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Execution by Firing Squad

World War II killing of Soviet civilians accused of being partisans on the Eastern Front by a German firing squad, September 1941. Bundesarchiv photo Bild 101I-212-0221-07.

Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French fusil, rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are usually readily available and a gunshot to a vital organ, such as the brain or heart, most often will kill relatively quickly.

Procedure

A firing squad is normally composed of at least several shooters, all of whom are usually instructed to fire simultaneously, thus preventing both disruption of the process by one member and identification of who fired the lethal shot. To avoid disfigurement due to multiple shots to the head, the shooters are typically instructed to aim at the heart, sometimes aided by a paper or cloth target. The prisoner is typically blindfolded or hooded as well as restrained. Executions can be carried out with the condemned either standing or sitting. There is a tradition in some jurisdictions that such executions are carried out at first light or at sunrise, giving rise to the phrase "shot at dawn".

Execution by firing squad is a specific practice that is distinct from other forms of execution by firearms, such as an execution by shot(s) to the back of the head or neck. However, the single shot to the brain by the squad's officer with a pistol at point blank (coup de grâce) is sometimes incorporated in a firing squad execution, particularly if the initial volley turns out not to be immediately fatal. Before the introduction of firearms, bows or crossbows were often used—Saint Sebastian is usually depicted as executed by a squad of Roman auxiliary archers in around AD 288; King Edmund the Martyr of East Anglia, by some accounts, was tied to a tree and executed by Viking archers on 20 November 869 or 870.

Sometimes, one or more of the members of the firing squad may be issued a rifle containing a blank cartridge. In such cases, the shooters are not told beforehand whether they are using live or blank ammunition. This is believed to reinforce the sense of diffusion of responsibility among the firing squad members. It provides each member with a measure of plausible deniability that they, personally, did not fire a bullet at all. In practice however, firing a live round produces significant recoil, while firing a blank round does not. In more modern times such as during the 2010 execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner in Utah, US, one rifleman may be given a "dummy" cartridge containing a wax bullet, which provides a more realistic recoil.

Military Significance

The method is often the capital punishment or disciplinary means employed by military courts for crimes such as cowardice, desertion, espionage, murder, mutiny, or treason.

If the condemned prisoner is an ex-officer who is acknowledged to have shown bravery throughout their career, they may be afforded the privilege of giving the order to fire. Cases of this are the executions of Marshals Michel Ney and Joachim Murat. As a means of insulting the condemned, however, past executions have had them shot in the back, denied blindfolds, or even tied to chairs. When Galeazzo Ciano, son-in-law of Benito Mussolini, and several other former fascists who voted to remove Mussolini from power were executed, they were tied to chairs facing away from their executioners. By some reports, Ciano managed to twist his chair around at the last second to face them, but this is unconfirmed.

By Country

Argentina

Manuel Dorrego, a prominent Argentine statesman and soldier who governed Buenos Aires in the 1820s, was executed by firing squad on 12 December 1828 after being defeated in battle by Juan Lavalle and later convicted of treason.

Belgium

On 12 October 1915 British nurse Edith Cavell was executed by a German firing squad at the Tir national shooting range at Schaerbeek, after being convicted of "conveying troops to the enemy" during the First World War.

On 1 April 1916 a Belgian woman, Gabrielle Petit, was executed by a German firing squad at Schaerbeek after being convicted of spying for the British Secret Service during World War I.

During the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, three captured German spies were tried and executed by a U.S. firing squad at Henri-Chapelle on 23 December 1944. Thirteen other Germans were also tried and shot at either Henri-Chapelle or Huy. These executed spies took part in Waffen-SS commando Otto Skorzeny's Operation Greif, in which English-speaking German commandos operated behind U.S. lines, masquerading in U.S. uniforms and equipment.

Brazil

The Brazilian Constitution of 1988 expressly prohibits the usage of capital punishment in peacetime, but authorizes the use of the death penalty for military crimes committed during wartime. War must be declared formally, in accordance with international law and article 84, item 19 of the Federal Constitution, with due authorization from the Brazilian Congress. The Brazilian Code of Military Penal Law, in its chapter dealing with wartime offences, specifies the crimes that are subject to the death penalty. The death penalty is never the only possible sentence for a crime, and the punishment must be imposed by the military courts system. Per the norms of the Brazilian Code of Military Penal Procedure, the death penalty is carried out by firing squad.

Although Brazil still permits the use of capital punishment during wartime, no convicts were actually executed during Brazil's last military conflict, the Second World War. The military personnel sentenced to death during World War II had their sentences reduced by the President of the Republic.

Cuba

Cuba, as part of its penal system, still utilizes death by firing squad, although the last recorded execution was in 2003. In January 1992 a Cuban exile convicted of "terrorism, sabotage and enemy propaganda" was executed by firing squad. The Council of the State noted that the punishment served as a deterrent and stated that the death penalty "fulfills a goal of overall prevention, especially when the idea is to stop such loathsome actions from being repeated, to deter others and so to prevent innocent human lives from being endangered in the future".

During the months following the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, soldiers of the Batista government and political opponents to the revolution were executed by firing squad.

Finland

The death penalty was widely used during and after the Finnish Civil War (January–May 1918); some 9,700 Finns and an unknown number of Russian volunteers on the Red side were executed during the war or in its aftermath. Most executions were carried out by firing squads after the sentences were given by illegal or semi-legal courts martial. Only some 250 persons were sentenced to death in courts acting on legal authority.

During World War II some 500 persons were executed, half of them condemned spies. The usual causes for death penalty for Finnish citizens were treason and high treason (and to a lesser extent cowardice and disobedience, applicable for military personnel). Almost all cases of capital punishment were tried by court-martial. Usually the executions were carried out by the regimental military police platoon, or by the local military police in the case of spies. One Finn, Toivo Koljonen, was executed for a civilian crime (six murders). Most executions occurred in 1941 and during the Soviet Summer Offensive in 1944. The last death sentences were given in 1945 for murder, but later commuted to life imprisonment.

The death penalty was abolished by Finnish law in 1949 for crimes committed during peacetime, and in 1972 for all crimes. Finland is party to the Optional protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, forbidding the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.

France

Pte. Thomas Highgate was the first British soldier to be convicted of desertion and executed by firing squad in September 1914 at Tournan-en-Brie during World War I. In October 1916 Pte. Harry Farr was shot for cowardice at Carnoy, which was later suspected to be acoustic shock. Highgate and Farr, along with 304 other British and Imperial troops who were executed for similar offenses, were listed at the Shot at Dawn Memorial which was erected to honor them.

On 15 October 1917 Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad at Château de Vincennes castle in the town of Vincennes after being convicted of spying for Germany during World War I.

During World War II, on 24 September 1944, Josef Wende and Stephan Kortas, two Poles drafted into the German army, crossed the Moselle Rivers behind U.S. lines in civilian clothes to observe Allied strength and were to rejoin their own army on the same day. However, they were discovered by the Americans and arrested. On 18 October 1944 they were found guilty of espionage by a U.S. military commission and sentenced to death. On 11 November 1944 they were shot in the garden of a farmhouse at Toul. The footage of Wende's execution as well as Kortas's is shown in these links.

On 31 January 1945, U.S. Army Pvt. Edward "Eddie" Slovik was executed by firing squad for desertion near the village of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines. He was the first American soldier executed for such offense since the American Civil War.

On 15 October 1945 Pierre Laval, the puppet leader of Nazi-occupied Vichy France, was executed for treason at Fresnes Prison in Paris.

On 11 March 1963 Jean Bastien-Thiry was the last person to be executed by firing squad for a failed attempt to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle.

Indonesia

Execution by firing squad is the capital punishment method used in Indonesia. The following persons were executed (reported by BBC World Service) by firing squad on 29 April 2015 following convictions for drug offences: two Australians, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the Ghanaian Martin Anderson, the Indonesian Zainal Abidin bin Mgs Mahmud Badarudin, three Nigerians: Raheem Agbaje Salami, Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise and Okwudili Oyatanze, as well as Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte.

In 2006 Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus da Silva and Marinus Riwu were executed. Nigerian drug smugglers Samuel Iwachekwu Okoye and Hansen Anthoni Nwaolisa were executed in June 2008 in Nusakambangan Island. Five months later three men convicted for the 2002 Bali bombing—Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Ali Ghufron—were executed on the same spot in Nusakambangan. In January 2013 56-year-old British woman Lindsay Sandiford was sentenced to execution by firing squad for importing a large amount of cocaine; she lost her appeal against her sentence in April 2013. On 18 January 2015, under the new leadership of Joko Widodo, six people sentenced to death for producing and smuggling drugs into Indonesia were executed at Nusa Kambangan Penitentiary shortly after midnight.

Ireland

Following the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, 15 of the 16 leaders who were executed were shot by the Dublin Castle administration under martial law. The executions have often been cited as a reason for how the Rising managed to galvanize public support in Ireland after the failed rebellion.

Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, a split in the government and the Dáil led to a Civil War during which the Free State Government sanctioned the executions by firing squad of 81 persons. Included in those numbers were some prominent prisoners who were executed without trial as reprisals. Records show that eleven soldiers would have had live rounds in their weapons, and one soldier had a blank round. The officers loaded the weapons for the soldiers so no soldier knew if his weapon contained the blank round or a live one. This method was used to prevent the soldiers from being prosecuted for war crimes in the future, as it was impossible to know which soldier had fired a blank round, and therefore all soldiers could claim innocence.

Italy

Italy had used the firing squad as its only form of death penalty, both for civilians and military, since the unification of the country in 1861. The death penalty was abolished completely by both Italian Houses of Parliament in 1889 but revived under the Italian dictatorship of Benito Mussolini in 1926. Mussolini was himself shot in the last days of World War II.

On 1 December 1945 Anton Dostler, the first German general to be tried for war crimes, was executed by a U.S. firing squad in Aversa after being found guilty by a U.S. military tribunal of ordering the killing of 15 U.S. prisoners of war in Italy during World War II.

The last execution took place on 4 March 1947, as Francesco La Barbera, Giovanni Puleo and Giovanni D'Ignoti, sentenced to death on multiple accounts of robbery and murder, faced the firing squad at the range of Basse di Stura, near Turin. Soon after the Constitution of the newly proclaimed Republic prohibited the death penalty except for some crimes of the military penal code of war, like high treason; no one was sentenced to death after 1947. In 2007 the Constitution was amended to ban the death penalty altogether.

Malta

Firing squads were used during the periods of French and British control in Malta. Ringleaders of rebellions were often shot dead by firing squad during the French period, with perhaps the most notable examples being Dun Mikiel Xerri and other patriots in 1799.

The British also used the practice briefly, and for the last time in 1813, when two men were shot separately outside the courthouse after being convicted of failing to report their infection of plague to the authorities.

