Image size: 1600 x 800 pixel. 278 KB
Date: Saturday, 14 October 1944
Place: Ployart-et-Vaurseine, Champagne-Ardenne, France
Photographer: Unknown
Panzerkampfwagen V Panther ausf A of 11. Panzer-Division after bombing by United States Army 9th Air Force, XIX Tactical Air Command (TAC). The British Royal Air Force Hawker Typhoons of the 2nd Tactical Air Force carried four 20mm Hispano cannon, two 1,000-pound (450 kilogram) and four 60-pound (27.2 kilogram) RB-3 rockets. The United States Army Air Force Republic P-47 Thunderbolts of the 8th and 9th Air Forces carried eight Browning .50 caliber machine guns, 2,500 pounds (1134 kilograms) of bombs and ten 5-inch (127mm) rockets. The Germans called them "jäger-bombern" or "jabos" (prounounced "ya-bows") for short. While the cannon and machine guns weren't powerful enough and the rockets and bombs weren't accurate enough to stop most German tanks, the sheer terror of a jabo attack could scatter ground forces and wreck soft-skinned trucks and horse-drawn elements, leaving the tanks unprotected. The rockets were the equivalent of a broadside from a naval warship. Panther turmnummer (turret number) 252, the 2nd vehicle of the 5.zug (5th platoon) of 2.kompanie (2nd company), has an impact from a bomb hit on the glacis (front hull) armor by the right tread and was knocked out during General George S. Patton's campaign to enter Germany through Lorraine. TAC flew 12,000 sorties in support of Patton in August 1944; weather had reduced operations to 3,500 sorties by November. The distance to the Normandy beaches and the lack of gasoline, ammunition and food kept Third Army from major offensive operations until the Ardennes Offensive in December 1944. The same day, the Douglas A-20 Havocs and Martin B-26 Marauders of the 9th Air Force were grounded because of bad weather.
Source:
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) 111-SC-329852
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47207/thread/1059293387/Re-+11-+Pz+Div+Panthers---probably+a+2-SS+Panther
http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0143
This is clearly a Panther ausf. G though.
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