Panzer II

The Panzer II, officially Panzerkampfwagen II, is the common name for a family of German tanks used in and before World War II. It began as a stopgap while the larger Panzer III and Panzer IV were delayed, after designs were requested from Krupp, MAN, Henschel and Daimler-Benz. All production versions used a gasoline-fuelled six-cylinder Maybach HL62 TRM engine. Alkett was one of the firms, with FAMO, Daimler-Benz, Henschel, MAN, MIAG and Wegmann, that built the early Ausf. a to C tanks from March 1937. The Panzer II was the most numerous tank in the German Panzer divisions at the start of the war, fighting in Poland, France, North Africa and the Soviet Union before the Panzer III and IV supplanted it in 1940 and 1941. Tank production ended by January 1944, though its chassis carried the Wespe and Marder II.