"Allies Using Captured German/Italian Tanks" Topic

Reading German Shermans was very interesting, but are there examples of the Allies using captured German or Italian tanks. I remember seeing Italian tanks with Allied markings from the desert campaign, but was this a common practice? I do not recall seeing German tanks being used on the Allied side, although I seem to recall seeing photos of German tanks with Russian markings.

I do remember seeing photos of the Allies using captured German and Italian trucks, but these again were during the desert campaign.

Mostly curious…

E.H.

As I mentioned in the thread mentioned I created one on another discussion site on the subject. You might like to check it out. There is somewhere around 14 pages of pics and info. :). There are many instances of Allied troops using all types of Axis armored vehicles with the Soviets even having whole units using them. Especially the Panther. Robert

link

Here is the link

link

And a companion thread I created on Polish use of German Tanks and AFVs captured in the Warsaw Uprising 1944

link

Didn't Oddball buy a Tiger?

The Australians used alot of captured M11/39 and M13/40 Italian tanks early on in the Western Desert in their divisional cavalry squadrons and at Tobruk. There are quite a few pics of them with the large white Kangaroo insignia in the turrets and hulls. Robert

The soviets were the largest users of Axis equipment.

During the war, the Soviets captured large numbers of enemy armoured vehicles, mostly PzKpfwIII, PzKpfwIV (Russian designation T-3 and T-4), PzKpfw38(t) and different self-propelled guns. Some of them were pressed into temporary service because of their small caliber armament and lack of ammunition and spare parts, some were used for training. Sometimes captured tanks there were used in a different temporary units or as a separate tanks. Diversion raids and recon operations were usual – in such cases the tanks carried original German insignias. But for a regular service the Soviet simbols or the red flag were applied to prevent friendly fire (note – the Soviet made tanks usually carried only unit/vehicle numbers only, and no any stars and so on, ecxept the Guard's sign in the Guard's units).
The Soviets liked to use T-3 as a command vehicle, because of their great comfort and an instruments (optic and radio). Pz.V Panther (T-5 Pantera) tanks were mostly used for anti-tank purposes. Also the Soviets used different halftracks and armoured cars. In USSR even worked some factories which repaired the broken captured tanks. Sometimes these tanks were reequiped with the Soviet engines or armament. Vehicles which were unuseful for Soviet army (for example PzBfwg and French tanks) were rebuld and/or rearmed.

Date Unit Ally vehicles Axis vehicles 27th jun 1941 8 mech corps ? 13 Pz.III and Pz.IV (T-3 and T-4) 5th May 1942 150nd tank brigade 1 KV, 7 T-34, 7 BT, 18 T-26, 1 T-40, 1 T-60 1 Pz.III (T-3) 25th July 1942 32nd tank regiment ? 1 Pz.II (T-2), 3 StuG.III (SU-75) March 1942 121st tank brigade ? 3 Pz.III (T-3) 14th May 1942 52nd tank brigade 5 KV, 2 T-34, 13 T-60, 3 M3 Stuart, 1 Valentine 1 Pz.IV (T-4) 5th July 1942 107th separate tank batalion 1 KV, 2 T-34, 1 BT-7 2 Pz.III (T-3), 1 Pz.IV (T-4), 3 StuG.III (SU-75), 1 Pz.I (T-1) 1st August 1942 "B" separate batalion 9 T-60 12 Pz.III (T-3), 7 Pz.IV (T-4), 2 StuG, 10 Pz.38(t) 1st April 1943 151st tank brigade 3 M3 Stuart, 25 Valentines 4 Pz.IV (T-4), 5 Pz.III (T-3), 2 Pz.II (T-2) 1st April 1943 266th separate tank batalion ? 4 Pz.III (T-3) 6th May 1943 62th separate tank batalion 3 T-34, 15 Valentines 2 Pz.III (T-3), 1 Pz.IV (T-4) 30th May 1943 75th separate tank batalion 15 Valentines 9 Pz.III (T-3), 1 Pz.IV (T-4) 10th June 1943 29th tank corps 129 T-34, 84 T-70, 1 KV 1 Pz.38(t) 7th July 1943 244th tank regiment 16 M3 Grant, 2 M3 Stuart 9 Pz.III (T-3), 4 Pz.IV (T-4) 10th August 1943 1938th self-propelled gun regiment 2 SU-122, 2 SU-76 2 StuG.III (SU-75) 28th August 1943 separate company, 44th army 1 M3 Grant, 1 M3 Stuart 13 Pz.III (T-3), 3 Pz.IV (T-4) 4th September 1943 1448th self-propelled gun regiment 14 SU-76 and SU-122 1 Pz.III (T-3) 11th November 1943 213rd tank brigade 4 T-34 11 Pz.IV (T-4), 35 Pz.III (T-3) November 1943 53rd Guards tank brigade ? almost 30 halftracks 27th July 1944 28th Guards tank brigade 32 T-34, 13 T-70, 4 SU-122, 4 SU-76 2 Pz.VI (T-6 Tigr) 1st September 1944 5th Guards tank brigade 23 T-34, 47 T-70 2 StuG.40, 1 Pz.IV (T-4) 10th September 1944 separate batalion, 5th Guards tank brigade 32 Hungarian vehicles 30th October 1944 8 Turan, 2 Toldi, 3 Zrinji, 2 Nimrod 16th July 1944 511th tank regiment 2 T-34, 17 Valentine 4 Pz.V (T-5 Pantera) 3rd March 1945 991th self-propelled gun regiment 16 SU-76 3 Pz.V (T-5 Pantera) 7th March 1945 separate self-propelled gun regiment, 27th army ? 8 Hummel (SU-150), 6 Nashorn (SU-88) 12th March 1945 united tank batalion, 27th army 5 SU-76 1 Wespe (SU-105), 6 StuG (SU-75)

link

Robert

I reformatted Kaoschallenged's list. Because it's very wide, I posted it as a new thread:
TMP link

It is interesting just how unimpressed the Soviets were with the mechanical quality of the German "cats." The first evaluation of the VIb at Kubinka expressed astonishment at the poor quality of the manufacturing.

Similarly, the French extensively tested the PZ V after the war and discovered that the final drive had an average life of 150 km. Given that swapping out the drive took nearly a week, this was no minor flaw.

Good guns on the cats, however.

Cookoo!

Tally Ho!

The reason the final drive on the Panther was so poor was because it was designed for a tank 15 tons lighter!

Damon.

Also at least a few SdKfz 251s and StuG IIIs were used by US troops.

Damon.

In one of our Time Portal Passages issues had a list of uniform and vehicle examples for painters based on several pictorial History books including the VFW series.

Several examples of Americans driving German vehicles and tanks were given.

The most unusual picture was of a german Stuka captured in North Africa. It had italian markings on it but british markings had been added at the extreme wing tips as well.

You should be able to find the books mentioned below in just about any US library. Fortunately I have these in a collection from my unkles and fatehr who fought in WW2 and Korea.

i took a break and found the article. here are some examples given in the article.
US Army Pictorial History: Med volume
Pg 43 the earlier mention stuka picture
Pg 56 A M3 Honey that had been recaptured from the Axis. It had been painted sand camo and a German dross added to the front
Pg 165 shows two captured Italian aircraft with British markings.
Pg 222 & 376 show US troops firing German artillery guns
Pg 339 French troops using a german Pak 40 in street fighting
Pg 358 US Japanese-American troops riding in a German Schwimmwagen with US circle star painted on teh front and side

Us Pictorial History Germany-France volume
Pg 115 US paras in a volkswagen staffcar
Pg 221 & 366 US crews firing German 88 as Arty & AT guns
Pg 350 US troops in a German Halftrack with US stars added to it
Pg301 US troops riding a german Tiger II. the US star on the front is very large but oainted upside down. The stars on the side are correct.

VFW Pictorial History: Europe
Pg 71 greek troops driving a captured Italaian two-man tankette

Us Pictorial History: japan
Pg 279 US troops firing japanese artillery
Pg 367 Filapino troops using captured japanese and some US equipment.

Plenty of pictures of Allies using each other's equipt. Pictures of French ausing US tanks in Europe and British usinf Honey's in the pacific. Chinese troops usinf M4 Shermans Austrlain Air firce using US Tomahawks in North Africa.

Thanks Andrew :). I didn't realize how it came out till it was too late LOL. Robert

RudyNelson. Check out the thread I mentioned above and you will see all kinds of Axis Equipment being used :). Robert

Just a cautionary note that google has flagged the WW2F site that Kaoschallenged pointed to as an attack site. That's not to say that the owners are up to anything, but that the site may have been compromised and nasty stuff loaded onto it

Here's the summary:

link

- Bob

It has?? Crap. Must have happened recently. Thats weird. And sucks too. I go back there every once in awhile since it kind of like a storage site for pics and info I have found LOL. I was posting there and still am a member there for almost 2 years.Thanks for that. I wonder if they are aware of it? Robert

Went over to take a peek on what they had to say. There was a thread discussing the problems. It seems to be coming up on Firefox but not IE 8 for some reason. I guess it was or is really screwing them up. Really sad as its a good site. Robert

Back to the subject at hand LOL. Robert

"It is suggested to the Red Army to use such German tanks as StuG III and Pz IV due to their relability and availability of spare parts. The new German Panther and Tiger can be used until they broken down without trying to repair them. They have bad engines, transmission and suspension." – Department of Weaponry of the Red Army, late 1944.

Under new command,

"Cuckoo", a Panther G in British service

By T.J.M. Schers, The Netherlands

Published originally in "De Tank" Issue 103, August 1993.

Translated by Rob Plas, notes in text by the author

All trough the history of warfare, soldiers always knew how to make good use of captured equipment. Clothing, food, and inevitably, weapons. The latter were especially attractive if they were easier to obtain and of better quality then the ones issued to troops originally. Using the enemy's weapons did mean on the other hand that ammunition and spare parts were sometimes hard to get, and in the case of vehicles, one had to be careful not to be shot by friendly forces.

During World War II the German forces made extensive use of captured equipment. (1) This started directly after invading Czechoslovakia and it also took place in France, Belgium and The Netherlands. I am referring to vehicles like the LT vz.38 Skoda, later used by the German 7th and 8th armoured divisions, the French Char B1bis, the Somua S-35 and the Renault R-35. [The Germans made good use of some DAF M38 armoured cars, captured in The Netherlands during the Blitzkrieg in 1940, and transported to the USSR, and deployed in the fights against the soviet partisans {RP}]
The Russian T-34 tank was used a lot by the German forces, usually with very large white Balkenkreuz markings to prevent being shot by their own comrades. In North Africa also, British and American equipment and vehicles were used by the German forces, often to compensate for the huge shortages of material.

Also in the ETO, German forces made good use of captured vehicles, a very well known example being the use of American vehicles by Otto Skorzeny's 150th armoured brigade during the Ardennes offensive. (2)
Although not as often as their counterparts, the allied forces also used captured vehicles. First they had good, reliable resources and resupply, and more than enough armoured vehicles of their own. Second the almost impossible to get spare parts and ammunition played a role in this. Last but not least, the bigger chance to get shot by the own troops was also not an encouraging thought.
Some of the vehicles that did see action under allied flag were Sdkfz 250 and 251's, as well as a battery of 3 – 88mm Flak 18 Anti-Tank guns, in the southern county of Limburg, The Netherlands. (3)
There was very little deployment of tanks and tank destroyers. Known is the use of a Stug III by American soldiers from the 104th Infantry Div. (4) It is therefore worth noticing that the extended use of a Pzkpfw V Panther Ausf G must be considered as a rare event. This Panther was captured and used by the British 6th Guards Tank Brigade, and often photographed. This Panther can be a very interesting subject in scale. (5)

History

In the aftermath of the failed Arnhem offensive the British 6th Guards Tank Brigade was engaged in heavy fighting to gain control of the small Dutch village called Overloon. It was during these fierce battles that tankers of the 4th Armoured Battalion – Coldstream Guards, one of the 2 tank battalions in the brigade, entered a large barn, only to find a Panther tank of the PanzerAbteiling 2, Panzer Brigade 107. This Panther was in running order and quickly put to work in the staff units of the brigade. The use of this captured vehicle was a unique event, so it appears more than once in the official history of the brigade. (6)

After some adjustments were made to the appearance of the vehicle (more about that later) this Panther was used to help the artillery barrage on the Geijsteren castle, just north of Venlo, on the Meuse River. The tank was christened "Cuckoo", which seems to be an appropriate name for such a strange "bird"

In the artillery bombardment on the castle, Cuckoo proved to be a worthy newcomer. After an infantry attack at the castle failed, the decision was made to bombard the castle with artillery. This barrage proved to be not very successful, as the relatively small target was hard to hit with artillery. The 75mm tank guns and 6-pounders were more accurate, but too light to do real impressive damage to the thick walls of the castle.
The Panther tank on the other hand did an outstanding job: " The 95mms were a great success, but "Cuckoo", [………], did best of all, hurling its shells through selected windows with unfailing precision."
Later, during operation "Blackcock" (In an area to the south of Venlo) Cuckoo was deployed again, now to join in on an attack on the German town called Waldenrath. Cuckoo preformed very well again, it's mobility was especially noticeable.

The historian wrote; "The road conditions were abominable all day, but whereas the Churchill's and the Crocodiles, with no ice bars, slid into ditches at every possible opportunity, "Cuckoo" the Panther, eight tons heavier, trundled merrily along with no difficulty at all."

The next theatre of operations for the 6th Guards Tank Brigade,and the Panther was during operation "Veritable", better known as the battles for the Reichswald. Here Cuckoo's career ended in a sorry way. When heading towards the east of Kleve in Germany the fuel pump broke down, and due to lack of a spare pump the tank had to be abandoned.

Cuckoo originally belonged to the German Panzerbrigade 107, a unit that only saw action in the Dutch county of Limburg, and the eastern part of Noord Brabant. (Roughly the area between Eindhoven, Venlo and Roermond, in the south east of The Netherlands. [RP])
After retreating behind the River Meuse (Maas) the remains of this brigade became the base where around the new 25th Panzergenadier Div. was formed.
For references about the appearance and deployment of the Panther tanks in this unit I would like to recommend the articles I wrote on the subject, and that were published in the MIP, the magazine of the Dutch chapter of the IPMS (7)
This unit mainly consisted of Panther Ausf G tanks, the earliest version. These tanks (and this includes Cuckoo) were not yet supplied with the so-called "chin" on the gunmantlet (Geänderter Walzenblende in verstärkter Abweisserleiste) nor the raised air inlet fan cover on the left hand site of the engine deck. Pictures of the tanks in this unit show them in an overall sand yellow base coat, or in a "cloud shaped" 3-colour scheme. The photographs also depict a 3-digit number on all (?) tanks, combined with a black cross.

Camouflage and markings

It is not clear if, and how this Panther in British service was camouflaged, but from the original pictures it is clear that Cuckoo was painted in a single colour. Which colour is not absolutely sure. The original dark yellow (Dunkelgelb) was acceptable, presuming that nobody bothered to completely repaint the vehicle, but as there are no signs of digits and/or crosses on the tank, nor visible proof of any local shade variations, which would most certain be visible if these were covered with fresh paint, it can be assumed that Cuckoo was repainted overall in the same shade (Khaki Drab) as the Churchill's in the unit. This would explain the lack of German markings, and a paint job like that wouldn't be a problem at all for the brigade's workshop units. When comparing the shades of grey on the original black and white prints I can't see any significant differences in tone. I therefore support the idea of Cuckoo being repainted, before put to work for it's new owners. (8) (Repainting captured vehicles was a common practice in World War II; even civilian cars got that treatment [RP])

If we let the subject of repainting rest, the first thing that was changed in the appearance of Cuckoo was applying a large white 5-pointed star in a white circle, the allied (air)recognition sign. (Often this sign was not used, or hidden, because enemy gunners used the star as a bulls-eye for easy aiming) The star was applied to both sides of the turret. The remaining markings related to the vehicles position in the British organisation: unit number, vehicle number and the name Cuckoo. The Unit serial number used by the Coldstream Guards was 153. This number was applied to the toolbox on the right hand side at the rear of the tank in white paint. Normally this number was painted on a background that consisted of a green field with a horizontal white band below it. This to show that the brigade was part of the second British Army corps.
I didn't find any proof of these markings on Cuckoo. The tank was named Cuckoo, and this name was painted on both lower sides of the turret, in white or another light colour. On the picture the tone looks a little darker than the white star. (9)
"Cuckoo" wasn't just made up; all vehicles in the staff unit had bird names. The CO's tank was named Eagle, his warrant officer's tank named Seagull. The ACV (Armoured Command Vehicle of 2nd I/C (second in Command) was called Vulture, while the troop commander drove Owl. (10)
Cuckoo was deployed to the bombardment of Geijsteren castle looking like described above. During operation "Blackcock" in January 1945, the roads and fields were covered with a thick blanket of fresh snow, so the unit's vehicles were camouflaged to cope with that.

Some of the units Churchill tanks were covered with white sheets; Cuckoo received a rough coat of white chalk. On the picture you can see this, the hull seems to have got a even coat of white, whilst the turret received some broad white bands on the forward half it. Clearly visible on the original print is the side of the gun mantled, which was still in its original colour. On it's next battles during operation "Veritable", Cuckoo is back in green again, only the serial numbers on the back seems to have disappeared totally.

twenot.nl/cuckoo.htm

"Small number of captured Panthers was also pressed into service by British (e.g. Ausf G "Cuckoo" from 4th Battalion of 6th Coldstream Guards Tank Brigade, North-West Europe, 1944/45), Canadian, French and American units and three were used by the Polish Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, against its former owners. Also small number was captured and operated by the French resistance in mid 1944. They took part in fighting in the Rouen area, where two of them were destroyed on August 30th of 1944 by Tigers from sSSPzAbt 102. This was probably the most interesting combat situation involving Panthers."

link

Robert

Polish use of German Tanks and AFVs captured in the Warsaw Uprising 1944

Of course, that was the only source of tanks they had.

3 x captured Pz III were used for training by Carpathian Polish Lancers in N. Africa, 1942

LOL Im going to have to go and retrieve more of the info I have on the other threads :). There is a pic of the3 Pz III used for by Carpathian Polish Lancers there. Robert

9 RTR had a Tiger in Normandy they had to leave it behind when a RE officer refused to let it cross his Bailey bridge (too heavy)

North Irish Horses pet panther "deserter"

"In the land of its origin, remaining Hetzers ended the war trying to cross demarcation lines at Prague to surrender to American forces. In Prague, where there was an anti-German uprising on the 5th of May, 1945, several tens of Hetzers saw action on both sides. Obviously, the German side had them at their disposal, and the insurgents obtained their examples from the factory depot, but these were mainly equipped only with machine guns. Significant fighting that had direct bearing on the Prague fighting, was carried out by the First Division ROA, led by General Bunacenko. This unit, composed of former Soviet POWs fighting on the German side, fought here on the side of the insurgents and effectively held back German progress over a span of two days. They had, among their strength, 10 Hetzers. The end of the war did not mean the end of the Hetzer."

link

Robert

At least one PzKpfw IV ausf. H was used by the Warsaw Tank Brigade of the 2nd Corps in Italy during 1944. Robert

A Italian CV L3/33 Tankette was also repainted and marked while put to use by a USAAF unit. There were also a few French vehicles that were recaptured from the Germans and put back into service including a FT-17. Robert

A more readable version of Kaos's list is at link

In regard of the Su-76i built on German chassis see – link

In the 1902rd SP AT Regiment on Sept,1,1943 were 16 SU-76i (operable). Also the 1901rd, 1903rd SP AT Regiments were equipped by them in Aug-Sept 1943. At the beginning of 1944 all SU-76i were transferred to training divisions

There were also 10 Su-122i's built on Pz-III and Stug 3 chassis with the M-30 122mm howitzer. According to the link above all were used in training units.

Such a Panhard 178 with a 5.0cm KwK L/60 gun was captured and used in 1944-1945 by the 1st GMR (Groupement Mobile de Reconnaissance) of the FFI (French Forces of the Interior). This unit later called 'escadron autonome de chars Besnier' (Besnier independent tank squadron) is equipped in December 1944 with :
1x Panhard 178 with a standard 25mm gun
1x Panhard 178 with a 5.0cm L/60 gun
2x French Unic trucks fitted with a 81mm mortar
2x StuG III
1x Tiger I
1x Tiger II
1x Panther
11x Panzer IV
1x Jagdpanzer on French Lorraine chassis
1x Panzerwerfer 42
1x SdKfz-7 with a 20mm Flak
2x towing halftracks
1x workshop truck
4x lights trucks
4x heavy trucks

link

Robert

When France fell in June 1940, the Germans took on a number of the Renault Char B1bis, modifying a goodly proportion as Flammpanzer B2(f) and sending same to the Crimea and the Balkans the following summer.

Fast forward to the events of June-July 1940, when a number of these Flammpanzer B2(f) fell into the hands of the FFI/Free French Forces now operating in earnest against the German forces remaining in French territory. They were used to reduce German strongpoints during the battles that followed, along with recaptured Char B1bis gun tanks, and other assorted AFVs German and recaptured French alike.

Note that a number of these Flammpanzer B2(f) were still very much in German service until the end of the war, including several that took on the Paras at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

I remember reading about the Flammpanzer B2(f)s being repainted in Olive Drab and marked with the white star. And in the "Then and Now" series of books, the one on Market Garden shows a photo of a captured Stug III being used as an FO by a British artillery regiment. Robert

"Of course, that was the only source of tanks they had."

If only the Soviets would have helped they would have had access to others rmaker.

German Panzerkampfwagen M14/41 736(i) (Italian Carro Armato M13/41) medium tank
Single tank captured.
It saw no service.

German Panzerkampfwagen V Panther
Two tanks were captured on August 2nd in Wola district.
Both were pressed into service by "Radoslaw" Group.
One was nicknamed "Pudel" / "Magda".
One was lost on August 8th and second on August 11th.

German Panzerkampfwagen IV or Panzerkampfwagen V Panther
One tank was captured on August 4th in Ochota district.
It was pressed into service by "Gustaw" Company.
It was lost on the same day.

German Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger
One tank was captured on August 4th in Ochota district.
It was pressed into service but was lost on the same day.

German Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer
Hetzer was captured on August 2nd in Srodmiescie district.
It was used as part of a barricade and kept in reserve.
It was nicknamed "Chwat".

Armored Cars

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

German Panzerspahwagen BA 202(r) (Soviet FAI) armored car
Single one captured on August 1st in Srodmiescie district.
Saw limited or no service with "Ruczaj" Battalion.

Soviet BA-20M armored car
Single one captured on August 1st in Srodmiescie district.
It was not pressed into service due to technical problems.

Polish Improvised Armored Car "Kubus"

Partially-Armored Car Chevrolet
Armored 3 ton Chevrolet model 157 bank truck used by German Postal service.
It was captured on August 24th in Srodmiescie district.
It saw service until mid-August, when it was damaged by a bomb.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Armored Personel Carriers

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German Sd.Kfz.251 Ausf D
Single one captured on August 7th in Starowka district.
It saw little or no service.
It was nicknamed "Starowka" ("Old Town").

German Sd.Kfz.251 Ausf D
Single one captured on August 14th in Powisle district.
It was in service with "Krybar" Group – Armored Platoon of Motorized Column "Wydra".
It was nicknamed "Jas" ("Johnny") and later "Szary Wilk" ("Grey Wolf").
It remained in service until the end of resistance in Powisle district on September 6th.

link

Robert

"They had successfully captured two Panther tanks, which were still in working order. Flying the Polish flag, one of them lumbered its way to the outskirts of the Ghetto quarter. A couple of units fled headlong at the mere sight of them, leaving hundreds of prisoners behind, who the Poles now freed. But the Poles, because of the practical considerations mentioned, did not dare to use their two tanks along the actual battle line. The German commanders therefore could disbelieve the story of the captured tanks and thus register them as "gutted." Despite minor successes on both sides, therefore, the general position in Wola remained basically the same as evening fell."

link

With the French it looks like for gaming you could have opportunities to use French operated German tanks and vehicles against German operated ones. Robert

The Yugoslavia also used Italian CV.33 & CV.35s in the 1st Tank Brigade in July 1944. Robert

The use of German tanks in Soviet army
wio.ru/tank/capt/capt.htm

Robert

Looks like the Soviets at least used them in addition, due there being a fair amount captured, to their own rather then using them because they had to. The Germans perhaps the opposite. They had to in order to make up for the lack of numbers of their own and to be able to use theirs elsewhere. Robert

For both the Russians and Germans, it was a case of want not waste not. They'd captured the vehicles and made whatever use of them seemed appropriate. The Russians used captured vehicles in front line combat units, whereas the bulk of captured gear in German service was used in second line and garrison duty. The Germans did of course continue to produce Czech tanks, but they weren't really 'captured'.

