Panzerwrecks 4: German Armour 1944-45

100 Pages·2007·61.76 MB·English

by  Lee Archer and William Auerbach

FEATURES:

Jagdpanther of s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt.559 . 1
Pz.A.A.20 surrenders at Pilsen . . 18
4.7cm Pak(t) auf R35 walkaround 34
Stabskp.lKorps Pz.A.A.FHH surrenders .. 48
A trip to the Tiger factory . . . . . . . . 88
work in progress is never pretty.
Many of the images in this book were taken by servicemen using basic Developing a Panzerwrecks is never easy. Long hours go into ferreting out facl
equipment; they are included for their interest and historical value, not and photos, determining content and layout, and narrowing it all down into O(
necessarily their photographic quality. pages. There are never enough pages, and so we have to go back and pare dowll
each feature again and again. But each photo carries its own bit of history, mystel V,
For the use of their photos we would like to thank: Christian Dijkhuizen, John geography and context, and all seem relevant and necessary. Each of us has 0 1"
Nicholson, Don Campbell, Vladislav Kos, 0yvind Leonsen, David Parker, Chris own favorites, so the winnowing process is even more heated. And so we consolidail
Leeman, Steve Dixon, Marek Solar, Daniele Guglielmi, Jan Podhorsky, Jindfich and condense, and each time we find some room, we find twice as much materii"
Holicek, Derek Brown and George Gardin. US National Archives, Vojensky with which to fill it.
Historicky Ustav (VHU), Library and Archives of Canada (LAC), Polish Institute
and Sikorski Museum (PISM), Military Photo Archive of Bulgaria (MPAB). So what you see here, and in every Panzerwrecks, are the photos and features
W(
We would also like to thank the following for their help: Hans Weber, Martin each fought hardest for. Lee has his detailed narratives and set pieces and I hav<
Block, Marek Solar, Timm Haasler, Stefan De Meyer, Stefano Di Giusto, Kamen my film clips and fuzzy images. Together we jammed three more photos into th
Nevenkin, Matthias Radu and Piotr Mikofajski. Tiger feature and three more into the FHH feature. We continued to make chang
and recast the entire book -including covers -right up until the last moment. We'r
©2007 Lee Archer and William Auerbach. Created by Lee Archer and printed exhausted, but, as soon as we catch our breath, we're going to do it again! In ti1(
by 1010 Printing (UK) Ltd in China. All rights reserved. No part of this publication meantime, enjoy Panzerwrecks 4!
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and W. Auerbach, Monroe. March 2007
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
1',,11
II
Published by: William Auerbach . Panzerwrecks. P.O. Box 2332 Monroe, New York 10949-2332 USA. bill@panzerwrecks .com
Lee Archer. P.O. Box 164 Heathfield, Sussex TN21 8WA UK. [email protected] II I "i
!II II'I
I '1l11Sh 17pdr Achilles IICs from 2. dywizjon,

I lywizji Pancernej (2nd Squadron, 1s t Anti-Tank Regiment, 1s t Armoured Division)

counted for this Jagdpanther s.H.Pz.Jg .Abt.559 while it was retreating towards the

. 11
(Icrdijk Bridge in early November 1944. PISM
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On 1 November 1944, a small convoy of vehicles from s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt.559 had been scout car, but while driving at full speed towards Zevenbergsche Hoek the second
making their way to the bridge overthe river Maas at Moerdijk from Raamsdonksveer. Jagdpanther received fire and was hit. The unit history says that it was hit in the
The convoy consisted of a captured Mark III scout car, two Jagdpanthers with running gear, but the only visible penetration is in the hull side. The crew baled
damaged guns, two 18 ton Sd.Kfz.9s, a VW Schimmwagen and the maintenance out and the other vehicles picked them up. These two photos show curious Polish
squad. The convoy was spotted by units of the 1s t Polish Armoured Division near soldiers looking over the wreck. Note the unit insignia on the front mudguard ­
Heikant and initially was not fired on, probably because of the captured Mark III unfortunately indecipherable. 2x PISM
2

The s.H.Pz.Jg.Abt.559 had converted to Jagdpanthers, and Sturmgeschutz III, with inverted 'V' shaped rain guard and Zimmerit. The graffiti on the glacis
from 7.5cm Pak 40 auf Sfl. 38(t) between May and September 1944. Immediately reads: 'II Oyon', an abbreviation of Oywizjon, meaning squadron. The 1s t and
after receiving the last of the Jagdpanthers, the unit was immediately transferred squadrons were equipped with the Achilles, the 3rd and 4th with towed 17pou
to the front. Our vehicle has a sectional 8.8cm Pak 43/3, twin driver's periscopes guns. 3x PISM
4

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The side of the Jagdpanther showing the penetration in the side of the fighting engine access door is open on the engine deck and the two square shaped
compartment, close to the gunner's position. The impact has blown the tool rack filters have been stacked on the engine deck.
from the hull side & started a fire that has led to the suspension sagging. The
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1](1 \II 1111 II ~ photographed much later. The tracks have been removed and it has and the Nahverteidigungswaffe just behind. With the camouflage materials now
/I 11I1·.II()d off the road to sink into the mud. An explosion has blown open or gone we can see the inverted 'V' shaped rainguard over the driver's periscopes.
I"WI I IW. Iy nearly all of the hatches, including the kidney shaped gunsight cover PISM
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These two Panther Ausf.G from I.IPz.Rgt.39, 17.Panzer-Divi
were knocked out either side of a railway line in the v
of Bolatice, Czechoslovakia on 16 April 1945, at 10.00 to
exact. The vehicles had been silenced by two T-34/85s of
Battalion, 1 CS Independent Tank Brigade commanded by
Danca and Cpl. Penkert. These tanks in turn were knocked
by two Pz.IV /70(V)s, one of which is shown on page 12.
lower photo shows the lead Panther that has a Russian
marking of ZB-387 on the glacis plate. The white object on
mudguard would have said that the tank was knocked out by
1 CS Independent Tank Brigade, but unfortunately we cann
see this. 2x VH
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