Hi guys-

While I was surfing the net yesterday, I came across some interesting pictures that I though might be of interest to some here. The sequence of photos documents an engagement between US tanks (I don't know the unit) and a Panther A in Cologne. I though that the sequence was interesting and sad at the same time..... a reminder of the brutality of war.

The first pic is a shot of two US Shermans (M4A1 and M4A3???). They were advancing down a rubble strewn street towards the huge cathedral in Cologne. There was a Panther A at the end of the street that was thought to have been knocked out. Suddenly, the turret swung and it nailed the M4A1 with it's first shot. The blast killed the driver outright and blew the TC out of the hatch. He slid down the rear engine deck and fell to the ground. Sadly, he later died of blood loss, as his leg was traumatically amputated by the force of the explosion. I think you can see the commander on the rear deck with part of his leg just above the turret in the photo....but i'm not sure...


Evidently a Pershing was on a parrallel street (around the Cathedral the steets radiated out like spokes on a wheel), and it nailed the Panther broadside with at least two 90mm rounds - both penetrating. The Pershing's shots killed the loader and the radio operator in the tank, while the commander, driver, and gunner escaped but were injured. They were later captured by US forces. This is a shot of the Panther ablaze....


And finally, a shot of the Panther in color. Note the size of the holes in the side, yowsa.....


Anyway - I found these interesting... If anybody knows what unit the US forces were from, I'd be interested in learning that...

Thanks-
Jeff

I think I remember seeing about this on the History Channel. They had actual footage of it. At least I think it was the same one. If it wasn't it was a very similar incident.

I think I read about this in a book not to long ago. If I'm not mistaken, it was the 3rd Armor Div. I'll try to check on that a little later {after football}.

HarryD

Yes, they have aired that on the history channel.
I believe Belton Cooper's book "Death Traps " covers this story.
They said, if i remember correstly that the Panther burned for 2 days.

Petro-
I seem to remember reading about this awile ago as well... If i recall, the Panther crew was tracking the Pershing waiting for it to stop before they fired. They didn't know that the Persing had a new gyroscopic site - it never stopped, just fired on the move and KO'd the Panther... Maybe that was a different engagement?? I don't remember where I read that..

Does anybody know what program the History Channel aired the footage in? I'd like to get a copy - you can oder videos of their programming from their website.

Later-
Jeff

Actually the footage starts with some hapless Sherman crew catching a 76mm round and catching fire. The TC hobbles out of the tank (one leg is gone), rolls off the back deck, hits the ground and eventually dies.

The Pershing is then brought up and it goes after the Panther. The Panther has driven in reverse to the front of the cathedral. The footage then shows the Pershing's 90mm round going through the front slope of the Panther. A crewman escapes and runs away. The Pershing then pops another round into the already smoking Panther. Footage concludes with the US soldiers checking out the Panther's damage.

Sobering images of the deaths of brave armor crewmen.

The footage shows up on at least two History Channel shows, Modern Marvels The Tank and in the series (Battlesomething) that highlights the allied vehicles that Ike says won the war (Sherman, Spitfire, DUKW, Liberty Ship). It's in the Sherman tank episode.

Yes, i know it had something to do with the Sherman, i just don't remeber the episode.
The Pershing pumped quite a few rounds into the Panther. It is amzing any one escaped.

This footage has showed up in lots of documentaries. I think the entire sequence was recently shown on a documentary on Combat Camera -- this show also had some awesome stuff from the Pacific. The History Channel also has a show about the history of the 3rd Armored Division that includes the footage.

Here's a great site with interviews of the tank crew and the photographer, as well as lots of stills: http://home.earthlink.net/~crcorbin/Cologne.html

Thanks for the link Hollowpoint - just what I was looking for :-)

Very interesting stuff.....