In June 1940, after having confiscated in a laboratory in Croissy-sur-Seine the prototype of a miniature vehicle developed by the French designer Adolphe Kégresse, the Wehrmacht ordinance office requested the development by the automobile company Borgward of Bremen a similar vehicle to transport explosives from a distance. The result was the Sd.Kfz. 302 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug, “special vehicle”) called the Leichter Ladungsträger (“light load carrier”) or Goliath. The vehicle was controlled remotely through a control box fitted with a joystick, which was connected to the Goliath by two telephone cables connecting to the rear of the vehicle. The first model of the Goliath used an electric motor to move, but because of its cost and difficulty in repairing, the next model (known as Sd. Kfz. 303) used a two-stroke gasoline engine, simpler and more reliable 1.
The Goliath was used by the German offensive to neutralize a gigantic defensive minefield during the Battle of Kursk in 1943. Later, during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, they were then employed by SS units. The Poles, with the limited number of anti-tank weapons at their disposal, often sent volunteers to cut the Goliath’s control cables before it reached its target. These results proved that if the Goliath was not covered by suppressing fire, its control cables could be easily severed by a determined fighter, just equipped with a shovel.
He was then also present on the landing beaches in Normandy. The Goliaths, however, had been poorly maintained and were fragile, due to corrosion from the sea air. As proof, at Utah Beach, only one of these tanks exploded, the others being too rusty or their cables too damaged by artillery, to be operational. There were also versions guided by radio waves, but they arrived late and the Allies could jam the remote control frequency [ref. necessary].
Although a total of 7,564 Goliaths of both models were produced, this single-use weapon was not considered successful, due to its high unit cost, very low speed (9.5 km / h), its thin armor which did not protect it against any type of modern anti-tank weapon, and its vulnerable control cables. The Goliath created the basis for post-WWII advances in remote control (drone) technology.
Several copies are kept in museums, among others, a copy of this “mini-tank” is exhibited at the Landing Museum of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, the Liberation Museum of Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, the War museum and Paix en Ardennes in Novion-Porcien, at the tank museum in Saumur, at the D-Day Omaha museum in Vierville-sur-Mer and at the Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster in Munster (Örtze).
