"Anzio, German paint schemes, February 1944" Topic

getting ready to paint Panzer IV-H and Sdkfz 251 associated with Day 2 of Operation Fischang. Unit is supposed to be 3rd Panzer Grenadiers.

Any ideas on paint schemes for the tanks and halftracks?

Obviously Dunkelgelb base to start but how much green and red/brown to use? any photo links? Thanks!

I'm afraid 3rd PGD didn't have any Sdkfz 251s in its panzergrenadier regiments (maybe in the recce or pioneer battalions), nor did it have any Pz IVs.

The divisional panzer battalion (Panzer Abt 103) was equipped with Stugs. There is one photo of a 3rd PGD Stug knocked out at Anzio on page 149 of Panzertruppen. It is dunkelgelb with a light cross cross pattern of green (I guess) similar to the Ferdinands at Kursk. I can't make out any contrasting colour.

I've only seen a few photos of German vehicles in Italy (at least confirmed ones), and of those (mainly Panthers, IIRC) most/all of them seemed to be just plain dunkelgelb.

Not sure that is accurate, but that is the impression I'm left with.

Thanks I did find this photo
link

and this discussion.

link

As far as Panzer IV's assisting 3rd Panzer Grenadiers, there seems to be a factual basis for it as it shows up in a Anzio Scenario book for Day 2 of Operation Fischang when Germans beat back night attack by U.S. 179th.

Here is text from: link

In an effort to lessen the depth of the enemy penetration and to obtain a more defensible line, General Eagles ordered the 2d and 3d Battalions, 179th Infantry, and the 3d Battalion, 157th Infantry, to launch a counterattack on the night of 17-18 February. The 179th Infantry was to reach the west branch of the Carroceto Creek, an advance of 1,000 yards, while the 3d Battalion, 157th Infantry, was to reach a parallel position on the Albano road where it would be in position to tie in with the beleaguered 2d Battalion west of the highway. Maj. Asbury W. Lee's 191st Tank Battalion was to support the attack. At that time the 3d Battalion, 179th Infantry, had been reduced to 274 men and the 2d Battalion, even with Company A attached, was in little better condition. The two depleted battalions jumped off on schedule at 2300; the 3d Battalion, 157th Infantry, was delayed. Capt. Merle M. Mitchell, the battalion commander, had been wounded in the stomach and shoulder by enemy tank fire. Refusing to be evacuated he personally reconnoitered the route of advance and led his troops forward beyond the line of departure. Hampered by the necessity of using runners to maintain communications with his units and by pressure from the enemy, Captain Mitchell's attack did not get under way until 0030. The enemy had already succeeded in bringing up machine guns and consolidating his gains along the Albano road. The battalion encountered such heavy fire that it got no farther up the road than the junction with the dead-end road, almost 1,000 yards short of its objective. Lt. Cot. Charles D. Wiegand, commanding the 2d Battalion, 179th Infantry, found his left flank exposed to attack from the west. Momentarily on the defensive, the enemy returned to the attack. Company E was partly cut off by enemy tanks and enemy infantry who came down the Albano road in half-tracks and unloaded at the corner of the dead-end road. Colonel Wiegand was forced to order a withdrawal.

And thanks for notes on Camo… I went with Dunkelgelb with some green stripes and squigglies.!