Company Officer's Handbook Of The German Army - Command and ...

52 COMPANY OFFICER'S HANDBOOK
21 cm Nebelwerfer 42, and the 28/32 cm Nebelwerfer 41 are all
mounted on pneumatic-tired carriages resembling those used by
artillery weapons. They are generally towed by light half-tracks.
Late German rocket weapons include the Ofenrohr ("Stovepipe"), a
German version of the U.S. "Bazooka," designated as the 8.8 cm
Raketen-Panzerbiichse 43 (8.8 cm R.Pz.B. 43).
Rockets create considerable disturbance at the firing point, raising
clouds of dust and smoke. Their trails betray the location of the
projector positions. Since crews must take shelter in slit trenches
during firing, the normal rate of fire of the 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 is
reduced to one salvo in 8 minutes. The 15 cm Panzerwerfer 42,
however, because its crew can take quick cover within the vehicle,
is believed to have a higher rate of fire than the other types of
projectors. All types of German launchers have a high proportion
of misfires.
24. ARTILLERY
a.- General
The standard artillery materiel 6f the German Army was developed
in 1933 or subsequently. In addition to this, some older
German materiel and a considerable quantity of captured materiel,
especially Polish, French, Czech, and Russian, are in use.
The basic types of German field artillery, which were developed
from 1933 to 1939, have continued in use without sweeping changes.
These weapons usually have horizontal sliding-wedge breechblocks,
fire semifixed ammunition (up to and including 280-mm), and have
split trails which permit a field of fire of about 60 degrees. Designs
are standardized for maximum interchangeability of parts and
equipment. The same carriage is usually used for a gun of one caliber
and the howitzer of the next higher caliber. For example, both
the 105-mm gun (10 cm K. 18) and the 150-mm howitzer (15
cmr le.F.H. 18) use the same carriage. Light and medium artillery
are designed to be either horse-drawn or motorized. Medium
artillery may be divided into two loads when horse-drawn. Heavy
artillery, always motorized, is usually drawn in two loads.
The chief aim of the Germans in developing new weapons has