Details:The
development of this Heavy "Pesante" Tank atarted
in 1940, hence P40. However by the time of the Italian
Armistice in Sept. 1943 on one had been completed. Following
the armistice the Germans occupied Fiat's Genoa factory
and after taking the vehicle to Germany for trials,
decided to continue production for their own use and
to supply the Republica Sociale Italiana, the facists
who decided to continue fighting the Allies.
Records show
that 101 vehicles were built and supplied to Panzer
units in Italy with 3 being operated by the RSI.
The first
known combat was against British forces in Northern
Italy and some, without their engines, were encountered
on the Gothic Line and on the Tuscan coast. Interestingly
some saw combat in Yugoslavia against the Partizans.
Their last known action was when the 10th Polizei Panzer
Kompanie surrendered 15 P40's to the Americans on the
Austrian border at the end of the war. |
