Military Power

Whilst the British and French were developing Heavy InfantryTanks for the close support of their Infantry Divisions, Germany in the late 1930s was considering a different approach. Under the supervision of Colonel Walter Model, head of Technical Section 8 the artillery were given responsibility to design a self propelled gun for the role of direct infantry support in the forward zone.

The resulting prototype which appeared in 1937 consisted of the mounting of a 75mm L/24 howitzer in a fixed structure on the chassis of a PzKmpw IIIB. Once evaluated, production using the PzKmfw IIIE chassis was commenced with the title of Sturmgeschutz (StuG).

Entering Service in early 1940, the StuGs were organised in ten gun batteries. The four man crew, provided by the Artillery, soon came to become an elite corps in that service. Four Batteries saw service in France, Three Battalions (each of three batteries) in the Balkan campaign, and six battalions were available for the invasion of Russia in 1941. The StuG was not used in the Western Desert although some were sent to Tunisia during the later stages of the North Africa campaign.

The StuG III remained in service throughout the war, being progressively upgunned, first with the 75mm L/43 gun and later with the 75mm L/48 gun which made it an effective tank killer in addition to its infantry support role. Some were even fitted with the 105mm Howitzer to give close in Artillery support. In total some 10,500 assault guns were built on to the chassis of the Panzer III mediun tank, and some were even employed in the Panzer Divisions in lieu of Tanks in second battalions of Panzer Regiments when sufficient turreted tanks could not be provided.

Some other Sturmgeschutz were built on other tank chassis', examples being the StuG IV (632 built), Grizzly bear- a 150mm Howitzer on a Panzer IV chassis, and the super heavy Sturmtiger (both of which were built in only small numbers).

Though some elite formations held their own Sturmgeschultz battalions, most were held at ARMY level to be parcelled out to Infantry Divisions where required.

[align=center]Jagdpanzer[/align]

A close cousin of the Sturmgeschutz was the Panzerjager. Guderian had always pressed the idea of having self propelled anti-tank guns in the Panzer Divisions as towed guns always restricted the mobility of the Divisions. Early encounters with the British Matildas in France and North Africa and with the T34 and KV1 in Russia made the production of such a vehicle a priority.

Unlike the Sturmgeschutz which was to be held at Army level for allocation to Infantry Divisions for specific operations, the Panzerjagers were to be an intregal part of the Panzer Divisions, and as there was a lot more Infantry Divisions than Panzer Divisions then far fewer Panzerjagers would be needed.

The most encountered Panzerjager throughout the war was the MARDER which matched a 75mm PAK 40 Anti-Tank gun to the chassis of the Panzer 11 or Czech 38t Light Tanks which were being phased out. Over 1500 Marders were constructed which were later supplemented by the purpose built JagdPanzer IV (769 built), a Pak 40 on a Panzer IV chassis which allowed a greater quantity on ammunition to be carried.

In 1944, calls for a PanzerJager to equip Infantry Divisions led to the production of the HETZER a PAK 39 on a Czech chassis. Although 2584 Hetzers were built there were, however, never enough to replace the towed guns in ihe Infantry Divisions.