32570 1/48 German Panzer II
A/B/C - French Campaign
In
the mid 1930s, the German
military pushed the production
of tanks. The Panzer I designed
as a training tank, did not have
the adequate performance, so a
light tank was needed to full
the gap until the Panzer III
could be introduced. Therefore,
the German Ordnance Department
issued a request for a new
training tank that could be used
for combat. In the end, MAN was
chosen in 1934 to produce the
Panzer II, a compact 4.8m long,
2.2m wide design with a three
man crew. The 8.9 ton tank
featured a 2cm Kwk 30 L/55
cannon and 7.92mm machine gun in
the turret, 15mm armor
protection for turret and hull
front, leaf spring suspension,
and a 140hp Maybach HL 62 TRM
engine matched with a ZF SSG46
transmission, which gave it a
40km/h top speed.
The Ausf. A was produced from 1937, followed by the Ausf. B and C,
which were difficult to
distinguish from each other
visually. About 1,100 Panzer
tanks were produced by April
1940, and due to delays with the
Panzer III, they were
immediately issued as the Panzer
divisions main tank for the
invasion of Poland in September
1939. Based on lessons learned
on the battlefields of Poland
and, in May 1940, France,
improvements such as extra armor
and a turret cupola were added,
and the Panzer II went on to
serve in North Africa and Russia
in front line and liaison and
reconnaissance duties until the
end of 1943. Afterwards, they
were used to police occupied
territories and the chassis was
also adapted for use as the
basis for various self-propelled
gun designs
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