshly captured RPzB54 systems so that an info bulletin can be quickly produced for U.S. and Allied forces. To begin with, they’re showing how the rocket is loaded into this German bazooka would be instantly familiar to American infantrymen. The weapon itself shows key characteristics of an early-production model with no shield and no muzzle safety bracket. Here’s a resulting excerpt from the Army’s wartime Catalog of Enemy Ordnance: “The German Anti-tank rocket launcher (Raketenpan-zerbüchse 43), one of which was captured in Italy, is a comparatively late design, similar in appearance to the American ‘Bazooka.’” The erroneous “43” was picked up in translations from early German development documentation. Production models were always designated RPzB54

The Projectile
Unfortunately, the stenciled markings on the 88mm R PzB Gr. 4322 rocket are too indistinct to read in this photo, but we can rely on the Army’s description provided in resulting advisories, bulletins and manuals: “High Explosive Anti-tank Rocket Grenade 8.8cm R.Pz. B. Gr. 4322. This fin-stabilized rocket projectile … has a maximum effective range of 165 yards. Eight and one-half-inch armor penetration has been obtained in static tests. … The bursting charge is Cyclotol (41.2% TNT, 58.8%Cyclonite) weighing 1 lb., 7.2 ozs.” While quite efficiently developed directly from the percussion-fired 88mm (3.5-inch) rocket used in a closed breech by the odd little Raketenwerfer 43 Püppchen, the handy Panzerschreck rocket is electrically initiated.

In this closer shot the RPzB54 has its rocket properly positioned as it would be upon loading and provides some interesting details including the full-length, rectangular groove pressed into the side of the sturdy steel Rohr (pipe) launching tube. Three evenly spaced, shallow, hydraulically pressed grooves run the length of the pipe, strengthening it and allowing the rocket to slide freely down the tube despite small dents or debris inevitable in combat operations. Below the tube, the prominent cocking handle is fully rearward, held in the SAFE position by a metal tab at the bottom. This holds the steel striker rod under spring tension.

Moving in even closer for details of the arming and firing mechanism, a sturdy arrangement of protective wooden strips front and below with cheap metal stampings that are riveted or welded in place. Compared with the close-up RPzB54 photo, we see the cocking handle forward so that the striker rod is relaxed and not quite touching the shock generator (a magneto that looks like a flashlight battery).
The resulting Tech Intel Bulletin describes the firing sequence as follows: “The firing mechanism … consists of a spring-loaded rod (which is drawn forward into a compressed position when the piece is cocked) and a cylindrical component which appears to contain a magnetized rod and coil. Two wires attached to this current-product-ing component connect with the socket on the launcher and with the plunger that contacts the tail of the projectile.” Pulling the trigger releases the striker rod to spring forward, kick the magneto and send an electrical pulse to the rocket.

After the field team finished with picture taking, the actual specimens were taken back for even closer examination by highly specialized Ordnance experts. This image from a late-War technical manual shows the rocket’s component parts and a cutaway of the warhead’s interior. Here’s an abbreviated version of the accompanying text: “This fin-stabilized rocket projectile … has a maximum effective range of 165 yards. Eight and one-half inch armor penetration has been obtained in static tests. … The complete round consists of a point fuzed high explosive, hollow charge projectile assembled to a steel tube with a Venturi and stabilizer assembly attached, containing an igniter, propellant and electric primer. A late type of ammunition, the R.Pz.B.Gr 4999, is reported to give good performance up to a range of 220 yards, 25 degrees C (77 degrees F).”

U.S. ARMY SIGNAL CORPS, NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Here’s Your New Ofenrohr
March 21, 1944, France. After enough of the first-production model Panzerschreck had been rushed to units fighting in Russia, it was time to begin introduction of this remarkable new tank killer to troops elsewhere. In this sequential pair of photos we see officers and soldiers lined up at a presumably safe distance to observe a live-fire demonstration. In preparation for firing, the Laderschütze (loader) has detached the Holzgriff mit Stecker, a small wooden protector, from the base of the rocket, and it dangles from its two electrical wires. Now he’s removing the fuze safety pin immediately before slipping the rocket into the rear of the tube. Originally designated Ofenrohr (stove or furnace pipe) because of its appearance and the large amount of smoke generated on firing, the weapon itself is clearly a very basic, early model with none of the improvements and refinements that will soon follow. For practical purposes including stability and increasing hit probability to properly impress the demonstration’s onlookers, the muzzle end rests firmly on bricks stacked at just the right height. Note the correct positioning of the Richtschütze (firer’s or gunner’s) hands, puzzlingly ungloved/unprotected from the exiting rocket’s fiery backblast.

