German Tank Convoy Near the Soviet Border

Image size: 1600 x 1014 pixel. 367 KB
Date: Saturday, 21 June 1941
Place: Romania
Photographer: Kriegsberichter Horst Grund

This photo was taken by Kriegsberichter Horst Grund and shows a convoy of Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf.F1 on their way to the Eastern Front, 21 June 1941. These panzers used Dunkelgrau Nr.46 camouflage paint all over the body. The Germans had begun gathering their troops near the border with the Soviet Union, even before the military campaign in the Balkans had ended. As of the third week of February 1941, 680,000 Wehrmacht soldiers were gathered in the Romanian-Soviet border region. In preparation for the attack, Hitler moved more than 3.2 million German soldiers and 500,000 other Axis troops into the border area; sending innumerable aerial reconnaissance missions over Soviet territory; and piling up supplies in the East. Although all these things did not escape the observations of the Soviet High Command, but their dictator, Stalin, considered that it was merely an overly excessive concern. He did not believe that the Germans would attack the Soviets only two years after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement, and this resulted in the slow preparation of the Red Army. Even so, Soviet military officials themselves never believed that the Germans would continue to be their "loyal" allies. Marshal Semyon Timoshenko once said that Germany was the "strongest and foremost enemy" of his country, and from the beginning of July 1940 the Red Army Chief of Staff, Boris Shaposhnikov, wrote a paper predicting that the Wehrmacht would attack the Soviet Union from three directions - which turned out to be the exact same way the German would choose a year later! To cover up his intention, Hitler leaked to Soviet intelligence the plans for Unternehmen Haifisch and Unternehmen Harpune, to support his claim that Britain was Germany's main target. In the attack on the Soviet Union itself, the invaders deployed an independent regiment, a motorized training brigade, and 153 divisions. The latter includes 104 infantry divisions, 19 panzer divisions, and 15 motorized infantry divisions which are divided into three Army Groups. This is added to the nine security divisions that would operate in occupied territories, four divisions in Finland, and two divisions as reserves which are under the direct control of OKH (Oberkommando des Heeres). These combat units will be armed with 3,350 tanks, 7,200 artillery guns, 2,770 airplanes (which make up 65% of the Luftwaffe's strength), around 600,000 vehicles, and 625,000 to 700,000 horses! To help Germany, Finland provided 14 divisions, while Romania mobilized 13 divisions assisted by eight brigades. The Axis' total strength was 3.8 million troops, stationed along a front that stretched from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea.

Source :
https://wehrmachtss.blogspot.com/2018/11/konvoy-panzer-iv-ke-front-timur.html

German Tank Crew Surrendered to New Zealand Troops

Image size: 1600 x 1158 pixel. 64.3 KB
Date: Wednesday, 3 December 1941
Place: Near Tobruk, Cyrenaica, Libya
Photographer: Unknown

A captured Matilda put into use by the German forces, is recaptured and its crew taken prisoner by New Zealand troops, 3 December 1941 during Operation Crusader. On 18 November 1941, Operation Crusader was launched to lift the Siege of Tobruk (the third such attack), under the command of General Alan Cunningham and the New Zealand 2nd Division (integrated into the British Eighth Army) took part in the offensive, crossing the Libyan frontier into Cyrenaica. Operation Crusader was an overall success for the British, although Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps inflicted heavy armour and infantry losses before its weakened and under supplied units retreated to El Agheila and halted the British advance. The New Zealand troops were the ones to relieve Tobruk after fighting around Sidi Rezegh, where Axis tanks had inflicted heavy casualties against the several New Zealand infantry battalions, protected by very little of their own armour. In February, 1942, With Crusader completed, the New Zealand government insisted that the Division be withdrawn to Syria to recover - 879 men were killed and 1700 wounded in Operation Crusader, the most costly battle the Division fought in the Second World War!

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_II
http://www.privateletters.net/allies_newzealand.html

6. Panzer-Division Panzer Convoy

Image size: 1600 x 1019 pixel. 609 KB
Date: October 1941
Place: Vyazma, Smolensk Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Helmut Ritgen

Blurred but interesting shot of 6. Panzer-Division's second echelon passing through the supply convoys of the first echelon - the large number of vehicles visible in this photograph is the reminder of the enormous logistic 'tail' necessary to keep an armoured division moving. The Panzerkampfwagen 35(t) on the right carries air recognition flag draped over the crew bedrolls on the rear deck. Note wooden stakes marking the edges of the rollbahn!

