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| Under the Treaty of Versailles, signed after WW I, Germany was restricted to an army of 100.000 men and was forbidden to have or to build any tanks. However, in 1926 Rheinmetall built a tank in mild steel disguised under the description of a Grosstraktor. This so-called tractor had a turret-mounted 75mm gun and resembled the Vickers Medium Mark II. In the early '30s came the multi-turreted Neubaufahrzeug with a 75mm and coaxial 37mm gun in the main turret and machine guns in each of two small turrets fore and aft of the main turret. These and other forbidden light tanks were tried out with Russian connivance at a tank testing centre established in 1926 at Kazan on the river Kama, deep inside Russia, which was to the mutual benefit of both parties as the Russians were completely inexperienced in this field. Meanwhile tactical experience was gained on Reichswehr exercises by the use of dummy tank outlines fabricated from sheet metal and wood, and attached to light cars. |
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(National-Socialist Mechanized Corps) |
White crosses on the hulls was soon discontinued; they made good aim marks for anti-tank gunners! |
| In 1931 Lieut.-Col Heinz Guderian became Chief of Staff to General Lutz, Inspector of Motorized Troops. They were convinced that the future development of German armored troops must be the formation of Panzer Divisions, and saw the requirement for two types who eventually emerged in real life as the reconnaissance tank PzKpfw III and the medium tank PzKpfw IV. Until these tanks were ready, which would be several years, a training tank was needed. In the interest of speedy construction and for the education of industry a light tank was the obvious answer. On behalf of the General Staff, the German Army Weapons Branch (Heereswaffenamt) issued a requirement for a tank of approximately 5 tons weight with two machine guns mounted in a turret with all-round traverse and protected by armor immune to attack by small arms fire. The Germans bought a British Carden-Loyd Mark VI chassis which was sold commercially, announcing as being for use as a carrier for a 20mm anti-aircraft gun. |
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| Five firms, an indication of the rapid recovery made by German heavy industry, were selected: Rheinmetall Borsig, Daimler-Benz, MAN, Henschel and Krupp, who were invited to submit their proposels for a machine to meet the requirement. After close and detailed examinations, the Krupp model LKA1 design was selected for the chassis, which was based on the imported Mk VI chassis. Daimler-Benz were to construct the turret and the hull. To ensure secrecy, the machine was named "Landwirtschaflicher Schlepper" (agricultural tractor), abbreviated as La S. Full-scale production began in 1934 with an order for 150 machines given to Henschel under the description IA La S Krupp, followed by another version known as IB La May. About 1800 in all were built, with 1500 of the B model, longer and with a more powerful engine. |
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| The PzKpfw I Ausf. A was a straightforward machine with no unexpected characteristics or technical devices. It had a crew of two men, with the commander/gunner behind the driver and handling the two co-axial 7.92mm machine-guns (MG34) in the turret. Krupps original prototype had four suspension wheels with a rear idler touching the ground, movement of the wheels was controlled by coil springs and three return rollers mounted on the hull. An external girder covered the two rear suspension wheels, and was connected to the axle of the second suspension wheel and to the rear idler wheel axle. The suspension was reasonable at low speeds, but when moving faster the Ausf. A pitched badly. |
| To PzKpfw I page 2 |
