"The Polish 7TP Light Tank" Topic

…series put up a valiant defense against the invading German Army in the opening phases of World War 2.

The 7TP series was of a Polish light tank design, based on the British Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd 6-ton light tank (Mark E). With war in Europe an ever-growing prospect, the Polish government saw a need to replace their diminutive "tankettes" with a more substantial combat system with improved offensive and defensive capabilities. The cost-effective tankette had seen her best days and was an obsolete breed by the 1930s. Designs for a new Polish light tank were drawn up beginning in 1931 and the early proposal was a derivative of the existing Vickers-Armstrong approach utilizing a dual-turret machine gun configuration. The vehicle installed 2 x Ckm wz. 30 series machine guns in separate turrets stop the hull superstructure. The engine was mounted to the rear and the tank propelled about by way of a conventional "track-and-wheel" system.

Though 22 of the vehicles were produced by 1936, a new rearmament plan by the Polish government called for the implementation of a 37mm anti-tank armament on a light tank chassis, this spurred along by world thinking beginning to shift from the concept of "multi-turret" tanks altogether. As such, the aforementioned production vehicles were retrofitted with a Swedish 37mm Bofors Model 37 L/45 main gun and serial production of all-new versions ensued in 1938. The 7TP series became the world's first combat tank to utilize a diesel-fueled engine (gasoline-fueled engines were prone to fires when hit by enemy projectiles). Turrets also incorporated a radio suite. The 7TP was formally delivered to Polish Army forces in 1939. While no official designations existed between the dual-turret and single-turret designs, post-war publications have assigned "7TP dw" to the former and "7TP jw" to the latter…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Nice looking tank for 1938. Did the Germans continue producing them after occupation?

No they didnt. Germans captured 20 of them though:

"Operational records of the 7TP show 70 lost in combat, 20 captured by the Germans, 1 by the Red Army, 13 broke down and 20 were interned by the Romanian authorities. In German service, 7TPs were repainted in dunkelgrau and participated in the "victory parade", which was held in Warsaw on October 8, 1939. The 4th Company of the 1st Tank Regiment, 1st Armored Division, which fought in France in May-June 1940 was equipped with the 20 7TPs, later transferred in Norway, with the exception of one company left in France. The remaining were used for police duties in the occupied territories, in Poland and Ukraine up to 1944."

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Glad you like it my friend!. (smile)

Thanks for the info….so no combat for them…

Amicalement
Armand

Operational records of the 7TP show 70 lost in combat…

Thanks for the info….so no combat for them…

Not how I would have interpreted the info… maybe there's a different way to read it?

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

I assumed he meant whilst in german hands.
Being used in the victory parade.
Shrug.