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection

Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen

Panzer IVs Pass Knocked Out Universal Carrier

Image size: 1600 x 1066 pixel. 437 KB
Date: Wednesday, 1 July 1942
Place: North Africa
Photographer: Unknown

Two Deutsche Afrikakorps Panzer IV ausf F including turmnummer (turret number) 413 pass a knocked-out captured Carden Lloyd Universal Carrier Mark 1 serial number T33417 armed with a Boys .55 caliber (13.9mm) anti-tank gun. The Universal Carrier is painted in the Caunter camouflage scheme, which used grey, blue, black, sand, and brown paint, or whatever was available, to form straight angular lines that were thought to "dazzle" whomever saw the vehicle in the desert, making it hard to judge size and distance. The Carrier has a Nazi flag over it to prevent an air attack by friendly German aircraft; this was common practice to mark captured vehicles with the Swastika flag. Panzerarmee Afrika had more captured vehicles than most other German units, because of lack of supplies. The Panzer IVs, especially the early ausf G models with a longer 75mm KwK 40 L/43 (3 inch) gun, contributed greatly to the Germans' mobility and firepower. Only the M3 Grant/Lee and the M4 Sherman tanks were able to penetrate their armor, and often only with a shot to the rear. The British cruiser tanks and the American M3 Stuart were totally unable to stop the Panzer IV. The Panzer IV ausf G could stop any Allied tank before the tank was in range. The British called the ausf G the "Mark IV Special." After the war the early versions were called the ausf F2. At the second Battle of El Alamein, Rommel had eight Panzer IVs with 75mm KwK 37 L/24 gun and 30 Panzer IV with a long 75mm KwK 40 L/43 gun. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0137

Panzerkampfwagen III During the Soviet Winter

Image size: 787 x 1600 pixel. 503 KB
Date: January 1942
Place: Soviet Union
Photographer: Unknown

Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf.H tanks of 11. Panzer-Division enter a Soviet village. The 11. Panzer-Division fought in Operation Barbarossa from June 22, 1941 to June 1944, then the division was transferred to France. It suffered heavy losses in both the Eastern and Western Fronts and was rebuilt several times with personnel and equipment from other units. 11th Panzer surrendered to the Americans in April 1945. Note the equipment covered by tarps and the extra track on the Panzer III ("21") in the background. Behind the front tank we can see the Ghost emblem of the Division. Crews would live out of their vehicle. The Panzer III in the foreground has a Swastika flag strapped on the turret for identification by German aircraft. Soon fighting would ground to a halt as both the Germans and the Soviets would seek to survive the Russian winters. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii120

Tanks of 6. Panzer Division Advance Toward Cassel

Image size: 1600 x 1094 pixel. 322 KB
Date: Sunday, 26 May 1940
Place: Cassel, Nord départment, Prancis
Photographer: Unknown

Noon, 26 May 1940: row of panzers from Kampfgruppe Esebeck/6.Panzer-Division/16.Armee/Heeresgruppe B advance to attack Cassel (background), defended by the British 145th (South) Brigade/I Corps; a Panzerkampfwagen II follows Skoda's Panzerkampfwagen 35(t). Note air recognition flags, and the detachable tactical number plate on the PzKfw II, '502'! Kampfgruppe Esebeck commanded by Oberst Hans-Karl Freiherr von Esebeck. They successfully established a bridgehead across the Saint-Quentin Canal south of Cambrai on 18 May 1940. On 19 May the Kampfgruppe established bridgeheads on Canal du Nord in co-operation with Kampfgruppe Ravenstein. The Kampfgruppe nearly reached the coast between Abbéville and Montreuil on 20 May, supported by the 57th Reconnaissance Battalion. On 22 May the Kampfgruppe captured Lumbres, 40 kilometers east of Calais. The Kampfgruppe successfully occupied Saint Omer on 23 May and continued advance towards Cassel. On 24 May the Kampfgruppe was withdrawn to hold a bridgehead on the Calais-Saint Omer Canal. During 29 and 30 May the Kampfgruppe supported the operations of Kampfgruppe Koll.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection
Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen