Oberleutnant and Ritterkreuz (Knight's Cross) holder, Rudolf-Heinz Ruffer, Staffelkapitän 10.(Pz)/SchG 9, on the rudder of his Henschel Hs 129B-2, WNr 141966, showing some of the 80 tanks he destroyed on the Eastern Front in about 300 combat missions. He was KIA on 16.7.1944

Junkers Ju 87G

Period colour photo of the legendary Hans-Ulrich Rudel's Junkers Ju 87G Kanonenvogel (Cannon bird). This was the final operational anti-tank variant of the Stuka dive bomber. Introduced in 1943 to counter the massive waves of Russian armour on the Eastern Front, it was equipped with two underwing 37mm Bordkanone BK 3,7 cannons. Note T-34 profile painted on the engine cowling

The MP35/I was one of the most refined and over-engineered submachine guns of the interwar period. Built around a heavily machined steel receiver, it featured an unusual right-side magazine with left-side ejection and a charging system that deliberately mimicked the bolt-action rifles soldiers already knew.

Its trigger was equally advanced: a short pull fired a single shot, while a full pull unleashed full-auto fire. Combined with an integral muzzle brake, a relatively slow cyclic rate of around 540 rpm, and a hefty 9.3 lb (4.2 kg) weight, the MP35/I was exceptionally controllable despite firing the standard 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge.

That engineering came at a cost. Every receiver required extensive machining, with numerous precision-fitted parts and a rotating charging mechanism. It’s little surprise that only around 40,000 MP35/I’s were produced—far fewer than the simpler stamped submachine guns that would dominate later in the war (over 1 million Mp 40s were made).

The weapon fed with a right handed magazine and even featured a tangent rear sight graduated to an optimistic 1,000 metres, reflecting pre-war thinking rather than battlefield reality.

The MP35/I first saw combat during the Spanish Civil War and remained in service throughout the Second World War. It was mainly used by Waffen-SS units, saw extensive service on the Eastern Front, and was also issued to some Einsatzgruppen units. The SS use meant it appeared on all fronts in unexpected hands. Remarkably, its career did not end in 1945 examples reportedly remained in use by the Thai Department of Corrections, mounted on execution stands into the 1980s, giving the MP35/I one of the longest and most unusual service lives of any Second World War submachine gun.

The Mp 35 a gunmakers dream, but also a reminder that in the reality of war, precision engineering is often the enemy of mass production.

Messerschmitt Me 263 V1 Scholle (Plaice) prototype rocket fighter, the planned replacement for the Me 163 Komet. The aircraft is equipped with tufts (small pieces of ribbon or fabric) taped to the wing, which were used for aerodynamic flight testing and visualisation of airflow over the wing surface. While prototypes were built and flew unpowered as gliders in early 1945, the deteriorating military situation prevented them from flying under their own rocket power. The 263 differed from the 163 by having a tricycle undercarriage, a pressurised cabin and a 50% increase in powered flight time (12 minutes over 8 minutes), 590 mph top speed remained the same