Sturmgeschütz III Ausf. F/8 and G

Thomas Anderson explores some of the improvisations that kept the StuG III an effective fighting vehicle to the end of the War.

It is common knowledge that the Wehrmacht was extremely (if unexpectedly) successful during the first years of World War II. In Poland, and a mere eight months later in France, the World War I-style military doctrine employed by the German’s opponents was reduced to absurdity, resulting in the swift defeat of both countries. Again, the events of 1941 and 1942 showed the potency of the German Blitzkrieg, as the Wehrmacht swept through the deserts of North Africa, Greece and Yugoslavia and the Russian Steppes. However, few people acknowledge that these successes were achieved with weaponry of rather ordinary quality that was often revealed as inadequate against opposing equipment.

An after-action report by 9 Panzer Division (dated 27 July 1940) exposed these problems from the invasion of France: