Panzer I: Germany’s First Mass-Produced Tank

1. Lead

The Panzer I, officially the Panzerkampfwagen I, was the first tank to be mass-produced in Germany after the First World War, and the vehicle on which the German Panzerwaffe was built. Designed in the early 1930s under the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, which forbade Germany from possessing tanks, the Panzer I was developed in secret and presented publicly as an agricultural tractor.

It was a small, lightly armoured vehicle armed with only two machine guns, and it was never intended to fight enemy tanks. Its purpose was to train crews, to develop doctrine, and to give German industry experience in tank production.

Yet when war came in 1939, the Panzer I was the most numerous tank in the German Army, and it fought in Poland, France, North Africa and the Soviet Union before being withdrawn from front-line service.

Approximately 1,500 Panzer Is were built in several variants, and the type formed the backbone of the Panzer divisions in the campaigns of 1939 and 1940. In Poland, Panzer Is made up nearly half of the German tank strength. In France, they were still numerous, although by then the heavier Panzer II, Panzer III and Panzer IV were taking over the main battle role.

The Panzer I’s thin armour and machine-gun armament made it vulnerable to almost any anti-tank weapon, and its combat record was poor in direct engagements. But the Panzer I’s real importance was not in battle but in what it made possible: it trained the officers and crews who would fight in later tanks, it tested the organisation of the Panzer division, and it gave German factories the production experience that made the later expansion of the Panzerwaffe possible.

Without the Panzer I, there would have been no Blitzkrieg.

The Panzer I is remembered today as a symbol of Germany’s secret rearmament and of the gap between ambition and reality in the early Panzerwaffe. It was a training tank pressed into combat because nothing better was available in sufficient numbers, and its crews paid the price for that shortage.

Its chassis, however, lived on in other roles: as a command tank, as a self-propelled gun chassis, and as the basis for the Panzerjäger I tank destroyer. Museums in Germany, Britain and the United States preserve examples, and the Panzer I remains one of the most studied vehicles of the early war period.

For historians of armoured warfare, the Panzer I illustrates how a weapon designed for training can shape an army’s doctrine and how industrial limitations can force a military to fight with equipment it knows to be inadequate.

2. Key Facts

Field	Value
Type	Light tank
Origin	Germany
Designed	1932–1934
In service	1934–1943 (front line to 1941; training and secondary roles to 1943)
Produced	Approximately 1,500 (all variants, excluding chassis conversions)
Manufacturers	Henschel, Krupp, MAN, Daimler-Benz, Rheinmetall
Crew	2 (commander/gunner, driver)
Weight	Approximately 5.4 tons (Ausf. A); approximately 6.0 tons (Ausf. B)
Length	Approximately 4.02 m (13 ft 2 in)
Width	Approximately 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)
Height	Approximately 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Armour	7–13 mm
Main armament	Two 7.92 mm MG13 machine guns (twin mount)
Engine	Krupp M305 petrol (Ausf. A, 57 hp); Maybach NL38 Tr (Ausf. B, 100 hp)
Speed	Approximately 37 km/h (23 mph) maximum on roads
Range	Approximately 170–200 km on roads
Notable variants	Panzer I Ausf. A, Ausf. B, Ausf. C, Ausf. F, Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen, Panzerjäger I

3. Background and Development

Secret Rearmament under Versailles

The origins of the Panzer I lay in the Treaty of Versailles, which forbade Germany from possessing tanks and limited its army to 100,000 men. Throughout the 1920s, the German Army, the Reichswehr, worked secretly to preserve its knowledge of armoured warfare, testing prototypes in the Soviet Union under the Treaty of Rapallo and developing doctrine in staff colleges.

By the early 1930s, the Reichswehr had decided that it needed a light training tank to prepare crews for the larger tanks that would follow. The new government of Adolf Hitler, which came to power in January 1933, accelerated the rearmament programme and gave the tank project high priority.

The specification called for a small, cheap vehicle that could be produced in large numbers, and the contract was given to Krupp, which had experience in tank design from its work on the secret prototypes of the 1920s, and which had maintained a design team through the years when tank production was forbidden in Germany.

From Prototype to Production

The first prototype, designated the Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper, or agricultural tractor, was tested in 1934, and the vehicle was accepted for service as the Panzerkampfwagen I, Ausf. A. Production began in 1934, and the first vehicles were issued to the Kraftfahrlehrkommando, the motor transport training unit at Zossen, which became the nucleus of the Panzerwaffe.

The Panzer I was presented to the public in 1935, when Germany openly repudiated the military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles. The Ausf. A was soon followed by the Ausf. B, which had a more powerful Maybach engine and a longer hull, and which became the main production version.

The Panzer I was never intended to be a battle tank, but the pace of rearmament meant that it remained in front-line service far longer than planned, because the heavier tanks that were supposed to replace it were not yet available in sufficient numbers, and the German Army had no alternative vehicle to fill the gap.

The Kleintraktor and the Leichttraktor Legacy

Before the Panzer I, the Reichswehr had tested two secret prototypes, the Kleintraktor and the Leichttraktor, in the Soviet Union at the Kama tank school near Kazan. These vehicles, built by Krupp, Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz, were tested in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and they gave German engineers valuable experience in tank design, particularly in suspension and transmission.

The Kleintraktor was a small, lightly armoured vehicle armed with a machine gun, and it was the direct ancestor of the Panzer I. The Leichttraktor was larger, with a 37 mm gun, and it influenced the design of the later Panzer II.

The testing at Kama was conducted in secret, under the terms of the German-Soviet military cooperation agreement, and it allowed the Reichswehr to preserve its armoured warfare expertise through the years when it was forbidden to possess tanks. The Panzer I inherited the Kleintraktor’s layout and its emphasis on simplicity and cheap production.

A Training Tank Pressed into Combat

The Panzer I was designed as a training vehicle, and its limitations were well understood by the German Army. Its armour was only 7 to 13 mm thick, proof against rifle fire and shell splinters but not against any anti-tank weapon.

Its armament of two machine guns could not penetrate the armour of even the lightest enemy tanks, and its two-man crew meant that the commander had to load, aim and fire the guns while also commanding the vehicle. Yet when war broke out in September 1939, the Panzer I was the most numerous tank in the German Army, with more than 1,400 in service.

The Panzer divisions that invaded Poland had no alternative: the Panzer III and Panzer IV were still in low-rate production, and the Panzer I and Panzer II were the only tanks available in quantity. The decision to use the Panzer I in combat was a calculated risk, and it reflected the gap between Germany’s ambitions and its industrial capacity.

4. Design

Hull, Suspension and Layout

The Panzer I was a small, simple vehicle, designed for cheap mass production and ease of maintenance. Its hull was of riveted construction, with thin armour plates that were adequate against small-arms fire but little else. The suspension used five small road wheels on each side, with a front drive sprocket and a rear idler, and the track was narrow, which gave the tank a high ground pressure and poor performance in soft ground.

The crew of two sat in a small fighting compartment: the driver in the front of the hull, and the commander in the turret, where he operated the twin machine guns. The turret was small and cramped, and the commander’s workload was heavy, because he had to command the tank, observe the battlefield, and serve the guns.

The Panzer I’s simplicity was its greatest virtue as a training vehicle, because it allowed new crews to learn the basics of tank operation without the complexity of a larger vehicle.

Armament and Armour

The Panzer I’s armament consisted of two 7.92 mm MG13 machine guns mounted side by side in the turret, with a combined rate of fire that could be effective against infantry and soft-skinned vehicles, but useless against armour. The machine guns were fed from 25-round magazines, and the tank carried approximately 2,250 rounds of ammunition.

The armour was 7 to 13 mm thick, with the thickest plates on the front of the hull and turret. This was sufficient to stop rifle-calibre bullets at normal ranges, but it could be penetrated by heavy machine guns, anti-tank rifles and any anti-tank gun.

The Panzer I’s armour was a deliberate compromise: thicker armour would have made the tank heavier and more expensive, and the design was intended to be cheap enough to produce in large numbers. The tank’s small size made it a difficult target, but its thin armour meant that any hit from a dedicated anti-tank weapon was likely to be fatal to the crew.

The Two-Man Crew Problem

The Panzer I’s two-man crew was its most serious design flaw, and it was recognised as such by the German Army from the start. The commander had to perform the duties of three men: he commanded the tank, he aimed and fired the machine guns, and he loaded them.

In combat, this workload was overwhelming, and it meant that the Panzer I’s commander could not maintain proper situational awareness while engaging targets. The driver, meanwhile, had no weapon and could not assist with the guns. The two-man crew was a consequence of the tank’s small size and low cost, and it was accepted because the Panzer I was intended as a training vehicle.