The Allied use of captured equipment was very patchy, and more on the basis of odd bits and pieces. The largest systematic use was the short lived usage of captured Italian tanks in North Africa.

Well certainly out of the Allies the Soviets had the largest systematic use of Axis Equipment for sure. Robert

ROTFL!!! I was looking around for some more information on the Soviet's use of the Panther and ran across this little lovefest page of the Panther. Robert

This was the sTatement that originally brought me to his page,

"The Russian tank soldiers envied the Panzer Vs as well, and would often just repaint captured or abandoned German Panthers so they could use them instead of their own T-34s. The Soviet Union actually even translated the entire German Panther Operation Manual into Russian so that Soviet troops could use captured vehicles because the Panthers were awesome and every other tank from WWII sucked compared to them."

link

Excellent, what a great historical analysis! Presumably that is why postwar Soviet, British and US tank designs were so influenced by the Panther….

IIRC the Sovs had a formed battalion of Panthers in service, as well as the ad-hoc acquistion of individual vehicles.

6 RTR (then part of 2nd Arm Div) equipped at least two of its squadrons with Italian M-13/40s at the time of Rommel's first offensive in North Africa.

I thought so too Martin LOL."Awesome" and "virtually unstoppable" LOL.

"Since 1943, Soviets captured some number of various variants of Panther, which equipped some of their tank units such as Lieutenant Sotnikov's Guard Company. This unit used captured Panthers as late as spring of 1945, when they had 3 Ausf As, while operating in Prague (Praga) – district of Warsaw. Soviets held Panthers in high regard and considered captured Panther to be a prize. Captured Panthers were then given to successful crews as a kind of reward. In order to keep them running captured German mechanics were pressed into service and in 1944, Panther's manual was printed in Russian for distribution among tank crews. Captured vehicles temporarily remained in their original colors but with markings of their new owners. Later, some were repainted in dark green and were marked with large tactical markings and white stars for indentification purposes. "

link

"The first unit of the Red Army, which used a captured Tiger, was the 28th Guards Tank Brigade of the 39rd army of the Belorussian Front. 27th December 1943 during the attack of the tigers of the 507th tank batallion (sPzAbt. 507) near to the village Sinyavki one German vehicle was hit and left by the tankers. The Russian tankers of the 28th Guards Tank Brigade succeeded in pulling the vehicle to the Russian lines.

And the commander decided to use the vehicle in combat (in this time the brigade had only 7 T – 34, 5 T – 70 and 1 SU – 122). The crew were six men – commander of the tank Guards Lieutenant Revjakin, the driver-mechanic Guards Seargent Kilevnik, commander of the gun – Guards Seargent Kodikov, the gunner and radio operator – Guards Sergeant Akulov.

In 48 hours the crew could learn to take over and handle the vehicle. The crosses were overpainted, on their place they painted two stars and wrote «Тигр». The first combat was 6th January 1944, when they fought together with one T – 34 and one T – 70 in the village Sinyavki, after digging the vehicles in, holding a fortified position.

Later the 28th Guards Tank Brigade captured another Tiger, 27th July 1944. The brigade had 47 tanks: 32 T – 34,
13 T – 70, 4 SU – 122, 4 SU – 76 and two PzKpfw. VI Tiger.These vehicles took part in the operation "Bagration" to liberate Belorussia. 6th Octber 1944 the tank brigade had 65 T – 34 and 1 PzKpfw. VI Tiger ."

Robert

BTW It seems that they may have fixed that site now. It no longer comes up as an attack site when I go to it. Robert

This thread has a nice pic of a Soviet Panzerjäger IV. Robert

link

Anyone have any info on the use of a Stug III by soldiers from the US 104th Infantry Div? Robert

"On the whole, however, the armies used little captured equipment except motor vehicles and such automotive parts as springs, gaskets, and bearings."
link

It does look like the Western Allies used less AFVs the the Eastern Allies. Robert

And of course there is way more use of German AFVs then Italian AFVs. LOL Robert