gruene-teufel:shadows-rise-as-darkness-dies:gruene-teufel:bmashine:Germans visiting the British “She
gruene-teufel:shadows-rise-as-darkness-dies:gruene-teufel:bmashine:Germans visiting the British “Sherman” in search of trophies. Villers-Bocage, 1944They’re searching for “trophies” in the sense that they’re checking to see if that Firefly can still be used.In German and Russian parlance, captured and repurposed tanks are called trophies, which is different than what Americans think of when they hear that wordWell the Americans were pissing off their postal force by sending body parts back to the US so obviously. But in terms of reusing tanks at least in certain German units there was a serious distaste for doing that as it tended to cause issues in night combat. Either because you’d shoot a sherman full of germans or you’d not shoot a sherman full of Englismen. Either way, bad news for you.In my days of researching German Beutepanzer, I don’t think I’ve ever come across an account of their distaste for utilizing captured enemy vehicles, especially including armor. If anything it was the reverse, since captured enemy armor was able to given much-needed firepower to units that would otherwise be lacking in that regard.And regarding the Sherman in particular, German units delighted in being able to use that vehicle, since it was an all-around good tank and fulfilled just about every role the Germans could think of. Not only did Shermans supplant German armor, but they proved to be useful in armor recovery and infantry transport. I have several hundred photographs of Germans utilizing captured enemy armor, and the Sherman appears in several dozen. The only tank I can think of that would supersede the Sherman in ubiquity would be the T-34, in which case supposed German distaste is even more disproven – several hundred examples of T-34 were used to the fullest extent by the Germans (and their allies, for that matter), and they were so accepted by their new users that even manuals were issued in a limited run for them. Night combat was not shied way from in T-34s either, as proven by the exploits of Kommandoverband Jaguar.Photographs are included below.Re-captured M4A3 in the Baltics with a well-painted BalkenkreuzSoviet soldiers atop a captured M4A3 Sherman, complete with a new paintjob and Balkenkreuz, from 10. SS-Panzer-Division „Frundsberg“M4 Sherman used by 3. Panzergrenadier-Division in Italy, 1943Sherman Firefly used by s.Pz.Abt. 503 in NormandyAnother Firefly used by s.Pz.Abt. 503 in NormandySherman Bergepanzer used by s.Pz.Abt. 508 in ItalyKnocked-out Sherman Bergepanzer re-captured in Dasburg, 1945Sherman Bergepanzer used by StuG.Abt. 202 in Cassino, Italy, 1943German tankers of Kommandoverband Jaguar receiving instruction in front of two captured T-34/76sGerman tankers from Kommandoverband Jaguar in one of their T-34/85s. This tank and others would later be used during night operations.German tankers of Kommandoverband Jaguar in front of a T-34/85 with a suppressed MP 40A T-34 with improvised Schürzen supposedly taken from the armor plates of a disabled SdKfz 250 or 251T-34 from Panzergrenadier-Division GroßdeutschlandT-34 alongside Panzer IVs in 2. SS-Panzer-Division „Das Reich“Tankers applying stenciled numbers to their T-34German repair workshop lifting the turret off one T-34 while another is parked in the backAnd the list really goes on endlessly. There are hundreds upon thousands of examples of captured vehicles being used en masse by the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, and the practice became standard procedure, especially from 1942 onward. It was never discouraged or viewed with distaste. If anything, it was encouraged. -- source link