German War Files

Panzer I & II: Germany's WW2 Light Tank (1x15)

Date de diffusion: Avr 19, 2004

It is one of the enduring myths of the Second World War, that the German 'Blitzkrieg' victories of the early years of the conflict were achieved by their employment of a numerically and technologically superior tank force. In reality, the defeat of Poland and France, Yugoslavia and Greece and the remarkable victories in the opening stages of the Russian campaign and in North Africa, were wrought by German tank divisions equipped, in the main, with light tanks. The Panzer I weighed less than six tons, and was armed with two machine guns and armour barely able to withstand the impact of such weapons itself. It was with these light-weight workhorses, rather than their heavier and more glamorous stable mates, that the Blitzkrieg legend was forged.