Anti-tank ditch
A tank trap is a deep, wide and sometimes water-filled trench of defense against enemy tanks to serve by prevents them from crossing. During the First World War , when tanks were first used in the war, it was noticed that tanks often got stuck in larger shell holes and trenches. That is why the pioneers developed the anti-tank trench to prevent or stop tank attacks.
They were mostly used when there was a lack of material for “classic” anti-tank devices such as Czech hedgehogs or hump lines . In contrast to these, anti-tank trenches require hardly any building material, but significantly more manpower. Historically, they were mostly built by paramilitary units or civilians.
history
Between the First and Second World Wars , Antwerp fortress was reinforced with an anti-tank ditch about 33 km long. It has 15 locks to regulate the water level; the locks were defended by bunkers and the like.
During the Second World War, anti-tank trenches were dug on many fronts - but above all by the Soviet Union and the Third Reich - but their impact was mostly very limited.
During the Citadel operation , a four and a half meter deep Soviet anti-tank ditch at Prokhorovka played a decisive role. This trench was overlooked during the very hasty planning of the attack by the Soviet 5th Guards Armored Army , so that on July 12, 1943, many Soviet tanks drove into it and were destroyed there.
From 1944 onwards, tank trenches were dug on a large scale by the civilian population in eastern Germany , especially on the eastern border of East Prussia .
See also
literature
- Karl-Heinz Frieser , Klaus Schmider and Klaus Schönherr : The German Empire and the Second World War . Volume 8: The Eastern Front 1943/44 - The War in the East and on the Side Fronts . Ed .: Military History Research Office of the Bundeswehr . DVA 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 .
- Harry Lippmann: Tank traps and other obstacles , Cologne 1987–1997.
- Sonja Wetzig: Tank obstacles in World War II, Höcker, Rommelspargel etc. , Podzun-Pallas-Verlag GmbH, 2000, ISBN 3790906980 .
- Военный энциклопедический словарь (Military Encyclopedic Dictionary), Moscow 1986.