As the loader completes his job by plugging the rocket’s “hot” wire into the electrical connection box, our brave gunner settles down into a good shooting stance with elbow braced on the lip of the foxhole. His hooded cape may be improvised protection, snugly secured around the filterless gas mask to minimize effects of the rocket’s flaming, noxious exhaust that continued some 2m (6.5 feet) from the muzzle. Additionally, the rocket’s loud report on firing mandated cotton balls stuffed into ears for hearing protection.

Same Day on the Russian Front
March 21, 1944, Ukraine
(Southern). If official caption information is accurate, on the very same day and some 800 miles away, a youthful Gefreiter (acting corporal) in a training exercise gives the photographer a good look at a rocket prepared for loading. Gripping the 88mm R PzB Gr. 4322 rocket in the prescribed position on its motor tube, he has pulled loose the adhesive tape securing the wooden wire holder/igniter protector to the fin drum. Next step will be to remove and pocket the nose fuze safety pin before sliding the rocket into the tube. In a situation where the weapon isn’t fired and must be unloaded, the safety pin absolutely must be reinserted.

Having slid the rocket into the tube and making sure it is clamped securely in place by the catch seen at top rear, our stalwart loader-in-training is ready to plug the rocket’s “hot” wire into the large, rearmost opening of the connection box. This completes the electrical firing circuit because protruding from the box and into the tube, a spring-loaded, sharp-tipped bolt contacts the rocket, serving as a ground.

Ready for Action
April–May 1944, Italy. A few weeks later and a bit closer to home, a two-man Panzerschreck team reinforcing Germany’s Fascist Italian allies shows the correct practical/tactical doctrine in a narrow
“V-”shaped trench while loading up another early model Panzerschreck. Looks like the gunner is crouching while putting on his absolutely necessary gas mask and head protection. Immediately after the rocket is securely in place and electrically connected, the loader will shout, “Granate ins rohr!” (“Grenade in tube”) and duck down in his side of the trench. This way the firer can aim in any direction without concern for the back-blast. A stick grenade (ribbed handle indicating smoke type) and MP40 submachine gun are immediately available to deal harshly with an enemy tank’s accompanying infantrymen.

New and Improved
1944, Reich Territory. “Soldier in foxhole during training with Panzerschreck with blast shield.” He’s prudently gloved but no doubt pleased to have a new, standard-production Schutzshild (protective shield), freeing him from the necessity of wearing head and face protection. Early on, shooters who understandably despised stuffy and vision-restricting gas masks to avoid getting a face full of rocket blast and debris began to fashion crude shields. In response to strong and persistent complaints, an official version made from stamped sheet metal as seen here was produced and hastily distributed beginning around September 1944, providing protection but adding another 1.5kg/3.3 pounds. Simply clamped on to the tube with a levered constriction band, it deflected not only rocket blast but debris thrown back against the shield as evidenced by what’s splattered all over it and the front sight. And that little “window” at sight height is glass that’s quickly replaceable as was quite often needed. Note also the appearance of the rectangular safety guard clamped just below the muzzle and conveniently resting on a handy wooden plank.

Tank Hunter Team
August 1944, Russia (North). “Schützen fur Panzerbüchse with rocket anti-tank rifle.” Hastily dug in and blending in somewhat with their surroundings, this team with a shield-equipped RPzB54 is ready to take on T-34 tanks. Looking at all the dry vegetation behind the launcher, there’s more than a little chance that the back-blast will start a problematic brushfire. The sturdy, rope-handled wooden crate next to the loader holds two rockets along with a spare sighting window glass. Not evident in the picture, the crate is prominently marked for their type and temperature range. With luck they’ve been issued the right ones for summer in Russia, but in an emergency any kind will do. Rockets were also carried in Aufsatgestell—unit-crafted rucksack packboards (mounting frame).