Mexico

During the Mexican Independence War, several Independentist generals (such as Miguel Hidalgo and José María Morelos) were executed by Spanish firing squads. Also, Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico and two of his generals were executed in the Cerro de las Campanas after the Juaristas took control of Mexico in 1867. Manet immortalized the execution in a now-famous painting, The Execution of Emperor Maximilian; he painted at least three versions.

Firing-squad execution was the most common way to carry out a death sentence in Mexico, especially during the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero War. An example of that is in the attempted execution of Wenseslao Moguel, who survived being shot ten times—once at point-blank range—because he fought under Pancho Villa. After these events, the death sentence was imposed for fewer types of crimes in Article 22 of the Mexican Constitution; however, in 2005 capital punishment was constitutionally prohibited, and there has not been a judicial execution since 1961.

Netherlands

During the Nazi occupation in World War II some 3,000 persons were executed by German firing squads. The victims were sometimes sentenced by a military court; in other cases they were hostages or arbitrary pedestrians who were executed publicly to intimidate the population. After the attack on high-ranking German officer Hanns Albin Rauter, about 300 people were executed publicly as reprisal against resistance movements. Rauter himself was executed near Scheveningen on 12 January 1949, following his conviction for war crimes. Anton Mussert, a Dutch Nazi leader, was sentenced to death by firing squad and executed in the dunes near The Hague on 7 May 1946.

While under Allied guard in Amsterdam, and five days after the capitulation of Nazi Germany, two German Navy deserters were shot by a firing squad composed of other German prisoners kept in the Canadian-run prisoner-of-war camp. The men were lined up against the wall of an air raid shelter near an abandoned Ford Motor Company assembly plant in the presence of Canadian military.

Nigeria

Nigeria executes criminals who committed armed robberies—such as Ishola Oyenusi, Lawrence Anini and Osisikankwu—as well as military officers convicted of plotting coups against the government, such as Buka Suka Dimka and Maj. Gideon Orkar, by firing squad.

Norway

Vidkun Quisling, the leader of the collaborationist Nasjonal Samling Party and president of Norway during the German occupation in World War II, was sentenced to death for treason and executed by firing squad on 24 October 1945 at the Akershus Fortress.

Philippines

Jose Rizal was executed by firing squad on the morning of 30 December 1896, in what is now Rizal Park, where his remains have since been placed.

While in [Cavite] there were 13 people who executed by firing squad. They are known today as 13 martyrs of Cavite.

During the Marcos administration, drug trafficking was punishable by firing-squad execution, as was done to Lim Seng. Execution by firing squad was later replaced by the electric chair, then lethal injection. On 24 June 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo abolished capital punishment through the enactment of Republic Act No. 9346. Existing death row inmates, who numbered in the thousands, were eventually given life sentences or reclusion perpetua instead.

Romania

Marshal Ion Antonescu who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships during most of World War II, his Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mihai Antonescu, Gheorghe Alexianu governor of Transnistria between 1941 and 1944, and Constantin Z. Vasiliu head or Romanian Gendarmerie, were executed by a military firing squad on 1 June 1946. Antonescu raised his hat in salute once the firing order was given.

Nicolae Ceaușescu was executed by firing squad alongside his wife Elena Ceausescu while singing the Communist Internationale following a show trial, bringing an end to the Romanian Revolution, on Christmas Day, 1989.

Russia/USSR

In Imperial Russia, firing squads were used in the army for executions during combat on the orders of military tribunals.

In the Soviet Union, from the very earliest days, the bullet to the back of the head, in front of a ready-dug burial trench was by far the most common practice. It became especially widely used during the Great Purge.

Saudi Arabia

Executions in Saudi Arabia are usually carried out by beheading; however, at times other methods have been used. Al-Beshi, a Saudi executioner, has said that he has conducted some executions by shooting. Mishaal bint Fahd bin Mohammed Al Saud, a Saudi princess, was also executed in the same way.

South Africa

Two soldiers of the Bushveldt Carbineers, Breaker Morant and Peter Handcock, were executed by a British firing squad in the South African Republic on 27 February 1902 for war crimes they committed during the Second Boer War.

Spain

Since the Spanish transition to democracy in 1977 the new Spanish constitution prohibits the death penalty. Previously, execution by firing squad was reserved for cases under military jurisdiction. As in the rest of Europe, the death penalty ordered by a civil court was carried out by other methods clearly different from execution. In modern times, mainly by hanging or garrote.

During the decolonization of the Americas, several heroes of the independence of the former viceroyalties were executed by firing squad, including Camilo Torres Tenorio, Antonio Baraya, Antonio Villavicencio, José María Carbonell, Francisco José de Caldas, Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Policarpa Salavarrieta, María Antonia Santos Plata, José María Morelos, Mariano Matamoros, etc.

At the time of the Spanish Civil War the phrase "¡Al paredón!" ("To the wall!") to express the death threat to whom certain blame is attributed to be summarily executed. "Dar un paseo" (Going for a walk) is the euphemism of a series of violent episodes and political repression that occurred during the Spanish Civil War, which took place on both the Republican and the Nationalist factions, looking for victims with the excuse of taking them for a walk, which ended with the shooting in the open fields, often at night. It was an abbreviated murder procedure in the form of the Ley de fugas (Law for escapes). Sometimes common criminals participated in them.

Indalecio Prieto would define these executions in Letters to a sculptor: small details of great events as "Executions without summary that were carried out in both areas of Spain and that dishonored us Spaniards on both sides equally".

The last use of capital punishment in Spain took place on 27 September 1975 by firing squads for two members of the terrorist group ETA political-military and three members of the Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front (FRAP).

United Arab Emirates

In the United Arab Emirates, firing squad is the preferred method of execution.

United Kingdom and British Dominions

The standard method of execution in the United Kingdom was hanging. Execution by firing squad was limited to times of war, armed insurrection and in the military, although it is now outlawed in all circumstances, along with all other forms of capital punishment.

The Tower of London was used during both World Wars for executions. During World War I, eleven captured German spies were shot between 1914 and 1916: nine on the Tower's rifle range and two in the Tower Ditch, all of whom were buried in East London Cemetery, in Plaistow, London. On 15 August 1941, the last execution at the Tower was that of German Cpl. Josef Jakobs, shot for espionage during World War II.

Since the 1960s, there has been some controversy concerning the 346 British and Imperial troops—including 25 Canadians, 22 Irish and 5 New Zealanders—shot for desertion, murder, cowardice and other offences during World War I, some of whom are now thought to have been suffering from combat stress reaction or post-traumatic stress disorder ("shell-shock", as it was then known). This led to organizations such as the Shot at Dawn Campaign being set up in later years to try to uncover just why these soldiers were executed. The Shot at Dawn Memorial was erected at Staffordshire to honor these soldiers. In August 2006 it was announced that 306 of these soldiers would receive posthumous pardons.

United States

During the American War of Independence, General Washington was said to have "approved hundreds of death sentences by either hanging or firing squad". Mutiny could be dealt with in a harsh manner, as occurred at Pompton New Jersey in January 1781, where three soldiers (one being reprieved at the last minute) were selected to be shot from among a large group of mutineers. The firing squad was ordered to be composed of their fellow mutineers. On occasion however, pardons were also granted.

During the American Civil War, 433 of the 573 men executed were shot dead by a firing squad: 186 of the 267 executed by the Union Army, and 247 of the 306 executed by the Confederate Army.

The United States Army carried out 10 executions of its own soldiers by firing squad during World War II from 1942 to 1945, including Eddie Slovik, the only US soldier to be executed for desertion. However, this does not include individuals executed by the US Army by firing squad after being convicted by US military courts for violations of the laws of war, including about 18 German soldiers who were shot after being caught in American uniform as part of Operation Greif during the Battle of the Bulge, persons shot after being caught engaging in acts of espionage against US forces, or soldiers convicted by US military courts of having committed crimes against American military personnel.

The United States Army took over Shepton Mallet prison in Somerset, U.K. in 1942, renaming it Disciplinary Training Center No.1 and housing troops convicted of offences across Europe. There were eighteen executions at the prison, two of them by firing squad for murder: U.S. Army Pvt. Alexander Miranda on 30 May 1944 and Pvt. Benjamin Pygate on 28 November 1944. Locals complained about the noise, as the executions took place in the prison yard at 1:00am.

In 1913, Andriza Mircovich became the first and only inmate in Nevada to be executed by shooting. After the warden of Nevada State Prison could not find five men to form a firing squad, a shooting machine was built to carry out Mircovich's execution.

John W. Deering allowed an electrocardiogram recording of the effect of gunshot wounds on his heart during his 1938 execution by firing squad, and afterwards his body was donated to the University of Utah School of Medicine, at his request.

Since 1960 there have been six executions by firing squad, four in Utah and two in South Carolina: The 1960 execution of James W. Rodgers, Gary Gilmore's execution in 1977, John Albert Taylor in 1996, who chose a firing squad for his execution, according to The New York Times, "to make a statement that Utah was sanctioning murder". However, a 2010 article for the British newspaper The Times quotes Taylor justifying his choice because he did not want to "flop around like a dying fish" during a lethal injection. Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad in 2010, having said he preferred this method of execution because of his "Mormon heritage". Gardner also felt that lawmakers were trying to eliminate the firing squad, in opposition to popular opinion in Utah, because of concern over the state's image in the 2002 Winter Olympics. Brad Sigmon was executed in South Carolina on March 7, 2025 after also opting a firing squad. On April 11, 2025, Mikal Mahdi became the second inmate to be executed by firing squad in South Carolina.

Execution by firing squad was banned in Utah in 2004, but as the ban was not retroactive, three inmates on Utah's death row have the firing squad set as their method of execution. Idaho banned execution by firing squad in 2009, temporarily leaving Oklahoma as the only state utilizing this method of execution (and only as a secondary method).

Reluctance by drug companies to see their drugs used to kill people has led to a shortage of the commonly used lethal injection drugs. In March 2015, Utah enacted legislation allowing for execution by firing squad if the drugs they use are unavailable. Several other states are also exploring a return to the firing squad. Thus, after waning in both use and popularity in recent decades, as of 2022, firing squad executions appear to be at least anecdotally regaining popularity as an alternative to lethal injection.

On January 30, 2019, South Carolina's Senate voted 26–13 in favor of a revived proposal to bring back the electric chair and add firing squads to its execution options. On May 14, 2021, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed a bill into law which brought back the electric chair as the default method of execution (in the event lethal injection was unavailable) and added the firing squad to the list of execution options. South Carolina had not performed executions in over a decade, and its lethal injection drugs expired in 2013. Pharmaceutical companies have since refused to sell drugs for lethal injection.

On April 7, 2022, the South Carolina Supreme Court scheduled the execution of Richard Bernard Moore for April 29, 2022. On April 15, 2022, Moore chose to be executed by firing squad instead of the electric chair, however, his execution was later stayed by the South Carolina Supreme Court, and was executed on November 1, 2024 by lethal injection.

