German company called "Hugo Schneider AG" (HASAG) had started development of this new weapon, which was simply put recoilless rifle firing projectile with HEAT-warhead, already in summer of 1942. German military had used HEAT-warheads already in several weapons earlier and recoilless rifles had been tested in many countries in small numbers already before World War 2, but Faustpatrone developed by HASAG was the first antitank weapon two combine the two successfully and see mass-production. The weapon was first known as "Faustpatrone" ("fist-cartridge"), later as "Faustpatrone klein 30m" ("fist-cartridge small 30m") and finally as "Panzerfaust klein" ("armour-fist small"). Field testing stage was achieved in July of 1943 and the weapon entered to large-scale use with German Armed Forces in August of 1943. The "Faustpatrone klein" was also the first disposable recoilless rifle ever, since while in theory its tube could be reloaded, this was not standard procedure.

Basic principle of the weapon was quite simple: Ammunition set in end of the tube was fired off from tube by small explosive charge of black powder acting as propellant. Before use the weapon had to be made ready for use by adding primer and fuse to projectile. Explosion gasses of the propellant charge vented out from other end of the tube making the weapon (somewhat) recoilless. The actual triggering mechanism was quite simple and spring-loaded. The weapon was usually fired by pointing it from under shooters armpit or from top of the shoulder, but demanded caution as the backblast and flame coming from rear end of the tube was lethal up to 2 - 3 meter distance. The danger-area behind the weapon (area clear from any obstacles during firing) was 10 metres and firing panzerfaust from the inside of a building was dangerous. Once the projectile left the tube its previously folded up stabilising fins opened up and stabilised the projectile. First "Faustpatrone klein" was delivered without sights of any kind, but soon simple sight was added to the design. Basically the sight was just upwards pointing metal rail with one or more holes for different ranges. While aiming the shooter simply lined the suitable hole in metal rail with upper surface of warhead to aim. The explosive used in warheads was about half-and-half (46.6% and 53.4%) combination of TNT (trinitrotoluene) and RDX (tri-hexogen).

PICTURE: The basic structure and principle of panzerfaust. CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (27 KB).

"Faustpatrone klein" was success among German soldiers, even if its range was limited to about 30 meters it gave much better change for ordinary German soldier to successfully fight enemy tank then all earlier one-man antitank weapons in whole German inventory. However, the weapon also had some not so good qualities: Shape of the projectile proved problematic when the weapon was used against armoured vehicles, which had sloped armour: If the projectile hit the armour plane in too small angle it often ricocheted without doing any damage. Another problem was the weapons range, which was only 30 meters or so. Even with these difficulties "Panzerfaust klein 30m" was light and handy enough to remain in production and use of German Armed Forces until end of World War 2.

PICTURE: Projectile of Panzerfaust 30. Below it are primer and propellant charge. Notice stabiliser wings, which have opened up. (Photo taken in Sotamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (108 KB).

The improved version called first "Faustpatrone 30m" and later "Panzerfaust 30" was introduced to German use in September of 1944. This new version had more powerful and better shape of projectile, but as it was much larger and it also demanded larger launching tube, so this made the weapon much heavier. This second version was equally effective, but its range wasn't any longer then the earlier "klein" version. After "Panzerfaust 30" development focus was set in improving the panzerfausts range by increasing the amount of propellant used. This development work lead to introduction of "Panzerfaust 60", which replaced "Panzerfaust 30" in production in September of 1944. The new "Panzerfaust 60" soon became the most typical weapon of its type in German use and remained so for rest of the war. Another improvement introduced with "Panzerfaust 60" were new arming/triggering system and sight attached to it. The last production version of panzerfaust was "Panzerfaust 100" introduced in January of 1945, it saw battle use only in small numbers before collapse of Germany. The Germans manufactured some 7.4 million panzerfaust during World War 2.

(*) Two-stage propellant charge.

