I was looking online for destroyed Panther photos. I came across one that was a G model hull and maybe an A model turret The hull has no zimm and the turret does.
It was parked in front of a building with a sign on the building. The photo was of good quality. The view was looking at the right front of the tank. I thought I saved the photo, but apparently not. If you know of the photo I am talking about, can you post a copy?
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No, but yes. This is not the photo I saw but…It is also of a hull with a different turret. This photo is interesting because the turret has zimm but the gun mantle does not. Cool photo!
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The brick work is very interesting, any idea on the location?
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Further details might be more useful: what did the sign on the building say (what language was it?); did the Panther have Tiger road wheels installed?
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La Gleize, location today, the bricks have been painted white and some other changes
Edit: The building barely visible to the right, further up the road, has an interesting exterior, not to mention the shed/barn next to it. Looks like it was made for a diorama.
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The sign on the building was white with dark lettering. It looked to be Dutch or German. It was a G model hull and the paint scheme was different than the turret. I do not remember detail on the road wheels. That probably means it had the standard road wheels.
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Panther 152 knocked out infront of the Hotel des Ardennes maybe ?
Check the book “PANTHER External Appearance & Design …” if you can, there is a lot of info on these mixed Panthers. The seemed to be quite a few of them delivered in Sept.-Oct. 1944.
or:
Cheers
Christopher
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Yes, that is the photo. Thanks. That is a really good site. I apricate you finding the photo.
Any ideas as to the color of the turret where the zimm came off?
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Another view in this lonesentry post
A Then-and-Now (before 2010, time does fly) view
http://www.oldhickory30th.com/St.%20Vith%20Ligneuville%20Bolt.htm
Google maps street view dated September 2021:
The building next door seems to be a wine & liquor shop
Edit: Off-Topic but I just LOVE this carport, other side of the road, maybe a hundred yards south of where the Panther was found:
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Ah, there is more to the story. In this photo the tank suspension is intact.
In a later image, it has been stripped of parts , by the allies…? Because?
Any idea what the turret color was where the zimm is missing? It appears to be a light shade.
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Wild guess:
Needed roadwheels to make another Panther mobile?
Maybe there was another Panther in “better” mechanical state that was only in need of some wheels?
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That has to be it.
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The locals usually salvaged everything they could get their hands on … mostly easy stuff like tools went missing first, side skirts were very popular with the farming community.
Later anything of value that could still be removed to sell as scrap metal before the authorities got into the business.
I wouldn’t assume the road wheels were used for spare parts by the Germans … they just didn’t have enough time and/opportunity during the first 4-5 days of the battle.
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I was thinking of allies wanting to recover a captured Panther and needed wheels.
Local “scrap merchants” sounds more likely.
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Didn’t the post war French Army field captured Panthers?
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Both are feasible, the allies taking enemy equipment that is in solid shape for R&D. That would actually be a neat idea for dio, tank transporter with a nice condition Panther on it then maybe 2 1/2 ton truck or whatever and a salvage team next to towrecked Panther pilfering usable spares parts that are easy/fairly quick to remove.
Of course w hindsight one would have hoped that the Allies had salvaged many more versus the scrap heap…
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If they had saved more they wouldn’t be so valuable.
Imagine if someone had saved every T-Ford ever produced …
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