Later German tanks all had larger crews, with a dedicated gunner and loader, and the Panzer I’s experience confirmed the need for a proper crew. The commander’s overload was a lesson that influenced the design of every subsequent German tank.

Engine, Mobility and Reliability

The Ausf. A was powered by a Krupp M305 four-cylinder petrol engine producing 57 horsepower, which was barely adequate for a 5.4-ton tank. The Ausf. B received the more powerful Maybach NL38 Tr six-cylinder engine producing 100 horsepower, which improved performance significantly and gave the tank a top speed of about 37 kilometres per hour on roads.

The Panzer I’s mobility was adequate on roads, but its narrow tracks and high ground pressure made it poor in soft ground, and its range of about 170 to 200 kilometres was limited. The tank was mechanically reliable by the standards of the time, and its simplicity made it easy to maintain in the field.

Crews appreciated its reliability, and the Panzer I’s mechanical soundness was one of the reasons it remained in service as a training vehicle long after it had been withdrawn from combat. The engine and transmission were accessible, and the tank could be repaired by its crew with basic tools.

5. Variants

Ausf. A, Ausf. B and the Production Run

The Panzer I was produced in several variants, of which the Ausf. A and Ausf. B were the most important. The Ausf. A, built in 1934–1935, had the Krupp engine and a short hull, and approximately 477 were built. The Ausf. B, built from 1935, had the Maybach engine, a longer hull with an additional road wheel, and improved ventilation, and approximately 1,016 were built. The Ausf.

B became the standard Panzer I, and it was the version most commonly used in combat. Later variants included the Ausf. C, a reconnaissance tank with thicker armour and a more powerful engine, of which only about 40 were built, and the Ausf. F, an infantry support version with 80 mm of frontal armour, of which only about 30 were built. The Ausf.

F was used on the Eastern Front, where its heavy armour made it useful in assaults, but its slow speed and machine-gun armament limited its value.

Command Tanks and Conversions

The Panzer I’s chassis was used for a number of conversions, of which the most important was the Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen, the small command tank. This version had a fixed superstructure in place of the turret, with additional radio equipment, and it was used by Panzer unit commanders who needed better communications than a standard tank could provide.

Approximately 200 command tanks were built, and they served throughout the early war period. The Panzer I chassis was also used as the basis for the Panzerjäger I, a tank destroyer mounting a captured Czech 47 mm anti-tank gun, which served in France and North Africa. Other conversions included a self-propelled gun mounting a 150 mm infantry gun, the 15 cm sIG 33 auf Panzerkampfwagen I, and a munitions carrier.

The Panzer I’s chassis proved adaptable, and its conversions extended the type’s service life well beyond that of the gun tank itself, a pattern that would be repeated with almost every German tank chassis of the war as the Army sought mobile platforms for guns of every calibre.

The Panzerjäger I Tank Destroyer

The Panzerjäger I was the first German tank destroyer to see service, and it was built by mounting a captured Czech 47 mm Pak 36(t) anti-tank gun on a Panzer I Ausf. B chassis, with a thin armoured shield to protect the gun crew. Approximately 202 were built in 1940–1941, and they served in France, North Africa and the Soviet Union.

The Panzerjäger I was a stopgap vehicle, created because the German Army needed a mobile anti-tank gun and had no better chassis available. Its gun was adequate against light tanks but insufficient against the heavier Soviet tanks, and its thin armour made it vulnerable to any return fire.

Nevertheless, the Panzerjäger I demonstrated the concept of the tank destroyer, and it influenced the development of the later Marder and StuG series. The Panzerjäger I’s service in North Africa, where it fought against British cruiser tanks, was its most successful period.

Training and Late-War Service

After its withdrawal from front-line service in 1941, the Panzer I remained in use as a training vehicle for the rest of the war. Training schools used the Panzer I to teach new drivers and commanders the basics of tank operation, and the type’s simplicity made it ideal for this role.

Some Panzer Is were also used in secondary roles, including internal security and airfield defence, and a small number served in Norway and the Balkans. The Panzer I’s long service as a training tank reflected its mechanical reliability and its suitability for novice crews. By the end of the war, most Panzer Is had been scrapped or abandoned, and only a handful survived.

The type’s contribution to the German war effort was not in combat but in training: thousands of German tank crews learned their trade on the Panzer I, and the doctrine they learned in it shaped the Panzerwaffe’s operations throughout the war.

