Abandoned Königstiger of schwere Panzer-Abteilung 506

Image size: 2126 x 1663 pixel. 1.2 MB
Date: Thursday, 18 January 1945
Place: Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, Luxembourg
Photographer: Unknown

An Abandoned Panzerkampfwagen VI ausf B (SdKfz 182) Tiger II or Königstiger (Bengal Tiger) of Schwere Panzer Abteilung (Heavy Tank Battalion) 506, Sixth Panzer Army, is inspected by American soldiers of the 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division. Note the Tiger II's 88mm (3.46 inch) locked in the recoil position, destroyed by the retreating crew. The 35th Infantry Division was rushed into the area to stop the German offensive around December 20, 1944. On December 28, the Division had fought their way to Villers-la-Bonne-Eau, near Bastogne, attempting to relieve the 101st Airborne Division and elements of the 10th Armored Division. By December 31 the 137th Infantry had lost two companies captured by the 1st SS Panzer Division, attempting to retake the village after Bastogne's relief. The 137th had lost 200 men killed or captured. On January 10, the 137th retook Villers. The 506th was the only Heer (Regular Army) unit equipped with the Tiger II, as opposed to the Waffen SS Abteilungs in operation in Belgium. The unit had only operated Tiger tanks, and for the Ardennes Offensive, a fourth company, Schwere Panzer Abteilung Hummel, was attached operating Panzerkampfwagen IV ausf E Tiger Is. On January 17, 1944, as the Sixth Panzer Army retreated from American breakthroughs around Bastogne, the 506th was forced to abandon two Tiger IIs and one Tiger I. While individually superior to any Allied tank, the Tiger II consumed considerable resources and was yet another tank type that a strained German quartermaster corps had to supply with fuel, ammunition, and spare parts. The Tiger II had a range of only 90 miles (145 kilometers). In its rush to combat it suffered from mechanical reliability defects; most Americans saw abandoned, not destroyed, Tiger IIs. This was a blessing for the Americans, whose M4 Sherman medium tanks and M10 Wolverine tank destroyers, both armed with 3-inch guns, could not penetrate the 180mm (7 inch) thick frontal armor. Only the M36 Jackson, with a high velocity 90mm gun, could stop a Tiger II, and only at a range within that of the German tank. All of the American tanks and tank destroyers had armor that was easily defeated by the Tiger II's 88mm KwK 43 L/71 main gun. The Americans counted on their superiority in artillery and air power to destroy Tigers.


Source :
https://ardennes-breakthrough-association.com/tiger-ii-03-abteilung-506/
https://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii0149

U.S. M8 Greyhound Near the German Border

Image size: 1600 x 1320 pixel. 682 KB
Date: Friday, 26 January 1945
Place: Near the Luxembourg-German border
Photographer: Unknown

Near the German border. January 26, 1945. An M8 Greyhound of U.S. 80th Infantry Division. Three crew members wear the helmet Mk 1 for British motorcyclists (Dispatch rider). The soldier who climbs the vehicle carries a set of USA winter suit. The German sign at left prohibits stopping and parking. In the Battle of the Bulge, The 80th was moved northward to Luxembourg and was hurled against the German salient, fighting at Luxembourg and Bastogne. By Christmas Day, men of the 80th were side-by-side with the tanks of the 4th Armored Division, battering forward through murderous opposition to help the 101st Airborne Division, besieged in Bastogne. Over frozen, snow-covered terrain, the attack gained nine bitter miles despite constant machine gun and mortar fire. The next day, the gap between the rescuers and the besieged was narrowed to 4000 yards. On 28 December, the 80th broke through, bringing relief to the 101st before driving the enemy across the Sure to Dahl and Goesdorf, 7 January 1945, and across the Clerf and Wiltz Rivers by 23 January. On 7 February 1945, the division stormed across the Our and Sauer Rivers at Wallendorf (Eifel), broke through the Siegfried Line, pursued the fleeing enemy to Kaiserslautern, 20 March, and crossed the Rhine, 27–28 March, near Mainz.

Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80th_Division_(United_States)
http://www.panzernet.com/foro4/showthread.php?11073-Uniformes-mezclados/page3

Junkers Ju 52 After Landing on the Hartvigvann-Lake

Image size: 1600 x 1115 pixel. 399 KB
Date: Saturday, 13 April 1940
Place: Hartvigvann-lake, Narvik, Norway
Photographer: Unknown

Junkers Ju 52 g4e “DB+RB” of 3./KGr.z.b.V. 102 after landing on the Hartvigvann-lake north of Narvik, Norway. This aircraft landed there on 13 April 1940 with 10 other Ju 52 to bring in supplies during the fighting around Narvik. Because of lack of fuel and the deep snow only one Ju 52 was able to take-off from the frozen lake! The other aircraft sank when the ice melted. Between 1983 and 1986 four of these aircraft were recovered and later restored. This aircraft carried an Ace of Hearts emblem. Pilot was Feldwebel Kathmann and the flight engineer Feldwebel Härtelt. The name of the radio-operator is still unknown.

Source:

Luftwaffe im Focus - Edition No.1 2002

Soviet BT-5 Tanks Knocked Out During the Winter War

Image size: 1600 x 1092 pixel. 705 KB
Date: Monday, 1 January 1940
Place: Oulu, Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland
Photographer: Unknown

Knocked out Soviet BT-5 fast tanks (Bystrokhodny tank) are inspected by Finnish troops. The BT-5 was a derivative of the American Walter Christie designs, and was in production from 1933-1934. It mounted a high velocity 45mm gun and a ball mount machine gun. While the BT-5 outclassed its Japanese opponents in the Manchurian border clashes in August 1939, the Finns relied on highly mobile ski troops armed with British Boys 13.9mm (.55 inch) antitank rifles (called the 14mm pst kiv/37 in Finnish service) and captured Soviet weapons could maneuver around the tanks, which were unable to leave the few passable roads. The outnumbered Finns broke up the larger Soviet formations, seeding confusion and fear. These smaller groups (called "Motti" by the Finns) would then be cut off from assistance and annihilated. the Finns focused on the logistics columns, field kitchens and supplies, immobilizing the combat formations. During the Battle of Suomussalmi, the Finnish 9th Division of 6,000 men cut off the Soviet 163rd Infantry Division of 25,000 men and destroyed it. The Soviet 44th Ukrainian Motorized Infantry Division was sent to reinforce the 163rd, but on the Raate Road the Finns set up an ambush, cutting off units of the 44th and destroying them in turn. 

Source:

SA-KUVA 

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0051