Members of the German 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich", a crew of an Sd.Kfz. 161 Panzerkampfwagen IV medium tank, are photographed following the German offensive of the Battle of Kursk.

The Crew

US soldier examines a Panther PzKpfw V Ausf A medium tank, Normandy, summer 1944.  The original US Army caption described this as a "captured" vehicle; however, "destroyed" or "knocked-out" would appear more appropriate.  The Panther has clearly suffered a penetrating hit for a substantial armor-piercing projectile through its vulnerable side armor.  The consequences of such a hit for the crew would have been disastrous - the interior of the tank would have been filled with flying shot fragments and spall; receiving such a hit in this position would very likely have killed them all.  Best regards, JR.

Very dead Panther.

Troops and a civilian examine an abandoned German Mk IV tank with its gun protruding into a wrecked shop front in the village of Putanges, 20 August 1944.