Death Ride of the Panzers

by Dennis Oliver

  1. PzKpfw V Panther ausf G. Panzer-Abteilung 2106. The battalion was attached to Panzer-Brigade 106 Feldherrnhalle during the fighting against US Army units around Metz in September 1944, when the photograph on which this illustration is based was taken.

  2. PzKpfw V Panther ausf G. Panzer-Abteilung 2106. The battalion's Panthers were all marked with small white company numbers outlined in black, although some sources suggest that the numbers may have been yellow. The available photographs show that all were coated with Zimmerit anti-magnetic mine paste in a manner which produced the distinctive texture and pattern associated with vehicles manufactured by Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN).

  The photograph above (3) depicts the tank shown at left after it was disabled near Thionville in September 1944. Although it is entirely possible that the turret number could have been rendered in yellow with a black outline, the shade here is no darker than the white of the Balkenkreuz and I have chosen to depict it as white in our illustration.

  1. Sdkfz 251/21 Drilling. Panzer-Brigade 106. Photographed during the battles in Lorraine, this halftrack carries the brigade's unit insignia (2) on the hull front. In common with most, if not all, the halftracks of this brigade the company number has been painted directly over the Balkenkreuz.

  3. Sdkfz 251/7 Pionierpanzerwagen. Panzer-Brigade 107. The brigade's unit insignia (5) was based on that of 25.Panzergrenadier-Division, which provided most of the personnel around which this unit was formed. The rear view (4) shows the application of the Balkenkreuz and the usual position of the unit insignia.

  1. Sherman Vc Firefly. Unit unidentified. This tank was captured by schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503 in the Caen area and appears to be in its original condition, with the exception of the mottled camouflage pattern, probably in Rotbraun, and the large white Balkenkreuz national markings. In the original series of photographs, the smoke grenade dischargers on the turret side were covered by a non-standard metal box.

  2. Sherman Vc Firefly. Unit unidentified. This tank was captured after the fighting at Villiers-Bocage and retains its squadron marking of a blue triangle, the platoon number painted onto the turret extension, and unique serial number T-148532. I can offer no information as to significance of the roughly painted letter W and number 6. It should also be mentioned that it is probable that the name Firefly was not actually used by the British to describe these tanks during the war years and it is therefore highly unlikely that the Germans would do so.

  1. PzKpfw IV ausf J. Unit unidentified. This tank was photographed near Liege in late 1944 and is devoid of any markings other than the Balkenkreuz national insignia, which is painted onto the turret Schürzen in what is the usual position for these tanks. Both 16.Panzer-Regiment of 116.Panzer-Division and SS-Panzer-Regiment 1 from 1.SS-Panzer-Division lost a number of PzKpfw IV tanks in this area in September and this vehicle may belong to one of those formations. This illustration provides a clear example of the frame to which the hull Schürzen were attached and the four metal supports which held the frame in position. The small triangular fittings along the top edge of the frame corresponded to brackets welded or bolted to the inside face of the individual Schürzen plates.

  2. Panzerbefehlswagen IV ausf J. Panzer-Abteilung 2111. The last three independent Panzer brigades were formed with a three-company Panzer-Abteilung and reinforced with a battalion of Panthers detached from a Panzer regiment. A number of photographs of PzKpfw IV tanks of these brigades seem to show unusual numbering systems, although not all are as roughly applied as that shown here (3), and they may have been hastily renumbered with the arrival of the Panther battalion. Although we cannot be certain, the turret number depicted here possibly identifies a tank of the battalion’s Stabskompanie. The placement of the insulator for the FuG8 radio Sternantenna D may indicate that this command tank is in fact a field modification.

  1. PzKpfw V Panther ausf G. Panzer-Brigade 111. Photographed during the fighting for Arracourt, east of Nancy, in September 1944, this tank is typical of the Panthers of the brigade. The camouflage pattern made up of heavy bands of Rotbraun and Olivgrün over the base coat of Dunkelgelb seems to have been applied to most of the tank battalion’s Panthers and can be seen in almost all the available photographs.

  The white company numbers carried by the Panthers of Panzer-Brigade 111 (2) were applied with a stencil and the gaps, which were often filled in by hand in other units, are clearly visible here and in our illustration. The Panthers of this brigade were actually detached from I.Abteilung, Panzer-Regiment 16.

  3. PzKpfw V Panther ausf G. Panzer-Abteilung 2105. This tank was photographed near Eynatten near the present day Belgian-German border in September 1944, and was commanded by the battalion adjutant. The camouflage scheme of large Olivgrün shapes outlined in Rotbraun is unusual and is similar to the patterns applied to the Panthers of SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 seen much earlier in the year, prior to the fighting in Normandy. At this time the battalion was attached to Panzer-Brigade 105.

  1. PzKpfw Tiger ausf E. Schwere Panzer-Kompanie Hummel. Formed from elements of Panzer-Ersatz und Ausbildungs-Abteilung 500, a training unit, the Tigers of this formation featured a mixture of early and mid-production features, including at least one vehicle with all steel wheels. Although very few photographic references are available to us, due to the large amounts of foliage camouflage with which all these tanks were covered, it appears that all fourteen of the company’s Tiger I tanks were numbered following the regulation sequence. The number here, for example, indicates the fourth tank of the second platoon, with the company number for all being one. The two command tanks of Hauptmann Hummel and Leutnant Knaak were numbered 101 and 102, respectively. It would seem that the three platoons used different colors for the turret numbers, although the exact shades are a matter of some debate. All had the Balkenkreuz placed centrally on the hull sides, as shown in our photograph at right (2) and illustration.

  Another identifying feature of this company’s tanks, although missing from our photograph, were the spare track links fitted to the hull front as additional armour. These were uniformly applied throughout the company, with three combat tracks welded above each fender and three transport tracks placed between the driver’s vision block and the hull machine gun.

  3. PzKpfw Tiger ausf B. Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 506. Like most vehicles fighting around Arnhem, this tank is covered with foliage camouflage. This may be the Tiger II, numbered 203, abandoned along the Heuvelstraat during the attack on Elst, between the Nederrijn and Waal Rivers, in October 1944.

  1. Sturmgesch¸tz III ausf G. Sturmgesch¸tz-Brigade 280. This battalion, commanded by Major Kurt Kühme, took part in the Arnhem battles and fought inside the city during September 1944. Most of the battalion's assault guns seem to have carried no markings and were camouflaged in various patterns.

  2. Sturmghaubitze 42. Sturmgesch¸tz-Brigade 280. The battalion had just three of these howitzer-armed assault guns on hand during the fighting for Arnhem. All seem to have had the muzzle-brakes removed from their barrels, which was a modification incorporated into production in September 1944, with the added stipulation that damaged muzzle-brakes were not to be replaced. Note that although all these vehicles were manufactured by the firm of Alkett, this Sturmghaubitze does not have the so-called waffle pattern Zimmerit normally associated with that company, as evidenced by our photograph (3).

  1. PzKpfw III ausf G. Panzer-Kompanie Mielke. Detached from Panzer-Ersatz-Regiment Bielefeld for the defense of Arnhem in September 1944, this unit comprised two PzKpfw IV and six PzKpfw III tanks, two of the later being very early versions. All the PzKpfw III tanks carried a number, sometimes a single digit, which can also be seen in our photograph (2). The tank shown above had the number 213 painted on to the turret stowage box (3) while the other PzKpfw III ausf G (4) had the number on the turret side. Note that the Balkenkreuz has a thin black outline to the arms.

  5. PzKpfw IV ausf G. Panzer-Kompanie Mielke. Unlike the company’s PzKpfw III tanks, the PzKpfw IV v
ehicles seem to have been completely unmarked except for the Balkenkreuz carried on the turret Schürzen. Both PzKpfw IV tanks, one an ausf G and the other an ausf H, were lost during the fighting in the city.

  1. Panzerjäger V Panther. 1.Kompanie, schwere Heeres-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 559. Photographed outside Moerdijk, near Breda, in November 1944, this vehicle was disabled while trying to reach the Waal bridge. The insignia (2 and 3) is quite clear in the available images and was painted onto the left hand side fender. It is here rendered in black on a white circle, although the colors are of course speculative. This marking is noticeably absent in photographs of the battalion's other vehicles and, although unlikely, it may have been unique to this Jagdpanther. The company number is not visible in the photograph on which this illustration is based and was chosen merely to shown its likely placement. The number 131 is entirely possible, however, as the second and third companies were equipped with Sturmgeschütz III assault guns.