6. Operational History

Poland 1939: The Most Numerous Tank

The Panzer I’s combat debut came in the invasion of Poland in September 1939, where it was the most numerous tank in the German Army. German Panzer divisions fielded more than 1,400 Panzer Is, against a Polish Army that had only a small number of tanks, mostly light vehicles with thin armour.

The Panzer I performed adequately against Polish infantry and cavalry, and its machine guns were effective against soft targets, but it suffered heavy losses when it encountered Polish anti-tank guns and the few Polish tanks that could penetrate its armour. German losses in Poland were significant, and the campaign exposed the Panzer I’s vulnerability.

Nevertheless, the invasion succeeded, and the Panzer I’s role in the campaign was primarily one of exploitation and pursuit, rather than of direct combat with enemy armour. The Polish campaign confirmed that the Panzer I was obsolete as a battle tank, but it also showed that the Panzer division, as an organisation, worked.

France 1940: Outmatched but Present

In the invasion of France in May 1940, the Panzer I was still numerous, with more than 500 in service, but it was no longer the main battle tank. The Panzer III and Panzer IV had taken over the anti-tank role, and the Panzer I was used for reconnaissance, for flank protection, and for supporting infantry.

The French Army had tanks with thicker armour and better guns, notably the Char B1 and the Somua S35, and the Panzer I could not engage them. German losses in France were heavy, and many Panzer Is were destroyed by French anti-tank guns. The campaign’s success was due to German doctrine and to the performance of the heavier tanks, not to the Panzer I.

After France, the German Army began to withdraw the Panzer I from front-line service, although it remained in use in some units for the invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941, where the opposition was weaker.

North Africa and the Soviet Union

The Panzer I’s last front-line service came in North Africa and the Soviet Union. In North Africa, Panzer Is served with the Afrika Korps in 1941, where they were used for reconnaissance and for protecting supply columns. The desert was hard on the small tanks, and their thin armour made them vulnerable to British anti-tank guns.

In the Soviet Union, Panzer Is served in Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, where they encountered the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 for the first time. The Panzer I was completely outmatched by these tanks, and its machine guns could not penetrate their armour at any range.

German units quickly withdrew the Panzer I from combat in the Soviet Union, and by the end of 1941 it had been removed from front-line Panzer divisions. The Panzer I’s service in the Soviet Union was brief and costly, and it marked the end of the type’s career as a battle tank.

Withdrawal and Legacy in the Field

After 1941, the Panzer I was withdrawn from front-line service and relegated to training and secondary roles. The type’s withdrawal was a recognition of its obsolescence, but it was also a sign of the German Army’s growing strength: by 1942, the Panzer divisions were equipped with the Panzer III and Panzer IV in large numbers, and the Panzer I was no longer needed.

The Panzer I’s combat record was poor, but its contribution to the German war effort was significant. It had trained the crews and officers who fought in the later tanks, and it had tested the organisation of the Panzer division. The Panzer I’s service in Poland and France, and its brief service in North Africa and the Soviet Union, provided the German Army with valuable experience in armoured warfare.

The type’s legacy was not in its combat performance but in the doctrine and the crews that it helped to create.

7. Performance and Specifications

Strengths: Simplicity and Reliability

The Panzer I’s strengths were its simplicity, its reliability and its low cost. It was easy to produce, easy to maintain, and easy to drive, and it was an ideal training vehicle. Its small size made it a difficult target, and its mobility on roads was adequate for the campaigns of 1939 and 1940.

The Panzer I’s mechanical reliability was good, and its engine and transmission were accessible for field maintenance. The tank’s low cost meant that it could be produced in large numbers, and its production gave German industry the experience it needed to build the later, more complex tanks.

The Panzer I’s simplicity was also a virtue in training, because it allowed new crews to learn the basics of tank operation without being overwhelmed by complexity, and instructors could teach driving, gunnery and radio procedure on a vehicle that forgave mistakes. For a vehicle designed as a trainer, the Panzer I was a success.

Weaknesses: Armour, Armament and Crew

The Panzer I’s weaknesses were fundamental and well understood. Its armour was too thin to stop any anti-tank weapon, its armament of two machine guns could not penetrate the armour of any enemy tank, and its two-man crew was overworked. The tank’s narrow tracks gave it poor performance in soft ground, and its range was limited.

In combat, the Panzer I was vulnerable to almost any weapon, and its crews suffered heavy losses in Poland and France. The tank’s small size, which made it a difficult target, also made it cramped and uncomfortable, and the commander’s workload was exhausting.

