Atlas Trail
The Tanks Beside the Famous Ones: Second World War Armor
The Second World War is remembered through a few famous tanks, but most of the fighting was done by the vehicles around them. This path follows nine of these, from the Czech-built and German medium tanks of 1939 to the heavy tanks of 1944, in the order they entered service, and shows how guns, armor and weight shifted in five years.
Stop 1 of 9.
Weapons Systems
Entered mass production in 1939 with the Ausf. F as one of the two backbones of German armored divisions. Its main gun grew from 3.7 cm to 5 cm to a short 7.5 cm as designers tried to keep pace, yet it proved outclassed by the Soviet T-34 and KV from 1941 and left the tank role by 1943.
Stop 2 of 9.
Weapons Systems
Designed in Czechoslovakia and adopted by Germany after the occupation, with the t standing for tschechisch, meaning Czech. Under ten tonnes with a 37mm gun, it served well in Poland and France, and over 1,400 were built before its chassis was turned to tank destroyers.
Stop 3 of 9.
Weapons Systems
A Soviet heavy tank named for Kliment Voroshilov, in service from 1939. Its armor was so thick that early German anti-tank guns struggled to penetrate it in 1941, and Germans reportedly called it the Russian Colossus, though weight cost it mobility and reliability.
Stop 4 of 9.
Weapons Systems
An American light tank that entered British service in early 1941, around 15 tons with a 37mm gun, nicknamed Honey by British crews for its smooth ride. As heavier enemy tanks appeared its work shifted from tank fighting toward reconnaissance and screening.
Stop 5 of 9.
Weapons Systems
An American medium tank of 1941 that mounted its 75mm gun in a hull sponson instead of a turret, a stopgap to field a gun able to beat German tanks. In North Africa from 1942 the gun outperformed contemporary German guns, while the high profile and limited traverse were serious flaws.
Stop 6 of 9.
Weapons Systems
A British infantry tank of 1941, built for heavy armor and the power to climb steep slopes and cross difficult ground at walking pace beside infantry. It is named for the Duke of Marlborough, not Winston Churchill, and about 5,640 were built across many variants.
Stop 7 of 9.
Weapons Systems
A British cruiser tank that first fought in Normandy in June 1944. Its Rolls-Royce Meteor engine gave a top speed near 40 miles per hour, the fastest British tank of the war, and most were rearmed with a dual-purpose 75mm gun in place of the 6-pounder.
Stop 8 of 9.
Weapons Systems
A German heavy tank first used in combat by the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion in Normandy on 11 July 1944. Up to 185 millimeters of frontal armor and the long 8.8 cm KwK 43 gun made it formidable, but bombing and mechanical complexity held production to 492.
Stop 9 of 9.
Weapons Systems
A Soviet heavy tank first in combat in early 1944 with Guards Heavy Tank Regiments. Its 122mm D-25T gun and armor up to 120mm made it a breakthrough tank, able to defeat the Tiger and the Elefant, and some stayed in use into the 1970s.
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