Allied tankers and myths about German tanks?

Interviews with tank crews and infantry both state that they considered any boxy object to possibly be a tiger. On one occasion they said they seen a boxy object thru the brush. They fired from teh Sherman and hit the target. The object burst into flames. It was a toilet of a French farmer.

Better safe than sorry I say.

 

If it burst into flames, as you say, how can you be sure that it wasn't, in fact a Sherman; that the French farmer was merely using as a toilet!

 

An early, manually-operated form of Sgt. York DIVAD?

 

New to the list,
to earlier quotes, alot of taks today are multifuel engines and can be converted by mechanics to run off other fuels. When allies captured german tanks perhaps they modified the engines accordingly. I know that Germans captured alot of allied tanks as well. That said it would make sense that fuel dumps would carry both gas and diesel to outfit trasport and supply vehicles as well. Which would make sense of Germans trying to capture fuel during the Battle of the Bulge.
As for tank punch, I talked to a Firefly gunner vet once and he said he was going through a town and met a panther traveling down a parallel street through an alley. They were quicker and knocked the panther out with one round. This is keeping in mind he hit it broadside and that the firefly had a very high velocity anti armour round.
As for confuising the panzer IV with the Tiger, I could see it. If I was shaking in my boots as a German Battle group was advancing on me I probably might not call it right. Besides we have the advantage to have seen hundreds of pictures videos and 3D models. Some of these guys had never laid eyes on a Tiger, others maybe very little.
My Two cents, for what its worth

 

Like I said there was a photo someone posted on this forum but it dissapeared of a knocked out Tiger next to a knocked out panzer V with a long barrel with a muzzle break. If someone has the photo please share it because it is a prime example of how closely they looked.

 

This is a link http://www.panzerworld.net/facts.html to the site of I beleive Christian Ankerstjerne a member of the forum. It lists several myths I never knew about. Nearly all of them by that I mean the majority.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying here. Are you suggesting that all German tanks were in fact diesels, converted when they were captured by the Allies? Or that the use of different fuels was modified at will? As far as I know, neither is the case.

At short ranges from the side, any Sherman could knock out a Panther as it had only 45mm thick side armour (which the 75mm M3 could also penetrate). No need to justify the kill too elaborately.

 

Could have the myths that the tanks went into flames have been popularized by the movie Patton? I am pretty sure Bradley mentions that to Patton when he come to Africa. Hehe watched it on the history chanel. Also mentioned that the germans used diesel.

 

thats an excellent point ,faelsean.....any member of this forem would prolly be would be better at identifing a distant tank than tank sgt of ww2 could......soldiers are mostly blue collar boys,hence every german tank is a tiger,every artillery round is an 88 ,every round motored jap plane is a zero...makes for better storie telling later...if there is a later.

 

It would simplify the whole story. :lol: