An americaan soldier looking at Panzerwerfer 42 and a dead german soldier lying in front of him.

An americaan soldier looking at  Panzerwerfer 42 and a dead german soldier lying in front of  him.

The German Panzerwerfer refers to either of two different types of half-tracked multiple rocket launchers employed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

The Panzerwerfer 42 auf Maultier was used for larger scale rocket barrages against Soviet positions where a large bombardment of a big area would be more effective than more accurate artillery fire. 

The Panzerwerfer's rocket barrages covered much larger areas and added more psychological elements to the fight: the amount of noise, smoke, splinters, and flying debris as the rockets hit and exploded was considerable.

 The extensive use on the Eastern Front showed that this weapon could be employed effectively on the Western Front as Well. 

The weapon was finally introduced throughout the army on May 14, 1944, in France

The Battle of the Bulge saw intensive use of German armored rocket launchers. The most concentrated, massed salvos were used in the Ardennes region of Belgium in 1944 during the weeks of the German offensive

Panzerwerfers saw extensive use during April and May 1945, as the Soviets were quickly advancing on Berlin and the German forces employed rocket artillery in a defensive mode.