German Armored Forces & Vehicles

German tanks and sidecars in Poland, 1939.

Unknown (German) author.

Column of PzKpfw I tanks pass a formation of German sidecar troops, Poland, September, 1939. The Panzer I (as had been shown in the Spanish Civil War) was barely proof to machine-gun bullets, and its dual machine-gun armament gave it no effective tank-on-tank capacity. Nonetheless, the Germans' shortage of more effective tanks forced the Panzer units to press these vehicles (essentially training/demonstration vehicles) into battle in Poland. Consequently, where they were lucky enough to encounter them in favourable conditions, Polish artillery, cannon-armed light tanks and even (very rare) cannon-armed Polish tankettes inflicted heavy losses on panzer units composed of PzKpfw I. The PzKpfw I continued to constitute an important element in the Panzer forces in the course of the 1940 western campaign. An illustration, as much as anything else, to Germany's unpreparedness for a major war in 1939. Best regards, JR.