Hi,

Can anyone advise me if these 2 tanks we're used in the same Campaigns of WW2? (I E , the desert, the eastern front etc ?)

Thanks,

Chris,

The StuG IV wasn't developed until Dec '43 with the first few vehicles manufactured starting in the middle of that month. The German army only started to receive them only at the very end of '43 and early '44. So it's certain that no StuG IV was ever deployed to North Africa. (The unit issue / army acceptance history for the StuG IV is also fairly well documented and nearly complete.)

As to the rest of your question, it's chronologically possible that some old Pz IV D wound up either on the Western or Eastern fronts in the same area as some unit with StuG IV's. However, you'd have to do some good research to document if such an instance ever did occur.

Some older Pz IV's with the short L/24 guns were still serving as late as '44 and '45, but they were mostly in training units in the German homelands or occupied areas, so such tanks would most likely have wound up in combat in "last ditch" defensive efforts.

Many older Pz IV's were re-built bringing them up to Pz IV G/H standards during the middle-war years and sent back into combat, and such a vehicle could have survived and wound up in combat along side another unit with StuG IV's, but again, you'd have to do your homework to find such an improbable combination.

So, FWIW, it's possible that what you're asking could have happened. However whether or not it actually happened is much more difficult to answer. If you really want to find such an occurance, you've set before yourself a good and serious research project.

I can think of at least one short-barreled Pz IV that was photographed in Normandy (I'm not sure which Ausf. that tank was), but there may have been others. Coincidentally, the StuG IV was also in combat in Normandy, but I can't recall off the top of my head where the early Pz IV was found, so I can't say how close it could have been to the two units that had StuG IV's in that general region. Maybe this will give you enough clues and some threads to follow to see if the two vehicles could have been on the same ground there at the same time. (Remember, Normandy as a battle ground in the Summer of '44 covers a lot of area and several months.)

The two units with the StuG IV in Normandy were:

331. Inf. Div. / 331. Pz. Jg. Abt. (also know as StuG Abt. 1331 in some references). This unit was part of the 5. Pz. Army / Army Group B in Aug '44.

17. SS Pz. Gren. Div. (G.v.B) / 17. Pz. Abt. which served in Normany in Jun '44.

If I come across the short-barrled Pz IV in Normandy photo, I'll post a follow-up here, but someone else might know the circumstances for that vehicle and post the info sooner.

HTH,