Hello All,
Is this a weird turret? Note that the front turret plate appears to be a flat plate as opposed to the undercut triangle that I am sure was typical on ALL Panzer IIIs and IVs.

This works better:



While I have no concrete answer to the turret, this looks like the only option is Ausf. J kurz. Why? The Kugelblende for the hull MG is fitted on the thicker 50mm armourplate, instead of popping through Zusatz Panzerung as on the Ausf. G and H. It also isn't an Ausf. K or later, as those again had Zusatz Panzer in front of the hull.

Herbert's right, definitely a J. There aren't any features of an L present and the K's were actually M's that were converted to be Befehlswagens.

The turret plate is interesting but may be more a combination of lighting and the overcoat of a whitewash making it appear flat when it's really still got the angle present. The angle was changed on the Js to reduce the size of the triangle piece (and you're right about all IIIs and IVs having the angle throughout the production run), so it could just be a trick of the camera making it appear like it's straight when it really isn't. Either that or this one has suffered some damage to the turret that we can't see that has separated/skewed the plates...it's knocked out and looks very much worse for wear!

Hi
I think it has been damaged as it looks like you have a shadow under the front edge .

Is it possible that an internal explosion has popped the turret out of its ring just a bit, and that would affect what we would see?

Derek

Hey, check out the extra wide tracks. I've never seen that before on a Panzer 3.

The turret doesnt seem to be on a parallel with the camera (it seems to be pointing just behind the parallel), so if the little triangle plate that Pz 3s had on the turret was there, it would be visable as a clear angle on the line of the front plate. There is also a shadow from the turret cast on the top of the hull side plate which would say that the triangular plate was not there.

(I'm hoping that i'm talking about the same thing that you all are. lol)

Winterketten tracks on a PIII are just as common as they are on a Stug III.

I've just never seen tracks like that on a Pz 3 before.

Dean,

Yes, we're talking about the same thing...and I'm pretty sure we're seeing the results of extensive damage. There's been a fire (some of the road wheels have lost their rubber rims) and maybe even an internal explosion of some kind.

As for the Winterketten tracks, they are pretty cool...the first time I saw them I thought they were pretty unusual looking but their purpose was to reduce the ground pressure and provide better traction in snow/ice by adding the side extensions. Kind of like "duckbills" for US vehicles.