Panzer I & II

Blueprint for Blitzkrieg, 1933–1941

Robert Jackson

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781526711243
• eBook ISBN: 9781526711267
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

The Panzer I and II played a significant part in the blitzkrieg campaigns that brought Germany such extraordinary success in the early years of the Second World War, and this highly illustrated volume in the TankCraft series is the ideal introduction to them.The Treaty of Versailles forbade Germany to manufacture tanks so the Panzer I had to be developed in strict secrecy, but by the time of the invasion of Poland the Wehrmacht had over 1400 of these light tanks. The Panzer II was an interim design, bridging the gap between the Panzer I and subsequent, far more viable armored fighting vehicles like the Panzer III and IV.As well as tracing the history of the Panzer I and II, Robert Jackson's book is an excellent source of reference for the modeler, providing details of available kits, together with artworks showing the color schemes applied to these tanks. Each section of the book is supported by a wealth of wartime photographs as well as diagrams showing the technical changes that were made to these tanks in the course of their careers.

Panzer I & II in Combat

The Spanish Civil War

German involvement in the Spanish Civil War began very soon after the outbreak of hostilities. On 26 July 1936 the Spanish Nationalist commander, General Franco, sent emissaries to Adolf Hitler, who promised support for the Nationalist cause. Similarly, Josef Stalin threw the weight of the Soviet Union behind the left-wing Spanish Republican government. While Germany quickly provided Franco with aircraft, the Russians were the first to supply tanks, fifty Soviet T-26s arriving in Spain on 15 October. Germany’s response was to ship forty-one Panzer I Ausf A vehicles to Spain a few days later. This first shipment was followed by four batches of Panzer I Ausf B tanks, raising the total number to 122. The first shipment of Panzer I tanks came under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma and formed the armoured echelon of the Condor Legion, raised in Germany to support the Nationalist war effort. The Panzer Is went into action for the first time on 30 October and experienced problems when they were engaged by Republican BA-10 armoured cars near the town of Torrejon de Velasco, the BA-10’s 45mm gun proving effective against the Panzer I’s armour at ranges of up to 500m (550yd). Although the Panzer I’s 7.92mm armour-piercing ammunition could knock out both the BA-10 and T-26 in close combat (150m/165yd), the Republican tank crews soon learned to engage the Panzer I outside the effective range of the German tank’s machine guns. Petrol bombs, later known as Molotov cocktails, were first used in Spain by the Nationalists against T-26 tanks.

The Sino-Japanese War

In 1937, the Nationalist Chinese government purchased ten Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A light tanks from Germany. These were assigned to the 3rd Tank Battalion in Nanking and were either destroyed or captured by Japanese forces during subsequent fighting. German support for the Nationalists was withdrawn in 1938, the Soviet Union becoming the main provider of armoured fighting vehicles for the Chinese army until 1941.

The Campaign in Poland, September 1939

The key to the success of the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 was surprise, in the form of a series of powerful attacks that would yield rapid results, and this envisaged the use of armour on an unprecedented scale. Two army groups – Army Group South, consisting of the Eighth, Tenth and Fourteenth armies under Colonel-General Gerd von Rundstedt, and Army Group North, comprising the Third and Fourth armies under Colonel-General Fedor von Bock – were formed to carry out the operation.

The effect of a Molotov cocktail on a tank – in this case a Panzer II.

The principal Japanese tank encountered by the Panzer I in Manchuria was the Type 89.

On 1 September 1939, the day the invasion (code-named Fall Weiss) was launched, the seven assigned Panzer divisions had a total of 2,700 tanks, but of these only 310 were Panzer III and IV medium tanks. A further 350 were Czech-built Panzer Pz38(t) vehicles, seized when the Germans overran Czechoslovakia earlier that year; the rest were Panzer Is and IIs.

Assembling the necessary forces was a stupendous task, made more difficult by Hitler’s insistence that the mobilization and advance to the frontier had to be undertaken in secrecy. To camouflage the massive movement of troops and equipment, eight infantry divisions were set to work, from June 1939 onwards, in building an ‘East Wall’ along certain sectors of the frontier, ostensibly for defensive purposes, behind which the German forces could assemble undetected. To strengthen the forces in East Prussia, certain units – including the 4th Panzer Brigade – were openly transported by sea on the pretext of taking part in a big parade at the Tannenberg Memorial before participating in manoeuvres. The ‘manoeuvres’, when they came, would involve the full-scale invasion of Poland.

