GERMANY

The first generation of German armour – Panzers I to IV – were not of themselves superior to their opponents, their effectiveness in the first three years of the Second World War being primarily explicable in terms of how they were employed. It was the Russian Campaign that forced the Germans to embrace a new design to counter the initially superior Soviet T-34 and KV series. This led to the creation of the Panther heavy medium tank and the fielding of the Tiger I and II heavy panzers in the last two years of the conflict. Even though by then the war was lost, German tanks continued to exert heavy losses on its enemies both east and west.

After 1945, a medium panzer for the new Bundeswehr led to the creation of one of the most successful families of tanks of the post-war period. The Leopard 1 and its successor, the Leopard 2, went on to equip many armies of NATO and other nations. Modern German armour is held in high regard the world over and is a byword for technological sophistication and excellence.

PANTHER (PANZERKAMPFWAGEN V)

1943-1945 Was this the best medium tank of the Second World War?

Regarded by many as the finest medium tank of the Second World War, the Panther was commissioned in the first instance to counter the Russian T-34 whose sloping armour design it