- Yes
- No
I would like to suggest this mouthfull of a tank, or rather now a Tank Destroyer, the 5 cm KwK 38 L/42 auf Infanterie Pz.Kpfw. MK II 748(e) “Oswald”, which is basically a Matilda III where the turret was removed and replaced with a 5 cm KwK 38 L/42 with a big gun shield and a couple of MG 15 machine guns, which was called Oswald by its crew.
After fighting in France and North Africa many different tanks and other equipment were captured, especially in the early stages, of which some where used directly, other modified for a new and greater use or simply scrapped. A couple of these captured Trophys called Beutepanzer were Infantry Tank Matilda Mk.II, while having made a name for itself with its thicker armor, it was also somewhat liked by the Wehrmacht. While the Matildas were mostly used for training and in their standart configuration, Oswald had a slightly different story.
After an unknown time of usage in its original configuration, the turret was removed and replaced by a 5 cm KwK 38 L/42 mounted in a specially made gunshield with 2x 7,92 mm Mg 15 placed on top.
This gun shield is sometimes written as in an pintle mount, however this isnt completly visible from the pictures and a similar configuration as on the Pz.Sp.Wg. P 204(f) with a further usage of the turret ring for a full 360° rotation is also possible. The reason is mostly unknown, but it is likely that it was made to keep it in a better running order as 2 pounder ammo is hard to come by.
While recognised as a (for its size) relatively powerfull AT gun, the 2 pounder wasnt seen as a very effective gun, for its lack of greater effecte ammo (only solid shot) and not having He grenades against infantry and lighter targets. So unlike for the russian 7,62 cm guns, the germans didnt produce any 2 pounder ammo themselfs and had to rely soley on captured stocks, once they ran out, the equipment was either put into storage, scrapped or modified, such as Oswald.
As mentioned above, the gun in its shield could be on a simple pintle or connected to the turret ring (so either about 30° left and right (technically, the pintel also has 360° traverse, but i suppose there isnt really space for the crew to follow it around its axis then) or full 360°) but going into detail about the gunshield a bit more.
On the pictures it is visible to have a picke style angled front, with side plates and a bit of a roof, but generally made from thinner plates (possibly 14,5 mm, as they were the common thinn armor plates available, that were rated to be 7,92mm AP ammo (S.m.K) proof. However it is also visible, that there are additional plates on the inside to improve the frontal thickness from the original Bunker mount.
And on top of the shield are mounted 2x 7,92 mm Mg 15 to fight off enemy low flying air.
Changes to the hull are unknown, but generally speaking, certainly to store 5 cm ammo and Mg 15 drumms, as well as the hull was painted in german camoflage and markings, with the name “Oswald” beeing written on the front right track guard.
The gun mount could be a simple pintle mounted on it and fixed in place (such as the Bunker mount, which can be identified) or further connected with the turret ring, to have the pintle turn “like the turret” around the tank. Like seen on the P. 204 (f).
Pictures: (Click to show)
On this last picture, as i wrote, can be seen another armor plate inside and the frontal plate appears to be also overlapping to the sides (or longer than where the sides start)(It could be 3 layers of armor plateing) Similar or like this configuration a modeler “identified/came up with” by the pictures.
The Gun:
5 cm KwK 38 L/42
360° 25°/sec
Ammo:(Click to show)
Ap:
Pzgr.39 (APC) 2,06 kg 17g Np.10 (28,9g TNTe) 685m/s 80mm/10m
Pzgr.40 (APCR) 0,925 kg 21x75mm 335g Core 1050 m/s 118mm/10m
(Yes the drawing sayes 0,9kg, however pretty much all captured stock was 0,925kg, as well as other german sources.)
He:
Sprgr.38 (HE (No Tracer)) 1,82 kg 200g Fp.02 und Np.10 (256g TNTa) 450 m/s
Traverse speed would be rather quick in both possible configurations with beeing a simple pintle, of a pintle connected to the turret ring and having turning the whole pintle.
Stored ammo is unknown, but space inside is quite good and the Pz III has allready 99 rounds, so in that direction (or more) is quite possible.
The Vehicle and armor:
Matilda Mk. II (allready in game as Matilda III)
| Armour | Front | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 75 mm (0-7°) Front plate | |||
| 22-47 mm (69°) Front glacis | ||||
| 22-78 mm (12-46°) Joint area | ||||
| 22 mm + 40 mm (56°) Lower glacis | 70 mm (21-26°) Top | |||
| 40 + 25 mm Bottom | 20 mm (32-79°) Top | |||
| 55 mm (25°) Bottom | 20 mm | |||
| 35 mm Driver’s port | ||||
| Turret | 14,5 mm (~30°) + 10 mm + 10 mm Turret front | 14,5 mm (0°) | 14,5 mm |
Its ulitemate fate is unknown, most certainly scrapped.
In game it would give the nice addition to the lower tanks as a somewhat powerfull (possibly premium) tank destroyer (around Br 1.7 or so) with a great gun, on a well armored hull which is somewhat slow, but will be usefull over longer ranges. When player under estimate the range and hit the hull instead of the thinner gun shield
Source:
Captured American & British Tanks Under the German Flag
New Vanguard #8, Matilda Infantry Tank 1938-45
Munition der 5 cm KwK 38 L/42