Friday 18 September 2015

Novelties on the Baltic Front

"New armament of the German army

Interrogations of prisoners and captured documents demonstrate that the enemy forces opposing the Front have new types of armament. For example:
  1. New electrically fired 88 mm anti-tank gun used by anti-tank gun companies. The gun can penetrate a T-34 at 3000 meters.
  2. There is a new subcaliber HEAT shell for the 75 mm AT gun. The 37 mm AT gun was removed from AT units and transferred to infantry units.
  3. Prisoners and defectors say that the German army designed a new type of submachinegun with a side magazine, but the submachinegun was not issued yet.
  4. Many soldiers state that the MG-42 is impractical as it needs too much ammunition and jams often. Soldiers prefer the MG-34.
  5. The Tiger uses additional 3 mm spaced armour placed some distance in front of the main front armour. This additional armour is meant to reduce the effectiveness of AP shells and to detonate HEAT and HE shells before they hit the main armour.
  6. The 75 mm gun in new assault guns is movable, which makes aiming easier compared to earlier assault guns with an immobile gun.
  7. Fully rubber gas masks, introduced in 1943, were taken away from all soldiers on March 15th, 1944, and replaced with old masks made from rubberized fabric. Soldiers without filters marked "April 1943" had their filters replaced with a filter with these markings. New filters have a large opening in the bottom covered with a mesh instead of many small openings."
Via biserg.

4 comments:

  1. Subcaliber HEAT shells ? Didnt you mean subcaliber and HEAT shells ?

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    1. That's how it is in the original. Military intelligence has its pitfalls.

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  2. #3 sounds like the FG 42. Not exactly an SMG ofc, but one imagines technical details weren't readily accessible in the context.

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    Replies
    1. Could also be the "Gerät Potsdam" which was a copy of the Sten MK II.
      According to the German Wikipedia article these were issued from late 1943, so that might fit the timescale here.

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