On March 20, 2023, a firing squad bill passed the Idaho state legislature, and was signed by the governor.

In 2023, The Tennessee legislature debated about using the firing squad as a means of execution.

On February 7, 2025, the South Carolina Supreme Court scheduled the execution of Brad Sigmon for March 7, 2025. He was given the choice to die by lethal injection, firing squad, or electrocution, the latter of which his lawyers stated he did not want to die from. Due to concerns about the lethal injection doses, on February 21, 2025, Sigmon chose to die by firing squad. On March 7, 2025, at just after 6 PM EST, Sigmon was executed and pronounced dead a few minutes later.

Three weeks after Sigmon was executed, Mikal Mahdi, another prisoner from South Carolina's death row, also elected to be put to death by firing squad after receiving an execution date of April 11, 2025. He was executed as scheduled, becoming the fifth person in the United States and the second in South Carolina to be executed by this method. His execution is the most recent one to have been carried out by firing squad in the United States.

On March 12, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a bill to designate firing squad as the primary execution method in the state. Idaho became the first state with such a policy.

Ralph Leroy Menzies, Utah's longest-serving death row inmate, was scheduled to be executed by firing squad on September 5, 2025, after the state courts found he was mentally competent to be executed despite his symptoms of dementia. On 29 August 2025, the Utah Supreme Court vacated Menzies' death warrant and ordered a new mental competency hearing.

As of 2025, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah are the only states that use firing squad for the death penalty.

Further Reading

Moore, William, The Thin Yellow Line, Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1974

Putkowski and Sykes, Shot at Dawn, Leo Cooper, 2006

Hughs-Wilson, John and Corns, Cathryn M, Blindfold and Alone: British Military Executions in the Great War, Cassell, 2005

Johnson, David, Executed at Dawn: The British Firing Squads of the First World War, History Press, 2015

 

Mass execution of 56 Polish citizens in Bochnia, near Kraków, following the Nazi invasion of Poland, December 18, 1939.

Execution of a Soviet infiltrator by a Finnish firing squad during the Continuation War, 1941–1944. Finnish Defense Forces photo.

German General Anton Dostler is tied to a stake before his execution by a firing squad in the Aversa stockade. The General was convicted and sentenced to death by an American military tribunal. Aversa, Italy, December 1, 1945. US Army Signal Corps photo.

 Mihai Antonescu and Ion Antonescu right before their execution.

 The execution of Marshall Ion Antonescu, former dictator of Romania (1940-1944) at the Fort Jilava prison in a suburb of Bucharest. He was executed along with three others: Mihai Antonescu (the former vice-president and minister of foreign affairs), Gheorge Alexianu (former governor of Transnistria), and General C.Z. Vasiliu (former deputy minister of interior affairs and head of the gendarmerie). June 1,1946. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum photo 07837.

Chair in which Josef Jakobs sat when he was executed by firing squad August 15, 1941 at the Tower of London. The chair is at the Tower.

 German Fallschirmjager paratroopers prepare to execute civilians in the Greek village of Kondomari, Crete, 2 June 1941. Bundesarchiv photo Bild 101I-166-0525-39.

Wehrmacht soldiers are preparing to kill Polish hostages in Bydgoszcz, Poland, 9 September 1939. 

Members of the French Forces of the Interior carry out the death sentence of six young Frenchmen convicted of collaborating with the Germans, Grenoble, France, on 22 September 1944. US National Archives and Records Administration (NAID) 196291.

Public execution of Poles in German-occupied Sosnowiec, Poland, in 1939. 

Serbo-Croatian: Execution of Rade Končar and his comrades in Šibenik on 22 May 1942. 

Shooting of hostages in Gorenjska, Slovenia, on 22 August 1941.

 The execution by a French firing squad of two Axis spies in Aleppo, 28 September 1943. Imperial War Museum photo E 26270.

Prisoners from Begunje shot as hostages in Moste pri Žirovnici, Slovenia, in 1941.

Frenchmen seized as hostages lost their lives blind-folded in front of the firing squads at the Vincennes shooting range.

The hostage has been executed by the German soldiers.

German reprisals against civilians in occupied countries: French Forces of the Interior and Paris policemen inspect the execution chamber in the cellars of the former Ministry of Aviation building in Paris. (Photograph taken after liberation). Imperial War Museum photo EA 36120.

A collaborator is executed by the French police in Rennes, Ille-et-Vilaine, France, on 21 November 1944. US National Archives and Records Administration (NAID) 531224.

 Soviet infiltrator about to be executed by Finnish forces. Finnish Defense Forces photo.

 

Panzerkampfwagen I: German Light Tank (Updated with photos 12 Oct 2025)

Panzer I Ausf. A light tank. The Ausf. A was the first armed variant of the Panzer I light tank. The vehicle was armed with twin machine guns and used the shorter wheelbase (later variants added an extra road wheel). A total of 450 were produced and saw service between 1934 and 1941.

The Panzer I was a light tank produced by Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Its name is short for Panzerkampfwagen I (German for "armored fighting vehicle mark I"), abbreviated as Pz.Kpfw. I. The tank's official German ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 101 ("special purpose vehicle 101").

Design of the Panzer I began in 1932 and mass production began in 1934. Intended only as a training tank to introduce the concept of armored warfare to the German Army, the Panzer I saw combat in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, in Poland, France, the Soviet Union and North Africa during the Second World War, and in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Experiences with the Panzer I during the Spanish Civil War helped shape the German Panzerwaffe's invasion of Poland in 1939 and France in 1940. By 1941, the Panzer I chassis design was used as the basis of tank destroyers and assault guns. There were attempts to upgrade the Panzer I throughout its service history, including by foreign nations, to extend the design's lifespan. It continued to serve in the Spanish Armed Forces until 1954.

The Panzer I's performance in armored combat was limited by its thin armor and light armament of two machine guns, which were never intended for use against armored targets, rather being ideal for infantry suppression, in line with inter-war doctrine. As a design intended for training, the Panzer I was less capable than some other contemporary light tank designs, such as the Polish 7TP and the Soviet T-26, although it was still relatively advanced compared to older designs, such as the Renault FT, still in service in several nations. Although lacking in armored combat as a tank, it formed a large part of Germany's mechanized forces and was used in all major campaigns between September 1939 and December 1941, where it still performed much useful service against entrenched infantry and other "soft" targets, which were unable to respond even against thin armor, and who were highly vulnerable to machine gun fire. The small, vulnerable light tank, along with its somewhat more powerful successor the Panzer II, would soon be surpassed as a front-line armored combat vehicle by more powerful German tanks, such as the Panzer III, and later the Panzer IV, Panzer V, and Panzer VI; nevertheless, the Panzer I's contribution to the early victories of Nazi Germany during World War II was significant. Later in the war, the turrets of many obsolete Panzer Is and Panzer IIs were repurposed as gun turrets on defensive fighting positions, particularly on the Atlantic Wall.

Development History

The post-World War I Treaty of Versailles of 1919 prohibited the design, manufacture and deployment of tanks within the Reichswehr. Paragraph Twenty-four of the treaty provided for a 100,000-mark fine and imprisonment of up to six months for anybody who "[manufactured] armored vehicles, tanks or similar machines, which may be turned to military use".

Despite the manpower and technical limitations imposed on the German Army by the Treaty of Versailles, several Reichswehr officers established a clandestine general staff to study World War I and develop future strategies and tactics. Although at first the concept of the tank as a mobile weapon of war met with apathy, German industry was encouraged to look into tank design, while quiet cooperation was undertaken with the Soviet Union. There was also minor military cooperation with Sweden, including the extraction of technical data that proved invaluable to early German tank design. As early as 1926 the German companies Krupp, Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz were contracted to develop prototype tanks armed with a 75 mm cannon. These were designed under the cover name Großtraktor (large tractor) to veil the true purpose of the vehicle. By 1930 a light tank armed with rapid-fire machineguns was to be developed under the cover name Leichttraktor (light tractor). The six produced Großtraktor were later put into service for a brief period with the 1  Panzer Division; the Leichttraktor remained in testing until 1935.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, German tank theory was pioneered by two figures: General Oswald Lutz and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Heinz Guderian. Guderian became the more influential of the two and his ideas were widely publicized. Like his contemporary, Sir Percy Hobart, Guderian initially envisioned an armored corps (panzerkorps) composed of several types of tanks. This included a slow infantry tank, armed with a small-caliber cannon and several machine guns. The infantry tank, according to Guderian, was to be heavily armored to defend against enemy anti-tank guns and artillery. He also envisioned a fast breakthrough tank, similar to the British cruiser tank, which was to be armored against enemy anti-tank weapons and have a large, 75 mm (2.95 in) main gun. Lastly, Germany needed a heavy tank, armed with a 150 mm (5.9 in) cannon to defeat enemy fortifications, and even stronger armor. Such a tank required a weight of 70 to 100  tonnes and was completely impractical given the manufacturing capabilities of the day.

Soon after rising to power in Germany, Adolf Hitler approved the creation of Germany's first panzer divisions. Simplifying his earlier proposal, Guderian suggested the design of a main combat vehicle, which would be developed into the Panzer III, and a breakthrough tank, the Panzer IV. No existing design appealed to Guderian. As a stopgap, the German Army ordered a preliminary vehicle to train German tank crews. This became the Panzer I.

The Panzer I's design history can be traced to the British Carden Loyd tankette, of which it borrowed much of its track and suspension design. After six prototypes Kleintraktor were produced the cover name was changed to Krupp-Traktor whereas the development codename was changed to Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper (La S) (Agricultural Tractor). The La S was intended not just to train Germany's panzer troops, but to prepare Germany's industry for the mass production of tanks in the near future; a difficult engineering feat for the time. The armament of production versions was to be two 7.92 mm MG 13 machine guns in a rotating turret. Machine guns were known to be largely useless against even the lightest tank armor of the time, restricting the Panzer  I to a training and anti-infantry role by design.

The final official designation, assigned in 1938, was Panzerkampfwagen  I (M.G.) with special ordnance number Sd.Kfz. 101. The first 150 tanks (1./LaS, 1st series LaS, Krupp-Traktor), produced in 1934, did not include the rotating turret and were used for crew training. Following these, production was switched to the combat version of the tank. The Ausf. A was under-armored, with steel plate of only 13 millimeters (0.51 in) at its thickest. The tank had several design flaws, including suspension problems, which made the vehicle pitch at high velocities, and engine overheating. The driver was positioned inside the chassis and used conventional steering levers to control the tank, while the commander was positioned in the turret where he also acted as a gunner. The two crewmen could communicate by means of a voice tube. Machine gun ammunition was stowed in five bins, containing various numbers of 25-round magazines. 1,190 of the Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. A were built in three series (2.-4./LaS). Further 25 were built as command tanks.

Many of the problems in the Ausf. A were corrected with the introduction of the Ausf. B. The air-cooled engine (producing just 60 metric horsepower (44 kW) was replaced by a water-cooled, six-cylinder Maybach NL38 TR, developing 100 metric horsepower (74 kW), and the ZF FG 35 gearbox was changed to a FG 31. The larger engine required the extension of the vehicle's chassis by 40 cm (16 in), and this allowed the improvement of the tank's suspension, adding another bogie wheel and raising the tensioner. The tank's weight increased by 0.4 tons. Production of the Ausf. B began in August 1936 and finished in the summer of 1937 after 399 had been built in two series (5a-6a/LaS). Further 159 were built as command tanks in two series, and 295 chassis were built as turretless training tanks. 147 more training tanks were built as convertible chassis with hardened armor with the option to upgrade them to full combat status by adding a superstructure and turret.

Other Frontline-type Panzer I tanks

Two more combat versions of the Panzer I were designed and produced between 1939 and 1942. By this stage, the design concept had been superseded by medium and heavy tanks and neither variant was produced in sufficient numbers to have a real impact on the progress of the war. These new tanks had nothing in common with either the Ausf. A or B except name. One of these, the Panzer I Ausf. C, was designed jointly between Krauss-Maffei and Daimler-Benz in 1939 to provide an amply armored and armed reconnaissance light tank. The Ausf. C boasted a completely new chassis and turret, a modern torsion-bar suspension and five Schachtellaufwerk-style interleaved roadwheels. It also had a maximum armor thickness of 30  millimeters (1.18 in), over twice that of either the Ausf. A or B, and was armed with a Mauser EW 141 semi-automatic anti-tank rifle, with a 50-round drum, firing powerful armor-piercing 7.92×94mm Patronen 318 anti-tank rounds. Forty of these tanks were produced, along with six prototypes. Two tanks were deployed to 1st Panzer Division in 1943, and the other thirty-eight were deployed to the LVIII Panzer Reserve Corps during the Normandy landings.

The second vehicle, the Ausf. F, was as different from the Ausf. C as it was from the Ausf. A and B. Intended as an infantry support tank, the Panzer I Ausf. F had a maximum armor thickness of 80 millimeters (3.15 in) and weighed between 18 and 21 tonnes. The Ausf. F was armed with two 7.92 mm MG-34s. Thirty were produced in 1940, and a second order of 100 was later canceled. In order to compensate for the increased weight, a new 150 horsepower (110 kW) Maybach HL45 Otto engine was used, allowing a maximum road speed of 25 kilometers per hour (15.5 mph) and used five overlapping road wheels per side, dropping the Ausf. C's interleaved units. Eight of the thirty tanks produced were sent to the 1st Panzer Division in 1943 and saw combat at the Battle of Kursk. The rest were given to several army schools for training and evaluation purposes.

Combat History

Spanish Civil War

On 18 July 1936, war broke out on the Iberian Peninsula as Spain dissolved into a state of civil war. After the chaos of the initial uprising, two opposing sides coalesced and began to consolidate their position—the Popular Front (the Republicans) and the Spanish Nationalist front. In an early example of a proxy war, both sides quickly received support from other countries, most notably the Soviet Union and Germany as both wanted to test their tactics and equipment. The first shipment of foreign tanks, 50 Soviet T-26s, arrived on 15 October. The shipment was under the surveillance of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine and Germany immediately responded by sending 41 Panzer Is to Spain a few days later. This first shipment was followed by four more shipments of Panzer I Ausf. Bs, with 122 vehicles shipped in total.

The first shipment of Panzer Is was brought under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma in Gruppe Thoma (also referred to as Panzergruppe Drohne). Gruppe Thoma formed part of Gruppe Imker, the ground formations of the German Condor Legion, who fought on the side of Franco's Nationalists. Between July and October, a rapid Nationalist advance from Seville to Toledo placed them in position to take the Spanish capital, Madrid. The Nationalist advance and the fall of the town of Illescas to Nationalist armies on 18 October 1936 caused the government of the Popular Front's Second Republic, including President Manuel Azaña, to flee to Barcelona and Valencia. In an attempt to stem the Nationalist tide and gain crucial time for Madrid's defense, Soviet armor was deployed south of the city under the command of Colonel Krivoshein before the end of October. At this time, several T-26 tanks under the command of Captain Paul Arman were thrown into a Republican counterattack directed towards the town of Torrejon de Velasco in an attempt to cut off the Nationalist advance north. This was the first recorded tank battle in the Spanish Civil War. Despite initial success, poor communication between the Soviet Republican armor and Spanish Republican infantry caused the isolation of Captain Arman's force and the subsequent destruction of a number of tanks. This battle also marked the first use of the molotov cocktail against tanks. Ritter von Thoma's Panzer Is fought for the Nationalists only days later on 30 October, and immediately experienced problems. As the Nationalist armor advanced, it was engaged by the Commune de Paris battalion, equipped with Soviet BA-6 armored cars. The 45 mm gun in the BA-6 was more than sufficient to knock out the poorly armored Panzer I at ranges below 500 meters (550 yd).

Although the Panzer I would participate in almost every major Nationalist offensive of the war, the Nationalist army began to deploy more and more captured T-26 tanks to offset their disadvantage in protection and firepower. At one point, von Thoma offered up to 500 pesetas for each T-26 captured. Although the Panzer I was initially able to knock out the T-26 at close range—150 meters (165 yd) or less—using an armor-piercing 7.92 mm bullet, the Republican tanks began to engage at ranges where they were immune to the machine guns of the Panzer I.

The Panzer I was upgraded in order to increase its lethality. On 8 August 1937, Major General García Pallasar received a note from Generalísimo Francisco Franco that expressed the need for a Panzer I (or negrillo, as their Spanish crews called them) with a 20 mm gun. Ultimately, the piece chosen was the Breda Model 1935, due to the simplicity of the design over competitors such as the German Flak 30. Furthermore, the 20 mm Breda was capable of perforating 40 millimeters of armor at 250 meters (1.57 in at 275 yd), which was more than sufficient to penetrate the frontal armor of the T-26. Although originally 40 Italian CV.35 light tanks were ordered with the Breda in place of their original armament, this order was subsequently canceled after it was thought that the adaptation of the same gun to the Panzer I would yield better results. Prototypes were ready by September 1937 and an order was placed after successful results. The mounting of the Breda in the Panzer I required the original turret to be opened at the top and then extended by a vertical supplement. Four of these tanks were finished at the Armament Factory of Seville, but further production was canceled as it was decided sufficient numbers of Republican T-26 tanks had been captured to fulfill the Nationalist leadership's request for more lethal tanks. The Breda modification was not particularly liked by German crews, as the unprotected gap in the turret, designed to allow the tank's commander to aim, was found to be a dangerous weak point.

Comparison of Light Tanks in the Spanish Civil War
	T-26	Panzer I	CV.33	CV.35
Weight	9.4 t	5.4 t	2.3 t	3.5 t
Gun	45 mm cannon	2× 7.92 mm MG 13	6.5 mm or 8 mm machine gun	8 mm Breda machine gun
Ammunition	122 rounds	2,250 rounds	3,200 8 mm or 3,800 6.5 mm	3,200
Road range	175 km	200 km	125 km	125 km
Armor	7–16 mm	7–13 mm	5–15 mm	5–13.5 mm

In late 1938, another Panzer I was sent to the Armament Factory of Seville in order to mount a 45 mm gun, captured from a Soviet tank (a T-26 or BT-5). A second was sent sometime later in order to exchange the original armament for a 37 mm Maklen anti-tank gun, which had been deployed to Asturias in late 1936 on the Soviet ship A. Andreiev. It remains unknown to what extent these trials and adaptations were completed, although it is safe to assume neither adaptation was successful beyond the drawing board.

Panzer I Deliveries to Spain (1936–1939)
Date	Number of Vehicles	Additional Information
October 1936	41	Formed part of the Condor Legion
December 1936	21
August 1937	30
End of 1937	10
January 1939	30
Total:	132

World War II in China

In 1937, around ten Panzer I Ausf. As were sold to the Republic of China (ROC) during a period of strong co-operative ties between the ROC and Nazi Germany, which were subsequently fielded in the Battle of Nanjing by the 3rd Armored Battalion of the ROC's National Revolutionary Army (NRA) to fight against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA).

Following the fall of Nanking, the Chinese Panzer I Ausf. As were captured by the Japanese and put on display at the Yasukuni Shrine. Because of the close relationship between Hitler's Germany and Imperial Japan by that time, the Chinese Panzer I Ausf. A was instead labeled as "Made in the USSR" (the USSR being the common enemy of these two strongly anti-communist nations).

World War II in Europe

During the initial campaigns of World War II, Germany's light tanks, including the Panzer I, formed the bulk of its armored strength. In March 1938, the German Army marched into Austria, experiencing a mechanical breakdown rate of up to thirty percent. However, the experience revealed to Guderian several faults within the German Panzerkorps and he subsequently improved logistical support. In October 1938, Germany occupied Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland, and the remainder of the country in March 1939. The capture of Czechoslovakia allowed several Czech tank designs, such as the Panzer 38(t), and their subsequent variants and production, to be incorporated into the German Army's strength. It also prepared German forces for the invasion of Poland.

Poland and the Campaign in the West

On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland using seventy-two divisions (including 16 reserve infantry divisions in OKH reserves), including seven panzer divisions (1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 10., "Kempf") and four light divisions (1., 2., 3., 4.). Three days later, France and Britain declared war on Germany. The seven panzer and four light divisions were arrayed in five armies, forming two army groups. The battalion strength of the 1st Panzer Division included no less than fourteen Panzer Is, while the other six divisions included thirty-four. About 2,700 tanks were available for the invasion of Poland, but only 310 of the heavier Panzer III and IV tanks were available. Furthermore, 350 were of Czech design—the rest were either Panzer Is or Panzer IIs. The invasion was swift and the last Polish pockets of resistance surrendered on 6 October. The entire campaign had lasted five weeks (with help of the Soviet forces, which attacked on 17 September), and the success of Germany's tanks in the campaign was summed up in response to Hitler on 5 September: when asked if it had been the dive bombers who destroyed a Polish artillery regiment, Guderian replied, "No, our panzers!"

Some 832 German tanks (including 320 PzI, 259 PzII, 40 PzIII, 76 PzIV, 77 Pz35(t), 13 PzBef III, 7 PzBef 38(t), 34 other PzBef and some Pz38(t)) were lost during the campaign, approximately 341 of which never to return to service. This represented about a third of Germany's armor deployed for the Polish campaign. During the campaign, no fewer than half of Germany's tanks were unavailable due to maintenance issues or enemy action, and of all tanks, the Panzer I proved the most vulnerable to Polish anti-tank weapons.

Furthermore, it was found that the handling of armored forces during the campaign left much to be desired. During the beginning of Guderian's attack in northern Poland, his corps was held back to coordinate with infantry for quite a while, preventing a faster advance. It was only after Army Group South had its attention taken from Warsaw at the Battle of Bzura that Guderian's armor was fully unleashed. There were still lingering tendencies to reserve Germany's armor, even if in independent divisions, to cover an infantry advance or the flanks of advancing infantry armies. Although production was increased to 125 tanks per month after the Polish Campaign, losses forced the Germans to draw further strength from Czech tank designs, and light tanks continued to form the majority of Germany's armored strength.

Months later, Panzer Is participated in Operation Weserübung—the invasion of Denmark and Norway.

Despite its obsolescence, the Panzer I was also used in the invasion of France in May 1940. Of 2,574 tanks available for the campaign, no fewer than 523 were Panzer Is, while there were 627 Panzer IIIs and IVs, 955 Panzer II, 106 Czech Panzer 35(t), and 228 Panzer 38(t). For their defense, the French boasted up to 4,000 tanks, including 300 Char B1, armed with a 47 mm (1.7 in) gun in the turret and a larger 75 mm (2.95 in) low-velocity gun in the hull. The French also had around 250 Somua S-35, widely regarded as one of the best tanks of the period, armed with the same 47 mm main gun and protected by almost 55 mm (2.17 in) of armor at its thickest point. Nevertheless, the French also deployed over 3,000 light tanks, including about 500 World War I-vintage FT-17s. German armor enjoyed multiple advantages: radios allowed them to coordinate faster than their British or French counterparts, while the Germans also had superior tactical doctrine and markedly faster speed.

North Africa and Balkans

Setbacks in the Italian invasion of Egypt caused Hitler to dispatch aircraft to Sicily, and a blocking force (the Afrika Korps) to support their ally in the North Africa campaign. This blocking force was put under the command of Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel and included the motorized 5th Light Division and the 15th Panzer Division. This force landed at Tripoli on 12 February 1941 shortly after the British Operation Compass had routed and captured an Italian army in Italian Libya. Upon arrival, Rommel had around 150 tanks, about half Panzer III and IV. The rest were Panzer Is and IIs, although the Panzer I was soon replaced. On 6 April 1941, Germany attacked both Yugoslavia and Greece, with fourteen divisions invading Greece from neighboring Bulgaria, which by then had joined the Tripartite Pact. The invasion of Yugoslavia included six panzer divisions which still fielded the Panzer I. Yugoslavia surrendered 17 April 1941, and Greece fell on 30 April 1941.

Against Soviet Russia

The final major campaign in which the Panzer I formed a large portion of the armored strength was Operation Barbarossa, 22 June 1941. The 3,300 German tanks included about 410 Panzer Is. By the end of the month, a large portion of the Red Army found itself trapped in the Minsk pocket, and by 21 September Kiev had fallen, thereby allowing the Germans to concentrate on their ultimate objective, Moscow. Despite the success of Germany's armor in the Soviet Union, between June and September most German officers were shocked to find their tanks were inferior to newer Soviet models, the medium T-34 and heavy KV tanks. As seen during the Spanish Civil War only five years earlier, the Panzer I was no match for even the weakest Soviet armor. Even armored cars such as the BA-10 proving capable of defeating the Panzer I when fitted with medium-caliber anti-tank weapons. Army Group North quickly realized that none of the tank guns used by German armor could reliably penetrate the thick frontal armor of the KV-1. The performance of the Red Army during the Battle of Moscow and the growing numbers of new Soviet tanks made it obvious the Panzer I was unsuitable for this front of war. Some less battle-worthy Panzer Is were tasked with towing lorries and other light (mainly wheeled) vehicles through the thick mud of the Russian autumn to alleviate logistical and transportation issues and problems at the frontlines. Other Panzer Is were relegated for anti-partisan actions or rear-guard protection duties (such as defending airfields or other vital military installations on occupied enemy territory).

Others

After Germany, Spain fielded the largest number of Panzer Is. A total of 122 had been exported to Spain during the Spanish Civil War, and, as late as 1945, Spain's "Brunete Armored Division" fielded 93. The Panzer I remained in use in Spain until aid arrived from the United States in 1954, after which they were replaced by the relatively modern M47 Patton. Between 1935 and 1936, an export version of the Panzer I Ausf. B, named the L.K.B. (Leichte Kampfwagen B), was designed for export to Bulgaria. Modifications included up-gunning to a 20 mm gun and fitting a Krupp M 311 V-8 gasoline engine. Although three examples were built, none were exported to Bulgaria, although a single Panzer I Ausf. A had previously been sold.

A final order was supplied to Hungary in 1942, totaling eight Ausf. Bs and six command versions. These were incorporated into the 1st Armored Division and saw combat in late 1942. At least 1 Panzer I Ausf. B was sent to the Army of the Independent State of Croatia.

The British The Tank Museum at Bovington Camp has a rare command version of the tank. The museum announced in 2023 that a Panzer I replica would take part in its 2023 Tiger Day and TANKFEST events. The replica was built in Belgium but is based on one preserved in a Spanish museum. It uses a modern engine and is marked in colors used during the Spanish Civil War.

General Information

Type: Light tank

Place of origin: Germany

In service: 1934–1945

Used by: Nazi Germany, Bulgaria, Republic of China, Hungary, Francoist Spain

Wars: Spanish Civil War, World War II, Second Sino-Japanese War

Designed: 1932–1934

Manufacturer: Henschel, MAN, Krupp, Daimler

Unit cost: 38,000 RM (Ausf. B without weapons)

Produced: 1934–1938, 1943

Number built: 1,659 as light tanks, 184 as command tanks, 445 as training tanks, 147 as special convertible chassis

Specifications

Mass: 5.4 tonnes (6.0 short tons)

Length: 4.02 m (13 ft 2 in)

Width: 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)

Height: 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)

Crew: 2 (commander and driver)

Armor: 7–13 mm

Main armament: 2 × 7.92 mm MG 13 machine guns

Engine: Krupp M 305 four-cylinder air-cooled gasoline engine, 60 PS (59 hp, 44 kW)

Power/weight: 11.1 PS (8.1 kW)/t

Suspension: Quarter-elliptical leaf spring suspension.

Operational range: 200 km (120 mi) on-road; 175 km (109 mi) off-road.

Maximum speed: 37 km/h (23 mph) on-road; 25 km/h (16 mph) off-road.

Variants

Designations

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf.A ohne Aufbau: Krupp Traktor LaS (LaS — Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper), Agricultural tractor, Tracked training vehicles.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf.A: LaS (Vs.Kfz.617), MG Panzerwagen (Vs.Kfz.617), (Sd.Kfz.101)

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf.B: LaS Maybach (Sd.Kfz.101)

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf.B ohne Aufbau: Instandsetzungskraftwagen I — Utility/recovery and repair vehicle

Panzerjäger I: 4,7cm KPÚV vz. 38 antitank gun on a converted Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.B chassis.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. F: Panzerkampfwagen I nA Verstärkt, VK1801, VK1802 — 30 built by Krauss-Maffei in 1942.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. C: VK 6.01 — 40 built by Krauss-Maffei in 1942.

15cm sIG33(Sf) auf Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.B: Sturmpanzer I, Bison — 15 cm sIG 33 heavy infantry gun on Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.B chassis.

Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen: kl.Pz.Bef.Wg. (Sd.Kfz.265) — Command vehicle based on Ausf.A chassis.

Ladungsleger auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf.B: prototype demolition charge carrier based on the Ausf.B.

Abwurfvorrichtung auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf.B: production demolition charge carrier based on the Ausf.B

Brückenleger auf Fgst Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.A: based on Ausf.A chassis.

Flammenwerfer auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf.A: A field modification in North Africa circa 1941, based on Ausf.A chassis.

Flammenwerfer auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B: A field modification in Spain ca. 1936–9, based on Ausf.B chassis.

Munitionsschlepper auf Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.A: Gerät 35 (Sd.Kfz.111) — Ammunition carrier based on Ausf.A chassis.

Munitionsschlepper auf Pz.Kpfw.Ia

Munitionsschlepper auf Pz.Kpfw.Ib

Fahrschulwanne: Ausf.A ohne Aufbau used for driver training.

Glossary

Sd.Kfz. - Sonderkraftfahrzeug - Special vehicle

Pz.Sp.Wg. - Panzerspähwagen – Reconnaissance tank/vehicle

VK - Vs.Kfz - Versuchskampffahrzeug – Research/experimental fighting vehicle

Ausf. - Ausfuhrung - Mark or sub-type

Pz.Kpfw. - Panzerkampfwagen – Tank

(Sf) - Selbstfahrlafette – Self-propelled

PaK – PanzerKanone – Anti-tank gun

LeFh - Leichte Feldhaubitze – Light Field Howitzer

Gefechts Aufklärer - Combat reconnaissance

(Flamm) – Flammenwerfer – Flame-thrower

verstärkt – Strengthened / improved / upgraded

Fahrgestell – Chassis

Gerät – Apparatus

ohne Aufbau – without superstructure / turret

Bergepanzerwagen – Armored recovery vehicle

Brückenleger – Bridge-layer

LaS - Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper - Agricultural tractor

Flakpanzer - Anti-aircraft artillery tank

Munitionsschlepper - ammunition carrier

Fahrschulwanne - Driving school car

Panzerbefehlswagen - command tank

Sturmpanzer - Infantry support artillery tank

MG Panzerwagen - machine gun combat vehicle

nA - neuer Art - new article / re-designed

Panzer I Light Tanks

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A: Originally known as MG Panzerwagen (V Kfz 617) and given the Sonderkraftfahrzeug designation Sd.Kfz.101, the Ausf A was armed with two machine guns in a small turret. The 450 production tanks were in service from 1934 to 1941, last seeing action in Finland.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B: After initial service the Ausf A was found to be underpowered and the engine prone to overheating. A more powerful engine was fitted and the superstructure transferred to the longer chassis of the kl Pz Bef Wg to produce the Ausf B, a.k.a. LaS Maybach, seeing service from 1935 to 1943, latterly as a command tank.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf C: The Ausf C light tracked reconnaissance vehicle, a.k.a. PzKpfW I nA or VK601, was a comprehensive re-design of the Pz I, with little commonality with earlier Ausfuhrungen introducing the Schachtellaufwerk (inter-leaved track wheels) used in many later Panzers. One of the machine guns was replaced by a semi-automatic Einbauwaffe 141 anti-tank rifle chambered in 7.92×94mm Patronen, giving it limited anti-armor capability. Forty Ausf C were built, two being sent to the Eastern Front for evaluation, the remainder were in action during the Normandy invasion of 1944.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. F: The Ausf F heavily armored infantry assault tank (MG armed), a.k.a. PzKpfW I nA verstärkt or VK1801, was an up-armored Pz I with the Schachtellaufwerk (inter-leaved track wheels) of the Ausf C, and a turret mounting two machine-guns. Thirty Ausf F tanks were built between April and December 1942, eight of which were sent to the Eastern Front for evaluation.

