Use of Panzerfaust-Type Grenade Launchers by German and Soviet Soldiers during the Fighting for Pomerania in 1945

Abstract

The mass use of anti-tank grenade launchers known as Panzerfausts (armoured fists) by the German Wehrmacht in the final phase of the Second World War in Europe made them an immediately formidable weapon. Faced with dramatic shortages of fuel needed for the mobility of armoured forces, as well as tungsten as a component for the production of steel plates and ammunition, new ideas were sought for fighting tanks. Thus, the combat-proven effectiveness of shaped-charge projectiles fired from a hand-held tubular launcher was exploited, together with the ease of their production and their low unit cost compared with tanks and other armoured vehicles, which they immobilised and sometimes outright destroyed. Mass training in the handling of this weapon was undertaken, and even improvised tank-destroyer units armed only with grenade launchers and equipped with bicycles were created. The successes achieved by the Germans in defensive fighting, thanks to the use of Panzerfausts, also galvanised the opponent. In the spring of 1945, the Red Army issued an order to recover captured weapons of this type and to provide instruction on their operation. Their employment in combat, however, looked different because Soviet troops readily used grenade launchers during assaults on fortified strongpoints, especially masonry structures. A specific adaptation of the Panzerfaust to fighting in urban areas was the construction of makeshift devices for firing salvos. At the same time, Soviet engineers attempted to develop their own grenade launchers with characteristics similar to the German ones, but they achieved satisfactory results only after the war.