Old timey tanks where primarily designed to protect against fire coming in from the sides. The heaviest armor was generally on the front and sides of the tank. By contrast the top of the tank was lightly armored, as it was only expected to resist incidental damage.
Anti-Tank rifles were large caliber rifles developed in WWII to destroy the then lightly armored tanks. WWI tanks had barely enough armor to stop rifle rounds, so a big enough rifle could punch holes in them and damage machinery or kill the crew.
But by WWII tanks had much, much heavier armor, designed to resist the powerful cannons on other tanks.
Using an out-dated anti-tank rifle against a modern Panzer was futile. The best you could hope for was to destroy a vision port or a radio.
But...
but...
If you were on the roof of a four story apartment building.
And you had an anti-tank rifle.
And the enemy tanks were forced by rubble to come right up to your building...
You could fire down on the relatively thin top-hatches from a sharp angle, potentially piercing the hatch and killing the gunner, commander, or loader of the tank.
Which is what the troops at Pavlov's house did, dealing out massively out-sized damage to tanks that in any other circumstance would have destroyed them.
RE: The anti-tank rifle
Old timey tanks where primarily designed to protect against fire coming in from the sides. The heaviest armor was generally on the front and sides of the tank. By contrast the top of the tank was lightly armored, as it was only expected to resist incidental damage.
Anti-Tank rifles were large caliber rifles developed in WWII to destroy the then lightly armored tanks. WWI tanks had barely enough armor to stop rifle rounds, so a big enough rifle could punch holes in them and damage machinery or kill the crew.
But by WWII tanks had much, much heavier armor, designed to resist the powerful cannons on other tanks.
Using an out-dated anti-tank rifle against a modern Panzer was futile. The best you could hope for was to destroy a vision port or a radio.
But...
but...
If you were on the roof of a four story apartment building.
And you had an anti-tank rifle.
And the enemy tanks were forced by rubble to come right up to your building...
You could fire down on the relatively thin top-hatches from a sharp angle, potentially piercing the hatch and killing the gunner, commander, or loader of the tank.
Which is what the troops at Pavlov's house did, dealing out massively out-sized damage to tanks that in any other circumstance would have destroyed them.