Specialized Vehicles

Between 1934 and the mid-1940s, several variants of the Panzer I were designed, especially during the later years of its combat history. Because they were obsolescent from their introduction, incapable of defeating foreign armor, and outclassed by newer German tanks, the Panzer I chassis were increasingly adapted as tank destroyers and other variants. One of the best-known variants was the kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen ("small armored command vehicle"), built on the Ausf. A and Ausf. B chassis—200 of these were manufactured. The Panzer I Ausf. B chassis was also used to build the German Army's first tracked tank destroyer, the Panzerjäger I. This vehicle was armed with a Czech 47 mm (1.85 in) anti-tank gun.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A ohne Aufbau: The first Panzer I vehicles to be built, 15 of this variant were completed by various firms (Daimler-Benz, Henschel, Krupp, MAN, and Rheinmetall) in a program intended to develop industrial capacity and provide initial training vehicles to the Wehrmacht. The Ausf A ohne Aufbau was a Panzer I hull without any superstructure or turret. The interior was completely open. The vehicle was crewed by a student driver and instructor, with room for three student observers behind them. The suspension and hull were identical to the Ausf A, but total weight was reduced to 3.5 tons and height to 1.15 m. Performance was similar.

Munitionsschlepper auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A: Given the designation Sd.Kfz. 111, the Munitionsschlepper (ammunition tractor) was built to provide Panzer units with an armored tracked vehicle for front-line re-supply of tanks. 51 examples were converted from older Ausf A tanks in September 1939. The conversion involved removing the turret and providing a two-piece armor plate cover over the resulting opening. This crude conversion served in Poland and France with Panzer units. Total weight was a little less than the Ausf A, at 5.0 tons, and the height was reduced to 1.4 m. Since some fuel capacity was removed, range was cut to 95 km. No armament was provided.

Brückenleger auf Fgst Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A: An attempt to mount bridging equipment on the Ausf A chassis proved impractical due to the weak suspension of the vehicle, although this was later tried with greater success on the Panzer II chassis.

Flammenwerfer auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A: A simple field modification, the Flammenwerfer had a portable flamethrower with enough fuel for about 10 seconds of firing at a range of up to 25 m mounted in place of one of the machine guns. The idea came from an experiment during the Spanish Civil War, and was intended to give the Panzer I more firepower against close targets. The conversion was not permanent, and was only reported to be used in the Battle of Tobruk by the German 5th Light Division.

Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen (kl Pz Bef Wg): Given the designation Sd.Kfz. 265, the kl Pz Bef Wg was a modification of the Ausf A designed to provide a command vehicle for Panzer units. This required lengthening the chassis (by adding a fifth road wheel) and upgrading the engine. Ultimately, this chassis would be the basis for the improved Ausf B version. The klPzBefWg had a built-up superstructure in place of the turret, affording more interior room for command equipment and a FuG6 radio in addition to the FuG2. A single MG13 or MG34 in a ball mount on the front of the superstructure was provided, although often removed. Slightly heavier (5.9 tons) and taller (1.99 m) than the Ausf B, the klPzBefWg served with all Panzer units into the early war years. It received an additional 15 mm of armor later, and was moved to auxiliary duties by 1942. 184 were built by Daimler-Benz at the same time as Ausf B production, and six examples were built from Ausf A tanks.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B ohne Aufbau: The Ausf B ohne Aufbau used the same chassis as the Ausf B, but omitted the superstructure and turret. Designed to provide Panzer units with a tracked recovery and repair vehicle, 164 were produced alongside the standard Ausf B vehicles. However, the introduction of larger tanks meant it was unable to do recovery work, and by 1940 it was being transferred to training duties. Compared to the Ausf B, it was much lighter (4.0 tons) and shorter (1.35 m). Like the Ausf A ohne Aufbau, the compartment was open-topped; the hull was armored.

4.7 cm PaK (t) (Sf) auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B: Commonly known as the Panzerjäger I, and as Sd.Kfz.101, this version marked Germany's first attempt at an armored tank destroyer. The turret was removed and a Czechoslovak 4,7cm KPÚV vz. 38 anti-tank gun (German designation "4.7 cm PaK (t)" ) with a tall wrap-around gun shield was installed. Made from 14.5 mm thick armor plate, the shield offered no protection to the rear or above. The gun was capable of 35° of traverse and elevation from −8° to +12°. 86 rounds were carried for the main gun. While performance was similar to the Ausf B, it was heavier at 6.4 tons and taller, 2.25 m, than the B.

15 cm sIG 33 (Sf) auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B: This vehicle was sometimes known as the "Sturmpanzer I Bison". The larger Ausf B chassis made possible the mounting of heavier guns with removal of the turret. The largest was the 150 mm heavy infantry gun, the sIG 33. This mammoth piece was relatively short and barely fit inside a tall superstructure that was constructed up to the vehicle's 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) height and over the tracks to their full 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) width. The superstructure armor was light—only 13 mm—and only protected the front and sides. The heavy resulting weight of 8.5 tons overstressed the chassis; the vehicle was not a great success. 38 were converted from Ausf B tanks in February 1940. They served with six heavy SP infantry gun companies, with survivors in service into 1943. The sIG mounting was capable of 25 ° of traverse and 75 ° of elevation, and could be depressed to −4 °. It used a Rblf36 sight. Ammunition was carried separately, there being no room for onboard shell storage. The sIG would be mounted more successfully on larger chassis as the war progressed.

Flammenwerfer auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A: A field modification, similar to that done to the Ausf B earlier in Spain, developed in preparation for the assault on Tobruk, by the 5th le division (5th Light Division) field engineers of the Deutsche Afrika Korps, and issued to the 5th Tank Regiment. the flamethrower was capable of 10-12 one-second bursts up to 25 m (82 ft).

Flammenwerfer auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B: An experimental field modification similar to that done to the Ausf A later in North Africa, this conversion was made during the Spanish Civil War. There is no record of later use during World War II.

Ladungsleger auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B / Abwurfvorrichtung auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B: A field modification kit, the Ladungsleger and Abwurfvorrichtung, explosives layer, were mounted on the rear deck of an Ausf B tank and used to lay explosives to defeat field fortifications. A number of vehicles were given these kits, with authorized use on the armored engineers company of each Pioneer Battalion.

Flakpanzer I (2 cm Flak 38 auf Pz.Kpfw.I Ausf.A): An anti-aircraft conversion of Ausf.A tanks mounting a Flak 38 anti-aircraft cannon. A rare modification that attempted to make the Panzer I into a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun by addition of a single 20mm anti-aircraft autocannon; it was not produced widely due to limited operational utility.

MG 151 variant: A nameless field modification consisting of a Panzer I ausf. B outfitted with a 1.5 or 2 cm MG 151 Drilling

7.5 cm variant: A nameless field conversion discovered after the war ended, with modified superstructure and a 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun mounted on it.

Spanish 20mm Breda variant:

Panzer I ausf. A tanks in Spanish Nationalist service, rearmed with a 20 mm Breda cannon.

Surviving Vehicles

Ausf. A

Armed Forces Museum, Oslo, Norway

Swedish Tank Museum Arsenalen, Strängnäs, Sweden

German Tank Museum, Munster, Germany

Museum of Armored Media, Madrid, Spain

American Heritage Museum, Stow, United States

MM Park, La Wantzenau, France (Restoration project)

Ausf. B

Museum of Armored Media, Madrid, Spain

Royal Tank Museum, Amman, Jordan

Patriot Park, Kubinka, Russia

Military Technical Museum, Chernogolovka, Russia

United States Army Ordnance Training and Heritage Center, Fort Gregg-Adams, United States

Australian Armour and Artillery Museum, Cairns, Australia

André Becker Collection, Belgium (Hull only)

Turret

The Wheatcroft Collection, Leicestershire, England

Defence and Garrison Museum, Aalborg, Denmark

Tirpitz Museum, Blåvandshuk, Denmark

Frederikshavn, Denmark

BAIV BV, Nederweert, Netherlands

Bundeswehr Military History Museum, Dresden, Germany (also parts of hull and engine)

Saint-Martin-de-Fenollar, Maureillas-las-Illas, France

Hellenic Air Force Museum, Acharnes, Greece

Victory Park, Moscow, Russia

Sources

Beevor, Antony (1998). Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942–1943. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books.

Beevor, Antony (1982). The Spanish Civil War. New York: Penguin Books.

Bierman, John; Colin Smith (2002). The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II. New York: Viking Penguin.

Candil, Antonio J. (March 1999), "Soviet Armor in Spain: Aid Mission to the Republicans Tested Doctrine and Equipment" (PDF), Armor, Fort Knox, KY: US Army Armor Center, pp. 31–38.

Chamberlain, Peter; Doyle, Hilary (1999). Encyclopedia of German tanks of World War Two (Rev. ed.). London: Arms & Armour.

Cooper, Matthew (1978). The German Army 1933–1945. Lanham, MD: Scarborough House.

Daley, John (May 1999), "Soviet and German Advisors Put Doctrine to the Test: Tanks in the Siege of Madrid" (PDF), Armor, Fort Knox, KY: US Army Armor Center, pp. 33–37.

Franco, Lucas M. (2006). "El Tanque de la Guerra Civil Española". Historia de la Iberia Vieja (in Spanish) (13).

Franco, Lucas Molina (2005). Panzer I: El inicio de una saga (in Spanish). Madrid: AF Editores.

Gander, Terry (2006). Tanks & Armour: Panzerkampfwagen I & II. Hersham, Surrey: Ian Allan.

García, José María; Lucas Molina Franco (2005). La Brunete (in Spanish). Valladolid, Spain: Quiron Ediciones.

García, José María; Lucas Molina Franco (2006). Las Armas de la Guerra Civil Española (in Spanish). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros.

Guderian, Heinz (1996). Panzer Leader. New York: Da Capo.

Hahn, Fritz (2003). Waffen und Geheimwaffen des deutschen Heeres 1933–1945. Eggolsheim, Germany: Dörfler Verlag.

Latimer, Jon (2002). Alamein. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

McCarthy, Peter; Syron, Mike (2002). Panzerkrieg: The Rise and Fall of Hitler's Tank Divisions. New York: Carroll and Graf.

Miller, David (June 2000). Illustrated Directory of Tanks and Fighting Vehicles: From World War I to the Present Day. St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press.

Moa, Pío (2003). Los Mitos de la Guerra Civil (in Spanish). Madrid, Spain: Esfera de los Libros.

Perrett, Bryan (1998). German Light Panzers 1932–41. Oxford: Osprey. Porch, Douglas (2004). The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Ramos, Raúl Arias (2003). El Apoyo Military Alemán a Franco: La Legión Cóndor en la Guerra Civil (in Spanish). Madrid: Esfera del los Libros.