The Panzer I’s weaknesses were a consequence of its design as a training vehicle, and they were accepted because the tank was never intended to fight, yet the realities of 1939 forced it into battle, where its crews discovered the full cost of those compromises. When it was forced to fight, its limitations became painfully apparent.

Comparison with Contemporary Light Tanks

Compared with contemporary light tanks, the Panzer I was among the weakest. The Soviet T-26 and BT series, the French Renault R35, and the British Light Tank Mk VI all had thicker armour or better armament, and the Panzer I was inferior to all of them in a direct engagement.

The British Light Tank Mk VI, which was also armed only with machine guns, had similar limitations, but it was not used as a main battle tank. The Panzer I’s only advantage over its contemporaries was its mechanical reliability and its numbers: Germany produced more Panzer Is than any other country produced of its light tanks, and the Panzer I’s availability made it the backbone of the Panzer divisions in 1939 and 1940.

The comparison underlines the Panzer I’s nature as a training tank pressed into combat, rather than as a vehicle designed for battle, and it explains why the Panzer I’s combat record, though poor, should not be mistaken for the whole of its historical significance.

8. Operators

The German Army and the Panzerwaffe

The principal operator of the Panzer I was the German Army, which used it in the Panzer divisions and in training schools. The Panzer I was issued to every Panzer division in 1939 and 1940, and it formed the largest single type in the Panzerwaffe.

The tank was also used by the SS, which received a small number of Panzer Is for its own armoured units, and by the Luftwaffe, which used the type for airfield defence. The Panzer I’s service in the German Army was extensive, and it was the vehicle on which the Panzerwaffe was built.

The tank’s crews were trained in the Panzer schools at Zossen, Wünsdorf and elsewhere, and the Panzer I remained in use at these schools for the rest of the war. The German Army’s experience with the Panzer I shaped its doctrine and its training, and the type’s influence on the Panzerwaffe was profound.

Captured Use and Post-War Survivors

The Panzer I was also used in small numbers by other armies. The Spanish Nationalists received Panzer Is during the Spanish Civil War, where they were used by the German Condor Legion, and the type saw combat in Spain in 1936–1939. The Spanish Army continued to use the Panzer I after the civil war, and some remained in service into the 1950s.

The Soviet Union captured Panzer Is on the Eastern Front and evaluated them, but did not use them in combat. After the war, the Panzer I was scrapped in large numbers, and only a handful survived. The type’s post-war service was minimal, and its legacy was in training and doctrine rather than in continued use, although the Spanish Army’s long use of the Panzer I shows how durable the simple design proved in peacetime conditions.

The Panzer I’s operators were overwhelmingly German, and the tank’s history is the history of the early Panzerwaffe.

9. Legacy and Influence

The Foundation of the Panzerwaffe

The Panzer I’s legacy was in the foundation of the Panzerwaffe. It trained the officers and crews who would fight in the later tanks, it tested the organisation of the Panzer division, and it gave German industry the production experience that made the later expansion of the Panzerwaffe possible.

The Panzer I’s service in Poland and France, and its brief service in North Africa and the Soviet Union, provided the German Army with valuable experience in armoured warfare. The type’s limitations were well understood, and they drove the development of the heavier tanks that followed.

The Panzer I’s contribution to the German war effort was not in combat but in preparation: without the Panzer I, the Panzerwaffe would not have existed in 1939, and the campaigns of 1939 and 1940 would not have been possible in their historical form, because the crews, the doctrine and the factories would all have been missing.

Doctrine, Training and Industrial Lessons

The Panzer I also left a legacy in doctrine and in industry. The Panzer division, as an organisation, was tested with the Panzer I, and the lessons learned in Poland and France were applied to the later campaigns. The tank’s simplicity and low cost demonstrated the value of a training vehicle, and the German Army’s experience with the Panzer I influenced its approach to crew training throughout the war.

In industry, the Panzer I’s production gave German factories the experience they needed to build tanks in quantity, and the production methods developed for the Panzer I were applied to the Panzer II, Panzer III and Panzer IV, whose assembly lines benefited directly from the tooling and the skilled workforce created for the Panzer I programme.

The Panzer I’s industrial legacy was as important as its military legacy, because it established the production base on which the later Panzerwaffe was built.

Reassessment by Historians

Historians have reassessed the Panzer I in recent decades, moving away from the view of it as a failure and recognising its importance as a training vehicle and as the foundation of the Panzerwaffe. Early histories often dismissed the Panzer I as a useless tank, citing its thin armour and machine-gun armament.

