I'm building a Panzer II and want to depict it as abandoned due to taking a small shell to the turret and killing the commander. Would the Germans have placed any kind of marking on a vehicle as a way of honoring those fallen? It will be depicted as serving in Africa.

I don't think they would actually "mark" the vehicle, but they might take the dead comrade out and bury him next to the tank and mark the gravesite..
The only marking I have seen on enemy tanks were when the allies captured or destroyed one and they would put a sign or paint on it to claim it.

Below is my text from my reply to this query on Missing Links. I don't know which site you check most often - so I'll reply in both places.

Hey guys-

I have a picture (pg. 16, of sturmgeschutz III in action - by Squadron) that shows an early stug with a white plaque painted on the right side of the superstructure. The caption says, "The rectangle is a memorial plaque dedicated to three crew members killed on Sept. 4th 1941."

It is a small rectangular outline painted in white, with the three crewmember names and dates, painted inside the rectange in white. The background of the "plaque" is the base panzer grey of the vehicle.

I don't think this was a common practice - but it was done. I would think you could do your Pz II however you want.

Later-
Jeff

There is a picture in one of the Panzer Colors books (I think) that shows a memorial to a fallen crewman painted on a Panzer IV. One of the vision slots had been painted with the fallen tanker's name and other pertianant stuff. So, yes it was done; as to how often, I can't say.

Patrick