Waffen SS troops train in methods of dealing with enemy armor in 1943

0:00 Schiessbecher grenade launcher on a Mauser rifle used to launch a hollow charge grenade. While range was limited, the Grosse Panzergranate 46 developed for SS use could penetrate up to 90mm of armor, making it potentially effective against tanks like the Soviet T-34/76 used as a target. The Grosse Panzergranate 61 developed in 1944 could penetrate up to 130mm of armor.

0:05 A relatively rare Sd.Kfz.221 mit 2.8cm Panzerbüchse 41, which as the name suggests mated the Sd.Kfz.221 armored car with a Panzerbüchse 41, officially classed as a heavy anti-tank rifle but normally mounted on a small wheeled carriage. It is believed that under 50 such conversions where made. The sPzB 41 operated on the "squeeze bore" concept that allowed high muzzle velocities to be reached, giving it impressive performance against armor in spite of its small caliber. The 28mm 125 gram projectile with a tungsten alloy core would be swaged down to 20mm by the time it emerged from the muzzle, traveling at a velocity of almost 1.5 kilometers per second. This meant that it would be able to penetrate the T-34/76 tank armor inside of 300 meters.

0:11 A soldier runs up to a T-34/76 and places a Tellermine 42 anti-tank mine on the hull. The mine could be fitted with a time delay fuze, enabling it to be used as an improvised satchel charge, and with just over 5 kg of explosive it was almost guaranteed to disable the tank. While correctly placed on the weak point on the turret ring in this case, even on a static tank the mine slides off the glacis as the soldier runs to safety, the difficult of successfully executing such a maneuver in combat conditions can be imagined.

0:24 A Blendkörper 2H glass smoke grenade is thrown at the tank in order to obscure the crew's vision. This allowed a soldier to approach with a Hafthohlladung magnetic hollow charge. This could be placed on the tank's armor and after a few seconds of the fuze being activated would detonate, being able to penetrate up to 140mm of armor. While the warhead was effective, the need to place it directly on the tank made it extremely dangerous for the user to operate, and it was effectively replaced by the Panzerfaust that allowed the troops to at least place some distance between themselves and the tank. Note that in a continuity error, the Soviet T-34/76 has transformed into a US M3 Stuart, only to revert back to a T-34/76 for the alleged detonation.

0:37 Another Blendkörper 2H is thrown at a different T-34/76, which then becomes a KV-1 as another soldier places his Hafthohlladung on the side of the turret. Note that this was the preferred location as it was an area where the armor was typically thinner and where members of the crew would be concentrated, increases the chances of disabling them as well as potentially igniting the tank's own ammunition.

0:56 As the trainee tank hunters study the effects of the various weapons, we can note the impact of the Hafthohlladung that leaves a very distinctive pattern on detonation due to the three magnets that are used to attach the charge to the armor plate. While the penetration does not appear very large, it has gone straight through the armor and the jet of metal and hot gasses would reach what the plate was intended to protect, to the detriment of the vehicle being attacked as well as its crew.

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