Basically some curiosity coming from working on a kit, concerning the historic context of this AFV. I have some information in the 'Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two' by Chamberlaine/Doyle but it's not much and I don't know how much of it is correct ( this particular book have received a severe beating from a specific forum member which name shall go unmentioned here ). But I guess I can say as much as the Ausf.D and E ( and what was the difference between the E and D ? ) were built as fast versions of the PzKpfw II, and that they were used in the Polish campaign. I have no information about any further service, but I understand the remaining tanks were at some point rebuilt as flamethrower tanks.
From memory, the difference was the tracks used (the suspension being in both cases Christie) and their bad behavior during the Polish campaign was the reason for the conversion into flamethrower variants. They were not very successful during the early Russian campaign and most were turned into Panzerjaeger, with the excellent 76.2mm ex-Soviet field gun. Few Ausf.D and fewer (if any) Ausf.E (with lubrificated half-track type shoes IIRC) were made though. HTH
Aforementioned member does not usually refer to himself in the third person. The credible references I have only refer to the Pz.Kpfw.II Ausf.D, so I would suspect that it is simply two names for the same vehilcle. I haven't been able to confirm this, though. It served as a basis for the Marder II with the russian 76.2 mm.
Hi Skua check out this website. It has the describtion of changes made to every model of pzkpfw II http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_II
Thanks, Tiger of Kursk. The first issue of Tanks & Armour describes the difference between the Ausf.D and Ausf.E being different sets of tracks. The tracks of the Ausf.E were fitted with rubber pads. That would mean that a change of tracks would change the designation of the vehicle as well, but it's the only plausible explanation I have found.
To my knowledge, from April 1942 till June 1943 Alketts and Vegmanns factorys were make 201 units of the Panzerjager 2 - 7.62cm PaK 36(r) auf Fgst Pz Kpfw 2 Ausf D1 und D2 (Sd Kfz 132); (isn't Marder 2). From June 1942 till June 1943 FAMO, MAN and Daimler-Benz factory were make 576 units (75 units were make over later) in Pz Jag "Marder 2" - 7.5cm PaK 40/2 auf Fgst Pz Kpfw 2 Ausf F (Sf) (Sd Kfz 131).