BUNDESARCHIV VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Crash and Burn
This still-smoldering Soviet T-34/76 has run into a deep, anti-tank ditch after probably being ambushed by a Panzer Zerstörer Truppe. If the tactical situation permits, their attack would have begun with smoke pots or smoke grenades obscuring the tank crew’s vision, slowing it down and likely hiding the ditch from the driver who blundered in. The immobilized tank would then be easy pickings for any of the team’s anti-tank weapons.

BUNDESARCHIV VIA WARALBUM.RU

Get the Right Sight Picture!
Diagram from the December 1944 manual D1864/6 showing the improved MKIV rear and front sights for both the RPzB54 and 54/1. The simple rear sight, closest to the firer’s eye, has a prominent “U-”center notch for accurate straight-on shots on the T-34 tank. The smaller “V” notches are for windage and properly leading moving tanks. The necessarily more complicated front sight has a movable plate that “ladders up” from 200m to 150m and 100m. Loosening the prominent wing nut allows the plate to be moved up and down. Note the index line for optimal 150m shots is set at the “O” mark for use with the latest Wintermunition 1944/45 rockets. Plus (“+”) and minus (“-”) marks show adjustments necessary for accurate shooting at warmer or colder ambient temperatures.

Moving into Position
August 1944, Russia (North). A Panzerknacker (tank cracker) pair moves out smartly into another favorable position to engage ram-paging Russian tanks. This is one frame from a series of propaganda photos staged to highlight the exploits of these remarkable tank-killing heroes, both wearing three Panzervernichtungabzeichen (tank destruction badges) on their right sleeves. The award of each badge signified that its wearer had destroyed an enemy tank using an infantry anti-tank weapon.

Awaiting the Inevitable
October 1944, Aachen, Germany. “A German soldier with a Panzerschreck RPzB54 at the entrance to a wine cellar on rue Aachen.” Noting two launchers, this is evidence that a Panzer Zerstörer Truppe anti-tank team has taken up this unusual urban defensive position. Clearly seen at the bottom of the shield is the small, rectangular box holding spare glass for the sighting window.

BUNDESARCHIV VIA WARALBUM.RU

Kampfgeist?
November 1944, Germany. “A German officer trains Volkssturm militia in the use of the Panzerschreck grenade launcher (RPzB54). One of the men in the background is holding a Panzerfaust 30.” Is that old fellow’s expression Kampfgeist (battle spirit) or understandable wariness? Intended as a propaganda photo showing patriotic civilians stepping forward for defense of the Fatherland, it actually exposes Adolf Hitler’s fanaticism in pressing the old and weak into service. That apparently battle-scarred veteran rocket launcher shows much evidence of hard use with its muzzle safety guard knocked askew, little paint left on the tube and a badly cracked sighting window glass. Note that the gunner’s firing hand is positioned over the trigger, and the cocking handle is off SAFE and forward, showing the spring-loaded firing rod is ready to strike the electrical spark generator. At the far right of the photo another militiaman holds a Haftholladung magnetic mine, perhaps the most desperately dangerous anti-tank weapon in the arsenal.

BUNDESARCHIV VIA POLISH NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Dragon Model Kit
Purveyors of highly realistic scale model kits offer a selection of Panzerschreck in different configurations and scenarios. This one is particularly interesting because it portrays soldiers of a Panzer Zerstörer Truppe (tank destroyer squad) moving up to the battle front with their four Ofenrohre and ammunition in a pair of Infanterie Karren 8 (IF8). The specialized IF8 carts—seen with improvised wooden carrier racks—are being pulled by a strong draft horse.

Get One When You Can
Reenactors and others pining for a Panzershreck can find some satisfaction in good replicas offered by Sarco, Inc., International Military Antiques (IMA-USA), U.S. Replica Gun Co. and other firms. The trick is to pay attention to detail in balancing quality vs. price, so beware of those not-always cheaper Chinese versions. The nice one seen here is from Sarco, Inc., currently filling orders as quickly as they can be built from the parts kits they have on hand.

