Quote:
Originally Posted by DRG
Quote:
Originally Posted by redcoat2
The Panzer III Ausf. F, G and H carried a rack of five smoke bombs in a box on the back of the vehicle. They could be used to create a smoke screen that the tank could reverse into. Some later versions of the Panzer III had this rack of smoke bombs concealed beneath the engine air-outlet cowling. Other later versions - including the Ausf. M - had smoke dischargers on the side on the turret to lay smoke in front of the tank.
Source: Osprey New Vanguard 27 - Panzerkampfwagen III Medium Tank 1936-44.
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That source happen to mention a date this was common practice ?
Don |
Not specifically. The book first mentions the smoke bombs in the first chapter about the development of the Panzer III.
On Page 8 it says “The Ausf. H began entering service at the end of 1940 … Like the Ausf. F and G it carried a rack of smoke bombs in a prominent box at the rear, the operation of which is described below.”
On the next page it says, “The Ausfuhrung M appeared in 1942 … Two batteries of three smoke bomb dischargers were fitted to the turret sides, arranged so as to drop a pattern ahead of the tank if fired simultaneously.”
Most of the information about the Panzer III’s smoke bombs is in a paragraph in the next chapter (on Page 17):