PICTURE: Panssarinyrkki F1 aka Panzerfaust klein. The colouring of warhead reveals that this is training weapon with nonfuctional warhead. Tube of this panzerfaust has the original German colouring. The text could be translated as: "Attention! flame!" (Photo taken in Sotamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (51 KB)

PICTURE: Panssarinyrkki F2 aka Panzerfaust 30. The same text, which could be translated as "Attention! flame!". All panzerfaust delivered by the Germans to Finland were painted with this dark yellow colour, which was the standard colour used by German Army. (Photo taken in Sotamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (57 KB)

First delivery of Faustpatrone for Finnish military arrived to Finland with steamship s/s Aune in 11^th of April 1944. The delivery contained 1,700 "Faustpatrone klein 30m", 300 Panzerschreck and 3,000 rockets for Panzerschreck. All Panzerfaust of this first delivery were smaller F1-version. Finnish names for the new weapon were direct translations from original German ones: First they were called "Käsipatruuna" (Faustpatrone/fist-cartridge) and later "Panssarinyrkki" (Panzerfaust/armour-fist). Officially the Finnish name change didn't happen until August of 1944, but unofficially Finnish troops had started calling the weapon "Panssarinyrkki" already before that.

Ballistic data of 100 pshp F1 (26 meters/sec):

PICTURE: Panssarinyrkki F1 repainted dark green in Finland. (Photo taken in Panssarimuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (46 KB).

The Germans had demanded absolute secrecy from the Finns when it came to Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck, even if the Soviets had already managed capture some of these weapons earlier from them. This absurd secrecy lead to difficult situation in Finnish Armed Forces: The great majority of these new weapons were warehoused far away from frontline and less then 200 Finnish soldiers had received training for them before the Soviet summer offensive of 1944 started. 9^th of June Soviet troops under command of Leningrad military district started their massive summer offensive against Finnish troops in Karelian Isthmus. This was the first time since Winter War when Finnish troops faced Soviet armoured attack of huge numbers and the limited capabilities of existing Finnish antitank weaponry soon became painfully obvious. All antitank guns less then 75-mm in calibre and all antitank rifles proved quite ineffective against new Soviet tanks and assault guns. The delivery which had arrived 11^th of April had been only about the same size, which the Germans usually used to equip one division of they own. In other words it was much too small for the situation in which the Finns found themselves in June of 1944. Further deliveries of panzerfaust and panzerschreck from Germany were started fast. Already the methods of transportation used for these deliveries during June and July of 1944 reveal how urgent and important they were. German aircraft and motor torpedo boasts were used to transport panzerfausts to Finland and large number was also transferred from German 20^th Mountain Army (which was stationed in Lapland) to Finnish Army.

PICTURE: Panssarinyrkki F2 repainted dark green in Finland. (Photo taken in Panssarimuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (52 KB).

Starting from June 1944 Finnish Armed Forces received deliveries of two Panzerfaust models:

• Panzerfaust F1 aka "Panzerfaust klein" aka Panssarinyrkki F1.
• Panzerfaust F2 aka "Panzerfaust 30" aka Panssarinyrkki F2.

From these two the F2 variation was the more numerous in Finnish use. As the number of Finnish soldiers, who had already received training for these weapons was very small and the training typically no more than a brief introduction. Also often the only training available was what closest soldier with German-language skills quickly managed to translate from German instructions (which arrived with the weapons), or what some soldier who already had used this new weapon could tell to his fellow soldiers. Only the lucky ones among Finnish soldiers got few hours of training with Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck before facing Soviet tanks. The first shot Finnish soldiers fired with these new weapons was typically fired in battle and against real operational Soviet tank. The lack of training often lead to serious accidents: The users were either unaware or forgot the backblast, held the weapon incorrectly or failed taking cover immediately after firing the Panzerfaust/Panzerschreck and could get injured in following explosion. Those Finnish soldiers, who fired their first panzerfaust correctly enough and survived taught their fellow soldiers how to use the new weapon and many of them developed very successful tank hunters in battles such as Siiranmäki, Tali-Ihantala and Vuosalmi. However, panzerfaust were not totally problem-free: Primers used panzerfaust proved to be the weak link of the design as they were sensitive to moisture. If the primer did not work the weapon would fail to launch the projectile when trigger button was pushed - so this was a major issue. Finnish soldiers discovered that the primer often malfunctioned after getting wet and some of them were duds already to begin with. In principle the solution for these problems was quite simple: extra primers should have been included to equipment issued to soldiers using panzerfaust. Unfortunately the Germans failed the deliver these spare primers in timely manner - in end of July 1944 Finnish military was still waiting for their delivery. Another issues were involved in Panzerfausts being considered too highly visible and Only about 3,900 of the Panzerfaust delivered to Finland during World War 2 were used in the war and the remaining weapons stayed in use of Finnish Armed Forces until late 1950's.