The Good Old Days?
Interarmco’s legendary war surplus arms wheeler-dealer Samuel Cummings somehow got a major stockpile of Panzerschrecke (almost certainly from Finland) and shipped them to his sprawling complex of weapons warehouses in Alexandria, Virginia. Understandably, no live rockets that came with the deal could be imported. In the early 1960s, some popular U.S. gun magazines carried tantalizing ads from various firms offering Interarmco’s war surplus launchers. While Seaport’s “Genuine German Bazookas” could be had at the time for a paltry $19.95, this recalculates to $172 now when adjusting for inflation. Still, that’s a great price when considering the nearly $5,000 that a decent original went for recently at auction.

Old and New
1945, Berlin, Germany. Stoically marching in step through the ruins of their once proud capital city, this group of Volkssturm (People’s Storm) oldsters is on their way to take up defensive positions as the Red Army’s rapacious hordes close in. The RPzB54 slung from that grandfather’s shoulder appears to be either factory new or freshly repainted. He has wisely loosened the shield’s clamp band and slid it around into a position better suited for carrying on the march. Those rectangular riveted strips on the shield are for attaching camouflage.

BUNDESARCHIV VIA POLISH NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Why is Small Arms Review featuring cartoons? Well, while doing military weapons photo research in the National Archives, Robert Bruce stumbled across a series of decidedly comical posters with very serious messages for American GIs in WWII.

They were the work of Will Eisner, a talented young soldier/artist in the Army Ordnance Corps, whose goofy, buck-toothed main character Joe Dope showed how stupidity in too many common situations could prove fatal for himself and his fellow fighters. Will and Joe were so effective in this critical mission that the duo continued amusing and educating soldiers for nearly 30 years. A sobering reminder that Joe’s inexperienced descendants continued to find their way into the Army.

Eisner’s audience was the “Soldiers who have busted knuckles, greasy oily grimy hands, worn coveralls and scuffed boots … the Soldiers who keep the Army’s equipment ready. Rarely has art and the written word been so well blended. Will Eisner showed that content and sequential art complement one another.”

—Jonathan Pierce, the current editor (2019) of PS Magazine.

Soon after the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, William Erwin Eisner, a 24-year-old artist in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, got his draft notice from Uncle Sam’s U.S. Army. In an initially perplexing but ultimately perfect example of its rare propensity for properly fitting a man’s civilian skills to his military assignment, the Army sent him to the Ordnance Corps, responsible for guns, vehicles and other machinery of war.

There, Private Eisner’s civilian reputation as the creator of The Spirit, a highly successful comic book supplement in major newspapers in 1940, landed him a position as an illustrator for what was at the time a rather bland and technical maintenance newsletter named Army Motors. Equally remarkable, Will was able to persuade the senior officer who was in charge—not to mention enough of the other old-school brass—that his well-proven comic book style would be a much better way to grab and hold the attention of the Army’s tidal wave of brand new draftees and enlistees.

The Dopiest Draftee

It wasn’t long before Eisner headed up the publication’s art department, showcasing his unique drawing style and storytelling. Soon, catching the attention of higher ups, he spent the rest of the war years plying his cartoonish training trade while on the staff of the Chief of Ordnance at the Pentagon. Interestingly, he leaped from Private to Warrant Officer by way of indispensable talent and skirting the arduous Warrant Officer Candidate School ordeal with “a written test.”

Along the way and in the company of stern, square-jawed Master Sgt Half-Mast McCanick and the pneumatically pulchritudinous Connie Rodd, Eisner’s doofus, dogface Joe Dope became the main character in posters and in Army Motors, illustrating what NOT to do in a wide variety of situations on land and in the air.

Mangling Ma Deuce

It was in the particularly unforgiving arena of aerial combat that Joe did most of his damage while assigned to bomber squadrons. Apparently incapable of following maintenance requirements as an armorer, or putting his intense training in air-to-air gunnery to good use, Joe repeatedly imperiled the lives of his fellow airmen.

Interrupting a 5-Year Leave

With unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945, Eisner was mustered out and resumed his artistic and entrepreneurial work in New York City at the top tier of the comics world. He launched American Visuals Company (AVC) in 1948 with a roster of talented artists and prestigious clients like General Motors and U.S. Steel. Then, as fate would have it, AVC was perfectly positioned when war in Korea broke out in 1950.

American soldiers were back in the thick of battle, this time fighting hordes of Communist invaders in a strange land far from home. The pressures of war and another flood of young, inexperienced Joe-Dope-type draftees now manning old and poorly maintained vehicles, weapons and equipment left over from WWII spurred the Ordnance Corps to revive Eisner’s unique cartoon method for quick, effective, basic maintenance instruction.

The “Postscript” Pamphlets

It was perhaps a combination of patriotism and persuasion backed by enough money that brought civilian Eisner back into government service to the job he clearly loved of educating GIs. PS Magazine, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, his pamphlet-sized, semi-comic magazine, sprang to life from the drawing boards of AVC’s bullpen of artists in June 1951.

PS is short for postscript, indicating that it was intended to be a useful addition and supplement to sagging shelves full of necessarily fat, fact-filled Field and Technical Manuals. In addition to short instructional features on specific subjects, it answered questions and handily included brief maintenance tips and clever “field expedients” from the “busted knuckles … scuffed boots” crowd out there in the real world.

PS Goes PC

PS Magazine came out sporadically over the first 2 years until after most shooting stopped with the Armistice Agreement in July 1953. Then, with the pressures of war somewhat relieved, Eisner began to be put upon by Pentagon  Social Justice Warriors to give Joe Dope a cosmetic and conduct makeover. The evolution began gradually but then it sped up.

The brass hats ridiculously ruled that Joe the jerk reflected badly on an idealized “American Fighting Man.” Eisner saved face—literally—in PS Magazine, No. 47, 1956, recounting how Joe blew himself up after bungling headspace adjustment on an M2. Army doctors rebuilt his ugly mug, dentists fixed his buck teeth and from then on he was always properly groomed and uniformed.

Over time, Eisner’s mean old Half-Mast mellowed and most sadly, poor Connie’s appearance, wardrobe and her soldier-stimulating situations gradually became less and less sexy. The emphasis in PS Magazine shifted to more and more detailed info with fewer examples of the wonderfully outlandish cartoon characters drawn by the master himself and his talented minions who specialized in the technical-type illustrations.

Vietnam and After

Eisner had an undeniable sense of duty, as demonstrated in some weeks-long, info-gathering visits to soldiers in the fields including battle zones in Korea as well as Cold War Germany and Japan. Around the time of the Tet Offensive (January 1968) he again made the rounds in Vietnam, gaining insights evident in contemporary issues of PS Magazine and—most notably—the iconic M16A1 Rifle: Operation and Preventive Maintenance comic book.

Eisner eventually tired of fighting the Pentagon’s PC being pushed on PS Magazine, so he gave up the publication contract in 1971, closing out his 227th consecutive issue. But the 54-year-old didn’t goldbrick, and he went on with renewed enthusiasm to write, illustrate and publish a slew of what are now known as “graphic novels.” Among these notables is the very personal A Contract with God and his bittersweet Last Day in Vietnam, with a timeline of real-life vignettes from the three wars he experienced first-hand.

The “New and Improved” PS Magazine

Today’s PS Magazine—steadily moving past issue 800 and now in digital form only—is a far cry from the rollicking, risqué days of Eisner and his team. As more and more women have poured in to the Army, the last traces of testosterone petered out. Perhaps this is understandable on some levels, but we old GIs know what Eisner-style fun the new generation is missing.

See for yourselves now that PS Magazine has gone online and accessible to anyone—friend and foe alike—logsa.army.mil/#/psmag.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

WHNT News 19 video: whnt.com/2016/04/01/defending-america-for-65-years-with-ps-magazine/

PS Magazine issues 1–229 at Virginia Commonwealth University: digital.library.vcu.edu/digital/collection/psm

PS Magazine issues 1951 to 2014 at Radionerds.com: psmag.radionerds.com/index.php/Main_Page

PS Magazine from 1999 to Present: logsa.army.mil/#/psmag

Downloadable M16A1 Rifle: Operation and Preventive Maintenance comic book: oberlandarms.com/pdf/m16a1_rifle_operation_and_preventive_maintenance_1969.pdf PS Magazine: The Best of the Preventive Maintenance Monthly, by Eddie Campbell, 2011