Browsing the internet, i got to wikipedia where i stumbled upon this photo:
Now, the tank on the left is a Tiger, the one on the right a Nashorn tank destroyer, but for me the “mystery” is the one in the middle and the other in the background. The people in uniform are definately german. They look like Shermans, but in good shape. Is this a case of German’s using US army’s abandoned Shermans, or they just standing there?
Respectfully Kall
These are indeed intact “Shermans”, captured and used by German 3rd Panzergrenadier-Division.
Bundesarchiv - Bild 101I-313-1004-4A
Search Panzerkampfwagen M4 748 on Google Images. This is the official designation of captured USA M4 Sherman pressed into Reich service.
A handy site to look at just what the Wehrmacht used in WW2, I was surprised at some of the armoured vehicles used.
Deffinately it’s surprising that the german army used so many abandoned vehicles(even in 1942) when they supposedly win the war.
Nontheless it is very interesting(and very helpfull site)!
The Germans could not produce enough vehicles to replace battle losses never mind increase the amounts in units - even with production from the occupied countries.
This forced them to utilise every chassis and vehicle they could - whether suitable or not and no matter what the spares situation or logistics of getting parts to the units were.
The Germans had lots of small production runs of vehicles - sometimes just a few armoured vehicles up to a dozen or two - then issued for combat - with attendant supply problems.
As stated, the Germans made good use of captured equipment, calling tanks pressed into service “beutepanzers”. Here’s some info on American panzers in their use: http://beutepanzer.ru/Beutepanzer/us/us-trophy.htm
Wow, I find this interesting…Germans call Sherman tommy cookers but used Sherman themselves.
I know Tigers were captured. Were they reused by the allies?
The Germans were still using FT tanks in 1944 in France and the Balkans alongside H35/38, Char B1 (or B2), they had no compunctions against using captured vehicles as they had an inability to produce enough of their own.
The British Guards Armd Bde famously used a captured Panther ‘Cuckoo’ for a while but in most cases the Western Allies did not use captured vehicles near the frontline - too much risk of ‘blue on blue’