Deliveries of "Panzerfaust klein" and "Panzerfaust 30" to Finland:

PICTURE: Finnish soldiers are being taught how to use Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck. Photo taken in Syskyjärvi in July of 1944. (SA-kuva photo archive, photo number 156315). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (251 KB).

While Panzerfaust was quite purely German development Panzerschreck was based to US developed M1A1 Bazooka. Year 1943 the Germans either managed to capture M1A1 Bazooka from US troops in Northern Africa or one of the few sent in Russia. Either way they captured in least one and started developing their own improved version of the weapon. The first German version was officially named "8,8 cm Raketenpanzerbüsche 43" (Rocket tank rifle 43) and the official abbreviation was "RPzB.43". However, German soldiers soon started to commonly call them "Ofenrohr" (stovepipe) and "Panzerschreck" (terror of tanks). The official German name described the weapon quite accurately, as the weapon was portable rocket launcher (while panzerfaust was recoilless rifle): The weapon itself was tube from which the rocket-type projectile equipped with HEAT-warhead was launched. The largest difference between US M1A1 Bazooka and German RPzB.43 was the calibre: M1A1 Bazooka was 60-mm calibre, while RPzB.43 was 88-mm calibre weapon. Further notable differences included the method to create electricity used to ignite black powder propellant charge of the rocket: M1A1 Bazooka carried a battery for this use, while panzerschreck had magnetic coil.

When compared to panzerfaust the obvious difference was that Panzerschreck was reloadable weapon and because of this demanded crew of two soldiers for using the weapon. Also when Panzerschreck first appeared it had clear edge in effective range compared to panzerfaust, but as panzerfaust was further developed this difference between the two was reduced. Panzerschreck also was more of a specialist weapon, while panzerfaust was weapon issued in large numbers to regular infantry rifle squads. Germans started introducing RPzB.43 for field tests in December of 1943 and soon it entered to large-scale use. However RPzB had one certain defect: Propellant of the rockets (RPzB.Gr.4322) used in its rockets burned until good two meters after exiting weapons barrel and this was very dangerous to the gunner firing the weapon. Fireproof poncho and gas mask (naturally minus filter) added to RPzB gunners clothing introduced temporary solution until better one appeared.

That better solution coming for the field was adding steel shield with small mineral-glass window as protection of the gunner. The shield measuring 36 cm x 47 mm added another 1.5 kilograms to the already considerable weight of the weapon but was well worth it. The improved version of Panzerschreck equipped with shield was named 8,8 cm Raketenpanzerbüsche 54 and was introduced to large-scale production in September of 1943. Summer of 1944 RPzB.54 replaced the earlier RPzB.43 in German use. The next and last version of panzerschreck was "8,8 cm Raketenpanzerbüsche 54/1" introduced with new and improved RPzB.Gr.4992 rockets in December of 1944. Compared to RPzB.54 the new RPzB.54/1 was 25-cm shorter, 1.5-kilograms lighter and thanks to new rocket had better range. The rockets used in Panzerschreck had been named as summer- and winter versions and the weapons front sight had alternative settings for both rocket types. Early on the rear sight was fixed, but later it was replaced with adjustable one. The rockets had different stabiliser system then in Panzerfaust: Stabiliser ring reminding the ones used in aerial bombs. The Germans manufactured about 315,000 panzerschreck and some 2,2-million rockets for them during World War 2.

PICTURE: Panzerschreck 54 repainted with Finnish camo pattern. Late July 1944 Finnish Armed Forces HQ issued orders to repaint panzerfaust and panzerschreck delivered to Finland. Weapons repair companies and troops were to paint the ones they already had and the ones delivered after this were to be painted before issuing. (Photo taken in Sotamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (80 KB).

Finnish military ordered 2,000 Panzerschreck and 20,000 rockets for them from Germany. The total price for this order was 200,000 RM (reichsmark), placing price per Panzerschreck and 10 rockets at 100 RM. It seems that the 10 rockets per Panzerschreck ratio was commonly used in most of the deliveries of these weapons to Finland. Before the Finns signed armistice treaty with Soviets (which stopped all armaments deliveries from Germany) in September of 1944 the Germans delivered 1,854 Panzerschreck and 18,650 rockets for them to the Finnish military.

