Marder II (Sd.Kfz. 131)
In service 1942 - 1945
An obsolete Panzer II chassis with a 75 mm anti-tank gun bolted on top - crude, open-topped, effective.
Built byMAN, Daimler-Benz, FAMO
Photograph pending. No clearly licensed photograph of this vehicle was found.
Development history
By 1942 the Panzer II was useless as a tank but plentiful, so its chassis received the PaK 40 in an open-backed shield. Marder IIs gave infantry divisions mobile guns that could kill a T-34 at range, at the cost of a high silhouette and almost no protection from artillery or small arms above. They served on every front from the steppes to Normandy and stayed in use until 1945 because there was never enough fully enclosed tank destroyer production.
Notable actions
- Eastern Front 1942-45
- Tunisia Campaign
- Battle of Normandy