Armoured Vehicles of Nazi Germany 1939 - 1945 Quiz

Answer: Luftwaffe

Designed in 1939 for use by airborne forces, the Kleines Kettenkraftrad was intended for use as a light, air portable tractor for small guns and was first encountered by the allies during the invasion of Crete in 1941. With the demise of German airborne operations as a result of the Cretan debacle, the 'Kettenkrad' was used as a communications vehicle, predominately on the Russian front where the use of wheeled vehicles was severely restricted due to the conditions in that theatre.

The Kettenkrad is powered by an Opel Olympia 1.5 litre engine with power being delivered through a three speed, two ratio transmission.

The Kettenkrad is not simply a half-track steered by a motorcycle but a small tracked vehicle with a pilot wheel that can operate without the front wheel; turning the handlebars activates steering brakes on the tracks. With a top speed of around 80 kph (50 mph) on roads and with a weight of 1.22 tons, this example was manufactured in 1941 and was captured in Tunisia in 1943.

Answer: Command tank

The Panzer I was Nazi Germany's first mass produced tank. The large steel superstructure enabled this command vehicle to carry the large quantities of radio equipment required to fulfil its role. The Panzer I entered service in 1934 and was often paraded, in large numbers, at pre-war Nazi propaganda events.

As command tanks they proved useful and remained in service until late 1942. In addition to panzer units they were issued to artillery regiments as armoured observation posts and as armoured ambulances.

This example, showing evidence of battle damage and was captured in North Africa, had arrived in Tripoli, Libya, on 10th March 1941 and served with the 5th Panzer Regiment, a part of the 5th Light Division. The Panzer I command tank had a crew of three, a top speed of 40 kph, weighed 5.3 tons and had a maximum armour thickness of 13mm.

Answer: To reduce successful attacks with magnetic mines

Zimmerit was a material applied to the external surfaces of Germany's armoured vehicles to reduce the likelihood of a successful attack from infantry using magnetic mines. Produced by the Zimmer paint company based in Berlin, the material consisted of 40% Barium Sulphate, 25% Polyvinyl Acetate, 10% each of Zinc Sulphide and sawdust and 15% Ochre pigment which contained Limonite and which was responsible for the natural colour of Zimmerit.

The material, which smelled strongly of acetone and had the consistency of soft putty was applied in two stages; the first being allowed to dry over 24 hours before the second application which was hardened using a blowtorch.

Although Zimmerit was largely untested in its intended purpose its colour did make for excellent camouflage.

It was also very hard-wearing; vehicles that have been exposed to hostile environments for many decades have been discovered still retaining much of the material that had been applied to them. Towards the end of hostilities in Europe, 'liberated' quantities of Zimmerit found its way onto a small number of allied vehicles.

Answer: Tiger I

Many of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS's most notorious commanders (including Michael Wittmann, Otto Carius and Kurt Knispel) built their reputations in vehicles of this type. Perhaps the most famous action in which the Tiger I took part occurred on the 13th of June 1944 at Villers-Bocage, Normandy when Michael Wittmann of the LSSAH ambushed and destroyed around thirty armoured vehicles of a British armoured division in fewer than fifteen minutes.

The Tiger I, its official designation Sd.Kfz 181, was powered by a Maybach V12 petrol engine of just under 24 litres displacement which generated 700bhp.

This powerplant endowed the Tiger I with a top speed of 45kph. The Tiger I had a crew of five, weighed a shade less than 57 tons and carried a total of 92 rounds for its main weapon.

The Tiger I was the only German vehicle of its size and type to be fitted with a snorkel to aid with deep wading. In order to simplify manufacturing the fitting of all snorkel equipment was discontinued during 1943. This particular vehicle, known worldwide as 'Tiger 131', was captured during the fighting in Tunisia in 1943.

It is currently the only original Tiger I in full running order in the world and draws huge crowds to Bovington when it makes its bi-annual appearances in the arena there on 'Tiger Day' which takes place in April and September.

Answer: Italy

The M14/40 was a medium tank designed and produced for the Italian army by the Fiat company. The vehicle designation comes from the specification under which it was to meet; the '14' was the maximum weight that the vehicle was to attain and the '40' was the year in which the tank was accepted into service. Probably the best feature of this vehicle was its relatively powerful 47mm main armament which was more than capable of dealing with the light and medium allied tanks that it was pitched against during the early years of the North Africa campaign. Mechanically this vehicle was another matter altogether; although its powerplant provided a good range and its running gear was relatively reliable, the crews practice of adding sandbags and track links to bolster the mediocre armour protection was to put additional strain on its underpowered motor.

The M14/40 was used, along with a number of other Italian armoured vehicles, by the Afrika Korps during the North African campaign which took place between 1940 and 1943.

Answer: Panzer IV

The Panzer IV formed the backbone of the panzer arm throughout the entire war and appeared on the battlefield in many guises, its reliable chassis being used as the basis for a multitude of other vehicles. Originally intended as a close-support tank at around 18 tons it was the heaviest front line tank in German service at the outbreak of hostilities.

A number of improvements were introduced whilst this vehicle was in service, the most significant being the fitting of the long 7.5cm KwK 40 main gun which, from the winter of 1941/1942 made this tank one of the most powerful on the battlefield.

