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jprivett · U for Unclassified Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 6

I personally think the best piece of WW2 kit is disputed between two things. The first is the German Tiger Tank. The other is the British Sten machine gun. These were both extremely useful during the war as they both had their own unique advantages.

The Tiger Tank was the heaviest piece of equipment ever built by the Germans in the war. Its armor was over 200mm thick and could not be taken out by any other tank without support. It fired a 75mm shell from its turret and was able to stay submerged for up to two and a half hours. Although it was impenetrable in its upper body, it had one weakness that could instantly immobilize it.

The tracks on its lower half were unprotected and were an easy target. A British Paratrooper near Arnhem won a Victoria Cross for immobilizing 4 Tiger Tanks with a Piatt Gun. This was the portable bazooka used by British Paratroopers and usually needed two men to reload. This was the only weakness the Tiger Tank had and was the primary target when fighting a Tiger Tank in a battle.

The Sten gun was chiefly used by the British armed forces in Africa for sabotage units such as the Desert Rats. Its design was uniquely suited to fit both pistol magazines and magazines from both the Sten guns and the German MP40 sub-machine guns used by German officers and squad leaders. This made sure that any captured ammunition was put to use.

The reason it was a good sabotage weapon was because it had a suppressor on the barrel which could take out any German soldiers and only produce a dull sound when it fired. This was why it could be used for sabotage and night attacks by the Desert Rats soldiers.

Mr H · Site Admin Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 459

Excellent article - 9 points.

A slight correction - the 'Desert Rats' was the nickname given to the whole of the British Eighth Army in the North African campaign. They did have some sabotage units - like the new SAS (Special Air Service) and the LRDG (Long Range Desert Group), nicknamed the 'Libyan Desert Taxi Service' who would cover thousands of miles in their special Land Rovers and cause mayhem for the Germans and Italians behind enemy lines.

http://www.lrdg.de/main.htm

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