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New Zealand soldiers posing for a photograph with a captured German Tank Gewehr, August 25, 1918.

 New Zealand soldiers posing for a photograph with a captured German Tank Gewehr, August 25, 1918.




The German "Mauser Tankgewehr M1918", usually just called the T-Gewehr (Tank Rifle), was the first ever designated anti-tank rifle in the history of warfare, and the only one used in the First World War.


By June 1917, the British were deploying the Mark IV tanks on the battlefield, and the Germans discovered their standard armour-piercing bullets were no longer effective at putting them out of action.


Not even their MG-08 machine-guns could pierce the British tanks and hand-grenades and artillery were too unreliable to stop a tank advancing directly towards a German trench.


Following the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917, in which the British really demonstrated the potential of their tanks to break the trench stalemate, the Germans began development of a new rifle designated for anti-tank purposes.


By January 1918, the Tankgewehr M1918 had been developed, manufactured by Mauser, a high-caliber, single-shot, bolt-action rifle, heavily inspired by rifles used to hunt elephants in Africa. 


Mass production of the Tank Gewehr began in May 1918, and 15,800 had been built by the end of the war. 


The Tank Gewehr weighed 15.9 kg alone, 18.5 kg with the bipod, and was operated by a two-man crew, a gunner and an ammunition bearer. 


The gunner carried the rifle itself and 20 specially designed 13 mm Mauser cartridges, whilst the ammunition bearer carried two shoulder bags with 20 rounds each, and an ammunition box with an additional 72 cartridges.


With an effective range of 500 meters, the Tank Gewehr did its job at stopping enemy tanks. However, missing a muzzle brake, the rifle suffered from massive recoil, and shooting multiple rounds often led to headaches for the gunner. 


The bipod had to be anchored to the ground before firing if the gunner did not want to risk serious injuries due to the recoil.


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