JAGDPANZER 38

Known later as the ‘Hetzer’ this design was among the most prolific tank hunters of WWII

The Jagdpanzer 38 ‘Hetzer’ tank hunter is a very misunderstood self-propelled anti-tank gun. For a start, it was not officially called the Hetzer during World War II. Deriving from the German hunting term ‘hetzen’, meaning to hunt your prey at high speed until it collapses or is caught, only a handful of official wartime documents used the nickname Hetzer.

At a January 1944 meeting between German army ordnance officers and the Czech BMM factory, the internal project name Hetzer was wrongly assigned to the Jagdpanzer 38 due to a misunderstanding.

In reality, the Jagdpanzer 38 was a slow vehicle and could not chase enemy tanks. Instead, it was a long-range ambush weapon designed to be used in defence or to protect the flanks of an attack from an enemy counterattack. It was not designed to be used at the front of an attack. In addition, Jagdpanzer 38s ordinarily hunted in packs rather than fighting as solitary killers. Although the main gun had a limited traverse left and right, four to six vehicles hidden in the edge of a wood or hedgerow could cover a large area.

“IT WAS A LONG-RANGE AMBUSH WEAPON DESIGNED TO BE USED IN DEFENCE OR TO PROTECT THE FLANKS OF AN ATTACK FROM AN ENEMY COUNTERATTACK”