116th PANZER DIVISION 'DER WINDHUND' - Anti-Tank weapons & mines

Here are a selection of anti-tank weapons and anti-tank mines that would have been used by men of the 116th.

Rocket Propelled weapons

In the middle years of the war there was a dramatic change in German tactics when fighting against Allied armour. This was brought about by the introduction into service of rocket-propelled grenades which could be fired by one man or a team of two. These weapons were short-range and consequently required the operators to get extremely close to their prey.

The first weapon of this type was the Panzerfaust 30 which was effective at a maximum range of 30m and at that distance the grenade could penetrate 18cm of armour. This weapon was primarily a hollow steel firing tube, 2cm in diameter with a ‘turnip’ shaped warhead placed inside the firing tube and the head of the bomb projected from the top end. The base of the bomb consisted of a shaft filled with a propellant charge and fitted with stabilising fins. The total weight of this version was only 5kg, so this light and mobile weapon could be fired from a variety of positions – prone, kneeling, and standing with the weapon resting on the firer’s shoulder or across his right arm. The sighting mechanism was crude – a vertical piece of metal fitted near the end of the firing tube.

Before a grenade was placed into the firing tube, its steel fins were wrapped around the propellant shaft. Upon being fired, the spring activated fins opened and held the grenade on its flight path. The action of firing produced a stream of flame which propelled the bomb. Like all Panzerfaust weapons, this was a single shot piece and once used the hollow firing tube was discarded.

Other variants of this weapon were produced with improved range and/or hitting power. The Panzerfaust 40 Klein, was a smaller version, with slightly increased range but less penetrating power. The Panzerfaust 60 had an aperture sight for 30m, 60m and 90m, a redesigned firing mechanism and a thicker firing tube to compensate for the stronger propellant charge. The weapon’s weight was therefore increased to 6.4kg and the bomb could penetrate up to 25cm of armour. The final design was the Panzerfaust 100; this was a slightly larger version of the Panzerfaust 60 and had an increased range. The Panzerfaust (Tank Devil) models were all fired by a single soldier, but there was also a two-man anti-tank rocket weapon, the Raketen Panzerbϋsche 5, also known as the Panzerschreck (Tank Terror) or the Ofenrohr (stovepipe). This weapon projected an 88mm missile from a firing tube fitted with a fore and back sight, a cocking lever and a trigger. The missile it discharged was a 3kg grenade with a propellant in its tail. The grenade was placed in the rear of the tube and was held in place by a catch which made contact with the electrical leads at the rear of the launcher.

To fire the weapon the trigger was pressed, an action which, by activating a magnetised rod, produced a spark which ignited the propellant charge. A fixed tail fin, circular in shape, kept the bomb on its correct flight path. The first models of the Panzerschreck were made without a steel protective shield but these were added to later versions to protect the operators from the back-blast of the missile. The operator viewed the target through the small window in the shield. The weapon was loaded at the rear end of the firing tube by a second man who patted the operator on the shoulder once the weapon was ready to fire, he then moved to one side of the operator, firstly to avoid the back-blast and secondly to observe the target. Unlike the Panzerfaust the Panzerschreck was a reusable launcher with an effective range of about 130m. Once the weapon was loaded the missile at 64cm long took about almost half of the length of the 164cm tube.

Haft-Hohlladungen (Haft-Hl 3)

The principal German hand Anti-tank weapon prior to the introduction of rocket propelled weapons was the magnetic hollow-charge 3kg Haft-Hohlladungen (Haft-HI 3). This ‘Panzerknacker’ (‘armour-cracker’) was adopted in November 1942. It was of truncated cone shape, with a handle holding the fuse, and 3 pairs of magnets around the base that allowed it to be attached to a tank, fortress gun cupola and pillbox doors or shutters. Early models had a friction ignited 4.5 second delay fuse, which sometimes did not allow the attacker to seek cover; a 7.5 second fuse was introduced in May 1943.

The charge could penetrate up to 140mm of armour or 508mm of concrete. Some 553,900 ‘armour-crackers’ were made in 1942-44; the Haft-Hohlladungen was declared obsolete in May 1944, to be replaced by the Panzerfaust, although existing stocks remained used. The weapon weighed 3.6kg and was filled with 6.6lb of pentolite. The magnets were termed ‘Alnico’, which was often assumed to be the maker’s name, but it was actually a contraction: ‘AlNiCo’ for aluminium-nickel-cobalt, an alloy used for making the magnets.

Teller Mines

The German Teller (Plate) mine was the standard anti-tank mine used by German forces in WWII. The mine was a circular, plate-shaped device with a built-in carrying handle, and was produced in four different models during the war:

Teller Mine 29
Teller Mine 35
Teller Mine 42
Teller Mine 43

Their weight varied between 6 and 8.5 kg and they were fitted with the Teller mine 42 (15) pattern fuse.

The 42 pattern Teller mine was an updated version of the 35 type, and was cylindrical in shape and made of pressed steel. Its diameter was 32cm. Situated centrally on the upper side of the mushroom shaped lid was a detonator pocket. It required the carrying handle because of its weight. Two waterproofed sockets were fitted to hold the pull fuses, one in the side of the mine and the other in the base. A cylindrical socket on the top of the mine held the 15cm diameter pressure plate which consisted of a sealing ring and a strong spring which had to be depressed in order to activate the mine. In the centre of the plate was a socket for the igniter mentioned above.

The 5.5Kg explosive filling of the 42 pattern gave it a total weight of 8Kg. When a pressure of more than 225Kg was exerted upon the pressure plate, a hexagonal cap was forced down onto the head of the plunger and this sheared a pin holding the striker which was located in the body of the igniter.

The 35 pattern mine weighed 9.5Kg, its lid was fluted and the pressure plate extended across the whole mine, the diameter was 32cm and the weight of the explosive 8.75Kg, the weight required for it to explode was 80 – 180kg. The 29 pattern detonated at a pressure of 45 – 125Kg, with an explosive filling weight of 4.5Kg, bringing its total weight to 6Kg.

" An enquiry revealed that there was no sketch of the mines that had been laid and that clearing the obstacles would take too much time and would also be dangerous. Therefore I decided to simply go around the marked minefields by cutting new lanes thus allowing the 1^st Battalion, Panzer Grenadier Regiment 156, under Hauptmann Winter , to quickly advance from the north to the edge of the forest, north of Vossenack, supported by the assault platoon of 1^st Company, Panzer Pioneer Battalion 675, with flamethrowers, commanded by Leutnant Eisen".

Leutnant Otto Varnholt, Commander, 1st Company, Panzer Pioneer Battalion 675, 4 November 1944