First delivery of Panzerschreck arrived in the same ship as first delivery of Panzerfaust. All Panzerschreck delivered to Finland were 8,8 cm Raketenpanzerbüsche 54 variation and their rockets type "RPzB.Gr.4322 Wintermunion 43/44". As the name says this particular rocket type was intended also for winter use and could be used in temperatures reaching from -25 degrees Celsius to +25 degrees Celsius. Official German supplied data suggested effective shooting range of 120 metres against moving tank and 150 meters against non-mobile tank. But tests done by Finnish military revealed that the actual effective range against moving target was only about 100 metres. The name "Panssarikauhu" Finnish military adopted for this weapon had exactly the same meaning as German "Panzerschreck" - horror for tanks. Finnish seldom used official name for "8,8 cm RPzB.54", which was 88 Rakh/B54. Finnish official name for Panzerschreck ammunition used was 88 psh-rak/B-27/30

PICTURE: Close up of 88 psh-rak/B-27/30 rocket for Panzerschreck. Notice stabiliser ring painted black. (Photo taken in Sotamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (75 KB).

The same absurd demand of secrecy also effected training of Panzerschreck use in Finnish Armed Forces. There were practically no Finnish soldiers trained to use this weapon when Soviet started their huge offensive in Karelian Isthmus in 9^th of June 1944. Like with Panzerfaust Finnish soldiers mostly learned to use these weapons in middle of battle. For some reason the amount of accidents seem to have been somewhat smaller with Panzerschreck - even if the backblast of this weapon was more dangerous than the one produced by Panzerfaust. This could possibly have something to do with the weapon being seen more complex, so the instructions were read more accurately and followed more exactly. But unfortunately (like Germans observed also) Panzerschreck also gave easily the false sense of high capability, which lead opening fire from too long distance and more often shot missing the target compared to Panzerfaust.

Ballistic data of Panssarikauhu (105 meters/sec):

(Source: Finnish test report, Ballistinen toimisto "K.D. N:o 100/sal".)

Like with Panzerfaust Finnish soldiers soon excelled with this weapon. Feedback gathered from troops indicated that in mid-July of 1944 soldiers who had used new German-manufactured antitank-weapons in battle considered Panzerschreck to be most effective and reliable of antitank-weapons available to infantry at that time. However weight of the weapon and its ammunition was such that the official team size (of three men) had often been found too small, if weapon and its ammunition had be carried for longer distances. In addition weapon and its ammunition were considered too easily visible, hence soldiers recommended painting them with camo pattern, orders from which were soon issued. Seating inside the (German-designed) transport box for panzerschreck rockets was found to be too loose, this allowed rockets to move inside it, which could damage electic wires leading to igniter. In addition safety pin used in fuse of each rocket had been found difficult to remove. The Finnish official Panzerschreck team size was just three men: One man acted as Panzerschreck gunner, another had submachinegun ready for enemy infantry and the third one carried ammunition for Panzerschreck and sometimes also had Panzerfaust as a backup weapon. Panzerschreck proved good weapon and its longer range proved very useful, but as noted the size and weight also made it much clumsier to use then panzerfaust. Only about 17 % of Panzerschreck rockets delivered to Finnish military were used in World War 2, so over 14,000 of these rockets were still unused when the war ended. Panzerschreck and their rockets remained in Finnish use until late 1950's. At that time they were replaced by domestic "55 S 55" rocket launcher, which was Finnish development based to Panzerschreck.

Deliveries of Panzerschreck 54 and its rockets to Finland:

(*) Total number of rockets delivered in these two deliveries was 5,650.

(**) Total number of rockets delivered in these three deliveries was 9,400.

The deliveries with marking "special delivery" were not common transports by ship (the way armaments were usually transported from Germany to Finland during World War 2). Presumably these were the deliveries transported from Germany to Finland with aircraft and motor torpedo boats.

SS-HL-Handgranate:

Halfhohlladung 3:

These highly specialized antitank-weapons with shape roughly resembling champagne bottle contained high-explosive antitank (HEAT) warhead. Both were used in rather similar manner, since they were designed to be attached to suitable part of enemy tank before activating the fuse. Time fuse allowed soldier using them to take cover before the HEAT-warhead exploded. The main difference between the two designs is that HL-handgranate was attached to enemy tank with glue, while hafthohlladung relied in powerful magnets for this purpose. Also, HL-handgranate had been developed by SS Weapons Academy and presumably the Germans issued it only to Waffen-SS, while hafthohlladung 3 was issued to both German Army (Heer) and Waffen-SS. From these two designs HL-handgranate proved so problematic that it was rather short-lived and the later German development efforts were concentrated to hafthohlladung. The Germans introduced hafthohlladung 3 year 1942 and it was apparently the first version of the hafthohlladung series, which proved to be at least somewhat successful, later it was replaced with hafthohlladung 4. Once panzerfaust started to become available in large numbers, it basically replaced the less-effective hafthohlladung type weapons in German use.

Around 1942 - 1943 Finnish Army was trying to keep up with development of tanks by introducing upgrades to its antitank-weapons inventory. As part of these new acquisitions Finnish Army acquired both HL-handgranate and hafthohlladung 3 from Germany. Early on Finnish Army called these panssarimiina m/42 (anti-tank mine m/42), but since Finnish inventory contained also normal antitank-mine with the same name, this proved quite confusing and resulted to later name-change as panssaripanos m/42 (anti-tank explosive charge m/42). Sometimes Finnish documents also refer HL-handgranate as klebe-mine ("glue-mine" in German). The limited number acquired by Finnish military time suggests that these were likely intended for field testing in various units of Finnish Army. There were some plans of introducing them as close range antitank weapons for antitank-gun and sapper units of Finnish Army, but this does not seem have happened at least in large-scale. Once issued for testing these weapons proved very unpopular among Finnish troops. Even using readily available satchel charges / antitank hand grenades did not require going to touching distance of enemy tanks, since they could be usually thrown from some distance. But using these weapons actually required getting to touching distance from enemy tank and possibly even climbing on top of it. However that was not even the only handicap of these weapons. For such a close use the time delay in detonator was quite short, which did not leave much time to soldier using it for finding cover. Glue used in HL-handgranate also proved highly problematic, since it froze in sub-zero temperatures, making the weapon useless. Finnish military made some effort for trying to find more suitable glue for the purpose, but with very little actual results. If Finnish military purchased more of these weapons in 1944 remains uncertain, but it seems highly unlikely. "Panssaripanos m/42" never saw large-scale use with Finnish military and in fact considering how unpopular they were it is questionable, if they saw use any actual combat use with Finnish Army.

SOURCES:

Erkki Käkelä: Marskin panssarintuhoojat.

Fritz Hahn: Waffen und Geheimwaffen des deutsches Heeres 1933 - 1945.

Panzerfaust and other infantry anti-tank weapons by Wolfgang Fleischer.

Field Rocket Equipment of the German Army 1939 - 1945 by T.J. Gander.

Article: Panssarinyrkki by Kari Kuusela. Ase magazine vol. 1/1988.

Article: Panssarikauhut palvelivat 50-luvulle by Kari Kuusela. Ase magazine vol. 3/1988.

Article: Panssarintorjunta-aseet by Lauri Harvila. Kansa Taisteli magazine vol. 10/1976.

Article: Panssarikauhu, Panzerschreck - Raketenpanzerbusche 54 by Kari Kuusela in Suomen Sotilas magazine vol. 3/2004.

Article: Panzerfaust, Panssarinyrkki by Kari Kuusela in Suomen Sotilas magazine vol. 3/2004.

Finnish military manual: Ilmatorjuntamies 1950

Finnish Army test-reports of "Panssarinyrkki F1" and "Panssarikauhu" from June of 1944 (Finnish Military Archives, archive index T19051, folder 32).

Contents of Finnish Army manual for "Panssarikauhu" (Finnish Military Archives, archive index T19051, folder 32).

Finnish Military Archives folder T19052/2

Finnish military archives, archive references T20206/F9, /F10 and /F11

Finnish military archives, archive reference T20207

Special thanks to Panssarimuseo (Finnish Armour Museum), Parola.

Special thanks to Sotamuseo (Finnish Military Museum), Helsinki.

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