Re: battle for arnhem....
This is the Marder Ausf M version.........
Marder III
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			 			  Marder III   

Marder III Ausf.M   Type 
Tank destroyer   Place of origin 
		
		
	
	
 Nazi Germany   Service history   In service 1942 to 1945   Used by 
Nazi Germany   Wars 
World War II   Production history   Designed 1942   Produced 1942 to 1944   Specifications   Weight 10,670 kg (23,523 lbs)   Length 4.65 m (15.25 ft)   Width 2.35 m (7.70 ft)   Height 2.48 m (8.13 ft)   Crew 4       Primary
armament 
7.62 cm PaK 36(r) or 
7.5 cm PaK 40   The 
Marder III is the name for a series of 
World War II German tank destroyers built on the chassis of the 
Panzer 38(t). German word "Marder" means "
marten" in English. They were in production from 1942 to 1944 and served on all fronts until the end of the war.
     
Contents
  [hide]
 
     [edit] History
 Even in the early stages of 
Operation Barbarossa, the 
Wehrmacht already felt the need for a more mobile and more powerful anti-tank solution than the existing towed anti-tank guns or tank destroyers like the 
Panzerjäger I. This need became urgent in June 1941, with the appearance of the new Soviet tanks like the 
T-34 and 
KV-1.
 As an interim solution, it was decided to use captured French vehicles like the 
Lorraine (Marder I), obsolete tanks such as German 
Panzer II (Marder II), and Czech-supplied 
38(t) (Marder III) as the base for makeshift tank destroyers. The result was the 
Marder series, which were armed with either captured Soviet 76.2mm F-22 Model 1936 divisional field guns, or 75 mm 
PaK 40 anti-tank guns. Due to weight and space constraints of these small chassis, Marder series were not fully armored. Weak armor protection was provided only for the front and sides. All Marder series had open tops. Some were issued with canvas tops to protect the crew from the elements.
 From early 1944, fully armored vehicles such as the 
Hetzer, 
StuG III, 
StuG IV, 
Jagdpanzer IV, 
Elefant, 
Jagdpanther and 
Jagdtiger increasingly took over the role of tank destroyers and the weakly armored Marder series were phased out of production, however, they served until the end of the conflict.
 
[edit] Development
  
  
 Marder III (Sd.Kfz.139) on display at the 
US Army Ordnance Museum in Aberdeen
 
 
  
  
 Marder III Ausf.H (Sd.Kfz.138) on display at the 
Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum in Germany
 
 
  
  
 Marder III Ausf.M on display at the 
Musée des Blindés at Saumur
 
 
  
  
 Marder III on display at Victory Park in Moscow, 2004.
 
 
 
[edit] Marder III, Sd.Kfz. 139
 While the 
Panzer 38(t) had largely become obsolete as a tank in early 1942, it was still an excellent platform for adaptation into a tank destroyer, among other roles. Since the 
Soviet 76.2 mm field gun was captured in large quantities, the decision was made to mate this gun to the Panzer 38(t).
 To do so, the turret and upper superstructure of the Panzer 38 were removed and a new superstructure was bolted on to the chassis. The upper structure mounted the gun and an extended gun shield, giving very limited protection for the commander and the loader. Armour protection overall ranged from 10 to 50 mm. The gun, commander and loader were located on top of the engine deck. It had higher silhouette than 
Panzer 38, which made it more vulnerable to enemy fire.
 The now-called 
7.62 cm PaK 36(r) was rechambered to be able to use standard German 75 mm ammunition, of which 30 rounds could be carried inside the vehicle. Apart from the main gun, there was a 7.92 mm machine gun mounted in the hull.
 This tank destroyer was put into production as the 
Panzerjäger 38(t) für 7.62 cm PaK 36(r), Sd.Kfz. 139. A total of 363 of this Marder III variant were built from April 1942 to 1943.