Company Officer's Handbook Of The German Army - All Gauge Page

22. ANTITANK WEAPONS
a. Normal Weapons
WEAPONS, OBSTACLES, AND VEHICLES 45
Standard German antitank weapons of regular infantry divisions
are designed to obtain maximum penetrations at medium ranges
by means of relatively heavy, high-velocity projectiles. To achieve
this performance, and in order to provide shields for protection of
the gun crews, the Germans have sacrificed some mobility. The
sacrifice of mobility was more pronounced as weapons of increasing
caliber were introduced. Thus the relatively light 37-mm antitank
gun (3.7 cm Pak) is now obsolescent, and is being replaced in the
antitank company of the infantry regiment (12 guns) and in the
division antitank battalion by the heavier 50-mm antitank gun
(5 cm Pak 38), and lately even by the 3,000-pound 75-mm antitank
gun (7.5 cm. Pak 40) (fig. 29). The development has reached a
climax in the extremely heavy 88-mm antitank gun (8.8 cm Pak 43)
(figs. 30 and 31, p. 46), which has recently been encountered in
action. (For the principal characteristics of common antitank
weapons, see fig. 32a, p. 47.)
Figure 29.-75-mm. 50-mm, and 37-mm antitank guns (from left to right).