A Panther A in the late war.
Who traversed the turret?
No Zimm?
Someone not only took the tools off but also removed the tool racks off of the hull.
No Zimm?
Someone not only took the tools off but also removed the tool racks off of the hull.
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Don’t if this is the same one, but the Panther had it’s gun pointed in the 2 o’clock position when it was struck by the Pershing.
There are images that show the gun pointing in the 3 o’clock and 1 o’clock positions.
I guess somebody decided to crank the barrel after the battle.
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Maybe a Sherman pushed/pulled the turret out off the way. The end of the barrel has been removed.
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Don’t think I want to crawl into a burned out panther only to find the occupants still there…
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Neither would I. Seen enough blown-up equipment in Iraq to have the smell of blood and human body parts ingrained on my psyche for the rest of my life.
I can imagine someone turned the turret from the outside.
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In the video clip, I think most of the crew got out, like 3 of 5, but I could be wrong.
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The book “Spearhead” is written about the gunner of the Pershing! Fantastic read, it talks about how the video came about. I cannot recall but the gunner discusses at least 2 of the crew bailing out. I believe the bow gunner died
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I’m reading that book right now. Great read.
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The ending is quite emotional. I really enjoyed it!
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or a surviving Fritz with a grenade. Semper Fi
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Fantastic book,inspired me to build a Pershing.
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I have a Tamiya Pershingon my build stash that will become “Eagle 7” as soon as i gather the rest of the parts i need.
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In the original position, the barrel clearly obstructs the road at just the right height to smack a large truck in the face. Someone must have rotated the turret to swing the gun to a more safe position. I doubt the turret race was damaged when it was knocked out.
What I find interesting is how the whole tank laid down over time. Why did that happen?
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It sat there for a while and became a tourist attraction for US troops passing through, so moving the gun made sense. The “sit” of the suspension is a result of the internal fire heating and softening the torsion bars, which allowed gravity to make the suspension droop. Not sure if the tool racks were deliberately removed, or were just weakened in the fire and eventually fell off - the spare track racks seem to have come off too.
I built this years ago using the old Tamiya kit, and posed a jeep-ful of “tourists” giving it the once-over…
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However, the muzzle break is in place in the last photo, as is the gear mounted on the hull.
Bill
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So it’s safe to say that the gear was taken by GIs as souvenirs while touristing around Cologne.
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Or people looking for scrap.
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in the first photo you can clearly see the soot on the side of the hull above the burnt roadwheels. But… over time you can see that either the soot washed off or the rust overcome the soot. Interesting point for those weathering damaged vehicles concerning the amount of soot and the time lapse from first being damaged.
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