Flakpanzer I

The Flakpanzer I, formally the 2 cm Flak 38 auf Panzer I Ausführung A, was a small German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun made in 1941 by converting chassis of the obsolete Panzer I Ausf. A. It grew out of the Battle of France, when the German army recognised that motorised flak guns on trucks were too poorly protected to keep up with the armoured divisions, and the Heereswaffenamt decided to put light anti-aircraft guns on tank chassis instead. Conversion meant removing part of the front superstructure and the whole engine deck cover to leave a flat working platform, then mounting a 2 cm Flak 38 slightly to the right of centre so the driver could still climb in. Folding sheet-metal flaps on the sides made a standing platform, the radio was removed for space, and a coupling allowed a Sonderanhänger 51 trailer to carry spare ammunition and gun barrels. Only about 24 were built, and just one unit, Motorized Flak Battalion 614, was equipped with them. The overloaded chassis and worn engines gave poor performance, and the crews used the guns mostly against ground targets until the battalion was lost around Stalingrad in 1943. Sources disagree about who did the conversion: the English Wikipedia article and the Tank AFVs page name Stoewer, while the Alkett company history and a German reference page list Alkett among the firms involved.