Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

Captured German ammo and tanks

Discussion in 'North Africa: Western Desert Campaigns 1940 to Ope' started by scrounger, Nov 14, 2011.

  1. scrounger

    scrounger Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2011
    Messages:
    165
    Likes Received:
    12
    View attachment 14909


    I found these pictures in one of dad's old albums considering he was in the Canadian Navy I don't know where these photos come from. They were taken in the North African Desert , the first one is captured German Ammo I'm guessing it's 88mm, the second photo is captured German tanks would anyone know what kind the 2 in the foreground are ?
     

    Attached Files:

    Kai-Petri and von Poop like this.
  2. Carronade

    Carronade Ace

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2010
    Messages:
    3,278
    Likes Received:
    846
    The tank in the center with 24 H $ on it looks like a Panzer III, based on the size and configuration of the road wheels. The one on the right is roughly similar but not identical and appears slightly larger, so I'll guess Panzer IV. Don't know what the thing on the left is, the road wheels look like a Panzer II but I believe that only had five/side. The front row in the background are Italian tanks, M13s?
     
  3. brndirt1

    brndirt1 Saddle Tramp

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2008
    Messages:
    9,713
    Likes Received:
    1,501
    Isn't that "thing" on the far left a "retriever" of some sort?
     
  4. Carronade

    Carronade Ace

    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2010
    Messages:
    3,278
    Likes Received:
    846
    I cheated and looked up Panzer II in wiki. There was an infantry gun version called 15 cm sIG 33 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen II (Sf) which was lengthened with a sixth road wheel on each side after unsuccessful attempts to mount the 15cm sIG 33 on a standard Pz II Ausf B. Twelve of these were sent to North Africa forming two six-gun companies for the infantry regiments of 90th Light Division. The sIG 33 had a slide or support under the barrel and almost the same length, that may be what we see in the photo, or a damaged vehicle may have been adapted for another purpose.
     
  5. scrounger

    scrounger Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2011
    Messages:
    165
    Likes Received:
    12
    Thanks; yes it has some kind of boom on it , no doubt they adapted some kind of tank chassis to use as a tank tow truck .
     
  6. von Poop

    von Poop Waspish

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2006
    Messages:
    6,300
    Likes Received:
    1,919
    Location:
    Perfidious Albion
    Cracking shots, scrounger (got any more? he asked hopefully).
    Does indeed look like a rather battered SIG 33 on the left, with rows of Eyetie M13s or M15s to the rear (and I'd say, yes, 88 shells).
    Cheers for posting 'em mate - you can't beat 'fresh' photographs.

    ~A
     
  7. leccy1

    leccy1 Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2011
    Messages:
    266
    Likes Received:
    23
    A better (More complete) pic of the vehicle on the left (15 cm siG33 auf Fahrgestell PzKpfw II)

    View attachment 14921

    Along with what became of one of them when the overloaded chassis broke down. (Mounted on a Pzkpfw III Ausf H)

    View attachment 14922

    I have seen some more pictures of a scrapyard with German and Italian vehicles in NA recently on one of the forums I am on, can't remeber where though, they were of Panzer III infront of a line of Italian tanks. Wonder of it is the same place, may shed some light on the pic.
     

    Attached Files:

  8. scrounger

    scrounger Member

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2011
    Messages:
    165
    Likes Received:
    12
    So it's not a sort of tow truck but howitzer mounted to a tank chassis, I heard that they would take obsolete tank chassis like the Panzer III 's and use them as mobile artillary. Would this have been shipped from Germany like this or is this something that they would adapt there ?
     
  9. leccy1

    leccy1 Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2011
    Messages:
    266
    Likes Received:
    23
    Posted on AHF

    Here is some additional information on the 15cm s.I.G.33 B Selbstfahrlafette.

    Alkett completed 7 in December 1941 and 5 in January 1942.

    Six were assigned to s.I.G.Kp.(mot S) 707 and Six were assigned s.I.G.Kp.(mot S) 708.

    The six for s.I.G.Kp.(mot S) 708 were shipped to North Africa first arriving at Tripoli in February 1942 while the six for s.I.G.Kp.(mot S) 707 were shipped to North Africa until April 1942.

    Both units were assigned to leichte Infanterie Regiments in the 90. leichte Division.
    The division reported that because of weak engines they were unusable in Africa. On 30 August 1942, a Waffenamt liaison officer reported that the vehicle was greatly overloaded and as a result the engine immediately overheated and the vehicle was too unmaneuverable.

    Panzer-Armee Afrika reported that 8 were still available on 23 October 1942 for the battle at El ASlamein but by 2 December 1942 it was reported that all 8 had been lost.

    British forces found six of them in a dismantled condition in a tank workshop that had been overrun.

    Source of above information is Jentz's Panzer Tracts No. 10.

    One suffered total transmission failure and due to no spare parts the gun was mated with a Panzer III Ausf H hull in a strange looking hybrid.
     
  10. TiredOldSoldier

    TiredOldSoldier Ace

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2008
    Messages:
    3,223
    Likes Received:
    452
    As the Pz IIIs in the foreground look to be long barreled Ausf J models I expect the tanks in the econdrow to be the contemporary M-14/41 not M-13/40, AFAIK no M-15/43 ever made it to North Africa and IIRC the M15 had the hatch on the opposite side from the tanks shown.
     

Share This Page