Plank, H. F. Die Waffen der Königlich Bayerischen Armee 1806-1918. Band 5

Part 1: The Close Combat Weapons. Mine launchers, grenade launchers, charge launchers, rifle grenades, hand grenades, flame throwers, poison gas. Part 2: Tanks. The detailed, easy-to-understand text as well as a large number of illustrations and dimension sheets convey all the information worth knowing in a hitherto unpublished range within a coherent work. The description of the weapons is partly based on official data and has been taken over almost verbatim in some passages in order to preserve authenticity.

To Part 1: Close Combat Weapons: At the beginning of World War 1, various forms of close combat weapons were mostly still in the experimental stage. This changed very quickly as soon as the fighting moved into positional warfare, with opposing units often within "throwing distance" of each other. The war industry was running at full speed to meet the demand for close combat weapons, among other things. Regarding Part 2: Tanks: Far too late, the tactical value of tanks was recognised in the O.H.L.. Finally, on 13.11.1916, the Transport Department of the K.Pr.KM was instructed to construct and present prototypes of German tanks. With KME of 16.11.1916 the K.Pr.KM established as a precaution a "Panzerkraftwagen-M.G.-Abteilung Nr.1", in which among other things a captured Peugeot tank was used.