  4. Panzerjäger V Panther. Stab, schwere Heeres-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 559. This vehicle was commanded by Major Erich Sattler, the Abteilungsführer, and was disabled in early September 1944 when it was ambushed by a number of British Cromwell tanks. The crew managed to escape unharmed, although Major Sattler was seriously injured when he fell from the commander's hatch and was hospitalized until November.

  1. PzKpfw V Panther ausf G. II.Abteilung, Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130. Photographed in November 1944 near Schalbach, north-east of Sarrebourg, this tank was disabled when the battalion made an attack on positions held by the US 114th Infantry Regiment. At this time, the Panzer-Lehr-Regiment consisted of a single battalion, with the sixth and eighth companies operating PzKpfw IV tanks while the fifth and seventh companies were equipped with Panthers. The hard-edged camouflage scheme is one of a number introduced as a result of an order issued on August 19, 1944, which stipulated that Panthers were henceforth to be painted before leaving the assembly plants in a pattern made up of patches of Olivgrün and Rotbraun painted onto a base coat of Dunkelgelb. The application varied between manufacturers and the differences are explained throughout these illustrations.

  2. PzKpfw V Panther ausf G. Panzer-Regiment 15. Photographed in Lorraine in November 1944, this tank is an ausf G model fitted with the cupola, and possibly the turret, from a Panther ausf D. Interestingly, a photograph taken on the Eastern Front at about this time shows an identical arrangement. The tanks in both cases were also coated with Zimmerit paste in a pattern of ridges normally associated with vehicles manufactured by the firm of Demag, although that company never produced any late model Panthers. All this suggests that the addition of the early cupola, and perhaps turret, to the later hull was in the nature of a factory re-build, which may have been a series, and not a field modification. Of note are the hooks welded to the turret to hold lengths of spare track.

  1. Sdkfz 251/1. 11.Panzer-Division. Photographed in late 1944, after the fighting for Grostenquin, south-east of Metz, this halftrack was almost certainly operated by Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 11, the division's reconnaissance battalion. The depiction of the division’s famous unit insignia, shown in a number of other illustrations in this book and here on the hull rear on the right-hand side (2), is speculative but is seen on other halftracks of the division.

  3. Sturmgeschütz III ausf G. Unit unidentified. Photographed in Holland in mid-September 1944, this assault gun was captured by units of the US Army and may have been one of the vehicles of Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 394, which was supporting 12.Infanterie-Divison in the defense of Maastricht, operating on the front of US 30th Infantry Division. The battalion’s unit insignia (3) is included here as a matter of interest only. The other possible candidate is Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 1553, the assault gun company allocated to 553.Grenadier-Division, which lost most of its vehicles here and was withdrawn from the frontline soon afterwards.

  1. PzKpfw Tiger ausf E. 4.Kompanie, schwere Panzer-Abteilung 506. The battalion's fourth company was formed from Panzer-Kompanie Hummel and had been raised for the defense of Arnhem. The Tigers were all re-numbered as shown here, the numbers of course beginning with 4, followed by the platoon and individual tank number. When the company was detached from schwere Panzer-Abteilung 506 permanently on February 16, 1945, the tanks reverted to the numbering system that had been used in September 1944 and described earlier in this book.

  Photographed at a later date (2), after the tank in our illustration had suffered further damage and the attention of souvenir hunters, the company number on the turret side is still clearly visible. The fitting of spare track links to the hull front was a common practice within this company and began with its formation as Panzer-Kompanie Hummel.

  2. PzKpfw Tiger ausf E. Panzer-Kompanie Paderborn. This formation was raised in October 1944 from elements of several training units specifically for the defense of Aachen. The company consisted of three Tiger I and two PzKpfw IV tanks. The Tigers were numbered as R3, R4 and R7 and although the unit was at the front in November it is likely that most of the available vehicles were never employed operationally. This unit should not be confused with Panzergruppe Paderborn, formed in March 1945 and discussed in a later illustration.