Later work, drawing on German records and on the accounts of its crews, has shown that the Panzer I was never intended to be a battle tank, and that its value lay in what it made possible. The tank’s production run, its service in Poland and France, and its role in training have been reassessed, and the Panzer I is now understood as a necessary step in the development of the Panzerwaffe.

The reassessment has not made the Panzer I into a good tank, but it has established its historical importance, and modern histories now treat the Panzer I as a necessary foundation rather than as a failed weapon.

10. Surviving Examples

Museums in Germany and Europe

Only a small number of Panzer Is survive, reflecting the type’s heavy losses and its scrapping after the war. The Deutsches Panzermuseum at Munster in Germany holds a Panzer I Ausf. A, which is one of the best-preserved examples in the world. The Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung at Koblenz also holds a Panzer I, and the Tank Museum at Bovington in Britain displays a Panzer I Ausf. B.

The Musée des Blindés at Saumur in France holds a Panzer I, and the Kubinka Tank Museum in Russia has a Panzer I captured on the Eastern Front. These museum examples are valuable because they show the Panzer I’s small size and thin armour, which are difficult to appreciate from photographs, and visitors are often surprised by how small the vehicle is compared with the tanks that followed it.

The Munster example is particularly well preserved, and it is displayed alongside later German tanks, which makes the contrast in size and capability immediately apparent.

Survivors Abroad and Running Examples

Other surviving Panzer Is include the example at the National Armor and Cavalry Museum at Fort Benning in the United States, and the Panzer I at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, which was captured in North Africa. Several Panzer Is are in private hands, and at least one is maintained in running condition, appearing at military vehicle shows in Germany and Britain.

The running examples are particularly valuable, because they demonstrate the Panzer I’s small size and its distinctive engine note, and they allow visitors to appreciate the cramped conditions in which its two-man crew worked. The Panzer I’s survival in small numbers reflects its production run and its long service as a training vehicle, and it ensures that future generations can see the tank on which the Panzerwaffe was built, a modest machine whose historical importance far outweighs its battlefield performance.

These survivors, though few, preserve the physical evidence of Germany’s secret rearmament and of the training system that produced the Panzerwaffe.

Frequently Asked Questions

Was the Panzer I a good tank?
No, the Panzer I was not a good battle tank. It was designed as a training vehicle, with thin armour and only machine guns, and it was never intended to fight enemy tanks. Its value lay in training crews and in giving German industry experience in tank production, not in combat.

Why did Germany use the Panzer I in combat?
Germany used the Panzer I in combat because it was the most numerous tank available in 1939 and 1940. The Panzer III and Panzer IV were still in low-rate production, and the Panzer divisions needed tanks. The decision was a calculated risk, forced by industrial limitations.

How many Panzer Is were built?
Approximately 1,500 Panzer Is were built in all variants, excluding chassis conversions. The Ausf. B was the most numerous version, with approximately 1,016 built. The production run was large for a training tank, reflecting the urgency of German rearmament.

What was the Panzer I’s armament?
The Panzer I was armed with two 7.92 mm MG13 machine guns mounted side by side in the turret. The guns were effective against infantry and soft targets, but they could not penetrate the armour of any enemy tank.

Did the Panzer I fight in the Soviet Union?
Yes, Panzer Is served in Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, where they encountered the Soviet T-34 and KV-1. The Panzer I was completely outmatched, and it was withdrawn from front-line service by the end of 1941.

Are any Panzer Is still running?
Yes, at least one Panzer I is maintained in running condition and appears at military vehicle shows in Germany and Britain. Museum examples are held at Munster, Bovington, Saumur, Kubinka and Fort Benning.

Related articles

• A7V Tank
• Avro Lancaster
• B-26 Marauder

Sources

• Thomas L. Jentz, Panzer I: The Beginning of the Panzerwaffe (Schiffer Publishing).
• Bryan Perrett, German Light Panzers 1932–42 (Osprey Publishing, New Vanguard series).
• Peter Chamberlain and Hilary Doyle, Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two (Arms and Armour Press).
• Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster, Panzer I collection records and vehicle guides.
• Heinz Guderian, Achtung-Panzer! (1937; English translation, Arms and Armour Press).
• German War Office, Panzerkampfwagen I Handbook (wartime technical manual).
• Wikipedia, "Panzer I"