Death Ride of the Panzers

by Dennis Oliver

  3.02. Photographed in Belgium, this Sturmgeschütz III ausf G assault gun has the bolted-on supplementary armor referred to as Zusatzpanzer. Officially dropped from production in May 1943, these plates were in fact fitted to some vehicles until the following November when they were replaced by a single 80mm thick plate. Note that this assault gun also has an extra piece of armor plate welded to the lower hull front. The left hand side of the superstructure is covered with a thick coat of concrete above the driver's position and extending back to the commander's cupola, giving it a very rounded appearance when compared to the right.

  3.03. Photographed outside Hyères, near Toulon on the French Mediterranean coast in late September 1944, this well camouflaged concrete emplacement was used as a plotting and range finding station and its commanding view of the surrounding area is obvious.

  3.04. Photographed near Xertigny, south of Épinal, on September 21, 1944 this Flakpanzer IV Möbelwagen was disabled by its crew. Armed with the 3.7cm FlaK 43 L/89 gun just 240 of these vehicles were built and most served with the anti-aircraft platoons of the Panzer divisions and independent Panzer brigades on the Western Front.

  3.06. This Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind was disabled in the fighting around Metz in late 1944 and may have been allocated to Panzer-Regiment 15 of 11.Panzer-Division or the Panzer battalion of 17.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division, both of which fought in this area at the time and had a number of these vehicles on hand.

  3.06a. Another view of the Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind shown in the previous photograph. The Zimmerit paste applied to the upper surfaces of the hull is clearly visible here on the opened radio operator's hatch. Commonly referred to as Keksdose, or biscuit tin, by the troops very few of these vehicles were produced, perhaps less than 100 although the exact number is unknown. Almost all were issued to units fighting on the Western front between August 1944 and February 1945 when they disappear from official strength returns.

  3.05. Photographed near Malry, west of Metz, in early September this Panther ausf G of Panzer-Brigade 106 Feldherrnhalle was disabled during the German counterattack, which began during the late evening of 7 September 1944. This tank is also shown in the illustration section. This vehicle is also depicted in the colored illustration section on page 53.

  3.07. Photographed near Antwerp in September 1944, this 4.7cm Pak auf R35 self-propelled anti-tank gun is almost certainly one of the vehicles operated by the Panzerjäger battalion of 346.Infantrerie-Division, which reported that twelve of these vehicles were on hand in September. Although quite rare, a number also appeared later during the fighting around Veghel attached to 59.Infanterie-Division.

  3.08. The badly damaged assault gun in this photograph, taken near the village of Erp, approximately 5 kilometers east of Veghel in late September, may be from one of the companies of Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 280 which was operating in this area in support of Panzer-Brigade 107. The production features of this vehicle that can be discerned, including the Alkett pattern of Zimmerit application and the gun travel lock, were both commonly seen on the vehicles of the battalion.

  3.08a. A heavily camouflaged Sturmgeschütz III ausf G, probably of schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 559, photographed in the town of ‘s Hertgenbosch, approximately thirty kilometers north of Eindhoven. At this time, only the battalion's first company had been issued with Jagdpanther tank destroyers while the second and third companies were both equipped with Sturmgeschütz III assault guns. On Monday, October 23, 1944, the battalion’s 3.Kompanie, which was at the time stationed at Utrecht and commanded by Oberleutnant Franz Kopka, was ordered to proceed towards s'Hertgenbosch to support the grenadiers of 712.Infanterie-Division in an attempt to secure the town.

  3.09. Disabled and abandoned in the town of Oosterbeek, at some time after the battles for Arnhem, this Tiger II of 3.Kompanie, schwere Panzer-Abteilung 506 was attached to Kampfgruppe von Allworden. Despite the extensive fire damage traces of the tank’s camouflage scheme can still be seen. It appears that the gun’s muzzle brake is still in place, although curiously it is missing in most of the other photographs of this vehicle. Although Allied reports would suggest otherwise, this was the only Tiger lost in Oosterbeek.

  3.10. This Befehlspanzerwagen V Panther ausf G of Panzer-Brigade 107 was disabled near Erp, north-east of Eindhoven, on September 23, 1944 by a British Sherman tank. The brigade operated three of these command vehicles, identified by the Sternantenna D at the right rear of the hull, and this tank was commanded by Major Hans-Albrect von Plüskow, the Abteilungsführer of Panzer-Abteilung 2107. The other command tanks were probably allocated to Major Berndt-Joachim Freiherr von Maltzahn, the brigade commander, and Leutnant Graf Von Brockdorff-Ahlefeld, one of Plüskow's company commanders. As part of Kampfgruppe Walther, the battalion's Panthers were advancing towards the road between Veghel and Uden when, at around noon, a 75mm anti-tank round fired from the rear slammed into the left side track. It was quickly followed by two more, which hit the turret killing Major Plüskow.

  3.11. The Jagdpanther of schwere Heeres-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 559 shown here was captured by the Allies after it was disabled on September 8, 1944 near Hechtel in Belgium. The single piece barrel of the 8.8cm Pak 43/2 was installed in the early production models and the mantlet of the main gun is also the early, internally bolted version. This vehicle was in fact the Panzerbefehlswagen version of the Jagdpanther and the provision for the Sternantenna D radio aerial and its armored cover was fitted on the rear of the fighting compartment behind and below the commander’s hatch. This vehicle is also depicted in the colored illustration section on page 61.

  3.12. In this view of the Jagdpanther shown in the previous photograph, the vehicle’s number 01 is clearly visible and can be seen to have been applied with a stencil. The two hatches for the commander and loader in the superstructure roof were apparently removed before the vehicle was recovered and their absence is obvious in several existing photographs of this vehicle taken shortly after the action at Hechtel. The large ventilator to the left of the commander’s hatch and the smaller ventilator behind the loader’s position are undamaged. The four u-shaped metal brackets are armored covers which each housed a periscope, although these are also missing. Note that those at the front and rear are able to rotate while the two at the sides are fixed. The curved metal plate at the left front of the roof is a swiveling cover with an aperture for the Sfl Zf5 gun sight. Behind that is the Nahverteidigungswaffe, or close defense weapon, which could fire a variety of projectiles, including a smoke grenade or high explosive charge. This vehicle is also depicted in the colored illustration section on page 61.

  3.13. Photographed in Holland, this Panther ausf G has the earlier rounded gun mantlet fitted to these tanks until September 1944. Traces of the camouflage scheme generally referred to today as the Disc Pattern can be discerned on the glacis below the hull machine gun aperture. This pattern and the placement of the Balkenkreuz on the turret side would suggest that this vehicle was produced by the firm of Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG. This factory applied camouflage scheme was short lived and may have only been applied to the vehicles manufactured between August 19 and the middle of September 1944.

  3.14. This Panther ausf G of 2.Kompanie, Panzer-Abteilung 2107 attached to Panzer-Brigade 107 was disabled during the fighting around the town of Overloon on the Meuse river south of Nijmegen in late September 1944. Today this tank is on exhibit at the Nationaal Oorlogs-en Verzetsmuseum, just a short distance from where it was recovered.

  3.15. Said to have been photographed near Bruyéres, east of Épinal, in late October 1944, this halftrack is a Schützenpanzerwagen U 304 (f), a modification based the French Unic P107 vehicle. Several hundred of these halftracks were captured by the Germans and converted into various configurations including command, anti-aircraft, and mortar-carriers. The version shown here was used as an armored personnel transport by the Panzergrenadier battalions of 21.Panzer-Division.

  3.16. This Panther ausf G of Panzer-Brigade 113 was disabled
in late September near Rechicourt, north-east of Metz, when the brigade supported elements of 11.Panzer-Division as part of Kampfgruppe Hammon. This battle group was made up of the surviving infantry of the first and second battalions of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 2113 and as many as twenty-five tanks from the brigade's tank battalion and I.Abteilung, Panzer-Regiment 130, which was attached to the brigade at the time. The reconnaissance battalion of 11.Panzer-Division also supported Oberstleutnant Erich Hammon's Kampfgruppe. The pattern of Zimmerit is typical of vehicles manufactured by the firm of Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen-Hannover.

