Joe Matlock

           Whether the designers of the ‘German 88’ meant 8.8 Centimeters or 88 Millimeters (8.8cm = 88mm) is a moot point; the most versatile and deadly artillery piece of the war was  the German's 88 gun.  It could appear on a Tiger tank, as an anti-tank gun, assault or as an anti-aircraft gun. It could knock out Allied tanks at ranges up to 2,000 yards, or hit an aircraft as high as 40,000 feet, and proved lethal as an anti-infantry weapon when it fired fused shells to create air bursts.

 

           During the Spanish Civil War the German 88 found action on the front lines and a British officer with the Loyalists observed the weapon first hand. He filled out an intelligence report describing the weapon's abilities.             

           However, when the report arrived in England, Whitehall filed it as unreliable because his superiors believed the officer exaggerated the 88's capabilities.