German Armored Forces & Vehicles

Panthers' graveyard, 1945.

Unknown (?Soviet) author.

PzKpfw V Panther tanks, abandoned at the end of the battle for Vienna, 1945. While I have no hard data for this, anecdotal evidence suggests that there was something of a surge in German production at the very end of the war, leading to some rather odd incidents. One story I recall is of a young Waffen-WW sturmfuhrer who was underpinning part of the German retreat into Germany (Eastern Front) in 1945. He was astounded to be presented with about 20 factory-new Panther Gs as replacements. Since he had no fuel to power his existing tank complement, he asked whether a fuel consignment came with the Panthers - no dice. All he could do was wait until the last Heer unit came through his post (saying that "only Ivan was behind", at which he destroyed his heavy equipment (including the brand-new Panthers), parade his troops for a final address, and send them home. An anecdote, but not the only similar one from this time. Best regards, JR.