  2.01. Photographed between Rauray and Tilly-sur-Seulles in early July 1944, this Tiger I of 3.Kompanie, schwere SS Panzer Abteilung 101 was commanded by SS-Oberscharführer Rolf von Westernhagen, the younger brother of the battalion commander Heinz von Westernhagen. This Tiger was probably disabled during the fighting along the road between Caen and Villers-Bocage during the last days of June when tanks of the battalion's second and third companies, together with 7.Kompanie, SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 and a company from Panzer-Regiment 22, attempted to halt British units that were advancing towards Verson and Grainville. Accounts of these actions are extremely sketchy and our best source, Wolfgang Schneider, simply states that one tank was lost. The two available eyewitness accounts do not mention the tank commander or his crew and worryingly contain errors of fact. What is certain, however, is that Westernhagen survived and his tank was later recovered by the British and found to be in running order.

  2.02. Captured near Cheux during the fighting for Carpiquet airfield, this Pzkpfw IV ausf H of 8.Kompanie, SS-Panzer-Regiment 12 is also depicted in the color illustration section. The unit insignia of 12.SS-Panzer-Division can be seen on the hull rear plate on the right hand side with the Balkenkreuz positioned above the muffler. The application of the turret number, black outlined with white, is unusually neat for this battalion. This particular tank was commanded by SS-Untersturmführer Jeran. This vehicle is also depicted in the colored illustration section on page 25.

  2.03. A Pzkpfw IV ausf J of 8.Kompanie, Panzer-Regiment 3 photographed in the ruins of Pont-Farcy, south of Saint-Lô, in early August 1944. The unit insignia of 2.Panzer-Division is just visible on the front plate below the driver’s hatch and the number 802, in the white outline style typical of this regiment, can be seen on the turret Schürzen. This tank is also shown in the illustration section. This vehicle is also depicted in the colored illustration section on page 34.

  2.04. Photographed in early July on the road to Saint-Fromond, north of Saint-Lô, this Pzkpfw IV ausf J was operated by 6.Kompanie, SS-Panzer-Regiment 2. The unit insignia of 2.SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich is just visible on the left of the hull rear plate and the company number 622 can been seen on the turret Schürzen painted in a white outline. This vehicle is also depicted in the colored illustration section on page 27.

  2.05. Photographed near Saint Denis-le-Gast on July 29, 1944, these Sdkfz 251 half-tracks are from 2.SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich and may be part of the column that included the Hummel self-propelled Howitzer named Clausewitz depicted in the following image. This division, with other units of 7.Armee, was attempting to withdraw when it was encircled at Roncey. The German units suffered severe losses in the ensuing fighting that including most of their heavy equipment.

  2.06. Photographed near Notre-Dame-de-Cenilly, east of Coutances, this Sdkfz 251 half-track
and Hummel self-propelled 15cm howitzer of 2.SS-Panzer-Division had been part of the column withdrawing after the fighting at Saint-Denis-le-Gast, which ran into elements of US 2nd Armored Division late in the evening of July 28, 1944. Of note is the name Clausewitz painted on the side of the Hummel towards the front in black outlined in white. On the rear of the halftrack can be seen the tactical symbol identifying the first battery of a self-propelled artillery unit below the division’s unit insignia.

  2.06a. A Pzkpfw IV ausf J of 8.Kompanie, SS-Panzer-Regiment 2 knocked out during the fighting in Saint Denis-la-Gast on July 31, 1944. The use of white outline turret numbers was common to all the tanks of II Abteilung and examples are shown and discussed in the color illustration section on page 27.

  2.07. A Sturmgeschütz IV assault gun of SS-Panzer-Abteilung 17 destroyed by US fighter-bombers while the battalion was moving along the Marigny-Montreuil road in late July during the Operation Cobra. Although the vehicle is badly damaged, much of the Zimmerit is still in place suggesting that these vehicles carried few, if any, markings. The production of the Sturmgeschütz IV was undertaken by Krupp and was intended to be an interim measure to fill the gap caused by the Allied bombing of the Alkett works in Berlin, which manufactured the Sturmgeschütz III. The new vehicle was essentially made up from the superstructure of an Alkett Sturmgeschütz III married to the chassis of a Krupp Pzkpfw IV with a large armored box at the hull front for the driver.