This specific vehicle was built as a Panzer IV Ausf D and was originally armed with the short barrelled 7.5cm gun and was upgraded by the addition of armour plates to the hull front and turret, prior to it leaving the Krupp factory at Magdeburg.

The Panzer IV was further improved by the installation of schurzen, additional armour plates located and spaced around the sides and back of both the turret and hull.

The Panzer IV had a crew of five, was powered by a Maybach petrol engine producing 300bhp and weighed, at the end of its production run in 1945, around 25 tons. It is testament to the brilliance of its design that examples of this vehicle were still in service with some countries as late as the mid 1980s.

Answer: Jagdpanther

Development of a Panzerjager, or 'tank hunter' based on the chassis of the Panther started in October 1942. Prototypes were ready by December 1943 and the first production model was completed as quickly as in January 1944. The tank destroyer based on the Panzer V 'Panther' chassis but armed with the larger 88mm main gun rapidly built up a fearsome reputation; all contemporary British, American and Soviet tanks were vulnerable to it at ranges of up to 2,000 yards.

As the gun had only limited traverse the driver often had to swing the entire vehicle to bring the gun to bear which would frequently result in final drive gear failures.

A total of 392 Jagdpanthers were produced between January 1944 and March 1945 when production ceased. This example of the Jagdpanther is a late production model, distinguished from early vehicles by the bolted collar around the gun mantlet and a two piece gun barrel.

This vehicle was one of a batch found partly completed on the production lines at MNH (Hannover) after the German surrender and completed by the workforce under supervision by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, the REME.

Answer: Reconnaissance

The 'Luchs' or Lynx was essentially a variant of the Panzer II and first appeared in August 1942. A specialised light reconnaissance tank, work began on the Luchs as early as April 1939. An initial order was placed for 800 vehicles but this was cancelled once the first one hundred had been completed.

The vehicle was relatively fast and manoeuvrable, with a top speed of 60kph but its armour was thin and the 2.0cm automatic cannon main armament was barely adequate; as a result crews relied on the Luchs' agility, speed and small size to stay out of harm's way.

This particular vehicle, 'Red 121', served with the Wehrmacht 9th Panzer Division. They were used briefly in Normandy after the D-Day invasion but were withdrawn to the areas around Aachen and the Ruhr shortly afterwards.

Although records are not certain, it is believed that this vehicle was captured in Normandy during the furious fighting around Falaise.

Answer: True

The red '104' signifies that this vehicle was commanded by a Company Leader. Designed and produced by Krupp, the Tiger IIs longer more powerful 8.8cm gun had been developed to enhance its effectiveness at ranges over that of the original gun fitted to the Tiger I. Firing at a higher velocity, and on a much flatter trajectory, the new 8.8cm gun was capable of penetrating the frontal armour of the Sherman, Cromwell, Churchill and T-34/85 tanks at ranges out to 2,600 metres.

The Tiger II in my image was built in July 1944 by Henschel and was one of fourteen vehicles of the type issued to the 1st Company of SS Heavy Panzer Battalion 101 of the LSSAH at Sennelager in Germany.

There are verified accounts of the Tiger II withstanding over a dozen hits from the 90mm weapon fitted to the US M10 tank destroyer, one of the most powerful weapons used by the allies. If you look closely at the vehicle in this image, you will see the slight damage caused by the main 75mm weapon fitted to the Sherman tank; even where the Tiger II's armour was at its thinnest, these direct hits have done little more than scratch the paintwork.

This tank, commanded by Kompanietruppenführer (Company Troop Leader) Oberscharfuhrer Sepp Franzl, was abandoned on the 29/30th August at Aux Marais, on the outskirts of Beauvais, France. Tiger 104 was recovered by the Royal Engineers in January 1945 and brought back to the UK where it was kept at the Royal Military College at Shrivenham. The vehicle was finally presented to the Tank Museum at Bovington, Dorset in 2006.

Answer: 12.8cm

Not only was the Jagdtiger well armed; its frontal armour rendered the vehicle invulnerable to allied anti-tank guns. The fighting compartment was a large, box-like superstructure protected by formidable thicknesses of armour up to 200mm thick. This armour protected the gun, the ammunition, which came in the form of projectile and bagged charge, and four of the crew, the commander, gunner and two loaders.

The driver and wireless operator were positioned in the hull under 150mm of armour. Even the Jagdtiger's most vulnerable area, the sides, boasted armour 80mm thick. Very few vehicles of the type were built and the few that did only saw combat in the final weeks of the war.

The first use of the Jagdtiger in combat was on the 9th January 1945, when three took part in an attack as part of Operation Nordwind on the Franco-German border with the first large scale fighting to involve the Jagdtiger taking place during March around the town of Hagenau.

A combination of the vehicle's size, a shortage of fuel and, at that stage of the war, below standard crew training, further limited its impact. Based on the Tiger II chassis, the heavier weapon required an increase in the vehicle's overall length of 40cm.

The Jagdtiger in this image is one of just eleven which were fitted with the Porsche suspension system, some components of which are missing. This vehicle was captured by British troops at the tank proving grounds at Sennelager near Paderborn in northern Germany in early 1945.