| There was, in 1939, no consensus as to what kind of tank would ultimately prove to be most effective. As the war progressed, however, heavily armed mediums emerged as the best all-round fighters. Until the end of the war the heavies tended to be too unwieldy and the light tanks, under-armored. But the best mediums, such as the German Panzers and the Soviet T-34, managed to combine speed, fire power | and protection in a thoroughly formidable weapon. They were the spearhead of the Panzer units which made Blitzkrieg a household word. And, in the end, they were the grisly rear-guard in the desperate, hopeless struggle to avert the annihilation of Hitler's "1000-year Reich." Respectfully , British tanks were generally inferior to their German opponents in regard to their firepower | and armour protection, while their high mobility in the early years was severely compromised by chronic unreliability. In a war where, as many said, "armor was king," the German tanks and tank destroyers were generally the best. Perhaps more than the aircraft of the Luftwaffe or the U-boats of the Kriegsmarine, tanks symbolize the rise and fall of German arms in World War II. |