  3.17. Photographed near Woensdrecht on October 27, 1944, this Sturmhaubitze 42 of Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 280 was destroyed during the fighting around the Scheldt Estuary in Holland. Although heavily damaged, it is possible to see the Zimmerit applied to the hull front and other surfaces in the so-called waffle pattern indicative of assault guns assembled by the Alkett company, which was in fact the sole manufacturer of these howitzer-armed vehicles. The hole in the welded gun mantlet for the coaxial machine gun was incorporated into production in June 1944, while the muzzle brake was also discontinued from production in September 1944, although some units had simple removed them prior to that time.

  3.18. Photographed in the town of Kinzweiler, about 10 kilometers north-east of Aachen in late 1944, this Sturmgeschütz III ausf G is coated with Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste that has been scored to give a very neat grid pattern indicative of vehicles produced by Mühlenbau und Industrie AG (MIAG) of Braunschweig. The first Sturmgeschütz III rolled of the company's production line in February 1943, with the last vehicle being produced in March 1945. This vehicle may have been one of the assault guns reported as on hand during November 1944 with Panzerjäger-Abteilung 103 of 3.Panzergrenadier-Division. The OKW situation maps show the division in this exact location at that time and strength returns suggest this to be the only unit in the area equipped with the Sturmgeschütz III.

  3.19. Photographed on October 20, 1944 in Kohlscheid, north of the city of Aachen, this Sdkfz 251 half track is one of several vehicles of Kampfgruppe Rink that were captured by a US Army tank unit as they attempted to evacuate their wounded from the besieged city. This battle group was commanded by Obersturmführer Herbert Rink and made up principally of men from the second battalion of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1. The account of a former member of the regiment's 7.Kompanie, which describes the distinctive badge of a stylized mailed fist holding a sword over a flame, suggests that this half track may have been one of the vehicles that the company received in Normandy. Interestingly, other photographs from this series show that a number of the battle group's half tracks had Wehrmacht number plates and the formation insignia of 1.SS-Panzer-Division. The cap badge and rank insignia of the man standing in the half track identify him as a Revier-Oberwachtmeister of the Schutzpolizei, the national uniformed police service.

  3.20. Photographed just outside what is almost certainly the village of Halloville, 20 kilometers east of Lunéville, this Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer tank destroyer is one of fourteen vehicles on hand at the time with Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 1708 of 708. Volks-Grenadier-Division, most of which were destroyed during the early morning hours of November 14, 1944. This division was formed from the remnants of 708.Infanterie-Division as part of the German Army’s 32nd recruitment conducted between September and October 1944. All such divisions contained a Panzerjäger-Abteilung made up of a company of towed anti-tank guns, another of towed anti-aircraft guns and a Sturmgeschütz company equipped with self-propelled tank destroyers or assault guns, which was somewhat confusingly referred to as an Abteilung .

  3.21. Photographed at Moerdijk, about 10 kilometers north of Breda, in November 1944 this Panzerjäger V Jagdpanther of schwere Heeres-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 559 was disabled while attempting to reach the bridge over the river Waal. This vehicle is also shown and discussed in the illustration section and the marking on the near side fender is depicted in detail.

  3.22. Photographed at Sierck-les-Bains, north-east of Thionvillle, in late November 1944, this Raupenschlepper Ost (RSO) tractor was captured from 19.Volksgrenadier-Division, identified by the unit insignia of a stylized mailed fist holding a sword which can be seen on the cab front just to the right of the Notek headlight. Above that and slightly to the right is the tactical sign denoting a towed artillery unit. The cloth covering on the cab roof is a US Army aerial recognition device. The RSO/01 model seen here is easily identified by its rounded cab while the RSO/02 and RSO/03 both featured a more angular version.

