A daily account of the main events of World War II.

The rise of the Third Reich as it happened from its beginnings to the start of World War II in September 1939.

One of the last of the many floatplanes designed by Ernst Heinkel was the He 60, a two-seat biplane powered by a BMW vee engine. This was intended for catapult operations from the decks of the larger German warships, and first flew in 1933 in prototype form. The 492kW (660hp) BMW V1 engine was subsequently replaced in the second He 60B prototype by a 559kW (750hp) version of the same engine, but this offered no significant improvement and was not adopted for subsequent aircraft. The third He 60c prototype had catapult launching equipment and underwent a series of trials that confirmed its suitability for operational use.

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Of all the German infantry support guns produced for service in World War II, the most capable and powerful was the 15cm schwere Infanteriegeschütz 33. Produced by the Rheinmetall-Borsig company from 1927, the s IG 33 was a large item of equipment that gave the impression, largely as a result of its steel wheels with a diameter of 1.10m (43.3in), of being somewhat old fashioned. In this instance appearance was deceptive, for the s IG 33 was capable and very reliable, and as a result the weapon remained in large-scale service right up to the end of World War II in 1945.

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Originally named Deutschland, the Lützow was one of three armoured ships – the so-called “pocket battleships” – laid down between 1928 and 1931. Deutschland was the first of the class, being launched in May 1931 and completed in April 1933. She was originally used as a seagoing training ship, to familiarize crews with her new technology.

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A semi-automatic pistol that was first delivered in 1929, the Walther Model PP had been designed for police use as indicated by its full designation, Polizei Pistole (police pistol). The pistol used the Walther double-action trigger mechanism that was also used on the later P 38, and other features included a lightweight receiver and, next to the hammer, a signal button that protruded when the weapon was loaded. In overall terms the design was light and slim.

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This vehicle was the first of Germany’s “tank hunters”, and consisted of a Czech 47mm antitank gun on a Panzer I Ausf B chassis (which by early 1940 was obsolete as a frontline tank). Some 170 tank chassis were converted by Alkett of Berlin-Spandau between March 1940 and February 1941.

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