Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) of 6. Panzer-Division

Image size: 1600 x 1102 pixel. 370 KB
Date: Tuesday, 1 July 1941
Place: Soviet Union
Photographer: Kriegsberichter Scherl

Panzergrenadier of the 6. Panzer Division board Panzerkampfwagen 35(t)s during Operation Barbarossa, in the background is a Panzerkampfwagen IV. The Skoda Works in Pilzen, Czechoslovakia's major arms manufacturer, built the light tank model 35 starting in 1936 and successfully exported it to a number of countries prior to the German annexation in April 1939. Initially it had developmental troubles with its innovative pneumatic steering that relieved stress on the driver but eventually the LT-35 had an well-regarded reputation. After Czechoslovakia was incorporated into the Reich, the LT-35 was replaced with the LT-38 on the manufacturing lines. Designated as the Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) ("t" for Tschech - Czech) it was used as an equivalent to the Panzer III, because it was armed with a 37mm (1.46 inch) main gun and two 7.92mm (.31 caliber) machine guns. However the tank was not as capable, with a less capable gun and lighter armor. 219 were taken into the Wehrmacht for operations in Poland and France. 105 were issued to the 6th Panzer in Summer 1941, making up the bulk of the unit's tank strength for Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. Already obsolete, the 37mm main gun could not penetrate the Soviet KV and T-34 tanks. The pneumatic steering, not designed for Russian winters, broke down in the cold. The men of 6th Panzer took to using blowtorches to unfreeze their transmissions and engines, which caused more than one vehicle to explode or burn. On December 10, 1941, the last tank, nicknamed "Anthony the Last," was lost. The dwindling cadre of panzertruppen called the unit "6th Panzer of the foot" and relied on over 1,000 panje (Russian horse) wagons for carrying their remaining equipment when all their vehicles were lost. By January 1942 only 1,000 men (out of some 16,000 at the start of Operation Barbarossa) and three guns were operational, but 6th Panzer kept the supply lines open for 9th Army in Rzhev open, allowing the Wehrmacht to regroup and attack in the Spring. 6th Panzer was rested and refitted with Panzer IIIs in France, but was rushed back to the Soviet Union when Stalingrad was surrounded in November 1942.

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii0073

6. Panzer-Division Panzer Convoy

Image size: 1600 x 1019 pixel. 609 KB
Date: October 1941
Place: Vyazma, Smolensk Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Helmut Ritgen

Blurred but interesting shot of 6. Panzer-Division's second echelon passing through the supply convoys of the first echelon - the large number of vehicles visible in this photograph is the reminder of the enormous logistic 'tail' necessary to keep an armoured division moving. The Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) on the right carries air recognition flag draped over the crew bedrolls on the rear deck. Note wooden stakes marking the edges of the rollbahn!

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection

Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen

Panoramic View of the Battle of Vyazma

Image size: 1600 x 981 pixel. 286 KB
Date: Thursday, 2 October 1941
Place: Vyazma, Smolensk Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Helmut Ritgen

A distant but fascinating photograph of the fighting of 2 October 1941, which repays close study. In the right foreground is a Soviet freight train overrun on the tracks - note two locomotives, one facing forward, the other to the rear. In the background several buildings are on fire, and the sky is black with smoke from an oil dump. In the left and centre background, Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) tanks in company strength may be seen advancing under fire. Following the Battle of the Ukraine, the German High Command was ready to resume the offensive against Moscow. General Hopner's Panzer Gruppe had been sent from Leningrad and General Hoth and General Guderian's Panzer armies were ready to challenge the last of the USSR's great armies: the Thirty-Second and Third. The Panzers had no trouble breaking through. Guderian took Orel in the first week of October and Hoepner forced Konev's Western Front into the path of the infantry of Generals Kluge and Strauss. In the north of this sector Hoth broke through to the south and took Vyazma. This meant that there were two pockets and 650,000 men were trapped. After some fierce fighting the Soviet Third Army at Vyazma surrendered on the 14 October and the Thirty-Second at Bryansk surrendered on the 20 October.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection
Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen

http://www.warhistory.ie/world-war-2/battle-of-vyazma-bryansk.htm

A Destroyed Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) in Poland

Image size: 1600 x 1600 pixel. 513 KB
Date: Monday, 18 September 1939

Place: Poland
Photographer: Unknown

The picture come from a German album, although it depicts a KO'd vehicle. A Pz.Kpfw. 35 (t) a.k.a. Skoda, Lehky Tank-35 brewed up in September 1939, Poland. Note a white cross insignia of the period, painted on the gun mantlet, just to the right of a gun. The photo is an eBay find by Alex Zaretser of "The Armor Journal". There's lots of good photo coverage of the 35's in 1939. Many wrecks as well since they didn't perform well obviously. Incidentally, two Panzer 35's and one Panzer IV KO'd in five minutes on 18 September 1939 by Polish officer aspirant Orlik and his 20 mm armed TKS tankette. Confirmed number of the totally written off Pz.Kpfw. 35 tanks in Speptember 1939 was 77, although Oberst H. Bade in his "Die Bereitstellung des XV AK an der Pilica und Einsatz zwischen Bzura und Warschau, 15-18 September 39, Abfertigungsjahr 1941" mentions a number 89 plus 33 heavily damaged.

Source:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=538764249481383&set=o.303273499761263&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

Tank-Infantry Cooperation with Panzer 35(t) at Pskov

Image size: 1600 x 1072 pixel. 426 KB
Date: Sunday, 6 July 1941
Place: Pskov/Pleskau, Pskov Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Kriegsberichter Zoll from PK (Propaganda-Kompanie) 694

Tank/infantry cooperation: Panzer 35(t) Skoda (turmnummer 713) from 6. Panzer-Division/Heeresgruppe Nord advances through a burning Russian village near Pskow, northern Russia, July 1941. Note heavy external stowage of fuel cans. The Skodas are supported by Panzerkampfwagen IV tanks, which equipped one company of each battalion at this date. The small turret numbers seem to have been characteristic of the division. The 6. Panzer-Division overran every enemy position in its path during Operation Barbarossa, broke through the Stalin Line and crossed the River Dvina. Through dust and sand, woods and swamps it advanced via Ostrov and Pskov (Pskow/Pleskau) to the Luga River, the gateway to Leningrad - a trip of 800km (497 miles) in three weeks! At Luga the advance came to a temporary halt to allow supplies and infantry to catch up.

Source:

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-209-0090-29

Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-209-0090-29,_Russland-Nord,_Infanterie_und_Panzer_35t.jpg

http://www.panzer-archiv.de/forum/print.php?t=3956

6. Panzer-Division Tanks in France 1940

Image size: 1600 x 1026 pixel. 247 KB
Date: May-June 1940
Place: France
Photographer: Erich Borchert (PK OKW)

A Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) from Panzer-Abteilung 65 leads a column of Panzerkampfwagen IVs during the Battle of France. 118 PzKpfw 35(t)s were issued to the 6.Panzer Division/XXXI.Armeekorps/Panzergruppe Guderian/Heeresgruppe A; used as a substitute for the better armed and armored Panzer III, the 35(t)'s main 37mm (1.45 inch) gun was not as capable and it did not have as much armor. The Czech-designed tank did have innovative pneumatic power steering, which relieved stress on the driver. The 6. Panzer-Division had some trouble adapting the tank to German use, as the manuals were in Czech. Nevertheless, 6. Panzer-Division crossed 217 miles of France in nine days, captured the British 145th Infantry Brigade at Cassel, and took part in the conquest of Flanders and the Aisne River, eventaully reaching the Swiss border. Almost all the 35(t)s would be lost during Operation Barbarossa, when their guns and armor were inferior to the Soviet KV and T-34 tanks, and the pneumatic steering failed in the cold. 

Source:

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-769-0236-23

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-769-0236-23,_Frankreich,_Panzer_35t_und_Panzer_IV.jpg

Tanks of 6. Panzer Division Advance Toward Cassel

Image size: 1600 x 1094 pixel. 322 KB
Date: Sunday, 26 May 1940
Place: Cassel, Nord départment, Prancis
Photographer: Unknown

Noon, 26 May 1940: row of panzers from Kampfgruppe Esebeck/6.Panzer-Division/16.Armee/Heeresgruppe B advance to attack Cassel (background), defended by the British 145th (South) Brigade/I Corps; a Panzerkampfwagen II follows Skoda's Panzerkampfwagen 35(t). Note air recognition flags, and the detachable tactical number plate on the PzKfw II, '502'! Kampfgruppe Esebeck commanded by Oberst Hans-Karl Freiherr von Esebeck. They successfully established a bridgehead across the Saint-Quentin Canal south of Cambrai on 18 May 1940. On 19 May the Kampfgruppe established bridgeheads on Canal du Nord in co-operation with Kampfgruppe Ravenstein. The Kampfgruppe nearly reached the coast between Abbéville and Montreuil on 20 May, supported by the 57th Reconnaissance Battalion. On 22 May the Kampfgruppe captured Lumbres, 40 kilometers east of Calais. The Kampfgruppe successfully occupied Saint Omer on 23 May and continued advance towards Cassel. On 24 May the Kampfgruppe was withdrawn to hold a bridgehead on the Calais-Saint Omer Canal. During 29 and 30 May the Kampfgruppe supported the operations of Kampfgruppe Koll.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection
Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen

Skoda 35 Tank Kompanie of Panzer-Regiment 11 Wait in A Wood for the Opening of Blitzkrieg

Image size: 1600 x 830 pixel. 499 KB
Date: April 1940
Place: Mayen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Photographer: Unknown

A Skoda 35 tank Kompanie of Panzer-Regiment 11/6.Panzer-Division wait in a wood near Mayen for the opening of Blitzkrieg on France, April 1940. Around 30 January 1940, the newly-built 6. Panzer-Division left its quarters in the region of Wuppertal and on 2 February 1940 it was assembled in the area of Euskirchen with the divisional CP (Command Post) in Münstereifel. In the West the German and the Allies stayed face to face without nobody dared to take the first step although with the conclusion of the Campaign in Poland and the deployment of the armor divisions and the active infantry divisions of the German Army on its western borders all possibility of a fast Allied victory had disappeared. On 1 March 1940, the 6. Panzer-Division was displaced towards the Westerwald and subordinated under the XXXI. Armeekorps (Motorisiert) which was commanded by General der Panzertruppe Hans-Georg Reinhardt. To this Army Corps also belonged the 8. Panzer-Division and the 29. Infanterie-Division (Motorisiert). In turn the XXXI. Armeekorps (Mot.) was fitted as well in the Panzergruppe of General der Kavallerie Ewald von Kleist together with the XIX. Armeekorps (Mot.) of General der Panzertruppe Guderian and the XIV. Armeekorps (Mot.) of General der Infanterie Gustav Anton von Wietersheim. Towards the end of April of 1940, all the tracked vehicles were across the Rhine and were concentrated again in the area of Mayen, while the bulk of the division remaining in the Westerwald.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection
Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen