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.

don't forget to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Comments

A great story about a little bit of 'humanity' during a terrible war.

A great story about a little bit of 'humanity' during a terrible war. In April 1945, 2nd Lt. Peter During was a South African fighter pilot (N.7 Squadron) running missions over Italy when his Spitfire was shot down by German AA fire. He managed to crash land his plane behind enemy lines where he was immediately captured. Whilst been escorted to a German Lufwaffe Prisoner of War (POW) camp (he was a pilot and thus his interrogation and imprisonment was the responsibility of the German airforce), he opened a conversation with his captors. He was quickly able to establish that they could already see the writing on the wall, that the war was at an end and Germany would lose it. ...

French woman accused of sleeping with Germans during the occupation has her head shaved by vindictive neighbors in village near Marseilles.

French woman accused of sleeping with Germans during the occupation has her head shaved by vindictive neighbors in village near Marseilles. Antony Beevor wrote: "... In Paris, there were cases of prostitutes kicked to death for having accepted German soldiers as clients. (...) A large number of the victims were prostitutes who had simply plied their trade with Germans as well as Frenchmen, although in some areas it was accepted that their conduct was professional rather than political, others were silly teenagers who had associated with German soldiers out of bravado or boredom. In a number of cases, female schoolteachers who, living alone, had German soldiers billeted on them, were falsely denounced for having been a "mattress for the boches. (...) Women accused of having had an abortion were also assumed to have consorted with Germans. Many victims were young mothers, whose husbands were in German prisoner-of-war camps. During the war, they often had no means of supp...

The Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.

The Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt. Engelbert Dollfuß (4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian Fatherland Front politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ascended to Federal Chancellor in 1932 in the midst of a crisis for the conservative government. In early 1933, the so called "Selbstausschaltung des Parlaments" happened, which made the Austrian parliament unable to govern. Suppressing the Socialist movement in February 1934 during the Austrian Civil War and later banning the Austrian Nazi Party, he cemented the rule of authoritarian conservatism through the First of May Constitution. Dollfuss was assassinated on 25 July 1934 by a group of Austrian Nazis, who entered the Chancellery building and shot him in an attempted coup d'état. During mass trials which took place after the coup, Hudl was sentenced to li...

WORLD OF ALL

Search This Blog