Raus, Erhard (2002). Peter G. Tsouras (ed.). Panzers on the Eastern Front: General Erhard Raus and his Panzer Divisions in Russia, 1941–1945. London: Greenhill Books. p. 253.

Spielberger, Walter J. (1974). Die Panzerkampfwagen I und II und ihre Abarten (in German). Illustrated by Hilary L. Doyle and Uwe Feist. Stuttgart: Motorbuch Verlag.

Kozłowski, Eugeniusz, ed. (1979). Wojna Obronna Polski 1939 (in Polish). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej.

 

Crouching behind the cover of a Panzer I tank mounting twin machine guns, German infantrymen advance cautiously along a muddy road in central Norway. Still blanketed by spring snow, the countryside posed a challenge to logistics and rapid operations.

Panzer I Ausf. B ohne Aufbau (utility vehicle).

German soldiers protected by an advancing PzKpfw I of the 2nd Motorized Infantry Division (note the unit insignia just visible below the turret) during the Norwegian campaign in April 1940. The division was formed from the 2nd Infantry Division, itself formed in 1921. The division was motorized in 1936–37 and participated in the invasions of Poland and France. In October 1940 the 2nd Motorized Infantry Division was reorganized as the 12th Panzer Division, and in June 1941 it joined Operation Barbarossa, fighting in the battles of Minsk and Smolensk. It fought the rest of the war on the Eastern Front and surrendered to the Red Army in the Courland Pocket in May 1945.

Panzer II Ausf D with Panzer I Ausf B. Note the early uniform of the crew.

IJA officer poses with a captured Chinese Panzer I tank in Nanjing, 1938.

German Panzertruppen of the newly formed Panzer-Regiment 5, II Abteilung, 5.Kompanie (5th Armored Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 5th Company) of 3.Panzer-Division (3rd Armored Division) leaving the Lutz-Kaserne in Wünsdorf, Germany, 1936.

 

Training with Panzer Is.

Director Karl Ritter films a tank battle scene for the movie The Traitors. Ritter’s specialty was movies about the dangers of communism. Germany, 1936. The tanks are PzKpfw I.

 PzKpfw I Ausf. A, Krupp-Motor type M305 4-cyl. air-cooled flat boxer-engine. 1933. 

A Panzer I Ausf. A in combat during the Nazi German invasion of Norway. 1940.

A German Panzer I Ausf A on the bank of the Brda River in Poland during the German invasion of the country, 4 September 1939. Bundesarchiv photo Bild 146-1978-120-11.

A Panzer I Ausf. B on the streets of Calais, France, in May 1940, while rounding up British prisoners-of-war following the defeat of France by Nazi Germany in that same year. Bundesachiv photo Bild 183-B14898.

A Panzer I fighting in Yugoslavia in 1941.

A German Sd.Kfz. 265 kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen armored command vehicle somewhere in Russia, probably in 1941 or 1942. Bundesachiv photo Bild 101I-265-0006-31.

Japanese soldiers inspecting Panzer I Ausf. A tanks abandoned by the Nationalist Army after the Battle of Nanking, 1937.

Computer-generated illustration of a Munitionsschlepper on Panzer I Ausf A chassis.

The self-propelled howitzer sIG 33 I (Sf) based on the chassis of the Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. B light tank with a DKW NZ350 motorbike of the 5th Panzer Division in Greece in April 1941. Bundesarchiv photo Bild 101I-163-0328-15.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. A (Sd.Kfz. 101) on display at the Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster, Germany. August 7, 2005.

A Spanish Panzer I Ausf. A on display at the El Goloso Museum of Armored Vehicles in Spain. This particular vehicle has its original drive-sprockets and tracks replaced by those of the US M113 armored personnel carrier (APC). Jon Catalan photo, 29 October 2007.

A former German Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. F on display at the Belgrade Military Museum in Belgrade, Serbia. 

German Panzer I Ausf A, Swedish Tank Museum Arsenalen, Strängnäs, Sweden. Adrian R. Johansson photo, 17 July 2013. 

Replica Panzer I at Tankfest 2023, The Tank Museum, Bovington Camp. Ashley Pomeroy photo, 23 June 2023.

Panzer I Ausf.A in Germany in 1936.

A 1. Serie La.S. with a Daimler-Benz turret. These were made from a 1. Serie La.S. chassis and a turret and superstructure developed by Daimler-Benz. These were the first “Panzer Is” to receive armament. Later, they were used by the Luftwaffe for testing the effects of 50 kg bombs on tanks.

A 1. Serie La.S. with an improvised Krupp turret without any armament and an improvised superstructure. These were made because Krupp had already finished some of its chassis, but Daimler Benz had not completed any turrets at this point. About 20 tanks with these improvised turrets were deployed during the German Army’s first tank parade in 1935.

A Panzer I Ausf.A with only one machine gun mounted. Germany, 1938.

A Fahrschulwagen I using a 2. Serie La.S. chassis, winter 1938.

A Panzer I Ausf.A during a training exercise in 1935. Note the chessboard-like pattern on the turret, which indicates the tank belonged to either a company or platoon commander.

A Panzer I Ausf.A in the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941.

A Panzer I Ausf.A driving through a wall during maneuvers in 1938.

A Panzer I Ausf.A during a parade in 1935. Note the death skull flag indicating that this tank belonged to Sonderabteilung Nürnberg (Eng: Special Battalion Nürnberg). Nürnberg is a city in southern Germany.

A Panzer I Ausf.A in front of the barracks in 1936.

A Panzer I Ausf.A with Bunfarbenanstrich in 1935, undergoing tests in deep snow.

A Panzer I Ausf.As in 1935. These tanks were part of Sonderabteilung Nürnberg. Note that, in many photos, the Panzer Is can be seen without armament. During nighttime and when not in use, the machine guns were removed for maintenance.

A Panzer I Ausf.A in Poland 1939.

A Panzer I Ausf.A during the Invasion of Poland, 1939.

The first view of Panzer I Ausf.As during training. The right one has the checkerboard pattern applied indicating that it belongs to a platoon or company commander.

Panzer I Ausf.As during a parade on Adolf Hitler’s birthday in 1935. The vehicle in the foreground is from the 2. Platoon (two white stripes) of either the 1./5. Company (white filler color of the rhomboid) of the 1. Battalion (solid color in rhomboid) from Panzer Regiment 5 (white number).

Panzer I Ausf.As during a maneuver. The vehicle in the foreground is a Fahrschulpanzer I based on an Ausf.B hull. Note that, although this is presumably a training exercise, the tanks already have the simplified numbering system, marking the date around 1939-1940. 

Panzer I Ausf.Bs in Poland in 1939 with mud on their white Balkenkreuze to reduce their visibility. Bundesarchiv photo.

Panzer I Ausf.A with the open Balkenkreuz. Note the armament of the tank was removed when the tank was not in use.

A Panzer I being unloaded from a train in Cáceres so it could be used to instruct Spanish crews in their use.

A Panzer I Ausf.A driving on a mountain road in Vizcaya, Spain, in the spring of 1937.

A knocked-out Panzer I is used as cover during the fighting around Aravaca, Spain, at the end of 1936.

A column of four Panzer Is getting ready for the Aragón Offensive. Note that the vehicle at the rear (far right) is armed with a 20 mm Breda gun.

The three Panzer Is exhibited by the Republican authorities in Barcelona at the Francesc Macià square. Note the numbers on the side hatch and the large banner celebrating Corporal García’s heroics at the forefront.

The only photo of the lone Panzer I Ausf.A on the field with a small Communist flag.

A Panzer I Ausf.A in Chinese service captured by Japanese troops after the battle of Nanking.

A Panzer I Ausf.A in 1938 getting washed by firefighters in order for them to look clean when entering the newly annexed Sudetenland.

A Panzer I Ausf.A transporting Polish prisoners of war after the invasion of Poland in 1939.

A Panzer I Ausf.A in the Soviet Union belonging to the 2nd Panzerarmee in June 1941.

Panzer I Ausf.As with a Panzer III (3.7 cm) (left) in the Soviet Union in the winter of 1941.

A Panzer I Ausf.A in the Soviet Union in the summer of 1942, acting as a security vehicle against partisan activity.

A Panzer I Ausf.A stuck in the mud. This happened often during the first maneuvers in 1935-1936. Although the engine was generally sufficient, sometimes it was not powerful enough for the tank to be able to drive out of the mud.

A young German woman giving flowers to the commander of a Panzer I Ausf.A. in Erfurth, 1935.

A Panzer I Ausf.A during training in 1936.

A Panzer I in Croatian service. The independent state of Croatia, a puppet regime of Nazi Germany, successfully purchased four Panzer I Ausf.A tanks in 1941. These were used as garrison vehicles against the partisans.

A Panzer I Ausf.A in post-war service in Madrid 1944.

Krupp’s L.K.A. in 1938.

L.K.B. in 1938.

A Panzer I Ausf.A ‘Lanzallamas’ during training at Cubas de la Sagra, 1937.

A Panzer I Breda “351” of the 3a Compañia [Eng. 3rd Company, Command].

A Panzer I with a 3.7 cm anti-tank gun. Note the extended shield. The dark gray camouflage and open Balkenkreuz indicate a date around 1940.

One Brückenleger I (Bridge Layer I) on top of another one.

Munitionsschlepper I, as part of the 1. Panzer Armee in 1941. Note the K stands for Kleist who was the commander of the 1st Panzer Army.

A Flakpanzer I with a folding side platform, which was raised during marches.

Fahrschulwagen I with Zwillingssockel 36 and two MG 34s.

A Fahrschulwagen I with a single MG 34 in an improvised MG mount.

A Fahrschulwagen I with a twin MG 42 mount.

A Instandsetzungskraftwagen with the turret removed. Note the spare road wheels.

The last version of the Instandsetzungskraftwagen with a new superstructure and windows.

A Panzer I Ausf.A with supports for carrying fascines in Poland, 1939.

A Farschulwagen I adapted to lay cables in 1939, before the war.

A Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen during a parade in 1935.

A Fahrschulwagen I converted into a Funkpanzer (Radio tank). These Funkpanzers were desperately needed and therefore other vehicles were often reused.

A very rare Panzer I variant, presumably in a training school in 1939. Note the white uniform indicating a young tank school student and the antenna on the top.

The very rare Panzer I variant in around 1938 as the tank is already painted in dark grey. Note the Rahmenantenne (Frame antenna) which goes all around the tank and the missing visors.

A Panzer I Ausf.A with Rahmenantenne.

A 1.Serie/La. S. converted into a Fahrschulwagen, used for training during the war. Note the license plate.

A charcoal/wood gas-powered Panzer I Ausf.A used for training Volkssturm units in Berlin, 1945.

A Panzer I Ausf.A with a Panzer III turret (3.7 cm) used as a training tank.

