BLANCO COUNTY WW2 MUSEUM

German Paratroopers armed with the Panzerschreck passing a knocked out Sherman tank in Normandy in 1944.  

              PANZERSCHRECK

The Panzerschreck (lit. "armor fright" or "tank fright") was an 88 mm caliber reusable anti-tank rocket launcher developed by the Germans after first encountering the American “bazooka” in North Africa.  The Panzerschreck was designed as a lightweight infantry anti-tank weapon. The weapon was shoulder-launched and fired a fin-stabilized rocket with a shaped charge warhead.   The Panzerschreck rocket could penetrate over 200 mm of armor and all tanks on the battlefield. The rocket projectile weighed over 7 lb and one direct hit was usually enough to destroy any Allied armored vehicle. When handled by well-trained crews, this weapon became the bane of Allied armored units

 

The Fallshirmjaeger in exhibit 6 is armed with an oriignal Panzerschreck.

 

             PANZERFAUST

The Panzerfaust (lit. "armor fist" or "tank fist") was a cheap, single shot, recoilless German anti-tank weapon that was introduced in early 1943.   It consisted of a small, disposable launch tube firing a high explosive anti-tank warhead, and was operated by a single soldier.   The Panzerfaust was capable of knocking out all known tanks on the battlefield.  It had an effective range of 200 feet.  

 

                                  

Original examples of the Panzerfaust are on display in the weapons exhibit and with the MG 42 crew in exhibit 10.



Towards the end of the war the HJ were thrown into battle armed with the panzerfaust and proved the weapon's lethality in some of the final battle son the Eastern Front.