FEATURES: Panzer wrecks in Uman ...
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Cut off in Chernivtsi .
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Turan tanks on a train
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Surrender in Kurland ........................ 89
Welcome to Panzerwrecks 7: Ostfront, our 'Red' edition. Although this book has several features, it has but one overarching theme: the war on the Eastern Front. In previous PW's we have concentrated primarily on the Western Front, and we thought that the Eastern Front deserved its own volume, and here it is. How were photos obtained? It started in early 2007, when Lee and I were offered an introduction to, and a guided tour of, several Russian archives. That plan went bust, but instead of doing the sensible thing and stopping at that point, we hired an intermediary, Rashit Musin, to select photos for us - based on a list of captions . But he could only make short visits to these agencies each time, and the photos would have to be picked up in person and travel through a third party, Kamen Nevenkin. It all became very John Le Carre-ish, with Rashit rising at 3 AM to travel to another country where he would meet Kamen and exchange photos and money on various train platforms in Eastern Europe, and all the while changes and obstacles presented themselves and frantic messages flew back and forth and go/no-go decisions were made. And then the captions had to be translated and our facts checked and our heads examined and our significant others placated, and it all became very involved as the Germans certainly discovered in 1942. So there you have it, the whole insane story, and while we have certainly been through the mill, both financially and mentally, we hope that you are pumped up and prepared for the Tigers, Panthers and other panzers awaiting you in Panzerwrecks 7. W.Auerbach September 2008
Above: A unique view of a Sturmgeschutz III Ausf.F.
RGAKFD
Many ofthe images in this book were taken using basic equipment or have suffered through the years; they are included for their interest and historical value, noCnecessarily their photographic quality. For the use of their photos we would like to thank : Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive at Krasnogorsk (RGAKFD), Russian Central Military Archives at Podolsk (TsAMO), Latvijas Valsts Kinofotofonodokumentu Arhlvs (LVKFFDA), Eesti Filmiarhiiv (EFA) and Military Photo Archive of Bulgaria (MPAB). We would also like to thank the following: Martin Block, Timm Haasler, Hans Weber, Tom Jentz, Hilary Doyle, Kamen Nevenkin, Rashit Musin, Matthias Radu, Lukas Friedli, Steve Zaloga and Barry Crook.
©2008 Lee Archer and William Auerbach. Created by Lee Archer and printed by 1010 Printing (UK) Ltd in China . All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any informati on storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publi shers.
Published by: William Auerbach. Panzerwrecks. P.O . Box 2332 Monroe, New York 10949-2332 USA.
[email protected] Lee Archer. P.O. Box 164 Heathfield, Sussex TN218WA UK.
[email protected] 13 March 1944, Russian soldiers, ankle deep in mud, inspect a Panther Ausf.A left behind by the Germans in Uman, Ukraine . This is the same Panther featured in Panzerwrecks 5, at the top of page 54, and has the rare tow coupling introduced in November 1943. The distinctive horizontal 'Zimmerit' indicates it is a rarely photographed Demag vehicle . Uman was a popular site for Russian propagandists, and a harbinger of the German retreats to follow in the summer of 1944. RGAKFD
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A hobbled Pz.Kpfw.IV Ausf.H, circa 1943 production, made it only so far in the recovery process before being abandoned. It has the cylindrical 'Filzbalgvorschaltluftfilter' plus 'Zimmerit' but lacks the side vision ports in the superstructure. Oddly enough, the lid on the commander's cupola opens almost horizontally (compare to others in this book). Markings consisted of a simple cross and tactical number '533'. The two vehicles here
have been 'short-tracked' for two reasons: first so that the drive train, wheels and other parts didn't receive any further damage, and secondly because often without the tracks there was too much rolling resistance for the 'Zugkraftwagen' to overcome. RGAKFD
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A lesson in 'tactics and terrain' is being taught to an attentive student using visual aids such as this Pz.Kpfw.IV with its ghostly tactical number.
