laststandonzombieisland

80 years ago this week. Company B, 638th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Official wartime caption: “Cpl. Elliot Roy, Brooklyn, N.Y., Pvt. Claude Patton, Ashland, Ky., and T/5 Oscar Schnell examine a German anti-tank rifle. Seven feet three inches long, the rifle is reputed to be able to penetrate three inches of armor. Germany, 25 February 1945.” While the location isn’t disclosed, the 638th had just crossed the Roer River at Unnach in support of the 84th Infantry Division’s 334th Infantry Regiment and pushed on to capture Grantcrath, Doverhahn, Dovenrn, and Huckelhaven.

The rifle held by the above members of the 638th TD Bn is a Polish-made Karabin przeciwpancerny wzór 35, a 22-pound bolt-action anti-tank gun chambered in the very long 7.92x107mm DS. It is missing its 4-round detachable box magazine but is easy to identify due to its donut-style muzzle break and centerline reinforcing bolt for the wooden stock.

Developed in the 1930s under great secrecy by the cash-strapped Poles, the wz. 35 was code-named “Uruguay” when introduced.

Capable of zipping through 33mm of steel armor plate at 100 yards with its diminutive 245-grain lead core steel jacketed bullet– which sat over 187 grains of nitrocellulose powder to gain a velocity of 4,180 ft/s– it was able to penetrate the 13mm of armor on the Pz.Kpfw. I. and the 15mm of plate on the Panzer II but stood no chance of taking down later model medium or heavy tanks of any sort.

Still, the Poles made some 6,500 of these guns and enough of them fell into German hands in 1939 that they were pressed into service as the PzB 35(p)/PzB 770(p) and passed on to the Finns and Italians who used them as the kiv/38 and FC 35(P), respectively.