I first came across this bizarre vehicle after reading a tidbit about actions with it in Anzio and the Warsaw uprising. Was this strange weapon worth deploying? Achtung Panzer ! - Borgward IV
IMO no. They were used in Italy but there is virtually no reports of them being used in battle, for example if numbers of tanks were put out of action by there use as radio controlled bomb I think they would have been recognised as such. The Sdkfz 301 and the smaller Goliaths were a clever design to assist engineer troops in removing strong points and mine fields. whether it could be justified in a General war is debatable. Especially as Stug 3 and Tigers were used as control vehicles for these in Italy. The British tried something similar having obviously picked up on Goliath, The MLM (mobile land mine) after trials it was dropped, because it didn't work. The British also had huge numbers of Universal carriers had the concept of the larger Borgward BIV being viable I am sure the British would have used the Carrier in a similar way especially considering the preference for what became the Funnies. An explosive layer might have been viable at Dieppe to breach the street barrackades - however the Chruchill Goat charge layer, which was the British answer to this problem was never used. View attachment 5687
A little bit of further information some photos of Borgwards BIV being used in Berlin First two are in orginal configuration with charge bin fitted View attachment 5731 View attachment 5732 Two poor photos of the B IV converted to a Panzershreck carrier, considering that the Germans used captured Universal carriers in the PzJg role a better use of resources would have been a small carrier. View attachment 5733 View attachment 5734 There is a better front view of the Panzershreck B IV in the Thread
Tanks for the present - Around the World News - Croatian Times Online News - English Newspaper Startled builders unearthed a perfectly preserved World War II tank during building work on a new train station in the Austrian capital Vienna. The German-built Borgward IV was one of the first drive-by-wire radio controlled weapons which could deliver a devastating 1,000 lbs bomb blast by remote control.