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1)( 'st machines failed when pushed beyond their limits, and these Panzers " ' ' ' ' I 'xception. They were run ragged churning through quagmires produced when ili l I I ' " I,d lly warm temperatures thawed normally frozen ground. The Pz .Kpfw.IV's above II II",
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Panth ers of SS-Pz.Rgt.3, 3.SS.Panzer-Division lie knocked out south of Ostburg (Polish n(J me Puttusk), Poland in October 1944. According to the photograph 's caption they were kn ocked out by Soviet artillery, although it is quite possible that this was a collection or n' p(Jir ce ntre as all of the tanks have some sort of running gear related problem. The close
" 1\ l' I .SrI .'1 fljr 7.62cm Pak36 sits on a railway wagon in Odessa, Ukraine, March 1944. The ',( Iliffy C() oIl of whitewas h ha s worn off of the gun barrel and wa s not applied at all on the Il.dk"lIk n' lI l on th e hull sid e. Spare t rack has been fixed across the front of the 14.Smm
thick armour of the fighting compartment. The only unit equipped with these vehicles in the H.Gr.A sector was Pz.Jg.Abt.72l. RGAKFD
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the gunshield is a l~lI ss i ;"HI tro phy id(·lll il i( .ll ioil '1111111" '1 N! " " II,,, lilll lll 1"i,\II, i lll 11 11 engin e cornpJr trn c nl ;"\ lId Ilw w ilf' llil('"d( 'd .1111'111111111' vI' I, It III i" lIi l l lll Wlfl llll llllli lll1
111 11 11 ,11 ,·x.lIllpl( · of il Panzerjager II fur 7.5cm Pak 40/2 (Sd.Kfz. 131), photographed in 1'1 "V I" 1' )11 ' •. 11)(' 1), II; ual sight, especially at this point in the War. A gr.Pz.Bef.wg.Ausf.K (Sd.Kfz.267 or
'(, ,) Jl hotographed near Lake Balaton in 1945. The only reported loss of a Pz.Bef.wg. II I in 11 " I" 'I-iod 15 January to 15 March 1945 was from l.Panzer-Division. The small hatch on
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the turret roof for the 'Kurbelmast' is open and the vision port on the turret side is missing. The two vehicles in the background are a Jagdpanzer 38 and a Sturmgeschutz III.
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burned away. The vehicle lacks the rear spade, but has the mounts for it at the bottom of the rear plate. It is unusual for a recovery vehicle to have a tactical number; this one appears to have '502' painted on the side. TsAMO
Northwest of Nagy-Perkata, Hungary, is a Bergepanther that, according to the caption, was cic-' ing !>pcl re track links. The length ofthe Tiger's gun barrel is quite obvious in I ili th eir tank into t he designat ed asse mbly area, perh aps self con scious about the tracks of Ru ssian tanks th at cover their vehicle. LVKFFDA 1-152 (N. Karmazinskis)
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Kurland is the westernmost part of Latvia, and juts into the Baltic :,[111 II Bay of Riga . If you looked at your right hand, Latvia would be the ti p \1 1V"I right thumb. Lithuania would be below the knuckle, and Germany w(lil hl l the wrist . Russian controlled territory in early 1945 would be th e rest. \d Ylil' hand. The German force s in Kurland withstood six separate Russian o fl L' II I.I ~ , during the war and, at the time of surrender, approximated 200,000 GI' lln " troops were still isolated there, Hitler having refused to evacuate th enl willi they could still draw Russians force s away from Berlin. Although th ey n d ~~1 01 the inferno of Berlin, they faced captivity in Russia . Here the decora t ed 1' !l 1 commander salutes. LVKFFDA 1-152 (N. Karmazi rliill(' )
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/\11 impressive line up of Pz.Kpfw.IV's, some draped with covers as if their crews would soon Il'turn. For reasons unknown, tank number '404' has had three bolts welded to the turret I(Jof and it looks like dirt has been shovelled onto the roof of the driver's compartment. Not e that the doors on the turret skirt armour have had their inner faces camouflaged
to match the outside scheme, and th at several track links are sandwiched between the
'Schurzen' and turret side. Adding interest are two pairs of socks draped on the gun barrel.
The second and fifth vehicles in line have shallow boxes on their roofs.
lVKFFDA 1-152 (N. Karmazinskis)
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These vehicles are believed to have belonged to 12.Panzer-Division based on its status 1 Mun-Hummel, 10 Wespe, and 2 Mun-Wespe. Note the metal frames built above the
report dated 1.3.45, which recorded the following AFVs : II./Pz.Rgt.29 (5 . - 8. Kp) had 61 fighting compartments of several of the 'Wespe'. The Beute panzers shown here (T34's,
Pz. IV L/48. 1 Pz . IV L/24, 2 Bef.Pz. III, and 3 Pz. III Scm L/60. Pz.Jg.Abt. 2 (1. + 2. Kp) had 22 SU8S and Sherman) could have belonged to any of several units in Kurland.
4x LVKFFDA 1-152 (N. Karmazinskis)
Jagdpz IV L/48 and 6 StuG III (no other unit in Kurland had these tank destroyers.) l./PzArt. Rgt.2 had 2 Pz. IV L/48, 1 Pz. IV L/24, 2 pz III Scm L/60, 1 PZ.Bef. III Scm L/42. 3 Hummel,
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