Panzerfaust & Faustpatrone

The Panzerfaust (lit. "armor fist" or "tank fist", plural: Panzerfäuste) was a cheap, single shot, recoilless German anti-tank weapon of World War II. It consisted of a small, disposable preloaded launch tube firing a high-explosive anti-tank warhead, and was operated by a single soldier. A similar but smaller weapon was named the Faustpatrone. The first generation Panzerfaust was in service from 1943 until the end of the war.

Faustpatrone 30 (top) and Panzerfaust 60 (bottom)

Sectional view of Faustpatrone 30 (top) and Panzerfaust 60 (bottom) warheads, further cross sectional views for the Faustpatrone 30 and Panzerfaust 100, including the tube, are available.

Panzerfaust 60 (left) with Panzerschreck rocket (right)

Four Panzerfaust 30s in original shipping crate, on display at the Helsinki Military Museum.

 

Panzerfaust-armed Finnish soldiers (soldier in foreground is also armed with a Suomi KP/-31) passing the wreckage of a Soviet T-34 tank, destroyed by detonation, in the Battle of Tali-Ihantala.