The TK-3 (TKS) tankette formed the bulk of the Polish armoured forces at the outbreak of war. Some were armed with a 20mm cannon.

A TK-3 preserved as a museum piece. (Polish Defence Ministry)

The Germans used a variety of light tanks in support of the invasion of Poland, including captured French vehicles such as the Hotchkiss H-39.

During the early stages of the five-week Polish campaign, stories emerged of Polish cavalry charging enemy tanks. Originally dismissed as propaganda or fanciful press tales, they were actually based on sound fact, but it had nothing to do with reckless bravery or foolhardiness. Polish cavalry squadrons were equipped with the highly effective Wz.35 anti-tank rifle, which had been developed in great secrecy from the mid-1930s. A bolt-action weapon based on the German Mauser 98, it fired a 7.92mm round with a muzzle velocity of over 1,000 metres per second. The bullet was not designed to penetrate a tank’s armour, but to cause spalling on the interior of the armour plate, ejecting a fragment of about 20mm diameter which would then ricochet around the interior of the vehicle, with deadly effect. The weapon could fire 300 rounds before the barrel needed to be changed. Its effective range against the Panzer I and II was 100 metres, which meant that a cavalryman had to close to within that distance before the rifle could be effectively used. The tactic was therefore to approach at the gallop – in effect, to charge – then dismount and engage the target.

The Wz.35, which was also operated by Polish two-man infantry teams, accounted for many of the 320 Panzer Is lost during the campaign. The German armoured forces also lost 259 Panzer IIs, forty Panzer IIIs, seventy-six Panzer IVs and seventy-seven Panzer 35(t)s before fighting ended on 7 October. Many German tank were repaired and returned to service, so that only eighty-three Panzer IIs were total write-offs.

The most common tank in service with the Polish Army in September 1939 was the TK-3 tankette (also known as the TKS), a version of the British Carden-Loyd Mk VI. About 300 TK-3s were produced by the PZI (National Engineering Works) at Ursus, near Warsaw. The tankettes formed the main body of the Polish Army’s armoured force at the outbreak of the Second World War, and although they were no match for the German armour of the time they were ideal for reconnaissance and infantry support, their small size and low profile making them difficult targets. The TK-3s suffered heavy losses during the German invasion. About twenty-four were fitted with a 20mm cannon just before the outbreak of hostilities, and these were much better placed to engage the lighter types of German armoured vehicle than those armed with a single machine gun.

Poland’s only viable light tank, the 7TP (a development of the British six-ton Vickers Mk E) had a Bofors 37mm main gun which was effective against all German tanks engaged in the Polish campaign, but only 150 were deployed and many fell victim to air attack.

Polish cavalry advancing through the town of Sochaczev. The cavalrymen at the centre of this image are carrying anti-tank rifles.

Poland’s 7TP was a viable light tank, but it was heavily outnumbered.

An anti-tank rifle team (in this case a Finnish one) in action.

Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War most of the twin turret 7TP tanks were converted to single turret versions and only 24 twin-turret types remained in Polish service (as opposed to roughly 108 of the other type).

Many 7TP tanks, like this one, fell victim to air attack.

Panzer I light tanks, marked with white crosses for identification, advancing into Poland.

A mixed column of Panzer Is and IIs advancing through the Polish countryside.

A Panzer I command tank in Poland.

A column of Panzer IIs advancing through a Polish town.

The battle for Poland was by no means all one-sided, as this image of destroyed Panzer IIs testifies.

Invasion of Norway

On 8 March 1940 the Germans formed a special-duty armoured battalion designated 40th Panzer Battalion at Putloss in Schleswig-Holstein, its task to support infantry units engaged in the forthcoming invasion of Norway and Denmark. The battalion comprised an HQ section and three companies, each with three platoons, drawn from the 3rd, 4th and 5th Panzer divisions. By 9 April the total strength of the 40th Panzer Battalion was forty-two Panzer Is, twenty-one Panzer IIs and six Panzer I command tanks. Most of the Panzer Is were Ausf A models, while the Panzer IIs were primarily the Ausf c.

While the 1st and 2nd companies were earmarked to support the German forces occupying Denmark, the 3rd Company embarked on two transport vessels, the Urundi and Antares H, on 9 April. The latter vessel carried the bulk of the tanks, fifteen in all, w...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Copyright
• Introduction
• Panzer I & II Design and Development
• Panzer I Variants
• Panzer II
• Panzer II Conversions and Developments
• Panzer I & II in Detail
• Camouflage and Markings
• Model Showcase
• Modelling Products
• Panzer I & II in Combat