  3.23. Disabled during the fighting near the Hürtgenwald between Aachen and Düren in late 1944 this Sturmgeschütz III ausf G was manufactured between March 1944, when the later style muzzle brake seen here was adopted, and early September after which Zimmerit paste was no longer applied. Although there is no possibility of identifying the unit to which this vehicle belongs Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 341, Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 394 and Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 902 all operated in the area at this time as part of LXXXI.Armeekorps reserve.

  3.24. Photographed in La Bourgance, south-east of Lunéville, this Sdkfz 251/21 Drilling was destroyed by artillery fire in mid-November 1944. These vehicles utilized the large quantity of 1.5cm MG 151/15 or the 2cm 151/20 guns which were no longer required by the Luftwaffe. The three guns were fixed to a pedestal bolted to the floor of the crew compartment and the gunner’s protective shield, the sight, and the breech of the right hand gun can be seen here behind the additional armor on the hull side. Another gun would be directly below the site and it would appear that the left hand gun is missing. This half-track shows several features indicative of late production models, including the late style road wheels with a metal ring over the hub and the distinctive Bosch headlight.

  3.25. This Panther ausf G is one of a number of tanks lost by II.Abteilung, Panzer-Regiment 33 of 9.Panzer-Division in November 1944 in the fighting around Geilenkirchen. Just visible in another photograph of this tank behind the turret rear access door is a white-outlined number which appears to be either 611 or 811, both being possible. A common practice within this regiment was to repeat the number on the turret’s side, however any marking that may be have been there is unfortunately covered by the thick foliage camouflage.

  _________________

  1 The Allied supply problems were indeed quite real and the British referred to this period as the ‘Supply Famine.’ Hitler’s belief that the Anglo-American alliance would eventually fall apart was just one example of the wishful thinking that often characterized his conduct of the campaign in the West. It is interesting that both sides at various times underestimated the others will or capacity to fight on.

  2 Sievers was correct in his assumptions about Antwerp. On the day Model ordered him to move towards the front, British armored units had occupied the city. The port facilities would, however, remain in German hands for some time and were tenaciously defended by the remnants of 64.Infanterie-Division. Interestingly, the records of LXXXVIII.Armeekorps show that Panzerjäger-Abteilung 719 had ten 7.5cm PaK 40/1 Lorraine Schlepper self-propelled anti-tank guns on hand, although Sievers makes no mention of them in his detailed account of the battles along the Albert Canal.

  3 The Dutch volunteers of the Waffen-SS were unusual in that they fought on their home soil, at one time against their countrymen. Almost all volunteer formations made up of western Europeans, and there were many, served exclusively in the east.

  4 What became known as Kampfgruppe Chill would remain in the frontline until November 1944, when it was eventually disbanded. In addition to the units of Chill’s own division, the battle group controlled the first battalion of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 2, four battalions of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6, elements of Ersatz-und Ausbildungs-Abteilung Hermann Göring and Bataillon Ohler, the staff and II.Abteilung of Artillerie-Regiment 185, three batteries of an artillery training unit of the Hermann Göring division, two batteries of a Waffen-SS replacement regiment, and a battery of 8.8cm guns of Flak-Abteilung 925.<
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  5 The suggestion in many accounts that the assault guns were from SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 10 is certainly incorrect, as the battalion was stationed in the Aachen area until at least September 19, 1944.

  6 This Panzerjäger company, attached to Fallschirmjäger Regiment von Hoffmann, was equipped with captured Russian 7.62cm anti-tank guns, which lacked any transport and having to be manhandled were all apparently in exposed positions. The company commander, Hauptmann Brockes, was mortally wounded. This sector of the front was held by the first battalion of Hoffmann’s regiment, commanded by Major Helmut Kerrut, which was able to hold up the British tanks for the first day with only the weapons they carried.

  7 Schwerin had been previously removed from the command of his division during the Mortain offensive by Hausser after at least two instances of insubordination. He was charged with treason over the Aachen letter but suffered no more than a severe reprimand and was sent to a command in Italy after being promoted. Why a confirmed traitor, who was a general and a Prussian aristocrat into the bargain, should have been treated so leniently by Hitler remains a mystery. Almost certainly involved in the July Plot, Schwerin survived the war to die in 1980.