A Panzer I representing a Sherman tank used for target practice in Berlin, 1945.

A possible Befehlswagen similar to the other existing command tanks.

A Panzer I Ausf.A chassis with superstructure without the turret and armament. The turret seems to have been replaced by a fixed turret with visors all around it, hinting towards an observation vehicle.

A possible ammunition carrier featuring a mounted MG 34. The photo was taken before 1938 due to the vehicle still having the three-tone camouflage applied.

A Panzer I Ausf.A with a 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun mounted on top of the superstructure.

Another unknown variant on the Ausf.A chassis. This one seems to have a totally new superstructure possibly hinting towards an Instandsetzungskraftwagen.

A Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen during the German invasion of Norway, 1940.

 

A Fahrschulwagen I training vehicle.

A Panzer I in the late 1930s.

A Panzer I during the German invasion of Norway, 1940.

A Panzer I Ausf C.

A Panzer I Ausf C.

 Panzer I Ausf. C light tank captured by US troops in Normandy.The machine guns have been removed. (US National Archives photo)

 Panzer I Ausf. C light tank captured by US troops in Normandy.The machine guns have been removed. (US National Archives photo)

A Panzer I.

A Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen command tank smashes through a small building during training.

A Befehlspanzer I moving at speed during the German invasion of Poland, 1939.

Panzer I light tanks of the 7th Panzer Division on a bridge in Tours, France, 1940.

A German soldier with a Panzer I ohne Aufbau.

A German soldier with a Panzer I ohne Aufbau, probably in France, 1940.

A Panzer I of the 2nd Panzer Regiment training for Operation Seelowe at Scheveningen in Holland in 1940. A Panzerjager I is behind it on the landing craft.

A camouflaged Befehlspanzer I.

A Panzer I Ladungsleger 2.

Panzer I Ausf A tanks.

A Panzer I on the road, although not moving as both crew members are sitting on the outside, shirtless so it must be hot. Since there are no machine guns installed in the turret, there must not be any danger of enemy contact, or possibly this is during training. 

Flakpanzer I self-propelled anti-aircraft gun.

A Panzer I in winter in Kiestinki, Finland.

Two Panzer I light tanks without their machine guns installed in the turret, possibly at a training facility.

A Panzer I Ausf A on a street, in Germany or possibly Austria, judging from the German language signs.

A Panzer I ohne Aufbau undergoing work on the roadwheels and track.

Panzer I tanks and command tanks in the Mokra area, in Poland on 2 September 1939.

Panzer I Ladungsleger moves through a muddy field, probably during training.

A Panzer I Ausf A2 with a single machine gun.

A Panzer I Ausf F on the move.

Close up of the drive sprocket and roadwheels on a Panzer I.

A Panzer I Ausf B during winter.

A Befehlspanzer I in Poland in September 1939.

A Panzer I Ausf A undergoing maintenance.

A Panzer I Ausf A with a single machine gun installed.

A Panzer I in Radomsko in Poland in 1939.

Knocked out Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks.

A Befehlspanzer I command tank. The crewman may be pointing to combat damage. 

A Panzer I ohne Aufbau knocking down a tree.

A Ladungsleger Panzer I Fahrgestell.

A Panzer I ohne Aufbau.

A Panzer I with damaged turret in France in 1940.

Panzer I and Panzer II tanks. Note the bundle of fascines on the rear of the left fender of the Panzer I.

A Befehlspanzer I in Poland in September 1939.

The crew's attempt to camouflage their Panzer I Ladungsleger with logs among some trees.

A damaged Panzer I Ausf B number 223.

A Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen partially covered with debris from a collapsed wall.

A knocked out Panzer I.

Working on a damaged Panzer I Ausf A in Poland in 1939.

A Panzer I Befelswagen in Rzeszow, Poland.

A Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen I Ausf. B.

A Panzer I tank with the hull hatches opened.

A Flakpanzer I with 2 cm Flak auf Panzer I Fahrgestell towing an ammunition trailer.

Panzer I light tanks during training. 

A Panzer I in Spain with a Spanish crew.

A Panzer I ohne Aufbau during training.

A Befehlspanzer I. The marking on the upper front of the vehicle, the '2' designates the second battery while the symbol designates a towed artillery battalion.

A Panzer I number '622' in Poland in 1939 knocking over a small tree.

A knocked out Panzer I Ausf B.

A column of Panzer I tanks.

A Panzer I Ausf C.

A Ladungsleger I auf PzKpfw I Ausf B.

A damaged Panzer I.

A Panzer I ohne aufbau with its crew

American soldier with a varied collection of Panzer I tanks and variants.

PzKpfw I tanks, probably on maneuvers, pre-war.

A PzKpfw I ohne Aufbau.

A column of Panzer I light tan ks in three-tone camouflage pattern, pre-war.

A panzer I tank in Norway in 1940.

A Panzer I which does not have its machine guns installed in the turret.

Panzer I number '112'.

A destroyed Panzer I in Poland in 1939.

A Munitionsschlepper auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A.

A Panzer I passing through a village in Poland in 1939.

Panzer I tanks during a pre-war exercise.

A Befehlspanzer I with Panzer I tanks during the campaign in Poland in 1939.

A Panzer I leading a column, followed by a Befehlspanzer I and a Panzer III passing through a village during the campaign in Poland in 1939.

A Panzer I Ausf A.

A Panzer I on the road.

A damaged Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen auf Gw I Ausf B during the campaign in Poland in 1939.

A knocked out Panzerbefehlswagen I.

Panzer I tanks during the campaign in Poland in 1939.

A Panzer I tank.

Panzer I tanks moving through a village.

A Panzer I tank.

A Munitionsschlepper auf Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A crossing a makeshift bridge.

A column of Panzer I tanks.

Three Befehlspanzerwagen command tanks with a command radio half-track and three Panzer III tanks at a training facility or unit garage.

Members of a panzer unit pose with one of their Panzer I tanks.

A Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen number 'B03'.

A Panzer I leads a column of Panzer II tanks with a Schützenpanzer half-track (Sd.Kfz. 251/3; with General Heinz Guderian?) during the campaign in Poland in 1939.

A column of Panzer I tanks.

A column of Panzer I tanks moving through a village in Russia.

A Panzer I number '504'.

Panzer I crewmen taking a break.

Panzer I tanks crossing a river.

A Panzer I ohne aufbau undergoing maintenance along with a Panzer III, Panzer II and a truck.

A dusty Panzer I Ausf B tank crossing a river on a ferry.

A Panzer I tank out of commission with a broken right track.

A Befehlspanzer I Ausf A.

Crewmen posing on a Panzer I tank.

A Befehlspanzer I (left) and a Befehlspanzer III (right).

A Panzer I during the campaign in France in 1940.

Panzer I and Panzer II tanks and a Befehlspanzer I among a variety of other vehicles.

A Panzer I tank hidden in some trees.

Two Flakpanzer I 2 cm Flak 38 auf Selbsthahrlafette PzKpfw I Ausf. A anti-aircraft vehicles.

A Befehlspanzer I followed by a Panzer I and a variety of other vehicles in Beskidy in Poland in 1939 

Three Befehlspanzer I command tanks waiting for a tank column headed by Panzer III tanks.

Panzer I tank number '322'.

Columns of Panzer I tanks.

A Befehlspanzer I command tank during the campaign in France in 1940.

A Panzerbefehlswagen I number '01' with a second vehicle number '02' behind it in Galasko near Lwow in Poland in 1939.

A partially camouflaged Panzerbefehlswagen I command tank of a towed artillery battalion.

The crewmen with their Panzer I tank.

Crewmen posing with a Panzer I tank.

A truck pulling a trrailer with a Panzer I and with a Panzer II in the bed of the truck during the cazmpaign in Poland in 1939.

A Panzerbefehlswagen I command tank.

A Panzer I Ausf A tank during pre-war maneuvers.

A Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen I.

A German armored formation with a variety of Panzer I tanks, Panzerbefehlswagen command tanks and other vehicles duriung the campaign in Poland in 1939.

A knocked out Panzer I tank with a broken track being examined by two members of a German bicycle unit.

A Panzerbefehlswagen I command tank leads a column of Panzer I tanks and other vehicles, probably moving along a road through a Russian village.

Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf.A ohne Aufbau training vehicles pause along a road for a break during training.

A Panzer I tank destroyed during the campaign in France in 1940.

A Panzer I Ausf A in three-tone camouflage pre-war.

A Panzer I destroyed during the campaign in Poland in 1939.

Panzer I number '534' completely destroyed during the campaign in France in 1940.

A Panzer I tank as crewmen repalce two damaged track links.

A Instandsetzungskraftwagen I towing a captured French tracked trailer with additional gear and supplies.

A Panzer I Ausf A tank in three-tone camouflage whose commander salutes citizens who wave during a pre-war parade.

A well-camouflaged Panzerbefehlswagen I tank, whose identity is confirmed by the radio aerial trough just visible above the right side fender.

A Panzerbefehlswagen I command tank with a cameraman (PK-Filmberichter ["film reporter"]) of a Wehrmacht Propagandakompanie ["propaganda company"] in the crew compartment of a Panzerbefehlswagen I of the 11th Panzer Division. A Panzer III is in the background. Soviet Union, June 1942. Bundesarhiv photo Bild 146-1974-109-03.

A Grant tank stops alongside the burning wreck of a German Panzer I, North Africa, 6 June 1942. (Imperial War Museum E12919)

Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen Sd.Kfz. 265, Eastern Front, 1941.

Panzer I. Leichte Selbstfahrkanone (L.S.K.), 1930. The future of the Kleinetraktor can be seen in its outline.

Panzer I. Modernized L.S.K. with a new suspension.

Panzer I. VAE 393 tractor, purchased in the fall of 1931. Trials of this vehicle confirmed once again that the layout of this British vehicle was the most optimal for the next generation of German tanks.

Panzer I. Kleinetraktor after a redesign. Despite the British layout, one can still detect an influence of the leichte Selbstfahrkanone.

Panzer I. Kleinetraktor on trials.

Panzer I. A Kleinetraktor from the pilot batch.

Panzer I. An early production Landwirtschaftliche Schlepper. Most vehicles from this batch were never armed and were used for training purposes.

Panzer I. 20 1.Serie/La.S received Krupp turrets and turret platforms, but not for long.

Panzer I. Daimler-Benz turret and turret platform, accepted into production.

Panzer I. 2.Serie/La.S. on parade. The tanks carry a three-color camouflage used by the Panzerwaffe from 1935 to 1938.

Panzer I. 3.Serie/La.S. tank. The tank has minimal differences compared to its predecessor.

Panzer I. 4.Serie/La.S. from the 3rd Tank Regiment on exercises.

Panzer I. Modernized PzKpfw I Ausf. A with a smoke grenade launcher.

Panzer I. Leichte (Funk) Panzerwagen from the 3rd Tank Regiment.