eighty-eight

In World War II, nickname for German 88 mm anti-aircraft guns, later used as anti-tank guns.

Although the gun was first tried as an anti-tank weapon during the Spanish Civil War 1936, its use in this role was only really proved effective by Rommel when he used them to fend off British tanks attacking Arras May 1940. He went on to use eighty-eights to good effect in the North African campaign, and the gun acquired its formidable reputation as a tank destroyer from then on. The Germans developed a number of pure anti-tank guns of this calibre which became the backbone of their anti-tank defences throughout the war.